January Transfer Window Rumours/Suggestions/Hearsay/Heresy/Horseplay

[Phil from the upper holte]

Spink is saying he reckons bruce has to buy to sell but he's probably making it up

[mr underhill]

well we have - three gone, wage bill trimmed and £6m in his back pocket.

[brian green]

Spinky would get it the wrong way round.

[godzvilla]

If you believe  'readastonvilla '  ( @http://readastonvilla.com/2017/01/17/will-villa-sign-bookies-odds/)  Lansbury & Hourihane are pretty much nailed down certainties .

"Steve Bruce has identified his targets – Herni Lansbury and Conor Hourihane – and the bookmakers believe that these two players are almost guaranteed to become Villa players by the end of the month; so much so, that you will be hard pushed to find one who give you odds on the pair "
They also report that , apparently,  the Meaning Evil are publishing the odds below on possible signings , most are the ' usual suspects'  and ' wish listers' , but such short odds on Alan Judge came as a bit of a surprise, he hasn't been mentioned much on these here pages but would be a step in the right direction, imho.........Godzvilla!

Odds to Join Villa
Jordan Rhodes (Middlesbrough)- 1/5
Alan Judge (Brentford) – 1/3
Stewart Downing  (Middlesbrough) – 9/1
Fabian Delph (Manchester City) -12/1
Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace) 12/1
Robbie Brady (Norwich) – 14/1
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle) – 16/1
Bakary Sako (Crystal Palace) – 16/1
Robert Snodgrass (Norwich) 25/1
Ashley Young Manchester United) -25/1
James McCarthy (Everton) – 25/1
Frank Lampard (Free agent) – 25/1

[Goldie.7]

I'm not really Rhodes's biggest fan but his strike rate is 1 in 3 over the last two seasons, then consistently 1 in 2.

With the right service he'd score goals. Only problem is he'll never see those sort of figures here because he won't be starting much due to Kodjia.

Also, like ozz said Sako (away at afcon) or Wells instead would make way more sense.

[Dave]

I'm not really Rhodes's biggest fan but his strike rate is 1 in 3 over the last two seasons, then consistently 1 in 2.

With the right service he'd score goals. Only problem is he'll never see those sort of figures here because he won't be starting much due to Kodjia.

All of the above is applicable if you just change Rhodes to McCormack. So spending£10m on another version of McCormack seems frivolous when we haven't finished playing with the toy we got for our last birthday.

[PeterWithe]

Add me to the list of people who dont see the need for Rhodes, its not that our strikers are missing chances, we just aren't creating enough. If we do McCormack will start to put them away, if we can accept the limitations in the rest of his game.

[aev]

I'm not really Rhodes's biggest fan but his strike rate is 1 in 3 over the last two seasons, then consistently 1 in 2.

With the right service he'd score goals. Only problem is he'll never see those sort of figures here because he won't be starting much due to Kodjia.

All of the above is applicable if you just change Rhodes to McCormack. So spending£10m on another version of McCormack seems frivolous when we haven't finished playing with the toy we got for our last birthday.

I agree entirely. We should be working out how to get the best out of what we already have. Our midfield has been rubbish for a good few years now.

[cdbearsfan]

I don't mind bringing in an extra forward. Gabby fucking Agbonlahor gets in the team. Even with Kodjia back, we are only one injury away from that wanker getting onto the pitch.

Midfield remains the priority but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be looking for other options up front.

I'd give Rhodes a chance, his scoring record is excellent at this level. As is McCormack's, admittedly. Hopefully both could do well with a decent midfield behind them.

[brontebilly]

If you believe  'readastonvilla '  ( @http://readastonvilla.com/2017/01/17/will-villa-sign-bookies-odds/)  Lansbury & Hourihane are pretty much nailed down certainties .

"Steve Bruce has identified his targets – Herni Lansbury and Conor Hourihane – and the bookmakers believe that these two players are almost guaranteed to become Villa players by the end of the month; so much so, that you will be hard pushed to find one who give you odds on the pair "
They also report that , apparently,  the Meaning Evil are publishing the odds below on possible signings , most are the ' usual suspects'  and ' wish listers' , but such short odds on Alan Judge came as a bit of a surprise, he hasn't been mentioned much on these here pages but would be a step in the right direction, imho.........Godzvilla!

Odds to Join Villa
Jordan Rhodes (Middlesbrough)- 1/5
Alan Judge (Brentford) – 1/3
Stewart Downing  (Middlesbrough) – 9/1
Fabian Delph (Manchester City) -12/1
Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace) 12/1
Robbie Brady (Norwich) – 14/1
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle) – 16/1
Bakary Sako (Crystal Palace) – 16/1
Robert Snodgrass (Norwich) 25/1
Ashley Young Manchester United) -25/1
James McCarthy (Everton) – 25/1
Frank Lampard (Free agent) – 25/1

out of that list, Delph would make the biggest difference to the team

The more I think about it, he is exactly what we need

Alan Judge is another "number ten", clever player but another one to swerve imo

[VinnieChase84]

Loads of rumours of Bruce having to sell to buy now. Norwich now in for Lansbury too. So far this window is rivalling last January

[Gareth]

Still think you could get Assombalonga & Lansbury for less than a Jordan Rhodes!  Rhodes is a poor mans Bent, give him lots of chances and he'll score without giving anything to the team play.

Assombalonga through the middle, Kodjia off the left & Adomah from the right with 3 proper & FIT midfielders behind them would do for me.

[andyh]

I got the distinct impression that there was a sea change as January approached and that our expectations were 'being managed'.

We went from being very bullish about our transfer plans to Bruce starting to say that major surgery wasn't necessary and that we would only look to being in 2 or 3 players IF the right ones were available.

This coincided with Dr Tony's visit in December, and was quite noticeable in Bruce's pre match conferences (I thought).

Maybe its just me who thought this?


     

[Clampy]

Bruce said from the start that in the past we've brought for the sake of it rather than improving on what we've got. If there is a change in transfer policy, i'd guess it's come from Bruce if anybody.

[Pete]

Jordan Rhodes is shite.

I think his career record of better than a goal every other game contradicts this. He scored loads at Huddersfield, 36 in 40 league games in his last season, then 73 goals in three full seasons at Blackburn. Give him the ammunition and he'll certainly do a job, and at 26 should be hitting his peak. It's true though, without creating chances it's irrelevant who's up front.