Summer transfer madness thread

[ozzjim]

Round et al have had a whole season knowing this summer will have to be a creative one.  No harm in a couple of gambles especially out wide. Dutch league, German etc there might be the odd bargain in. Just takes good scouting!

[trevor fisher]

good scouting is vital, and the first thing to note is whether Villa still use the Moneyball system. They tried and at one point the European scout lived in Australia and just watched stats on his computer. It did not work. So do the club actually have real scouts?

However the big issue with this story is FInancial Fair Play Rules. Did the club not know what the rules were? One report is that vila lost £81.3 million and the limit is £83m So that is why Bruce only has about £1m to spend, mainly on loan players,

And if it is true he has to spend to buy and we have paid premiership wages on tat, then the future is not only grim but the ability of the club to spend money is limited and bad judgement is everywhere. So how did the club get here? Its not Bruce's fault if Xia signed cheques knowing it was getting near to breaking the rules,

[eddiemunster]

Its not Bruce's fault if Xia signed cheques knowing it was getting near to breaking the rules,

I wonder if the clubs true financial position was made out/given to the Doctor before he took over?

[eddiemunster]

The following players are out of contract as of end of June;

Abdo, Calder, Cowans, Swift, Watkins, Johansson, Blackett-Taylor, Sundman, Knibbs, Finnerty, Humphries, Doyle-Hayes, Clark, Idem, Clarke, Coates, Hall, Leggett, Linley, Hale, Sellars, Abdoul.  All reserve or academy players.

Players going/gone;

Mason, Sanchez, Kozak.

Loan players I'd sell; Cissokho (going?).

First team squad I'd sell;

Steer, Bunn, Gabby, Richards, Elphick, Gardner, Adomah, Bacuna, Amavi.

Players who I'd say shape up or get out;

Grealish, McCormack.

Would save a shed load on wages and would generate a fair amount of money .
 I'd then try and get the following on loan, with a clause to buy;
Goalkeeper, left back cover, left sided centre back, defensive midfield cover, a couple of pacey wingers and cover for Kodja!

My opinions only, yours???

[PeterWithesShin]

Villa have never used the Moneyball system. They use sabremetrics, which was the data used to find the actual Moneyball players, the same as just about every professional sports team in the world. What Villa have tended to do is pretty much the exact opposite of Moneyball.

[sickbeggar]

Anyone that bothered he won't get more money to waste? Can't even name a  player i'd be particularly worried about being sold that he's bought or any other recent manager for that matter. Another 5 or 6 non-entities not turning up from championship sides this summer is hardly a disaster especially if we're mid-table come the autumn

[PeterWithesShin]

We'll have money to spend, it's only a few months ago we got £11m for Westwood and Rudy, players that a fair few on here would have given away if anyone wanted them.

[sickbeggar]

It's the wage bill that's the problem as it always was under Lerner.. We have an enormous squad on top wages and you just can't run that on Championship income

[PeterWithesShin]

That's different to having no money to spend though. I'd imagine the rough idea will be to bring in 1 player for every 2 we shift out to get/keep the wages under control. And if it isn't, McGrath help us!

[BC Villain]

Don't think this should come as a massive surprise.   Too often in recent seasons we've turned to the cheque book to try and solve problems and look where it's left us.  The squad is far too big with too many players not good enough and on huge wages.  Not just in the last 2 windows, but the infamous Paddy Reilly era as well.  It's simply not sustainable outside the Premier league, even with the parachute payments. 

[KevinGage]

Have no qualms at all about Steve Boof not getting another small fortune to waste. 

I am concerned that sell to buy publicly becomes the narrative. We've seen how that kind of image endures.

Instead of looking like a club looking to get back to the top flight as soon as, we look like we're prioritising good housekeeping.

Which is fine, on one level. But it does impact on our attractiveness to ambitious players. Even if they are still available by the time we have shifted Veretout, Sanchez and co.

[sickbeggar]

That's different to having no money to spend though. I'd imagine the rough idea will be to bring in 1 player for every 2 we shift out to get/keep the wages under control. And if it isn't, McGrath help us!

Look they didn't start parachute payments because they wanted to give the relegated clubs an advantage. It was because they didn't want the embarrassment of every relegated PL team going to the wall in 12 months. We need a squad of about 25 of which a good 5 of them should be youth players on very little. What is it at the moment? I'm not sure what the last wage bill published was but it wasn't good and i doubt its improved much with our spending. If you're losing 15m a year on wages then it makes sense to use any income earned from sales to off-set that, at least from a non-playing point of view.

[BC Villain]

Its not Bruce's fault if Xia signed cheques knowing it was getting near to breaking the rules,

I wonder if the clubs true financial position was made out/given to the Doctor before he took over?

Sure he's gone on record already as saying the state of the club was worse than he expected.  Comes from having a detached owner who shut himself away after getting bored with his new toy, and leaving his gaggle of sycophants to do whatever they wanted.

[BC Villain]

Steve Boof 

Deliberate mistake?

[brian green]

I agree with all the foregoing including Ads comprehensive summation.  I would only differ on Davis  (Davies?) whom I would keep, especially if we do not get a proven hold up player.

Not having money to chuck about in the summer could be a blessing in disguise because Bruce will be forced to bring on the home grown players who deserve their chance.  We have to have a centre back for when as some wag on here put it, Baker has a bruised vagina and a direct running wide man with speed and courage.