What do Aston Villa need to do to improve?

shoutman

As an Aston Villa fan I am aware of a lot of different opinions on this question.
Some say that David O'leary has gone stale, some say once Deadly doug is gone that all will be well if O'leary gets some money to improve the squad.

I was reading yesterday that O'leary is after a big James Beattie like striker and wants to improve the defence as well as holding onto Milner.

So what do you think is the main problem at Aston Villa and given the chance what area(s) of the squad would you improve?

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IMO O'Leary is not the problem, the Chairman (doug elllis) is bleeding the club dry, refusing to invest in the club whatsoever. It is rediculous that a club like Aston Villa, which should be among the top 5/6/7 clubs in England should be reduced to having one of the smallest squads in the Premiership.

I think that once Ellis steps down, which should be soon enough due to his age and his eagerness to sell the club. That things should improve as long as O'Leary , or whoever is in charge, brings in the right people.

It is clear that every area on the pitch needs to be bolstered if we are going to challenge for Europe in the future. Defence is lacking, with any injurys causinng serious problems for the team. However I feel that a good attacking midfielder is more important then having a new striker. I realise that our current strikers are similar enough in their style of play but could you imagine what an improvement it would be if Villa were fielding someone along the lines of Evertons Tim Cahill?

Big Nelly

Sack the chairman.....that is what was needed at Villa for the past 10 years

anonymous_joe

Sack the chairman, and quite possibly DOL. Villa have some good players, Angel and Milner would be two good examples, yet they cannot play with any consistency.

AnCapaillMor

A bit more depth to the squad. The 1st 11 basicaly picks itself.

I think dougs problem is that what happened to Leeds scared the bejasus out of him. him leaving won't fix much, probably mean incurring debts. An investor is needed.

Big Nelly

anonymous_joe wrote:

Sack the chairman, and quite possibly DOL. Villa have some good players, Angel and Milner would be two good examples, yet they cannot play with any consistency.

David O Leary is a legend and has done great things for that club since he took over, got rid of all the players on high wages that where doing nothing and saved the club a fortune

anonymous_joe

And then done nothing with what he was left with. I'm not saying they should be in Champions League territory, but with the players they have they should be doing a hell of a lot better. If DOL can't motivate them, he shouldn't have the job.

Kingp35

I think DOL is a good manager as he proved with Leeds. The problem lies with the chairman in my view, he is far too conservative with the clubs money. Yes nobody wants to happen to them what happened to Leeds but it doesnt mean you cant put some sort of investment into the team.

Villa have a very small squad and too many times this season DOL has been forced to play youth players who just arent ready for the Premiership yet. Cover is needed in many positions as well as improvement in most areas. This is not gonna happen without spending money which Ellis will not provide. They need to get him out and somebody who has a bit of cash to spend, in.

BolBill

Sack O'Leary, end of story.

Pigman II

Well I'd imagine assassinating Doug Ellis woulnd't harm matters for a start. The guy seems more interested in using the club to line his own pockets than to actually win anything.

Necronomicon

Is Ellis definately selling in the summer? I think DOL will try to hang around until the new owners come in at least, see what kind of backing he gets. I still think he's a decent manager, the season before last he got Villa on the brink of Europe, with as small a squad as he has now. I think they've been hit with a good few injuries this season. Has Melberg had one consistent partner at centre back? Laursen has spent more time on the shelf than the pitch. Patrick Berger hasn't gotten much chance to play. I'm sure there's been a few others too.

I think they've a pretty decent first 11 when everybody is fit, but as everyone above me has said, they need more depth.

Johnny_the_fox

Sack OLeary.

look at what O'Leary has bought in

This Season : Milan Baros (Liverpool, £6.5m), Wilfred Bouma (PSV, £3.5m), Patrik Berger (Portsmouth, Bosman), Eirik Bakke (Leeds United, Loan), James Milner (Newcastle United, Loan).

Last Season : Eric Djemba-Djemba (Manchester United, £1.35m), Kevin Phillips (Southampton, £1m), Mathieu Berson (Nantes, Undisc.), Carlton Cole (Chelsea, Loan), Vaclav Drobny (Strasbourg, Loan), Aaron Hughes (Newcastle United, Undisc.),

Season Before : Martin Laursen (AC Milan, £3m), Thomas Sorensen (Sunderland, £2.25m), Gavin McCann (Sunderland, £2.25m), Nolberto Solano (Newcastle United, £1.5m).

most have not been the best signings in the world - and even worst, some have hardly played a game.

