The Owners

[OzVilla]

The owners have been exemplary so far. They are the very least of our worries thank goodness.

[Risso]

There's more to being a good owner than just spending money.  Lerner and Xia both did that.

[kippaxvilla2]

I think the game has officially gone if we are having a go at the owners.  They have tried to do everything right in my opinion.  Despite FFP threats last season, they still backed the manager in the January window and it is arguable that the signing of Mings was the catalyst to sort the shambolic defence out.  They then decided to spend the entire TV revenue on rebuilding the squad - which was needed urgently. 

All this in addition to spending a fortune keeping us afloat and closing working capital gaps and paying off Lerner after the previous charlatan left Beijing before the police turned up.

The only possible semblance of criticism that could be levelled at them is the hiring of the CEO, the Head Coach and DOF.  However, the CEO in my view is a very competent Administrator with a track record in the game. The Head Coach was one most of us craved to rebuild the club.  The only one we didn't really know was the DOF but again he had a track record in the role.  There was no indication that any of these appointments would fail and if you are going to employ them you have to trust them to run the thing.  That it hasn't worked out is once again a failure of the recruitment policy pure and simple.  Most of the blame for that I attribute to the Richard Madeley clone.

Sometimes we deserve every bit of criticism that comes our way from other clubs and fans.  Most clubs fans would die to have our owners.

[Jon Crofts]

It's hard to point the finger solely in their direction but it's increasingly looking like poor judgement to allow a recruitment strategy that has brought in £130 million of players with arguably only 2 being of PL standard, no backup for Wesley and now a knee jerk change to recruitment strategy that has brought us Drinkwater & Reina albeit on loan. As Depeche Mode once sang, get the balance right, we seem to lurch from one extreme to the other with little or no balance & a similar all or nothing approach that led to Xia's downfall.

Talking of Xia, what's the latest on him? Last seen on a wanted poster.

[Drummond]

The issue is that we couldn't spend a shit load more because of FFP but we needed a shed load of players. How else could we have done it?

[villa `cross the mersey]

The issue is that we couldn't spend a shit load more because of FFP but we needed a shed load of players. How else could we have done it?

Unfortunately, the shed (squad) is now full of shit

[Damo70]

It's hard to point the finger solely in their direction but it's increasingly looking like poor judgement to allow a recruitment strategy that has brought in £130 million of players with arguably only 2 being of PL standard, no backup for Wesley and now a knee jerk change to recruitment strategy that has brought us Drinkwater & Reina albeit on loan. As Depeche Mode once sang, get the balance right, we seem to lurch from one extreme to the other with little or no balance & a similar all or nothing approach that led to Xia's downfall.

Talking of Xia, what's the latest on him? Last seen on a wanted poster.

To be fair, regarding the Drinkwater and Reina signings they are typical 'take a punt' January window signings. Most clubs are grateful if they can land one player who an make a real difference in January. Hopefully our real difference player will be a new striker.

[SoccerHQ]

What's interesting to me is who decided last summer loan deals were of no interest to us and also signing any player who might be over 25 or have several hundred games in premier league wasn't a consideration bar getting in Heaton.

I'm guessing Purslow for the loan decision given the interview he did straight after play offs and Suso and DS for the young and hungry part 2 approach.

Quite a U turn considering our first two signings this window and many other players linked.

Wonder what the owners think of all this from those they've employed? Any owner who invests 100m + would want to see a real flair player or two or a difference maker to get people off their seats from all those signings so I imagine they'd be frustrated from what they've seen so far.

[Drummond]

The issue is that we couldn't spend a shit load more because of FFP but we needed a shed load of players. How else could we have done it?

Unfortunately, the shed (squad) is now full of shit

I guess that's about how you view stuff. I see it as opportunity and players who will develop and get better (which was the strategy if you remember). You see it as shit as they aren't doing the job right now.

There is promise and good performances just not as often as we'd like and need.

That was a humiliating defeat yesterday but we had a good draw at Leicester in the cup and a couple of wins in the festive league games.

We're bound to be inconsistent.

[villa `cross the mersey]

The issue is that we couldn't spend a shit load more because of FFP but we needed a shed load of players. How else could we have done it?

