Winter 24/26 transfer window - the verdict

[LeonW]

My first ever thread started. Thoughts on the window?

[Sexual Ealing]

I think it was the longest one ever.

[Gareth]

Annoying that we still have to do the Supermarket Sweep thing but rules are rules I guess.

Think we have reacted to injuries about as well as we could, sure Dougie wasn’t top of priority list before Kamara went down.

Personally I didn’t overly rate Malen as a striker option so happy enough with Tammy for him.

Sure like most would have liked one more….

[Brazilian Villain]

It is what it is. We'll just have to put our big boy pants on for the rest of the season.

[eamonn]

Last year was a B+. This year it's a B-.

But they're both first class honours so let's look forward to the grad ball.

[LeonW]

For my two peneth, the recent winter windows seem to be more about addressing errors from the previous summer when we had more time to get ourselves sorted and this one is the same.

I said the summer transfer window was a 1/10. I’d probably wouldn’t change that because whilst I thought Bizot was a smart pick up, it’s only really been Lindelof who has surprised and impressed. Guessand has been an absolute disaster and Sancho ever poorer than the very low expectations I already have. The Elliot situation is ridiculous for all involved.

The fact that Bailey is already a marked improvement on Guessand speaks well for nobody when the club decided to dispense with him last summer but not even on a permanent transfer, only a loan.

We all know the restrictions Villa have and their chokehold in allowing us to compete, but it’s also fair to balance it out with two points that can be true at the same time:

1). That we need to be smarter in our signings when we do spend money.
2). It’s not fair that we have no wriggle room to get any significant signings (fee or wages) incorrect.

We did well to get our money back on Malen but something is wrong in Emery chasing him for so long and deciding quite early that he isn’t what he wants. See Diaby, Philogene also.

Luiz is back and I think that’s a smart move as he knows our team and system and already started well. Tammy I think is very good business at his price considering it’ll likely be less than we’ll get for Malen and way less than Strand Larsen at double the price.

But in turning to what we’re familiar with in Luiz and Bailey is an acknowledgment that we’ve got things wrong and no matter what else, something isn’t working in the recruitment department and hasn’t been for a while when we’re largely so reliant on the same group of players signed during the Smith era.

The two incoming players I like. Good on getting our money back for Malen. Palace won’t be stupid enough to trigger buying Guessand. Core of the squad and continuing issues not really address or improved. 5/10.

[Percy McCarthy]

1/10? Have you looked at the two league tables we’re in?

[geolex]

1/10? Have you looked at the two league tables we’re in?

Yes and the backbone of the side that got us into those positions  were already here ie: McGinn Youri ,Kamara Cash konsa ,rogers etc

[LeonW]

1/10? Have you looked at the two league tables we’re in?

For last summer’s business? Definitely. I stand by that rating and my points on the players brought in. Our achievements and positions so far this season have been more hampered than helped by the majority of that business. Bizot was a smart pick up and Lindelof has surpassed expectations significantly. Little money was spent there. The majority of spend of transfer fees and wages have gone on players in Sancho, Guessand and Elliot who have contributed little to nothing and not materially improved the team. And in the case of Elliott, we can’t really use him.

[algy]

Alysson & Brian Madjo seem like punts in the hope that they’ll be good players in the future. No problem with that, I think we have to look at that type of signing, but not expecting either to be near the first team soon.

If we do end up selling Guessand for close to what we paid for him, we’ve done well. Think he was given a bit of a hard time on here, but it was still pretty clear that he wasn’t the player we needed. Bringing Bailey back to fill in for him feels a good idea too. It wasn’t working for him at Roma, and as far as we’re concerned he’s better than Guessand in our system anyway.

Swapping Malen for Tammy and some cash seems another good deal for us. Again no problem with Malen, I think he’s a good player, but I don’t think he’s what we need. I’m not sure if Tammy is strictly an upgrade on Malen, but I think he’s more suited to the way we play. It sounds like he’ll also take the wage bill down a bit, with is good fit the SCR rules.

Dougie could be one of the best bits of transfer business ever. Sell him for £40m and 2 players, buy him back for £20m 18 months later. It’s a very *us* transfer these days.

Overall - we’ve strengthened, whilst playing it safe with the signings - none of the players we’ve bought in will struggle to settle and they’ll all know what to expect, bar Tammy by I don’t think he’ll struggle with it at all & may well thrive.

Pretty happy with it all. Quietly confident about the rest of the season.

[Drummond]

My first ever thread started. Thoughts on the window?

I prefer the round one.