January 2023 Transfer Rumours, Discussions and Done Deals Thread

[pablo_picasso]

In our current squad, there are only three positions where I think we're 'good enough' for our current status/short term aims.

Martinez in goal, Mings at a push (*he's been our best player by a mile recently imo) and Kamara. The rest of them need an upgrade and I wouldn't be sad to see any of them go tbh (*not seen enough of Diego Carlos to make a call).

Priority has to be down the sides and up front - Fullbacks, wingers and a goalscorer.

Coutinho has to go - We were all over the moon when he signed, but a season in (with age against him), he is absolutely the busted flush everyone was telling us we'd bought.
I'd lump Digne in there too - Overpriced, super expensive on the wage bill, and lightweight and ineffective on the pitch. Augustinsson actually looked the better player when he came on against Wolves.

Emery has some serious sorting out to do.

What about Ramsey?

[Holte L2]

In our current squad, there are only three positions where I think we're 'good enough' for our current status/short term aims.

Martinez in goal, Mings at a push (*he's been our best player by a mile recently imo) and Kamara. The rest of them need an upgrade and I wouldn't be sad to see any of them go tbh (*not seen enough of Diego Carlos to make a call).

Priority has to be down the sides and up front - Fullbacks, wingers and a goalscorer.

Coutinho has to go - We were all over the moon when he signed, but a season in (with age against him), he is absolutely the busted flush everyone was telling us we'd bought.
I'd lump Digne in there too - Overpriced, super expensive on the wage bill, and lightweight and ineffective on the pitch. Augustinsson actually looked the better player when he came on against Wolves.

Emery has some serious sorting out to do.

What about Ramsey?

I'd put Ramsey in that bracket too.  I wouldn't be sad to see him go. He has matches where you forget he's playing.

[Clive W]

Clearly we need upgrades all over the pitch

Hopefully one of the newcomers will be a proper leader - in my mind one of our most glaring deficiencies (since Petrov?)

[Paul.S]

We got relegated after years of bad decisions and over paying for mediocre players. We had our reset in the Championship. I am a little bit surprised that we haven't been a bit 'smarter' since we came back. We sort of got back up on that cycle of splashing the cash and over-hyping what we were buying.

That said, we do all tend to catastrophize after a bad result! We were hailing our team as world beaters on New Year's Day! However, there have to be questions over Buendia, Bailey and Coutinho. So much money spent on that lot and have we really seen enough? Not even close.

Most disappointing of all, however, is the fact that the players we have brought in seem to have the same mental weaknesses that blighted us for years before we went down. I want us to buy players with more resilience who aren't so bloody inconsistent. Players who want to win and don't shy away when the going gets tough. I don't really know what I am trying to say but I just feel I have seen too many mentally weak players at the villa.

I’d tend to agree with the mentality side of it. What we have also suffered with is a lack of physical presence in midfield. We’ve been out muscled regularly since we were promoted so could this also be a factor? I saw it against Wolves a few times where we bounced off one of their players and lost the ball or were unable to win it in a 50/50 challenge.
I know it seems old hat these days but you still have to win that physical battle in midfield to take control of a game. Kamara has helped and he’s a top player but we need a few more to help us compete physically. A few additions this month adding pace and addressing the physical side of the game would, in my opinion improve us quite a bit.

[Percy McCarthy]

Maguire on loan apparently is on, brother played golf by the Belfry Maguire and Scott Mctominay playing in front of him

So we’re buying the other one as well?

[chrisw1]

Clearly we need upgrades all over the pitch

Hopefully one of the newcomers will be a proper leader - in my mind one of our most glaring deficiencies (since Petrov?)

Mings was an outstanding leader before Gerrard.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

After yesterday the entire starting 11 and subs (except Ramsey, he gets a free pass from me as he’s returning from injury) can do one!
Looking at the players not involved yesterday (Emi M, Konsa, Mings, Carlos, Kamara and McGinn) we have a strong defensive spine (if we perm any 2 cbs with Martinez and Kamara), so that’s at least 4 positions which should not be a priority this transfer window or next leaving 7 positions to fill! Can this be done using our excellent youngsters coming through? Can Ramsey and McGinn step up their consistency and complement this defensive spine? Can any shortfalls be satisfied by just 2 windows?
Weaknesses in the team will need to be addressed if we are to come anywhere near having a competitive team in all competitions otherwise we will be in a continuous cycle of mediocrity and p*ss taking.
It’s a pity we have so many of our youngsters out on loan because Unai won’t really get to see them until the summer. Until then he’s going to have to dip into the market wisely and with as little interference as possible from purslow and lange. 

[placeforparks]

alex moreno incoming from real betis according to the spanish media. has not travelled for the spanish super cup. he's a left wing back.

over the last 12 months, both digne and cash have both needed competition and a kick up the arse.

[ChicagoLion]

alex moreno incoming from real betis according to the spanish media. has not travelled for the spanish super cup. he's a left wing back.

over the last 12 months, both digne and cash have both needed replacing and a kick up the arse.

[Percy McCarthy]

alex moreno incoming from real betis according to the spanish media. has not travelled for the spanish super cup. he's a left wing back.

over the last 12 months, both digne and cash have both needed replacing and a kick up the arse.

I often wonder what happens here when a post is quoted and not added to or commented on. Can someone enlighten me?

[Gareth]

I don’t think left back was the priority but Emery will know what he wants & in all fairness Digne hasn’t been bad but he also hasn’t torn up any trees for the price tag and wage.

If Cash’s groin injury is any real lay off wonder if a right back will be targeted also?

[Drummond]

Digne hasn’t been bad but he also hasn’t torn up any trees for the price tag and wage.

He needs to go to Turkey then, there are plenty there for him to practice on.

[ChicagoLion]

alex moreno incoming from real betis according to the spanish media. has not travelled for the spanish super cup. he's a left wing back.

over the last 12 months, both digne and cash have both needed replacing and a kick up the arse.

I often wonder what happens here when a post is quoted and not added to or commented on. Can someone enlighten me?

Sorry I should have added FTFY.

[Clark W Griswold]

Digne is fine, a decent player in that position. That said, I was a bit surprised when we signed Martinez for £20m to replace Tom Heaton who was fine, a decent player in that position. Look how that turned out.

The players that definitely don’t need to be changed are Martinez, Cash and Kamara. Digne is far from urgent but as I say if this chap is going to be a big improvement fair enough. We could still look for young up and coming players at RB and Goalkeeper though. As for the rest of them, upgrades would be useful in all cases if we’re able to sign players that definitely are an upgrade.

Edit : Maguire can fuck off and we generally should not be loaning players from them and their kind from now on. Add to that he’s not really any kind of upgrade on Mings anyway and he’s a ****** to boot.

[ChicagoLion]

We definitely need some attacking players.