Riley - When Will It Happen

[croatian]

Most companies, when you spend £50 of their money on goods, services etc, require you to justify the expenditure.

But waste fifty fucking million quid?

And he's still employed by the same company?

[Risso]

Who has Reilly 'signed' that has been any good?

The ones that came from France look reasonable for the money we paid for them and the wages compared with what we could have got elsewhere.

I think they've all been poor considering the money they cost. Amavi looked good, but nobody else has pulled up any trees. Gana has been the best, Veretout the worst.

[aj2k77]

Who has Reilly 'signed' that has been any good?

The ones that came from France look reasonable for the money we paid for them and the wages compared with what we could have got elsewhere.

My definition of what I consider reasonable for £30m+ is considerably different to yours. That is some very serious money.

[johnc]

Who has Reilly 'signed' that has been any good?

The ones that came from France look reasonable for the money we paid for them and the wages compared with what we could have got elsewhere.

My definition of what I consider reasonable for £30m+ is considerably different to yours. That is some very serious money.

But not good enough to keep us in the premiership which is why they were bought

[passitsideways]

Who has Reilly 'signed' that has been any good?

The ones that came from France look reasonable for the money we paid for them and the wages compared with what we could have got elsewhere.

My definition of what I consider reasonable for £30m+ is considerably different to yours. That is some very serious money.

But not good enough to keep us in the premiership which is why they were bought

I know it's a big-looking figure, but in today's market, and given the dross that was left once you subtracted Cleverley, Delph, Benteke and Vlaar, 30+ million honestly isn't worth that much, unless the person spending it is a magician in the transfer market. Even so, I'm not sure it's all down to the players - I can't help but feel that if we had been the ones to sign Kante, we'd be in the exact same position as we are now, and Villa fans all over the place would basically be classifying him as a great athlete, but unmitigatingly shit at football.

[Ian.]

I like Veretout but he's not worth the money we paid yet. He might be one day if fulfils his potential.
Ayew is very good, again probably not quite worth the money we paid though unless he's here for longer and progressed with us and we sell at a profit.

With any of the new signings last summer I don't see much profit, if any if we'll sell this summer.

I do wonder if we had a half decent squad before they arrived these players might have looked much better than they have though.

[VinnieChase84]

I think he will go when the new manager comes in and forms his own back room staff etc
Being kept on to give a scouting handover before leaving (leaving his list of targets on FM16)

[SheffieldVillain]

 The Football Manager / Playstation thing is becoming almost as old as the 'moneyball' myth. Especially as every club in the league use a version of their database, Everton having done so since 2008.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/11025724/Football-Manager-player-database-to-be-used-by-Premier-League-clubs-after-deal-with-Prozone-Sports.html

[brian green]

As well as the on field performances of our French players due consideration should be given to the treatment they received when they came to us.  The Secret Santa video beamed in living colour from the VP screens complete with laughing hyenas soundtrack without a single French player included, followed by the French players being excluded from the players Christmas party after the Newcastle game, alone tell you how excluded the French players felt. Is it any surprise they have not been pulling up trees for the team?

[itbrvilla]

As well as the on field performances of our French players due consideration should be given to the treatment they received when they came to us.  The Secret Santa video beamed in living colour from the VP screens complete with laughing hyenas soundtrack without a single French player included, followed by the French players being excluded from the players Christmas party after the Newcastle game, alone tell you how excluded the French players felt. Is it any surprise they have not been pulling up trees for the team?

Utter disgrace.  No doubt Richards and Gabby were involved.

[DaveD]

If he was just an analyst, I'd say that he may well be doing his job within his remit and others are culpable.

But he's Head of Recruitment and he has some degree of decision making power. And the bottom line is we spent £50 million quid last summer and got relegated in spectacular style. The players he brought in might not have been the worst culprits but they have not been worth the money paid and are unlikely to be resold for a profit or even what we paid. Therefore he has failed on every measure and should go.

[SheffieldVillain]

The players he brought in might not have been the worst culprits but they have not been worth the money paid and are unlikely to be resold for a profit or even what we paid. Therefore he has failed on every measure and should go.

If you're judging players on 9 months in a toxic environment then yes. 

If you had asked whether Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Stilian Petrov and others were successful signings 9 months in, the answer would have been no. (And no, I'm not comparing the quality). The whole point of the players last summer was that they had potential.

Our failure was in the players who we brought in 'for now' - Richards, Lescott, Gestede and the players we should have brought in 'for now' - no new GK, no Benteke replacement.

Veretout, Amavi, Traore, even Gana and Ayew clearly have the potential to be very good players. It's not Reilly's fault that the managers they have had have failed to bring that out of them so far. Whether they will be with us next year is debatable, but I think 1-2 years down the line two or three of them will be seen as top players.

I also think we'd/we'll get back what we paid on most of those named. We'll probably find out quite soon!

[DaveD]

Well we all see things differently.

I don't think any of them would be Premier League starters at most of the other 19 clubs. Amavi is very good going forwards but has serious defensive deficiences - he can probably do a good job in the Championship and I would like to see us keep him. Veretout has ability on the ball, but is too slow and powder puff to be influential in the English game, he'll struggle again next season. Ayew might get 10-12 goals at Championship level but no more, although I will concede he has improved the most and might continue to do so and surprise me. Gana can't pass the salt. 3 managers have shied away from playing Traore, I suspect because he's a half trick pony.

That's just my opinion but we have 16 points for a reason and it's not just down to the English tossers plus the grinning idiot, there's plenty of blame to go round. I don't blame any of the above but they're just not good enough for the job they were hired to do and that's down to Riley.

[SheffieldVillain]

That's just my opinion but we have 16 points for a reason and it's not just down to the English tossers plus the grinning idiot, there's plenty of blame to go round. I don't blame any of the above but they're just not good enough for the job they were hired to do and that's down to Riley.

You're quick enough to share the blame around for having 16 pts, but then go on to put 100% of the blame for hiring the players on Riley.

First of all, the hires weren't Riley's decision alone, so it's not just down to Riley in any case. But what I'm saying is that perhaps the problem wasn't the recruitment, but the integration and training. Look at Albrighton - here he was a bit part player, at Leicester he's a league winner and an integral part of the side. That doesn't mean he 'wasn't good enough for the job' at Villa, but that he wasn't used to his potential.

[brian green]

Those who believe our summer spending was "£50 million down the shitter" should ask two questions.

1. Which of the French players if sold would go to better teams than Aston Villa?
The correct answer is - all of them.

2. If you answered Q1 correctly, say whose fault it is that their value has dropped while at Aston Villa.  The players themselves or the club?

If £50 million has gone down the shitter the players did not do it.  They had it done to them.