Summer 2016: Transfer rumours and suggestions

[chrisw1]

Got to be honest I thought Tony would throw he weight around a bit more in the transfer market.  I appreciate there's some time to go, but the activity so far is very modest.  I think if Randy was still in charge he would be getting pelters by now.

Blimey, is that the first moan at Dr Tony already? It's not always about throwing his weight around, it's about who the manager wants and if they're available. I think three in so far is fine.

Call it a moan if you want.  I guess I just thought that if he has as deep pockets as we hoped he may have made more of a statement in the transfer market.  Our signing seem decent, but with 2 weeks until KO our squad seems very limited to me.  It's not about panicking, it's just we've been more modest than I hoped we'd be with the stated lofty ambitions.  I don't think that's an unreasonable comment.

[Hookeysmith]

Got to be honest I thought Tony would throw he weight around a bit more in the transfer market.  I appreciate there's some time to go, but the activity so far is very modest.  I think if Randy was still in charge he would be getting pelters by now.

We're the biggest gross spenders in the league.

Is that published anywhere?

[aj2k77]

I'm with Chris, all very underwhelming so far. Let's not forget just how poor we have been for the last 5 years culminating in last seasons surrender from competing.

[sirlordbaltimore]

I guess I just thought that if he has as deep pockets as we hoped he may have made more of a statement in the transfer market

You still have to remember we're in the championship. No player that could be considered a 'statement' signing is really likely is it ?

[mr underhill]

I won't be panicked into waving the shroud now - if things stay as they are in six weeks, maybe, but lots of time left yet for comings and goings

[Clark W Griswold]

I'm hoping that things will heat up a bit next week and the week after. Rob needed some time to assess what he had, hopefully he's forming some conclusions and we'll see half a dozen or so out. I think thereafter a couple more in will be fine and I'm sure Tone will get the chequebook out.

[old man villa fan]

With relegation clauses in contracts, does a relegation 'buy-out' clause only come into play if the club exercises a clause on reduced wages.

[brian green]

We were so far beyond bad last season it is not a straightforward matter of getting in better players.  Of course that is a big part of the recovery but what also has to happen is the ridding of the squad of the players who were at the root of our humiliation.  Add to that the need to create a winning ethos and team spirit and the magnitude of what has to be done puts the head count of incoming players in perspective.

[Villafirst]

I'm with Chris, all very underwhelming so far. Let's not forget just how poor we have been for the last 5 years culminating in last seasons surrender from competing.

Agree. The squad is still largely made up of the losers from last year. What's also worrying is the few decent players we have are being linked to other clubs,  and of they move anytime in the next 2 weeks then that's real cause for concern. He really ought to have a striker in by now to work with the rest of the squad to bed in.

[passitsideways]

Yeah, I'm not really buying this armchair psychologist stuff about how a losing mentality is apparently some incurable degenerative disease doomed to sink a club's promotion hopes unless dealt with through major revolution. Certainly some fresh ideas are needed and you get that with a few new signings and a new coaching staff, and certainly the bad eggs need chucking out, but if loser's mentality was as vicious as some people make it out to be, no relegated team would ever come back up on the first time of asking.

[itbrvilla]

Yeah, I'm not really buying this armchair psychologist stuff about how a losing mentality is apparently some incurable degenerative disease doomed to sink a club's promotion hopes unless dealt with through major revolution. Certainly some fresh ideas are needed and you get that with a few new signings and a new coaching staff, and certainly the bad eggs need chucking out, but if loser's mentality was as vicious as some people make it out to be, no relegated team would ever come back up on the first time of asking.

Many dont.

[andyh]

Yeah, I'm not really buying this armchair psychologist stuff about how a losing mentality is apparently some incurable degenerative disease doomed to sink a club's promotion hopes unless dealt with through major revolution. Certainly some fresh ideas are needed and you get that with a few new signings and a new coaching staff, and certainly the bad eggs need chucking out, but if loser's mentality was as vicious as some people make it out to be, no relegated team would ever come back up on the first time of asking.

In our case I think the definition of 'losing mentality' equals 'not giving a shit'.
We have far too many players who, to me, really look they don't give a shit about the club, the fans, their own performance or results.
As long as they pick up their pay at the end of each month, that's sufficient for them.
People like that are not specific to Villa, or to football, but are found in all industries and professions.
They could be called, coasters, wasters or even wastrels.

Problem is we have too many, all at the club at the same time.

[passitsideways]

Yeah, I'm not really buying this armchair psychologist stuff about how a losing mentality is apparently some incurable degenerative disease doomed to sink a club's promotion hopes unless dealt with through major revolution. Certainly some fresh ideas are needed and you get that with a few new signings and a new coaching staff, and certainly the bad eggs need chucking out, but if loser's mentality was as vicious as some people make it out to be, no relegated team would ever come back up on the first time of asking.

Many dont.

Yeah, and many others do, and I bet of those who did, plenty did so by keeping it relatively simple in regards to their player and coaching staff turnover. Just saying there's nothing to suggest that having too many players left over from a team bad enough to be relegated from PL automatically prevents you from gaining promotion.

[RussellC]

Got to be honest I thought Tony would throw he weight around a bit more in the transfer market.  I appreciate there's some time to go, but the activity so far is very modest.  I think if Randy was still in charge he would be getting pelters by now.

I genuinely think we've just got too many players at present. Regardless of what budget has been made available for transfers we've still got to maintain a wage-bill that won't breach FFP.

Add to that the fact that I think RDM is still undecided on a number of players, Sinclair, Bennett, etc. 

[chrisw1]

I won't be panicked into waving the shroud now - if things stay as they are in six weeks, maybe, but lots of time left yet for comings and goings

There's no reason to use emotive language like this.  Being a little disappointed / underwhelmed is far from panicking or shroud waving.