Johan Lange - appointed

[OzVilla]

Maybe but you'd expect a better success rate surely with the turnover and amount spent. I don't think he's been a disaster but the Grealish money really was spent unwisely. 

Pitarch got absolutely slated yet many of his signings have been our main stays for a a few years now.

[Goldenballs]

8 of the starting 11 were signed in the last 2 years.

[Mister E]

Absolutely amazed this bloke isn't coming under more scrutiny tbh.

We've spent a fortune since he's been here and, apart from Kamara which was all Gerrard, he's unearthed fuck all that I couldn't.  Olsen, Augustinsson, Traore, Sanson, Dendonker, Chambers, Digne, Bednerek, Ings, Bailey must mostly all be his recommendations.  Replacing the aggregate has become more like wasting the Grealish money.

 

I'd say Digne was a Gerrard vanity signing.

[aj2k77]

For the money we've spent we've punched massively below our weight. Brentford, Brighton, Palace and Fulham have all finished either above or are above us. It's very poor value for money and very few of our signings seem to work out it's more a case of constantly throwing mud against the wall and waiting for some to stick. Lange has done a poor job. In the same way you can see the big difference between a competent coach like Emery and an idiot like Gerrard, I'd expect you'd see the difference between an experienced, quality head scout and someone with a track record like Lange.

TLDR: He's been poor and doesn't get value for money. Sack him.

[chrisw1]

Absolutely amazed this bloke isn't coming under more scrutiny tbh.

We've spent a fortune since he's been here and, apart from Kamara which was all Gerrard, he's unearthed fuck all that I couldn't.  Olsen, Augustinsson, Traore, Sanson, Dendonker, Chambers, Digne, Bednerek, Ings, Bailey must mostly all be his recommendations.  Replacing the aggregate has become more like wasting the Grealish money.

 

Don't get me wrong I think we've signed some absolute turkeys, but I don't see how the most sucessful signing was 'all' the manager and all the others down to Lange.  It's like with some managers when we lose it's their fault and when we win it's down to anyone else but them.

[Villan82]

chrisw1, we are the villa, we must always have a scapegoat

[chrisw1]

He deserves critisism as I think our recruitment has been mostly pretty poor, but it just amuses me when people can't give any credit on the occaison it goes right.  Kamara was a superb signing, but I suspect more down to the salary package and signing on fee than anything Gerrard or Lange said to persuade him.

[caster troy]

Who is responsible for overall strategy and continuity? Lange? Purslow? Under Dean Smith we were committed to 4231 with a number 8 and wingers, the squad was built around that. When Grealish left we signed three players to replace him seemingly with no plan as to how to fit them into the team. The start of the season was a total mess as a result.

We then bring in Gerrard, who wanted to play without wingers, causing upheaval in the squad and a need to 'bomb out' El Ghazi and Traore and somehow fit Bailey into a narrow system. Now we've brought in Emery (which is obviously an excellent appointment) and guess what he has identified as our major squad gap, a winger.

In terms of youth development, which was supposedly a pillar of our club strategy, we allowed Barkley then Coutinho to block the pathway of  Chukwuemeka. You could argue we've now done the same signing Dendoncker who for me does not look like an upgrade on Iroegbunam. Did we really need Augustinsson when we could have had more faith in Kaine Hayden as 4th choice full back? Why didn't we loan out Archer in August if we weren't going to give him any chances at all?

I also thought we'd said our days of signing players on big wages who were already peaked or past their peak had gone? Digne - not much of an upgrade on Targett, £30m and big wages at 28. Coutinho, Ings, Dendoncker, Diego Carlos, Olsen all similar stories. You can guarantee we will make a loss on all of those players.

Really it's no wonder our second string is so poor, it's like an Expendables XI, a vision of at least half of the next bomb squad.

[Risso]

He deserves critisism as I think our recruitment has been mostly pretty poor, but it just amuses me when people can't give any credit on the occaison it goes right.  Kamara was a superb signing, but I suspect more down to the salary package and signing on fee than anything Gerrard or Lange said to persuade him.

Presumably he wouldn't have been short of offers from other clubs offering similar wages though.

[chrisw1]

He deserves critisism as I think our recruitment has been mostly pretty poor, but it just amuses me when people can't give any credit on the occaison it goes right.  Kamara was a superb signing, but I suspect more down to the salary package and signing on fee than anything Gerrard or Lange said to persuade him.

Presumably he wouldn't have been short of offers from other clubs offering similar wages though.

He's on record saying he joined us for the money Risso.

[AlexAlexCropley]

He deserves critisism as I think our recruitment has been mostly pretty poor, but it just amuses me when people can't give any credit on the occaison it goes right.  Kamara was a superb signing, but I suspect more down to the salary package and signing on fee than anything Gerrard or Lange said to persuade him.

Presumably he wouldn't have been short of offers from other clubs offering similar wages though.

He's on record saying he joined us for the money Risso.

That is depressing

[chrisw1]

He deserves critisism as I think our recruitment has been mostly pretty poor, but it just amuses me when people can't give any credit on the occaison it goes right.  Kamara was a superb signing, but I suspect more down to the salary package and signing on fee than anything Gerrard or Lange said to persuade him.

Presumably he wouldn't have been short of offers from other clubs offering similar wages though.

He's on record saying he joined us for the money Risso.

That is depressing

It's just honesty and probably a bit of naievity for letting it slip.

[Risso]

He deserves critisism as I think our recruitment has been mostly pretty poor, but it just amuses me when people can't give any credit on the occaison it goes right.  Kamara was a superb signing, but I suspect more down to the salary package and signing on fee than anything Gerrard or Lange said to persuade him.

Presumably he wouldn't have been short of offers from other clubs offering similar wages though.

He's on record saying he joined us for the money Risso.

Where did he say that? He said this about one of the reasons for joining:

 “It’s my choice. I had this feeling with Aston Villa, and I was very happy.

“When the coach comes to see you at home, when he makes the trip, when he explains the project, his ambition for me in the years to come, I take this into account.

“Especially when it comes from Steven Gerrard, one of the best midfielders in the world in his position. It leaned in my decision. I can’t wait to join him to work.”

[chrisw1]

You've cut out the key line there Risso.  He was quoted as saying Villa was 'the best economic offer'  It's been discussed in the Kamara thread before.  The rest is all fluff and window dressing, saying what people want to hear.

[Risso]

You've cut out the key line there Risso.  He was quoted as saying Villa was 'the best economic offer'  It's been discussed in the Kamara thread before.  The rest is all fluff and window dressing, saying what people want to hear.

I haven't cut anything out, it was direct cut and paste from here, where he doesn't mention wages.

https://www.football365.com/news/new-aston-villa-midfielder-reveals-what-gerrard-did-to-convince-him-to-move-to-villa-park