Unfortunately, the shed (squad) is now full of shit

I guess that's about how you view stuff. I see it as opportunity and players who will develop and get better (which was the strategy if you remember). You see it as shit as they aren't doing the job right now.

There is promise and good performances just not as often as we'd like and need.

That was a humiliating defeat yesterday but we had a good draw at Leicester in the cup and a couple of wins in the festive league games.

We're bound to be inconsistent.

I guess my glass is half empty right now ......but I think the recruitment has been negligent in so far as we have too many newcomers to the League and the country - hence a long bedding in period. Added to that, Smith's belligerent approach to setting the team up and odd selections/ lack of tactical nous
The inconsistency and lack of leadership is going to cost us - the injury to SJM has cost us but he was starting to show signs of fatigue prior to his injury ......faces like Drinkwater and Reina fail to inspire me ......January appears the wrong time to attempt to be bringing in  quality signings especially a couple of strikers - if it is factual that Smith wasn't supported to buy players he wanted in the summer it's hardly surprising he isn't performing as the progressive manager we were all hoping we were going to get -
Like a fair few other posters I've been concerned about the lack of goalscorer/strikers - now it appears both the defence and midfield  are wanting .....doesn't auger well for the coming months

[TonyD]

There's more to being a good owner than just spending money.  Lerner and Xia both did that.

Too bloody true.  A fool and his money.....

[VILLA MOLE]

Tone didn’t spend his money by any stretch

[TonyD]

Tone didn’t spend his money by any stretch

Certainly not on his footwear. 

[Luke8]

What's interesting to me is who decided last summer loan deals were of no interest to us and also signing any player who might be over 25 or have several hundred games in premier league wasn't a consideration bar getting in Heaton.

I'm guessing Purslow for the loan decision given the interview he did straight after play offs and Suso and DS for the young and hungry part 2 approach.

Quite a U turn considering our first two signings this window and many other players linked.

Wonder what the owners think of all this from those they've employed? Any owner who invests 100m + would want to see a real flair player or two or a difference maker to get people off their seats from all those signings so I imagine they'd be frustrated from what they've seen so far.

I think regarding the first point, money is a big factor. Pretty much anyone with 200+ Premier League games under their belt is going to cost a lot. Same with regards to the flair players really - we perhaps could have got more/better than El Ghazi and Trez but it would probably have then meant a back five consisting regularly of Elmo, Taylor, Chester and Steer.

With the loans, I imagine this is most of the decision makers generally agreed on. They were obviously a huge factor in getting us promoted but they were also a big reason we were left with barely half a squad coming into this season. I don’t think Dean Smith loaned many (any?) players at Brentford either.

The fact were are utilising them now is probably much the same as last January - financial implications of permanent signings and player availability.

Also, while I can see the argument for them maybe loaning a few players in the summer, I don’t see it as any huge error. There haven’t really been many successful loan signings in the whole of the league this season.

[Sexual Ealing]

The issue is that we couldn't spend a shit load more because of FFP but we needed a shed load of players. How else could we have done it?

Unfortunately, the shed (squad) is now full of shit

I guess that's about how you view stuff. I see it as opportunity and players who will develop and get better (which was the strategy if you remember). You see it as shit as they aren't doing the job right now.

There is promise and good performances just not as often as we'd like and need.

That was a humiliating defeat yesterday but we had a good draw at Leicester in the cup and a couple of wins in the festive league games.

We're bound to be inconsistent.

I guess my glass is half empty right now ......but I think the recruitment has been negligent in so far as we have too many newcomers to the League and the country - hence a long bedding in period. Added to that, Smith's belligerent approach to setting the team up and odd selections/ lack of tactical nous
The inconsistency and lack of leadership is going to cost us - the injury to SJM has cost us but he was starting to show signs of fatigue prior to his injury ......faces like Drinkwater and Reina fail to inspire me ......January appears the wrong time to attempt to be bringing in  quality signings especially a couple of strikers - if it is factual that Smith wasn't supported to buy players he wanted in the summer it's hardly surprising he isn't performing as the progressive manager we were all hoping we were going to get -
Like a fair few other posters I've been concerned about the lack of goalscorer/strikers - now it appears both the defence and midfield  are wanting .....doesn't auger well for the coming months

In what universe is Smith's approach to setting the team up "belligerent"?