Premier League season 21/22. What the media are saying on Villa

[hilts_coolerking]

In the BBC Sport piece about Barkley, Phil McNulty says the signing "continues a fine window for the club."

[N'ZMAV]

all this positive talk....

something's bound to cock up soon, this is Aston Villa

[London Villan]

Have to admit I’m warming to Micah.

He comes across as a very decent bloke.

Pity he was so poisonous with his mates gabby and lesscott when he was on our books. 

[algy]

De-paywalled from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/10/05/aston-villa-have-wow-factor-calculated-ambitious-transfer-window/

Aston Villa have 'wow factor' after calculated and ambitious transfer window recruitment

Unlike last season when they spent heavily to buy a dozen players, Dean Smith's side has been transformed by quality, targeted signings


JOHN PERCY
5 October 2020 • 10:26am

It was arguably Aston Villa’s finest ever Premier League result and, as one of “their own”, the significance will not have been lost on Dean Smith.

Villa are firmly back in the national consciousness after their remarkable disembowelment of champions Liverpool and Smith’s squad will head into the international break on a tidal wave of optimism.

Smith’s fingernails have only just returned to normal length after last season’s mad scramble to safety on the final day, yet now there is hope that brighter times could be ahead.

Less than five weeks ago, many supporters were panicking over a perceived lack of transfer activity and fearing another season of struggle until protracted negotiations with Brentford finally reached their conclusion.

Those negotiations ended with Ollie Watkins completing his club record £28 million move to Villa Park and Smith’s belief in the forward was emphatically rewarded with the hat-trick against Liverpool on Sunday.

Watkins conducted his post-match interviews with the matchball under his arm and bemoaned the fact that he should have scored five goals. Yes, it was one of those nights at Villa Park.

His arrival followed the signing of Nottingham Forest’s Matty Cash, already emerging as a fan favourite for the supporters sadly sitting at home, with Emiliano Martínez and Bertrand Traoré also joining.

The loan signing of Ross Barkley from Chelsea, as first revealed by Telegraph Sport,  was further proof that Villa mean business this season.

Barkley’s decision to join Villa has enabled talismanic captain Jack Grealish to have more freedom - against Liverpool he became the first player in Premier League history to have a hand in five goals in a single game with two goals and three assists.

John McGinn also appears reborn after a second half to last season ravaged by injuries - as demonstrated by his outrageous piece of skill against Fulham and one pass to Watkins on Sunday night.

Ezri Konsa, the centre-half, has shown rapid progress since lockdown and could be in contention for a place in the England squad soon.

With Grealish also committing his future to the club, following talks over the club’s future direction with co-owner Nassef Sawiris, a mid-table finish should be the minimum target this season.

The recruitment this summer has been calculated and ambitious, led by Smith, chief executive Christian Purslow and new sporting director Johan Lange.

Last season they spent around £140m essentially to build a new squad and while there were a few successes - Tyrone Mings, Douglas Luiz and Konsa spring to mind - there were undeniably a few flops.

Crucially, there was also a glaring lack of Premier League experience and that was one factor Villa wanted to attack head on this season.

Adding “quality” has been the watchword from Smith, and this £75m spend appears to have been shrewdly carried out.

Before the season started, Smith gave some insight into this summer’s business. “I think if you look at last season we spent an awful lot of money but we had to get 12 to 13 players in. It was a big turnaround for the club,” he said.

“We had struggles last season when we lost our player of the year in John McGinn, our record signing in Wesley and our most experienced Premier League player in Tom Heaton. Any team who has that happen is going to find it difficult.

“I always felt if we got over the line the players we brought in last summer would be better for the 12 months and we could then go and add quality rather than quantity.

“There were four or five players last season and we lost a few. Now they are back and we have added quality with the players we are bringing in now.”

Smith is older and wiser after last season’s relegation battle and must be cursing the timing of the international break, with his squad on such an upward trajectory.

His tweaks to the shape of his squad during lockdown proved he is unquestionably a fine operator at this level.

It is also impossible to overlook the impact of his new assistant manager Craig Shakespeare, a wily and brilliant coach on the training ground.

Villa’s return on Oct 17, with a trip to Leicester, seems a long way away now - but the memories of Sunday’s thrashing of Liverpool will last forever.

As Jürgen Klopp said to Smith after the final whistle: "Wow!"

[Sexual Ealing]

Have to admit I’m warming to Micah.

He comes across as a very decent bloke.

Pity he was so poisonous with his mates gabby and lesscott when he was on our books. 

How do you know? If that's the case, it's weird that successive managers kept him around for his morale-raising effects on the dressing room.

[LeeB]

Have to admit I’m warming to Micah.

He comes across as a very decent bloke.

Pity he was so poisonous with his mates gabby and lesscott when he was on our books. 

How do you know? If that's the case, it's weird that successive managers kept him around for his morale-raising effects on the dressing room.

When I get that feeling, I agree with Sexual Ealing.

[PaulWinch again]

Micah Richards is good and he actually knows about the squad.

[WilliamStanding]

Interesting to read back at some of the comments about Richards when he was here and the same people brown nose-ing now.

[PaulWinch again]

Weird reaction - does Richards read this?

[Brazilian Villain]

Have to admit I’m warming to Micah.

He comes across as a very decent bloke.

Agreed, that appears to be what's going on. It was noticeable when he retired how many at Villa were wishing him well on social media.

[RichardBatchelor]

He does seem a nice bloke, just a jester on the pitch.

[RichardBatchelor]

Have to admit I’m warming to Micah.

He comes across as a very decent bloke.

Pity he was so poisonous with his mates gabby and lesscott when he was on our books.

Was he though, I wonder? Maybe he was just shit and unfit. Doesn't seem like a troublemaker at all.

[WilliamStanding]

He will go down a bottler with Lescott.

[Toronto Villa]

He will go down a bottler with Lescott.

what did he actually bottle? He had an injury he couldn't recover from. Is that bottling? And we gave him a stupidly long and lucrative contract. Is that his fault too?

[PeterWithesShin]

And not forgetting that we signed him to that contract despite the fact we couldn't get insurance for him. It's easier to blame the player though rather than the ones that gave him that contract.