Ray Wilkins on Talk Sport

[Matt C]

Ray Wilkins, captain of Hindsight United.

[Dante Lavelli]

Ray Wilkins, captain of Hindsight United.

I thought that.  So desperate to reveal a scoop and maintain some sort of celebrity relevance he didn't seem to realise that he was basically criticising his own management.

[Ian.]

We can file Wilkins under the never ending list of fuckwits who have been associated with Villa in the last 5 years.

[The Edge]

It's common knowledge that the "recruitment staff" (paddy reilly)was far too influencial in the summer. It's been discussed at length on here.

Is it? If anything the "recruitment staff" seem to have recruited some of our more talented players of the incoming transfers - Amavi, Ayew, Gana, Traore, Veretout. The "football staff" seem to have landed us with Micah "The Big I Am" Richards, Joleon "Run? You must be joking" Lescott and a striker with the movement and ball skills of a lampost.

Oh ok then I must of got the wrong end of the stick. I thought the recruitment policy was a big fuck up in the summer. As it's been such a big success we need to carry on with it. The new manager will just have to live with it. Good old Paddy Reilly.

[SheffieldVillain]

It's common knowledge that the "recruitment staff" (paddy reilly)was far too influencial in the summer. It's been discussed at length on here.

Is it? If anything the "recruitment staff" seem to have recruited some of our more talented players of the incoming transfers - Amavi, Ayew, Gana, Traore, Veretout. The "football staff" seem to have landed us with Micah "The Big I Am" Richards, Joleon "Run? You must be joking" Lescott and a striker with the movement and ball skills of a lampost.

Oh ok then I must of got the wrong end of the stick. I thought the recruitment policy was a big fuck up in the summer. As it's been such a big success we need to carry on with it. The new manager will just have to live with it. Good old Paddy Reilly.

No, you didn't get the wrong end of the stick. It was just your opinion. As the above is mine.

[The Edge]

It's common knowledge that the "recruitment staff" (paddy reilly)was far too influencial in the summer. It's been discussed at length on here.

Is it? If anything the "recruitment staff" seem to have recruited some of our more talented players of the incoming transfers - Amavi, Ayew, Gana, Traore, Veretout. The "football staff" seem to have landed us with Micah "The Big I Am" Richards, Joleon "Run? You must be joking" Lescott and a striker with the movement and ball skills of a lampost.

Oh ok then I must of got the wrong end of the stick. I thought the recruitment policy was a big fuck up in the summer. As it's been such a big success we need to carry on with it. The new manager will just have to live with it. Good old Paddy Reilly.

No, you didn't get the wrong end of the stick. It was just your opinion. As the above is mine.

so is it your opinion that having a recruitment team selecting players for the manager instead of the traditional method of the manager identifying his own players a good thing? Gestede might be a big lump but we know that TS/RW wanted Lennon and Townsend. With them supplying the ball things might have turned out very differently this season.

[old man villa fan]

The recruitment last summer was an overall disaster. This does not mean that every purchase was a bad one.

The buying and selling did not go far enough. I'm still convinced that if we had spent another £20m in the right areas, we would have been ok. As it was, we were left with a hopelessly unbalanced squad and even short on numbers once some went out on loan. There were mistakes in some buys, both in ability and character.

[Dave]

It's common knowledge that the "recruitment staff" (paddy reilly)was far too influencial in the summer. It's been discussed at length on here.

Is it? If anything the "recruitment staff" seem to have recruited some of our more talented players of the incoming transfers - Amavi, Ayew, Gana, Traore, Veretout. The "football staff" seem to have landed us with Micah "The Big I Am" Richards, Joleon "Run? You must be joking" Lescott and a striker with the movement and ball skills of a lampost.

Oh ok then I must of got the wrong end of the stick. I thought the recruitment policy was a big fuck up in the summer. As it's been such a big success we need to carry on with it. The new manager will just have to live with it. Good old Paddy Reilly.

No, you didn't get the wrong end of the stick. It was just your opinion. As the above is mine.

so is it your opinion that having a recruitment team selecting players for the manager instead of the traditional method of the manager identifying his own players a good thing?

That would be a bad thing, but that's not what happens. They're not "selecting" players they're suggesting players.

Sherwood says "I want a new winger, how about Townsend?" Recruitment team says "we're being quoted £15m and £80,000 per week which is more than we can afford. Here are a bunch of similar players who are inside what we can afford, here is what is good about them and bad about them - which one should we move forward with?"

The same way as nearly every other team in the league does it. Presumably you think that Leicester shouldn't be doing it this way either?

[Villa in Denmark]

I'm sure we signed players with input from Sherwood as well but I'm also sure we signed players without his input to, which is absolute madness and is always gonna end in tear eventually.
I don't like this 'moneyball system', I'd prefer a strong manager who chooses his players on his own judgement or people he trusts.

