Summer Transfer Window - The Verdict

[chrisw1]

Yeah, that's a snooker right there Flin.

[ASHTONVILLA]

Well that’s all done and dusted, we now in many ways plunge in to the unknown no DM unveiled so I assume we will continue to base most of our attacks down the left ,with pace to burn in Bailey.  DS and CS are very experienced coaches ,and my hope is that they have new system that now suits this present squad. I hope we don’t go a prolonged winless because this can sabotage team.

And once Smith gets us into a winless nosedive, he usually struggles to get us out of it.

Until Grealish returns and sorts it out for him.

[Risso]

Has the troll forgotten his fibs again?!

[ASHTONVILLA]

The consensus on how transfers work at the Villa these days seems to be that we have a system where Lange, assisted by scouts and suggestions from Smith is given a remit for the type of players Smith requires. He then compiles a shortlist of 'getable' players that fit the profile and budget for us to select from. It also seems that Smith gets to pick, and gets a veto on any he does not fancy.

Pure conjecture this, but given the noises from the various ITK types (yeah I know) what I suspect may have happened is this. Smith identified that we required a RW (selected Buendia), a CB (selected Tuanzebe), and a CM (selected JWP) and an AMC (selected Smith Rowe). We got two of them.

Jack then left and priorities changed. I think we then needed another winger, and a centre forwards (In came Bailey and Ings) but still were looking at a couple of midfielders with JWP and Cantwell being Smiths top targets.

What I think then happened is that Smith has stuck to his guns and rejected the alternatives to his top picks, insisting on 'proven premier league' like JWP but our budget has been around tha £25m a player mark and we would not pay the £40m+ quoted by Southampton and Norwich. I suspect we had other alternatives in the list identified by Lange, but Smith has stuck his neck and said he would rather not have them if he can't get his first choices.

If that is the case then the onus is on him to make it work, or it will no doubt cost him his job. I simply do not believe our owners did not make around £50m available for a couple more players, as all the noise around JWP, ESR and Cantwell had us offering £25m each for them. I think we could have got good players from elsewhere for that kind of money, but not the 'proven Premier League' ones the manager wanted.

For me the best value signing this window has been the one most likely to from Lange - Bailey. Buendia is a good player but we paid a lot of money to get him. Ditto Ings. I would have liked us to have gone and recruited at least one more 'Lange' signing. It does feel like Smith is becoming a bit like MON in this respect.

[Risso]

Smith was talking about “stockpiling” players, at the same time that international duty, injuries and Covid have got our squad down to the very bare bones. Sometimes I think he’s his own worst enemy. We had a decent season last year based on a very good start. With a much less impressive start this year and some difficult games on the horizon, we could be bumbling along at a rate of 1 to 1.25 points a game, which would be very disappointing.

[Flin5tone]

Can someone's situation not change?

[sickbeggar]

The consensus on how transfers work at the Villa these days seems to be that we have a system where Lange, assisted by scouts and suggestions from Smith is given a remit for the type of players Smith requires. He then compiles a shortlist of 'getable' players that fit the profile and budget for us to select from. It also seems that Smith gets to pick, and gets a veto on any he does not fancy.

Pure conjecture this, but given the noises from the various ITK types (yeah I know) what I suspect may have happened is this. Smith identified that we required a RW (selected Buendia), a CB (selected Tuanzebe), and a CM (selected JWP) and an AMC (selected Smith Rowe). We got two of them.

Jack then left and priorities changed. I think we then needed another winger, and a centre forwards (In came Bailey and Ings) but still were looking at a couple of midfielders with JWP and Cantwell being Smiths top targets.

What I think then happened is that Smith has stuck to his guns and rejected the alternatives to his top picks, insisting on 'proven premier league' like JWP but our budget has been around tha £25m a player mark and we would not pay the £40m+ quoted by Southampton and Norwich. I suspect we had other alternatives in the list identified by Lange, but Smith has stuck his neck and said he would rather not have them if he can't get his first choices.

If that is the case then the onus is on him to make it work, or it will no doubt cost him his job. I simply do not believe our owners did not make around £50m available for a couple more players, as all the noise around JWP, ESR and Cantwell had us offering £25m each for them. I think we could have got good players from elsewhere for that kind of money, but not the 'proven Premier League' ones the manager wanted.

For me the best value signing this window has been the one most likely to from Lange - Bailey. Buendia is a good player but we paid a lot of money to get him. Ditto Ings. I would have liked us to have gone and recruited at least one more 'Lange' signing. It does feel like Smith is becoming a bit like MON in this respect.

You could be right.  My only argument against that is who in their right mind would think you'd get any of them for 25m?  We obviously did so its a bit bizarre.

[Ger Regan]

This window was, for me, a missed opportunity when we had the potential to really kick on, rather than just treading water. I'll be happy to be proven wrong once everyone is fit, but that's how i see it right now.

[PeterWithe]

Maybe we thought that Covid had depressed the market to an extent where those figures were thoight realistic, I think we were more sensible than the market is.

[Footy-Vill]

Clearly agenda to get English speaking or premier league experience players who can settle in

[tomd2103]

He and we played shite plenty of times over the last couple of years. Let's move on with a group of players that offer hope rather than the fear that they'll fuck off at the drop of a release clause.

The thread is a review of the summer transfer window and him leaving has been the single biggest event in that window for us.  I just hope it hasn't put the notion out there amongst our own players and in the wider footballing sphere that we are a push over again and teams can simply pick off our best talent while we offer little resistance. 

I think we are going to have to be patient over the next month or so until we can hopefully get everyone fit and firing.

We are definitely not a pushover anymore. As explained by Purslow they inserted a 100million pound clause in you know who's contract that they really didn't expect to be triggered.There's not a lot else you can do if club's have that much wealth. PSG turned down 189 million for Mbappe even though they know he will join Real Madrid on a free transfer at the end of the season. That's just obscene all round.

Agree that there is very little that can be done when a clause like that exists, but even so, it probably now looks from the outside that our players can be picked off without too many complications.  That may not be the case of course, but as we've seen previously with the likes of Barry, Milner, Young etc. it only takes one to leave for others to have their heads turned as well.

[richtheholtender]

You just know going forward that any new contract for the likes of Ollie the agent and/or player with say "I'll have a release clause in that".

[Risso]

Agree that there is very little that can be done when a clause like that exists, but even so, it probably now looks from the outside that our players can be picked off without too many complications.  That may not be the case of course, but as we've seen previously with the likes of Barry, Milner, Young etc. it only takes one to leave for others to have their heads turned as well.

I think a lot depends on the owner’s intentions, and also results. Once O’Neill had left, results went downhill and it was cleat that Lerner didn’t have the interest or funds any more to carry on as he had before. One by one the players you mentioned left for pastures new as they could see what was happening. I really hope history doesn’t repeat itself. The owners are miles wealthier than Lerner was, so that shouldn’t be a problem. I just hope they’re still as invested as they were, as the lack of another signing or two to really push on this season is a bit of a concern.

[Footy-Vill]

The Ings move seemed very opportunist that's all wel and good as he's quality however what happend to the precise planning and strategy of clearly identification of players to bring in.

[Monty]

I'm completely certain there's a plan behind buying Ings. It might not be a plan everyone likes, but there'll definitely be one.