Compare that to any other middle table / top-half club club. e.g Bolton.

This Season : Jared Borgetti (Pachuca, Undisc.), Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye (Lens, £?), Martin Djetou (Un-attached, Free), Fabrice Fernandes (Southampton, Free), Hidetoshi Nakata (Fiorentina, Loan), Oscar Perez (Un-attached, Free), Ian Walker (Un-attached, Free), Ali Al-Habsi (Lyn, Bosman), Matt Jansen (Blackburn Rovers, Free), Chris Stokes (Bristol City, £?), Khalilou Fadiga (Derby County, Loan return)

Last Season : Gary Speed (Newcastle United, £750k), Vincent Candela (AS Roma, Free), El Hadji Diouf (Liverpool, Loan), Michael Bridges (Leeds United, Bosman), Khalilou Fadiga (Un-attached, Free), Tal Ben Haim (Maccabi Tel Aviv, Undisc.), Fernando Hierro (Al-Rayyan Sports Club, Free),

Season Before : Florent Laville (Lyon, £500k), Ivan Campo (Un-attached, Free), Mario Jardel (Sporting, £?), Stelios Giannakopoulos (Olympiacos, Free), Javi Moreno (Atletico Madrid, Loan), Kevin Davies (Un-attached, Trial), Glen Little (Burnley, Loan ext.), Emerson Thome (Sunderland, Free), Steve Howey (Leicester City, Free), Ricardo Vaz Te (Farense, £?), Joao Manuel Pinto (Un-attached, Trial), Jorge Vargas (Un-attached, Trial)

You cant say the chairman has sucked the club dry.

BillyBoy

Admittadly Villa's signing's aren't great, but out of the Bolton signings mentioned above there have been a lot of flops

gsand

true...a lot of flops but you can afford a few when they are freebies...

Chucky the tree

Even wages cost money though. I think Ellis needs to go. If they sack DOL and ellis stays, they will just end up with another manager who wont be able to bring the club to its full potential. Oleary nearly brought them champions league football a few seasons ago. Been unlucky with injury this season.

Necronomicon

I don't think many of the signings posted above are bad. Sorenson and McCann were both excellent signings, as was Kevin Phillips.

TheDoc

I think the problem is not with Dave, he has had very limited moeny to spend to strengthen a squad. Get doug the dick out.

O'Leary has shown great ability to sign really good players and to bring in gr8 youth. But Villa ahvnt even got good youth in the academies.

shoutman

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

I think the problem is not with Dave, he has had very limited moeny to spend to strengthen a squad. Get doug the dick out.

O'Leary has shown great ability to sign really good players and to bring in gr8 youth. But Villa ahvnt even got good youth in the academies.

I think Villa have a very good youth setup, doing consistently in the youth cups.
Luke Moore is a prime example, a good player who will only improve vastly as time moves on.

Davey Devil

David O'Leary is a joke of a manager. Endless excuses, he never takes accountablity for any of his actions. Villa's squad isn't as bad as he makes them out to be.

How can the team have any confidence when in after match speaches he basically says they are not good enough? I'm sorry Dave but you're not good enough. How he ever thought Djemba Djemba was worth 1.3 mill I'll never know. Bouma was another waste, we really needed a centre back he goes out and buys Bouma and O'Leary can't figure out if he's centre back or a fullback.

What's more worrying is some very good players who have performed under other managers have clearly lost all motivation (Barry, Angel and Samuel) being prime examples. He also let go of Crouch who never got a fair crack at a decent run in the team.

He's been there for three years and they have gone backwards. Granted he's not had a big budget to work with but neither have many other more successful clubs. Doug has to go and he will when the right deal is stuck. I just hope O'Leary isn't there when the deal is done.

Kingp35

I think thats very harsh. Fact of the matter is that Villa's team is not good enough to beat alot of Premiership sides so its not excuses. Vila have also been hit prett hard by injuries in recent times and have been forced to rush youth players into the side.

The money that O' Leary has been given by and large has been used well. Bouma is a top player, you wouldnt start for the dutch national side on so many occasions if you werent. O' Leary just needs to pick his best position and play him there. Bar the odd bip like Djemba Djemba his signings have been good but there havent been enough of them because the squad is still too small. You can argue all you want but O' Leary is a good manager. Aston Villa fans think that just because they see themselves as a big club then they have a dvine right to be up the top the league. The team isnt good enough. They need new players but Ellis wont fund it. He has to go.