Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

wynters

Here's a snipet of the Generals latest outbursts... kinda sounds like a level headed fellow. Talks some sense in parts...

"Let's start with the basic premise that I am a Villa Fan and I am as anxious as anyone to sign players. Hopefully no one out there will challenge that sentence. That being said, almost every comment goes back to "small squad", "is MON slooow", why do some players seem to "get away" from us, why aren't we signing new players and the ones we have, don't we know we are playing a game in 90 minutes, etc. etc. Seriously, is there anyone out there that does not think MON can count...that he doesn't know how many players he needs and that he is short a few??? MON knows exactly where we stand...and has NOT been sitting on his bum and is NOT happy with the numbers. Does anyone really think that MON does not know we have a game in 90 minutes?? Geezz, of course he does. Does anyone think that Randy requires MON to sell before he buys? If they do, they are DEAD WRONG!! Does anyone think that Randy will not open his wallet for MON? If so, they are DEAD WRONG!! Look around the league...seriously, there have not been a plethora of signings. We are about the norm. Why? To be serious, your guess is as good as mine. I can speculate but that is all it would be. I can assure you, MON is working! He is not sitting on his bum. Transfers are hard and getting harder...the league is competitive, agents are in the mix, lots of things going on. It is NOT just AVFC. It is VERY important to us because of where we are now and where we want to go...I understand that. At the same time, those few folks who seem to believe that Randy or the Board ought to jump in and start micromanaging the process are just asking for trouble. MON has a huge amount of help...at Villa Park, at Bodymoor Heath and across the Pond. It is not just a one-man show BUT, MON is the final arbitrator and you will not see Randy or the Board getting into his business. We will do one key thing...WE WILL SUPPORT HIM!!! Randy has NEVER, EVER, said no to MON. Again, I understand your frustrations but it is NOT just a matter of calling up a Club and Player and offering a wad of money....if it were that simple, we would have a bunch of players!

1. You have NO idea of what went on with Bentley so your post is specious. And asking me or the Club to describe exactly what went on would be crazy.

2. We are battling to move up in this League. It takes special players to make that kind of move. They don't grow on trees and they are not easy fish to catch. Going from 16th to 11th is one thing....players to go from 6th to one of the top 4 is a slightly different proposition and it does not happen overnight. I would ask ALL to think about that....the closer we get, the harder it gets. Let's allow MON to do his job.

On a completely different subject. I read on another blog that my appearing on these boards is for PR. What a bunch of ****e. If Mrs "K" ever heard that, she would be on the first plane to the UK. I have posted over 2500 comments on 4 separate sites and have done so almost daily...only times I don't are when I am traveling. Name me one PR guy who would spend that amount of time each day...knowing that in the summer and winter, that PR guy would be in for some heavy stick over transfers. If anyone thinks this is for PR, then they need to get a life...or walk a mile in my shoes. The PR value went away almost 2 years ago....what we are doing now is trying to make OUR Club better."

Savman

Helix wrote:

say what you want about him in terms of results, but in the transfer market the chap is a moron

Helix wrote: »

the general pretty much never comments on mons transfer dealings (bentley gaffe aside)

whispers coming out of villa park that lerner is losing patience with o'neills transfer abilities tho, seeing as poor randy is getting the blame in a lot of places, with questions being raised as to whether hes backing the manager or not

if mon doesnt deliver this summer, and we dont get top 7 in the league, mon is gone

Dude seriously, lay off the crack.

DSB

Savman wrote: »

Dude seriously, lay off the crack.

I'm sure you'll acknowledge that right now he is in a tricky situation. The General can talk about how the lack of transfer activity is something thats happening all over the league, but hes failing to point out that there are few clubs who need new players as badly as Villa.

