Summer Transfer Window - The Verdict

[Vegas]

I dont think we are getting europe with this squad to be honest.

This squad won't even make the top 10.

Might not, but it’s too early to write us off. Assuming Man C, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Leicester, West Ham and Everton are all likely to, means Arsenal, us, Leeds, Brighton, maybe Brentford / Southampton are fighting for 2 places.

Not nailed on or anything, but surely we’ve got a decent chance?

[mike]

I dont think we are getting europe with this squad to be honest.

This squad won't even make the top 10.

Might not, but it’s too early to write us off. Assuming Man C, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Leicester, West Ham and Everton are all likely to, means Arsenal, us, Leeds, Brighton, maybe Brentford / Southampton are fighting for 2 places.

Not nailed on or anything, but surely we’ve got a decent chance?

I think you're right but the problem is that, at the end of last season, we expected to be overtaking at least one of Spurs, Leicester, West ham and Everton and putting some space between us and Leeds, Brighton and Southampton with Brentford not even being considered as a rival. So in that regard, and whether or not that was ever realistic, the 'hopefully top ten' is a bit of a downwards management of expectations.

[john e]

I dont think we are getting europe with this squad to be honest.

This squad won't even make the top 10.

Might not, but it’s too early to write us off. Assuming Man C, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Leicester, West Ham and Everton are all likely to, means Arsenal, us, Leeds, Brighton, maybe Brentford / Southampton are fighting for 2 places.

Not nailed on or anything, but surely we’ve got a decent chance?

I think you're right but the problem is that, at the end of last season, we expected to be overtaking at least one of Spurs, Leicester, West ham and Everton and putting some space between us and Leeds, Brighton and Southampton with Brentford not even being considered as a rival. So in that regard, and whether or not that was ever realistic, the 'hopefully top ten' is a bit of a downwards management of expectations.

We probably would have done if Grealish wasn’t injured for 10 games or whatever it was

[mike]

I dont think we are getting europe with this squad to be honest.

This squad won't even make the top 10.

Might not, but it’s too early to write us off. Assuming Man C, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Leicester, West Ham and Everton are all likely to, means Arsenal, us, Leeds, Brighton, maybe Brentford / Southampton are fighting for 2 places.

Not nailed on or anything, but surely we’ve got a decent chance?

I think you're right but the problem is that, at the end of last season, we expected to be overtaking at least one of Spurs, Leicester, West ham and Everton and putting some space between us and Leeds, Brighton and Southampton with Brentford not even being considered as a rival. So in that regard, and whether or not that was ever realistic, the 'hopefully top ten' is a bit of a downwards management of expectations.

We probably would have done if Grealish wasn’t injured for 10 games or whatever it was

I probably worded that badly. I meant, at the end of the last match we thought... blah blah

[ChicagoLion]

I dont think we are getting europe with this squad to be honest.

This squad won't even make the top 10.

Might not, but it’s too early to write us off. Assuming Man C, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Leicester, West Ham and Everton are all likely to, means Arsenal, us, Leeds, Brighton, maybe Brentford / Southampton are fighting for 2 places.

Not nailed on or anything, but surely we’ve got a decent chance?

I think you're right but the problem is that, at the end of last season, we expected to be overtaking at least one of Spurs, Leicester, West ham and Everton and putting some space between us and Leeds, Brighton and Southampton with Brentford not even being considered as a rival. So in that regard, and whether or not that was ever realistic, the 'hopefully top ten' is a bit of a downwards management of expectations.

We probably would have done if Grealish wasn’t injured for 10 games or whatever it was

how many do you expect us to overtake now?

[brontebilly]

I dont think we are getting europe with this squad to be honest.

This squad won't even make the top 10.

Might not, but it’s too early to write us off. Assuming Man C, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Leicester, West Ham and Everton are all likely to, means Arsenal, us, Leeds, Brighton, maybe Brentford / Southampton are fighting for 2 places.

Not nailed on or anything, but surely we’ve got a decent chance?

I think you're right but the problem is that, at the end of last season, we expected to be overtaking at least one of Spurs, Leicester, West ham and Everton and putting some space between us and Leeds, Brighton and Southampton with Brentford not even being considered as a rival. So in that regard, and whether or not that was ever realistic, the 'hopefully top ten' is a bit of a downwards management of expectations.

We probably would have done if Grealish wasn’t injured for 10 games or whatever it was

I think his comeback game at Spurs was a real what could have been moment. Grealish played very well, for a player that wasn't remotely fit particularly. But the influence he had on our other players was huge. Watkins, Traore and McGinn in particular were transformed the same day. Also his presence could spook opposition players creating space for others, the likes of Hojberg and Winks that day were terrified of him. I always thought any debate on Grealish focused solely on his goals and assists only scratched the surface of his influence on the team.

That's going to take some time to change unfortunately and will require patience with management and players.

[ozzjim]

The transformation was scary. Went from a team of strangers to taking the games to the opposition without fear. Even when he went off at Spurs you could almost see the level drop around him.

[mike]

I dont think we are getting europe with this squad to be honest.

This squad won't even make the top 10.

Might not, but it’s too early to write us off. Assuming Man C, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Leicester, West Ham and Everton are all likely to, means Arsenal, us, Leeds, Brighton, maybe Brentford / Southampton are fighting for 2 places.

Not nailed on or anything, but surely we’ve got a decent chance?

I think you're right but the problem is that, at the end of last season, we expected to be overtaking at least one of Spurs, Leicester, West ham and Everton and putting some space between us and Leeds, Brighton and Southampton with Brentford not even being considered as a rival. So in that regard, and whether or not that was ever realistic, the 'hopefully top ten' is a bit of a downwards management of expectations.

