Summer transfer madness thread

[tomd2103]

GK - Johnstone/Steer
RB - De Laet/Bree/Hutton
CB - Chester/Elphick
CB - Terry/Samba
LB  - Taylor
CM - Onomah/Jedinak/Whelan/Lansbury
AM - Hourihane/Jack/Ohare
RM - Snodgrass/Adomah/Elmo
LM - Green/Barney
FW - Kodjia/Hogan/Davis/Ross/Gabby/RHM

If Bruce cannot get this squad into top 6 let alone automatic then he deserves shooting.

To be honest and being as neutral as I can - there are not many players in this division that you could make up a first team to better one we could if they were all played to their strengths

I agree - auto promotion as a minimum - no excuses 

And much as we complain about him, there aren't many with a fourth/fifth choice centre back as good as Tommy Elphick.

True, but the problem is that there aren't many fourth/fifth choice centre backs in the Championship picking up his wage.

[Clampy]

I think there was a clear edict that Bruce had to balance the books after his spending at Xmas.  He has failed to shift players and therefore this has limited his buying.  I do not have  a problem with that as we have been too easy in the past in letting managers buy without selling (other than our top players) and been left with fortunes being poured down the drain.

I think you'll find he has to balance the books after RDM's spending last August. Bruce didn't spend a fat lot in January really.

Relative to a vast majority of teams in this division though, he spent a fuckload, if not on fees, but wages. Likewise, this summer. Lansbury, Hourihane, Hogan, Terry, Whelan, and Snodgrass would all be on plenty.

The point OMVF made though was that he's had to cut down on his spending due to what he spent in January when in reality, he didn't spend a great deal compared to what we did this time last year.

Clampy, you do have this uncanny ability to misunderstand my comments or are selective in the words you comment on and those words not being the point of my comment.

"He has failed to shift players and therefore this has limited his buying" was the point and I then went on to say I didn't have an issue with it. I did not say that he had to balance the books against his spending in January.

The first line of your original post does say 'I think there was a clear edict that Bruce had to balance the books after his spending at Xmas'. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to misunderstand that.

Your point came across has he's been hamstrung by his own spending last January, when in reality, it's RDM's and to a lesser extent Sherwood's spending that's done that.

By reading the whole paragraph, rather than being selective on the words you want to comment on.

You do come across as somebody that wants to have the last word on everything so as to try and negate what other posters say.

I'm sorry you feel that way, it's not my intention.

I agree that he has failed to shift players, of course he has. My point was that the players he's failed to shift are one's he didn't sign. It's got nothing to do with what he did in January though, which is what I thought you were saying. Let's leave it there though.

[Chris Jameson]

I have no problem with Elphick or Ross staying but if we are stuck with Richards and Gabby with no possibility of them leaving why not just pay them up and agree to terminate their contracts. Money goes out upfront but both players will be out of the club.

It is a long season. If we are going to pay them I want to keep them as options.

I wouldn't want to keep Richards as an option even if the entire first team had the shits. I can't think of a worse player to pull on the Villa shirt and that's saying something

My thoughts too, it's quite an achievement to be the worst player to play for Villa when you think of some of the competition.

[ChicagoLion]

The getting rid of players we don't want is likely to be a Financial decision, because of FP rules there will be situations where we can not take the P&l hit of writing off the contract value of a player.
It's very sad but not Bruce's fault.

[tomd2103]

The getting rid of players we don't want is likely to be a Financial decision, because of FP rules there will be situations where we can not take the P&l hit of writing off the contract value of a player.
It's very sad but not Bruce's fault.

You can't make players who have signed a contract leave the club if they don't want to.  The worst you can do is freeze them out of the first team squad, but it seems more and more players are OK with that as long as they are picking up wages they wouldn't get anywhere else. 

[old man villa fan]

The getting rid of players we don't want is likely to be a Financial decision, because of FP rules there will be situations where we can not take the P&l hit of writing off the contract value of a player.
It's very sad but not Bruce's fault.

We could pay in installments.

[Damo70]

The getting rid of players we don't want is likely to be a Financial decision, because of FP rules there will be situations where we can not take the P&l hit of writing off the contract value of a player.
It's very sad but not Bruce's fault.

We could pay in installments.

Maybe we could pay them on a weekly or monthly basis until their contracts run out?

Oh, hang on...

[ozzjim]

I am relieved Elphick stayed. If Samba is out for any length of time we would have been screwed without Elphick.

The only criticism I would have of our squad is that there is a genuine lack of pace through it.

[paul_e]

The getting rid of players we don't want is likely to be a Financial decision, because of FP rules there will be situations where we can not take the P&l hit of writing off the contract value of a player.
It's very sad but not Bruce's fault.

You can't make players who have signed a contract leave the club if they don't want to.  The worst you can do is freeze them out of the first team squad, but it seems more and more players are OK with that as long as they are picking up wages they wouldn't get anywhere else. 

This is the problem with focusing so much of our spending/wage budget on players who are past their peak.  If you sign a 21 year and he fails to progress you'll usually be able to sell him without too many problems (see Westwood, Bacuna and Lowton for example) because he'll have been a 'fair' wage to begin with and clubs will see them as still having potential to improve.  If you sign older players they're usually on their way down and are never going to be worth the same amount again so they're left with a choice of playing time or money and for many the latter is the simpler choice.  I'm not blaming Bruce specifically (although he's guilty of it as well) it's something far too many of our managers have done.

Where Bruce can be considered at fault is the sheer number of signings he's made, often competing with themselves.  Hourihane or Lansbury, Elmo or Snodgrass, even Terry or Samba in all of those cases you've got experienced players who've recently arrived who are going to be on the bench.  Add in some of players we had (Adomah, Jedi) and some of the signings make even less sense.  The saving grace is that most of them are are sensible contracts.

[brian green]

I agree with what you are saying Paul.  It was encapsulated by Fat Sam in his homespun Black Country way way by defining players as "milk bottles" or "pop bottles" (ask your Dad).  For the return of milk bottles you got nothing, for the return of pop bottles you got your deposit back.  We have had too many milk bottles on the books.

[enigma]

Seeing as Joe Ledley is still without a club I'd like us to offer him a contract. He's a better CM than what we currently have.

[tomd2103]

Seeing as Joe Ledley is still without a club I'd like us to offer him a contract. He's a better CM than what we currently have.

Could cover left back as well I suppose, but again not really necessary in midfield.

[enigma]

Seeing as Joe Ledley is still without a club I'd like us to offer him a contract. He's a better CM than what we currently have.

Could cover left back as well I suppose, but again not really necessary in midfield.

I remain unconvinced by Whelan and Lansbury though. I just don't think we're very strong in central midfield at all. Looks like he's off to Cardiff now anyway.

[sirlordbaltimore]

Seeing as Joe Ledley is still without a club I'd like us to offer him a contract. He's a better CM than what we currently have.

We've already shelled out on Whelan and Jedinak to do that role in the side surely?

[olaftab]

We can not have anymore bearded men in our team. We have reached the quota set by Home Office.0