Helix

Savman wrote: »

Dude seriously, lay off the crack.

so youre saying mon is great in the transfer market?

and youre saying that if the right side issue isnt sorted, and we succomb to a few injuries and all our progress is ruined, that mon wont be staring down the barrell? of course he will, and rightly so

just like any business, a manager is there to progress the whole thing, if the progress stops and its down to the manager (which lack of competant bodies obviously is), then you bring in someone else to continue on from the formers work

i dont think o'neill can take us any further, i hope he can, but i cant see it happening

spiderdan

Bentley seems 100% off to Spurs- Pool in for Milner- SWP seems like Pompey or some other team might snap him up like City- WTF is going on??? Odense right side destroyed us, imagine what Man U would do to our right side! get the foookin finger out- sign sign sign!! And whats going on with Knight, TBH its not really funny anymore he makes T Bramble look like Messy!!

leninbenjamin

spiderdan wrote: »

And whats going on with Knight, TBH its not really funny anymore he makes T Bramble look like Messy!!

never understood the acquisition of Knight. he's a very poor player in my opinion, frequently looked a vulnerability at Fulham. he should be replaced, no question.

Helix

leninbenjamin wrote: »

never understood the acquisition of Knight. he's a very poor player in my opinion, frequently looked a vulnerability at Fulham. he should be replaced, no question.

he should never have been signed in the first place

mon goes on about wanting the right player, how everything has to be exactly right before he'll sign anyone, then he goes and buys players like knight. the question is, if this is the managers view of perfect signings, then how the hell are we going to progress from here??

death1234567

Helix wrote: »

he should never have been signed in the first place

I agree, we had Cahill, why didn't we just play him. Knight is terrible.

SSN news flash: Freidel move expected within the next few hours, rumour has it villa is the destination.

Neil3030

I'm not about to go jumping into bed with Helix, but I am starting to get frustrated. Progress has been steady but goddam we'll be battling for relegation if the team that played Odense is our first-choice starting 11 this season.

Helix

aye the friedel deal has been done for a good while apparently, rovers were just holding up to get a replacement sorted out (expected to be robinson)

Savman

DSB wrote: »

I'm sure you'll acknowledge that right now he is in a tricky situation. The General can talk about how the lack of transfer activity is something thats happening all over the league, but hes failing to point out that there are few clubs who need new players as badly as Villa.

Tricky situation yes, but only because of our earlier than usual start. I'll be avoiding all Villa boards if we go out on Saturday.

Helix wrote:

so youre saying mon is great in the transfer market?

and youre saying that if the right side issue isnt sorted, and we succomb to a few injuries and all our progress is ruined, that mon wont be staring down the barrell? of course he will, and rightly so

just like any business, a manager is there to progress the whole thing, if the progress stops and its down to the manager (which lack of competant bodies obviously is), then you bring in someone else to continue on from the formers work

i dont think o'neill can take us any further, i hope he can, but i cant see it happening

MON will walk long before he is sacked. The guy is not a "moron", what an utterly ridiculous comment to make. If he walked he'd have no shortage of offers and Villa would be up sh*t creek without a paddle, we didn't exactly have Big Phil and Mourinho banging down our door did we?

Criticize if you will, but calling him childish names makes you look more like a clueless fool than an educated fan.

I won't defend MON's transfer policy but I have to acknowledge progress when it's there in black and white for all to see, 16th to 6th in 2 seasons. Yeah, criticize away. :rolleyes:

tomred1

I understood the signing of Knight for 1 game against Chelsea but after that he has made too many mistakes.
MON is good in the transfer market, Young, Davies. He is not rushing into signings and is taking his time. Im sure he is looking at players for the RHS and we will have one before new season but what can he do if Bentley wants to go to Spurs or Milner to Liverpool?

Bounty Hunter

Knight was bought to sit on the bench IMO, hes happy to do that too but unfortunatley we dont have enough defenders to facilitate that happening.

Savman

Neil3030 wrote: »

I'm not about to go jumping into bed with Helix, but I am starting to get frustrated. Progress has been steady but goddam we'll be battling for relegation if the team that played Odense is our first-choice starting 11 this season.