We probably would have done if Grealish wasn’t injured for 10 games or whatever it was

how many do you expect us to overtake now?

I think we can hope to stay above Brighton and Brentford, despite the huge resources they have. Hopefully Southampton too. I don’t see us finishing ahead of Leicester, West Ham, Leeds, Arsenal or Everton unless they underperform over the season. Obviously, Arsenal are making a spirited effort to do so. Everton might struggle. I thought this would be the year that the wheels came off at Spurs but it looks rosy there. Wolves weren’t mentioned in the original post and they should be in the middling group if Brentford are. I think we’ll avoid a relegation odds thread and have a brief European places thread at some point which will quietly tail off after a few weeks.

[N'ZMAV]

I like Gregg Evans but he can't half be a bit of an idiot sometimes:

'There’s the prospect of Ings, a £25 million arrival, and Ollie Watkins up front. The thought of both Bailey, signed for £30 million, and Traore coming off the wings is exciting. Buendia, the £33 million record signing, is also ready to step up a few more gears after his goal at the weekend.'

Well, ok, but what formation is that?

the Kevin Keegan  of 1995

[Neil Hawkes]

You can’t replace the quality of Grealish by signing other players (no matter what guff they try to sell us about signing 3 players with his attributes), so the aim has to be to improve the team and squad that was available when he was out injured. There’s no question that we have done that, but only time will tell if we become a better team without the over reliance on him…as it stands, I don’t think we’ve done enough in this transfer market when we had the perfect opportunity to do so.

While I agree you can't replace the departed individual, I do not agree with the assumption that 3 players in the team, at the same time, cannot be better than how we where with Joe.
For a start, there would be 3 players all in different positions, all being attended by at least 1 opposing player & therefore stretching the opposing team across a larger area than when they where marking Joe in clusters.
We are yet to see it, but I'm hopeful these additions will create more passing & scoring chances.

[algy]

I think time will tell how good this transfer window's been.  But my take ...

The Good

• In Bailey & Buendia, we have two players who can go straight in to the first team & improve it
• We've added Young & Tuanzebe - that's improved the quality of the 'squad' players at next to no cost
• We now have a pair of strikers (Ings & Watkins) who wouldn't look out of place at a club with ambitions of European football.
• We've signed a load of promising youngsters.
• Ramsey Sr has developed in to a first team player. JBP potentially could do the same over the course of the season.  That's without counting players like Chucky Jr, Archer, ... who are maybe a bit further off, but no less exciting.
• After a worrying August, the coaching staff feels 'upgraded'.

The bad

• We've lost Guilbert & Elmo, and let Kesler go out on loan.  I'm not sure we have a good option for backup right back which doesn't feel like we'd be playing someone outside their natural position
  
• Quisling.  Talked about to death now.
• Nakamba is our only proper defensive midfielder, and he's quite limited in what he can do
• We're weaker in terms of keepers, after Martinez at least.
• Nothing, or next to nothing, recouped for Hourihane or Guilbert.  Made a loss on Engels & Samatta.

The ugly

• We've spent quite a bit - must be near enough £100m once you factor Sanson in
• FFP-wise, we must be good for a few seasons now
• Missing out first on ESR, then JWP - it feels like we've been reluctant to push the boat out, and that feels like a missed opportunity

I'd put it down as a 7/10 window.  It's not the unmitigated disaster that some are saying, but it feels more like "one small step" than it does "a giant leap".

[Demitri_C]

I think time will tell how good this transfer window's been.  But my take .

The ugly

• We've spent quite a bit - must be near enough £100m once you factor Sanson in
• FFP-wise, we must be good for a few seasons
  

I was reading what simon jordan said about ffp and he sais as grealish didnt cost us another as was a youth player thats 100m profit on the balance sheet (regardless of other transfers) he said villa are in a very healthy position in terms of ffp for a goid 5 years.

I do wonder if thats why we are signing all these exciting youngsters for cheap. If they go on to be stars and we sell one for 35m lets say down the line. Thats 35m profit for ffp[/list]

[placeforparks]

• Missing out first on ESR, then JWP - it feels like we've been reluctant to push the boat out, and that feels like a missed opportunity

i don't think ESR was ever a serious proposition and villa's interest was being used by his agents as a stick to beat arsenal with.

JWP on the other hand, was gettable. the guy wants to play for england, and there are existing england squad players at our club. it would have cost a lot of money to get him though and we would have needed to break our transfer record again. the irony of it all, is that ings coming to us probably freed up the wage budget for saints to offer JWP a deal he couldn't refuse!

[john e]

I dont think we are getting europe with this squad to be honest.

This squad won't even make the top 10.

Might not, but it’s too early to write us off. Assuming Man C, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Leicester, West Ham and Everton are all likely to, means Arsenal, us, Leeds, Brighton, maybe Brentford / Southampton are fighting for 2 places.

Not nailed on or anything, but surely we’ve got a decent chance?

I think you're right but the problem is that, at the end of last season, we expected to be overtaking at least one of Spurs, Leicester, West ham and Everton and putting some space between us and Leeds, Brighton and Southampton with Brentford not even being considered as a rival. So in that regard, and whether or not that was ever realistic, the 'hopefully top ten' is a bit of a downwards management of expectations.

We probably would have done if Grealish wasn’t injured for 10 games or whatever it was

how many do you expect us to overtake now?

All of em

[OCD]

I think with Grealish here, there was an urgent need to get Champions League football in order to keep him. This was always a tall order given our recent history. Without him, it seems like the emphasis on youth development has taken on bigger significance that it already had. It seems that we're prepared to take on a more steady approach with recognition that it's going to take longer.

Tbh though, it's not a good thing to be an ok side with one outstanding player and we've seen what happens when that's the case. Much better to be a very good overall side that's not overly reliant on one individual.