Summer transfer, gossip, speculation and the usual butter ollocks thread

[Shrek]

We reduced the wage bill from 95m to 65m (roughly around that I think), we don’t really have any deadwood now. I’d say Hogan and Lansbury are the only ones, everyone else is contributing in some way as part of the squad.

[SheffieldVillain]

We reduced the wage bill from 95m to 65m (roughly around that I think), we don’t really have any deadwood now. I’d say Hogan and Lansbury are the only ones, everyone else is contributing in some way as part of the squad.

Plus Jota and Kalinic. That's probably around £150k per week between those four going on an £35-40k average or nearly £8m per year. Soon mounts up.

[sickbeggar]

If the problem is that Lange needs time to get his feet under the table and get moving then maybe binning Richard Madeley as late as we did wasn't the best idea?

I also find it hard to believe Cash was a Lange target. Who is actually identifying the players?

Dean Smith.

He knows he nearly lost his job in March. He could see it coming and was dropping big hints for two months in the press conference that half the team wasn't what he wanted. He wanted Kalvin Phillips, he got Nakamba. He wanted Maupay, got Wesley. Benrahama-Trez etc.

Mind you he didn't help his cause by looking in Drinkwater's eyes and deciding he was the one to breath life into our central midfield so that was very faulty aswell.

Anyway I doubt his stock in the owners eyes will ever be higher than it is now after the great escape so they've probably listened to him moaning for months about recruitment and now given him the licence to sign the players he wants. Cash is one, Watkins will be another and will be another 2-3 more. Calum Wilson would've certainly been another DS signing aswell.

So enough rope to hang him by if the team starts poorly again and much easier to sack him in November if we're in the bottom 3 given it will be his team by then. Such is politics in the premier league.

hmmm..that's what i assumed. Nice to hear it confirmed though.

Unless that post is coming from anywhere but the opinion of the poster I don't see how it confirms anything, it just mean someone else thinks the same thing you do.

True, but i think Smith deserves a lot of credit for getting us up , and a lot of credit for survival during the double cluster-fuck of recruiting a new squad and COVID. If he gets his signings this summer, even if i don't like them, then at least he got a fair crack of the whip

[SoccerHQ]

For me as it stands if we can field a injury free side we have

a mid table defence
a top half midfield
a relegation forward line
a bottom half management team

let’s hope we can improve the forward line in the next couple of weeks and then not get any bad injuries or we will be in deep trouble again

Mid table defence?  We conceded 67 goals, a terrible stat only beaten by Norwich who finished bottom!

A stat that whilst completely true means absolutely nothing. The season was clearly in 2 parts, unlike any other season you have to look at the 2 separately. Pre-covid we conceded slightly more than 2 a game with 57 in 28. After the restart we conceded 11 in 10. That's such a stark change that quoting the overall figure and ignoring it is pointless and misleading. It wasn't just luck either, the stat for shots conceded per game changed in line with the goals figure so the new defensive stability is entirely in line with how we were playing. Over a full season a similar defensive record would make us the 7th best defence in the league.

There's an argument that we sacrificed attacking intent to allow for it but that just supports the idea that we need to change the forward line to one more suited to how we are playing now.

My worry about this new incredible defence is even after lockdown we were still really vulnerable to a simple cross swung in. Two conceded v Chelsea in that manner and of course the incredibly soft goal we let Walcott score. Incredibly good luck aswell that the "goals" from Sheffield United and Palace didn't count either, luck that eluded us in the first half of the season with all the VAR fiascos.

I'd still love a Laursen type at the back who would be a magnet to those crosses and head them away. Suppose that's the crux of playing Hause, we're better at defending high balls but he has nowhere near the ability to pass out like Konsa can so we lose ability to play out quickly.

Dosen't really seem a priority anyway so we'll soon know if it was the right call.

