John McGinn - signed (Captain)

[Clampy]

Unless it was a very ridiculous offer, I wouldn't sell him. either. I thought we missed him on Saturday, especially in the first half. He'd walk into the majority of the sides in this league. Besides, Gerrard likes him so I can't see it happening anyway.

[ChicagoLion]

The first sign that maybe just maybe we are on the verge of creating a team to compete at the top end of the league, we have people start auctioning our first team players off.
Bizarre.

It's ok, he hasn't actually been sold.

Thank fuck that the Football manager types are not in charge of transfer policy in the real world.

Or that people aren't allowed an opinion on a football message board without other people getting bent out of shape!  Who said SJM is good enough to get us there? This is what people are debating.

Who says you are not allowed an opinion? Bent out of shape?
The only thing I was responding  to was the (how much they wold sell him for)
I want us to build the strongest team we can, and  that requires us to keep our best players.

[Risso]

I wouldn't choose to sell him. He's very good, but not great. He doesn't score enough goals and his passing can be terrible at times, so for £60m you'd almost certainly be able to get a better replacement.

Like who though?

He's brilliant, and unique.

He isn't brilliant though really, is he? I mean, he can be great, and he's a very popular member of the squad, but brilliant, not for me.

[OzVilla]

I'd bit your hand off for 60 mill. I like SJM but I think if we got a id like that I'd be cashing in, I often think his work rate and his song often blinds some fans to his actual return performance-wise.

Clearly such a high opinion of your fellow fans if you think we want to keep a player because of his song.

Which isn’t what I said. I said it sometimes blinds people to his off days. He’s a fans favourite and part of that is his song. But a 60 million bid and I’d be taking it.

[teamvillage]

The thing is (ridiculously) £30m buys you a player who may or may not work out. Get it wrong and you can spend a further £30m to replace that one.

We know McGinn works for us.

[GordonCowansisthegreatest]

....and if not, will be a superb backup!

[OzVilla]

That’s right but I think Sanson coming onto the scene really gives us a great option. He was excellent on Saturday.

[GordonCowansisthegreatest]

Let them fight it out, only one winner! Aston Villa.

[eamonn]

I wouldn't choose to sell him. He's very good, but not great. He doesn't score enough goals and his passing can be terrible at times, so for £60m you'd almost certainly be able to get a better replacement.

Like who though?

He's brilliant, and unique.

His arse is brilliant and unique. It gets him free kicks when his technique on the half-turn or with his back to goal fails him time and time again. He just can't get away from players as smoothly as any of our other midfielders and he slows us down more than anyone else when we're trying to break forward. He'll always prefer the Barry Bannan-patented left-footed Hollywood (Hollyrood, considering the Scottish links?) pass than taking players on because he knows he doesn't have the chops to do that.

He's tenacious, drives at the opposition, has a lovely left foot and is a great character but if we want to get into the top six I'd expect him to be overtaken by more complete midfielders before too long. Ramsey already looks like he's ahead of him in the pecking order.

[UK Redsox]

As with Mings, McGinn might be a cult hero but he's also a player who Villa should look to be upgrading from if the opportunity arises.

[chrisw1]

The amount of fans suddenly happy to sell McGinn is ridiculous.  On form he is the heartbeat of our team.  It would be madness to lose that when we're not strapped for cash. 

[ChicagoLion]

The amount of fans suddenly happy to sell McGinn is ridiculous.  On form he is the heartbeat of our team.  It would be madness to lose that when we're not strapped for cash.

And that’s not taking into account the risk of replacing him.
My expectation is that he has not hit his peak yet and could become a devastating player.
Looks like some will be happy to see him in a manure shirt.

[Risso]

The amount of fans suddenly happy to sell McGinn is ridiculous.  On form he is the heartbeat of our team.  It would be madness to lose that when we're not strapped for cash. 

The number of fans over-reacting to a simple difference of opinion is ridiculous. Nobody would be "happy" to sell him, unless the fee received was too good to turn down. He's not irreplaceable.

[Billy Walker]

As with Mings, McGinn might be a cult hero but he's also a player who Villa should look to be upgrading from if the opportunity arises.

I'm kind of thinking this too.  The smart decision might be to move the remainder of our promotion winning team on while their stock is high and replace them with younger, superior players.  Indeed, it's possible that we might already have younger, superior players already within our ranks. 

I don't like the coldness of such an approach because I have an awful lot of respect and gratitude for players like McGinn and Mings...but then I ask myself what would Ron Saunders have done?  It's the kind of decision that can only be made properly if our CEO and management are totally on the ball.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

On form he is the heartbeat of our team. 




This.