Do you really think that a gobshite like Sherwood would have gone all the way through the summer and well into the season without briefing against that sort of policy through his media mates.

This explanation / excuse was first floated once it was obvious we were in deep shit and a certain chancer was already eyeing his next move because this one was already FUBAR.

[Villa in Denmark]

It's common knowledge that the "recruitment staff" (paddy reilly)was far too influencial in the summer. It's been discussed at length on here.

Is it? If anything the "recruitment staff" seem to have recruited some of our more talented players of the incoming transfers - Amavi, Ayew, Gana, Traore, Veretout. The "football staff" seem to have landed us with Micah "The Big I Am" Richards, Joleon "Run? You must be joking" Lescott and a striker with the movement and ball skills of a lampost.

Oh ok then I must of got the wrong end of the stick. I thought the recruitment policy was a big fuck up in the summer. As it's been such a big success we need to carry on with it. The new manager will just have to live with it. Good old Paddy Reilly.

No, you didn't get the wrong end of the stick. It was just your opinion. As the above is mine.

so is it your opinion that having a recruitment team selecting players for the manager instead of the traditional method of the manager identifying his own players a good thing? Gestede might be a big lump but we know that TS/RW wanted Lennon and Townsend. With them supplying the ball things might have turned out very differently this season.

A traditional method that'a not been used above league 1 for years. (Apart from MON who didn't need a passport.) Keeping track of every player that might be suitable, now that you're potentially recruiting from around the world is a full time job for a number of people.

To be honest I'd be pretty pissed off if the manager was devoting time to that instead of preparing the team for the next game and checking who in the U-21s might be ready to step up.

And for all of this pisstaking about Riley, the one thing that's become abundantly clear over the last couple of months is that the biggest single problem at the club is a split dressing room and a general atmosphere of "mediocrity is something to aspire to", but don't worry, this a holiday camp, not a boot camp. Something that's been hanging around since the arse end of MON's days going on the reports of Agbonlahor returning from international calls ups.

For all we've missed the likes of Barry, Milner and Petrov, maybe even Ratus Ratus as footballers, we've missed them even more as professionals.

[SheffieldVillain]

It's common knowledge that the "recruitment staff" (paddy reilly)was far too influencial in the summer. It's been discussed at length on here.

Is it? If anything the "recruitment staff" seem to have recruited some of our more talented players of the incoming transfers - Amavi, Ayew, Gana, Traore, Veretout. The "football staff" seem to have landed us with Micah "The Big I Am" Richards, Joleon "Run? You must be joking" Lescott and a striker with the movement and ball skills of a lampost.

Oh ok then I must of got the wrong end of the stick. I thought the recruitment policy was a big fuck up in the summer. As it's been such a big success we need to carry on with it. The new manager will just have to live with it. Good old Paddy Reilly.

No, you didn't get the wrong end of the stick. It was just your opinion. As the above is mine.

so is it your opinion that having a recruitment team selecting players for the manager instead of the traditional method of the manager identifying his own players a good thing?

That would be a bad thing, but that's not what happens. They're not "selecting" players they're suggesting players.

Sherwood says "I want a new winger, how about Townsend?" Recruitment team says "we're being quoted £15m and £80,000 per week which is more than we can afford. Here are a bunch of similar players who are inside what we can afford, here is what is good about them and bad about them - which one should we move forward with?"

The same way as nearly every other team in the league does it. Presumably you think that Leicester shouldn't be doing it this way either?

What he said.

As for my opinion, my opinion is that the players who were signed using this method actually were mostly okay. The players who were signed last summer, and this summer from Sherwood's suggestions, were mostly shit.

Who have been our worst / most problematic players this year? Gabby, Richards, Lescott, Guzan, Bacuna, Gestede. None of them signings ascribed to being suggestions from the 'committee' such as it was/wasn't.

The problem with the recruitment last summer was two-fold in my view:
1. The failure to sign a first choice goalkeeper, and the failure to sign a first choice striker who wasn't Rudy Gestede (I class Ayew as more of a link-up forward, good player though he is).
2. The 'winners' who Sherwood brought in to provide experience and solid pros in the squad have proved actually to not be winners, but wankers of the highest order.

I'm not saying we would have won the league if the two points above had been addressed, obviously the club would still have been being run badly, but we would have been a sight closer to surviving.

[Trinitymiddle]

It's common knowledge that the "recruitment staff" (paddy reilly)was far too influencial in the summer. It's been discussed at length on here.

Is it? If anything the "recruitment staff" seem to have recruited some of our more talented players of the incoming transfers - Amavi, Ayew, Gana, Traore, Veretout. The "football staff" seem to have landed us with Micah "The Big I Am" Richards, Joleon "Run? You must be joking" Lescott and a striker with the movement and ball skills of a lampost.

Oh ok then I must of got the wrong end of the stick. I thought the recruitment policy was a big fuck up in the summer. As it's been such a big success we need to carry on with it. The new manager will just have to live with it. Good old Paddy Reilly.