[brontebilly]

For a reasonable fee, Pukki could certainly do a job for us. His touch and movement were excellent tonight against Ireland. Not sure if there are regular Scottish club followers on here but Glen Kamara dominated midfield with ease. Sheff United were linked with him before.

[john e]

For me as it stands if we can field a injury free side we have

a mid table defence
a top half midfield
a relegation forward line
a bottom half management team

let’s hope we can improve the forward line in the next couple of weeks and then not get any bad injuries or we will be in deep trouble again

Mid table defence?  We conceded 67 goals, a terrible stat only beaten by Norwich who finished bottom!

Yeah I know what your saying, but I’m talking about a defence involving
Guilbert, Cash, Mings, Engels,  Konsa, Target

as it stands I think that’s mid table

[sickbeggar]

well Pukki scored more than wilson last term. Think they'd want more for him though and he's 2 years older

[Dante Lavelli]

Speculation about Zaha seems strangely quiet.  I think other clubs would quickly join the bidding but might be worth a cheeky low bid.  I’d imagine Palace were resigned to losing him but imagine he is already on decent wages.

[paul_e]

Speculation about Zaha seems strangely quiet.  I think other clubs would quickly join the bidding but might be worth a cheeky low bid.  I’d imagine Palace were resigned to losing him but imagine he is already on decent wages.

Not for me, he appears to be a complete knob.

[sickbeggar]

crystal palace is only 13 miles  from Brentford. could be a goer

[hilts_coolerking]

Speculation about Zaha seems strangely quiet.  I think other clubs would quickly join the bidding but might be worth a cheeky low bid.  I’d imagine Palace were resigned to losing him but imagine he is already on decent wages.

Not for me, he appears to be a complete knob.

Not to mention overrated.

[Dave]

For me as it stands if we can field a injury free side we have

a mid table defence
a top half midfield
a relegation forward line
a bottom half management team

let’s hope we can improve the forward line in the next couple of weeks and then not get any bad injuries or we will be in deep trouble again

Mid table defence?  We conceded 67 goals, a terrible stat only beaten by Norwich who finished bottom!

Yeah I know what your saying, but I’m talking about a defence involving
Guilbert, Cash, Mings, Engels,  Konsa, Target

as it stands I think that’s mid table

I guess if we played all six of them we'd probably concede fewer goals.

[Ian.]

From a Purslow interview.

VILLA FANS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS.
Purslow: It takes 4yrs to be able to pay average Prem salaries & comply with FFP. I have to comply with 1 year of Prem but 2 years of championship rules. The total wage bill we can pay is much, much lower than clubs in the prem for 3 years

That's a very sobbering quote. We could obviously do with losing a lot of the dead wood to bring down the wage bill and even then, once we've rewarded our star players, there may not be a lot to offer quality new signings. Probably why we're doing so much shopping in the Championship.

That’s a leash on the spend and obviously why it’s so hard to do business. I’m still confident though we’ll have a few more in over the next couple of weeks.

[sickbeggar]

It would be ironic if we couldn't match Nan's hair's offer to a striker  because we overpaid on wages to get a striker for Nan's hair.

[Dante Lavelli]

From a Purslow interview.

VILLA FANS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS.
Purslow: It takes 4yrs to be able to pay average Prem salaries & comply with FFP. I have to comply with 1 year of Prem but 2 years of championship rules. The total wage bill we can pay is much, much lower than clubs in the prem for 3 years

That's a very sobbering quote. We could obviously do with losing a lot of the dead wood to bring down the wage bill and even then, once we've rewarded our star players, there may not be a lot to offer quality new signings. Probably why we're doing so much shopping in the Championship.

That’s a leash on the spend and obviously why it’s so hard to do business. I’m still confident though we’ll have a few more in over the next couple of weeks.

Are the rules that different or is it an indirect way of saying that player’s contracts are typically 4-years so it takes a while for the championship players/salaries to be flushed through/given pay rises.  Therefore we currently have a largely championship quality squad because we are paying championship wages?