Ah the naysayers have been spouting the same old tired arguments since MON took over. We haven't had a recognised RB for well over a season and a half now, yet in spite of the obvious progress some people are adamant there's some kind of crisis. It's simply not true.

In fact, our lack of a real Right Winger causes us more problems than the make shift RB dilemma.

DSB

Savman wrote: »

Tricky situation yes, but only because of our earlier than usual start. I'll be avoiding all Villa boards if we go out on Saturday.

MON will walk long before he is sacked. The guy is not a "moron", what an utterly ridiculous comment to make. If he walked he'd have no shortage of offers and Villa would be up sh*t creek without a paddle, we didn't exactly have Big Phil and Mourinho banging down our door did we?

Criticize if you will, but calling him childish names makes you look more like a clueless fool than an educated fan.

I won't defend MON's transfer policy but I have to acknowledge progress when it's there in black and white for all to see, 16th to 6th in 2 seasons. Yeah, criticize away. :rolleyes:

If O'Neill were to go or be pushed, I'm sure there'd be no shortage of suitors to his throne, if what we're led to believe about the finances being there is true. I think it'd be unfortunate if O'Neill had to go because there's definitely alot of potential in his reign at Villa, if he can just learn to buy players. But if we were to go out on Saturday, or drift into mid-table mediocrity then I feel the blame would have to be placed at the feet of MON and he should jump ship to give him the graceful exit he has earned with the progression he has given us so far.

Savman

tomred1 wrote: »

I understood the signing of Knight for 1 game against Chelsea

£3.5m well spent :pac::pac:

DSB

tomred1 wrote: »

I understood the signing of Knight for 1 game against Chelsea but after that he has made too many mistakes.
MON is good in the transfer market, Young, Davies. He is not rushing into signings and is taking his time. Im sure he is looking at players for the RHS and we will have one before new season but what can he do if Bentley wants to go to Spurs or Milner to Liverpool?

He can buy another good player. There are more than 2 good right wingers out there.

Neil3030

Savman wrote: »

Ah the naysayers have been spouting the same old tired arguments since MON took over...

I hope you're not implying I'm a member of said group?

Savman

DSB wrote: »

But if we were to go out on Saturday

:eek: Let us not speak such things.

Savman

Neil3030 wrote: »

I hope you're not implying I'm a member of said group?

Neil you're perfect, don't ever change for noone

leninbenjamin

while this may seem at odds with my previous few posts i don't want to be seen as a MON critic. he's a very good manager imo, and while not the best in the transfer market he's far from the worst.

i made this post in the Arsenal thread, but i think it's just as relevant here

leninbenjamin wrote: »

this is such a deflated transfer market though. everyone seems to be playing it cautious, biding their time. in some regards this current window is a bit of a catch 22. the big clubs aren't spending as they usually might, and the usual trickle down of funds to stimulate the market isn't there. it's very hard to know the lie of things, but i've a feeling its going to pick up to frantic levels in the next few weeks, after all the game has more money now than ever before. just a waiting game.

so i wouldn't be inclined to blame MON for any lack of transfer activity so far. the market's in quite a funny place, after the flurry of investment in recent years has sort of tailed off. it's just a case of playing it patient and not flying off the handle to make gamble buys in frustration at the lack of real alternatives (like Knight, who did look somewhat promising early on in his career i'll admit). it'd be better to sit and not spend this window if it means you can get the quality needed in January.

Neil3030

Savman wrote: »

Neil you're perfect, don't ever change for noone

:pac:

DSB

Savman wrote: »

:eek: Let us not speak such things.

Haha, I don't believe it will happen myself, but we're fairly unequipped for it nonetheless. And I'd put that down to negligence. None of our weaknesses are things that MON hasn't known were going to happen for a season or 2. So its definitely poor management on the part of O'Neill that we're not prepared. Obviously he has earned the right to a reprieve after getting us 6th last season, but if we were to drop away in the league, or wreck our European chances, we'd know why, and it'd definitely throw away last seasons 6th place finish completely.