No, you didn't get the wrong end of the stick. It was just your opinion. As the above is mine.

so is it your opinion that having a recruitment team selecting players for the manager instead of the traditional method of the manager identifying his own players a good thing? Gestede might be a big lump but we know that TS/RW wanted Lennon and Townsend. With them supplying the ball things might have turned out very differently this season.

Ahh yes, two former Tottenham players, how creative of Tim.
Apart from the fact that Lennon and Townsend aren't exactly pulling up tree's at their respective clubs, one of which is massively underperforming and the other is more than likely going to go down with us, the fee's and wages of both those players would have both been way too much for the budget that Sherwood would no doubt have been made aware of from the outset.
As we have seen this season, a good scouting network is worth its weight in gold, look at Leicester, Spurs, West Ham,all bought players very cheaply who have massively over performed this season in respect of their fees.

[JUAN PABLO]

The recruitment last summer was an overall disaster. This does not mean that every purchase was a bad one.

The buying and selling did not go far enough. I'm still convinced that if we had spent another £20m in the right areas, we would have been ok. As it was, we were left with a hopelessly unbalanced squad and even short on numbers once some went out on loan. There were mistakes in some buys, both in ability and character.

yep and someone like Cambiasso would have done us lots of good

[The Edge]

It's common knowledge that the "recruitment staff" (paddy reilly)was far too influencial in the summer. It's been discussed at length on here.

Is it? If anything the "recruitment staff" seem to have recruited some of our more talented players of the incoming transfers - Amavi, Ayew, Gana, Traore, Veretout. The "football staff" seem to have landed us with Micah "The Big I Am" Richards, Joleon "Run? You must be joking" Lescott and a striker with the movement and ball skills of a lampost.

Oh ok then I must of got the wrong end of the stick. I thought the recruitment policy was a big fuck up in the summer. As it's been such a big success we need to carry on with it. The new manager will just have to live with it. Good old Paddy Reilly.

No, you didn't get the wrong end of the stick. It was just your opinion. As the above is mine.

so is it your opinion that having a recruitment team selecting players for the manager instead of the traditional method of the manager identifying his own players a good thing? Gestede might be a big lump but we know that TS/RW wanted Lennon and Townsend. With them supplying the ball things might have turned out very differently this season.

Ahh yes, two former Tottenham players, how creative of Tim.
Apart from the fact that Lennon and Townsend aren't exactly pulling up tree's at their respective clubs, one of which is massively underperforming and the other is more than likely going to go down with us, the fee's and wages of both those players would have both been way too much for the budget that Sherwood would no doubt have been made aware of from the outset.
As we have seen this season, a good scouting network is worth its weight in gold, look at Leicester, Spurs, West Ham,all bought players very cheaply who have massively over performed this season in respect of their fees.

Well obviously a good scouting network
is vital if you are to be successful. The moneyball system which is what we are talking about is a totally flawed system. Managers dont just go on stats. It's about blending a bunch of players to form a team. Like Leicester have.

[SheffieldVillain]

It's common knowledge that the "recruitment staff" (paddy reilly)was far too influencial in the summer. It's been discussed at length on here.

Is it? If anything the "recruitment staff" seem to have recruited some of our more talented players of the incoming transfers - Amavi, Ayew, Gana, Traore, Veretout. The "football staff" seem to have landed us with Micah "The Big I Am" Richards, Joleon "Run? You must be joking" Lescott and a striker with the movement and ball skills of a lampost.

Oh ok then I must of got the wrong end of the stick. I thought the recruitment policy was a big fuck up in the summer. As it's been such a big success we need to carry on with it. The new manager will just have to live with it. Good old Paddy Reilly.

No, you didn't get the wrong end of the stick. It was just your opinion. As the above is mine.

so is it your opinion that having a recruitment team selecting players for the manager instead of the traditional method of the manager identifying his own players a good thing? Gestede might be a big lump but we know that TS/RW wanted Lennon and Townsend. With them supplying the ball things might have turned out very differently this season.

Ahh yes, two former Tottenham players, how creative of Tim.
Apart from the fact that Lennon and Townsend aren't exactly pulling up tree's at their respective clubs, one of which is massively underperforming and the other is more than likely going to go down with us, the fee's and wages of both those players would have both been way too much for the budget that Sherwood would no doubt have been made aware of from the outset.
As we have seen this season, a good scouting network is worth its weight in gold, look at Leicester, Spurs, West Ham,all bought players very cheaply who have massively over performed this season in respect of their fees.

Well obviously a good scouting network
is vital if you are to be successful. The moneyball system which is what we are talking about is a totally flawed system. Managers dont just go on stats. It's about blending a bunch of players to form a team. Like Leicester have.

So when Sherwood talked about having tracked and watched players for years, how does that fit into us using the moneyball system? Or only using stats?