In the end nothing can be truly evaluated til about late December this year, but its fair enough for people to worry and complain about his negligence in the meantime. He isn't untouchable.

Savman

Hey it would seem that He We Don't Speak Of might get a run out in the friendly tonight.

Not sure what to make of it tbh...

DSB

leninbenjamin wrote: »

it'd be better to sit and not spend this window if it means you can get the quality needed in January.

No way. Have you seen the size of our squad? We simply couldn't cope. We've heard this 'next transfer window' stuff too many times before. This is his one to come up with the goods. No excuses.

Neil3030

I'm at work here, what was that report on SSN about Friedel?

Bounty Hunter

say we do defeat Odense anyone know what type of quality team await in the next round?

Bounty Hunter

Neil3030 wrote: »

I'm at work here, what was that report on SSN about Friedel?

should sign for someone (Villa)today.

nice sig:D

Savman

DSB wrote: »

he has earned the right to a reprieve after getting us 6th last season.

That's my entire argument really. I never said he was untouchable or infallible, but we all have to shut up about the Transfers and let him do his thing because he showed us all that his method, while cooky and annoying, works.
Whether the progress can be maintained...well time will tell. 5 year plan remember? Coming from the Dark Doug years, we all knew it needed a considerably lengthy regeneration to get us back up there. Problem is some of us want it yesterday...

Mr Alan

leninbenjamin wrote: »

so i wouldn't be inclined to blame MON for any lack of transfer activity so far. the market's in quite a funny place, after the flurry of investment in recent years has sort of tailed off. it's just a case of playing it patient and not flying off the handle to make gamble buys in frustration at the lack of real alternatives (like Knight, who did look somewhat promising early on in his career i'll admit). it'd be better to sit and not spend this window if it means you can get the quality needed in January.

I may be wrong, but would that not make MONs supposed inactivity even stranger?

After all, Villa need a lot of players, players of a higher calibre than they usually aspire to to close that gap between a top 8 finish and a top 4 finish. These players are harder to come by than the players O'Neill would usually target.

Surely now is the time to do that. Not after the top clubs have had their pick of players? leaving the leftovers for the others.

The big clubs seeming reluctant to jump into the market should spur O'Neill on, not hold him back.

Also, the money thing, we're led to believe, isnt really relevant as Lerner will back O'Neill with watever money he needs and has "never said no" to MON.

Savman

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

nice sig:D

ROFL

I think someone hacked my account

Neil3030

Mr Alan wrote: »

The big clubs seeming reluctant to jump into the market should spur O'Neill on, not hold him back.

I thought that myself, but smaller clubs may also be reluctant to sell on to a club like Villa without waiting to see if there's any interest from the big 4, in terms of getting more money. The "what it" factor would be significant I'd imagine.

Savman

Mr Alan wrote: »

After all, Villa need a lot of players, players of a higher calibre than they usually aspire to to close that gap between a top 8 finish and a top 4 finish. These players are harder to come by than the players O'Neill would usually target.

This is true, he's had to step up a level this time round even with outgoing transfers (can o' worms...run!).

Even with Friedel which seems likely and Bentley which doesn't, there's still some serious reinforcements needed well beyond those 2 players.

DSB

Savman wrote: »

That's my entire argument really. I never said he was untouchable or infallible, but we all have to shut up about the Transfers and let him do his thing because he showed us all that his method, while cooky and annoying, works.
Whether the progress can be maintained...well time will tell. 5 year plan remember? Coming from the Dark Doug years, we all knew it needed a considerably lengthy regeneration to get us back up there. Problem is some of us want it yesterday...

I think he deserves the reprieve, but not a reprieve from everyone being annoyed at the way hes going right now, and I'm not going to have blind faith. But he has pulled us through with small squads to 6th before, and maybe he can do it again. I don't think the same will happen again. I think we need a regular sized quality squad to maintain our league position, but whatever way he chooses to go about it, he should be given an opportunity to do so. But if he chooses to go about it in a way which few agree with, then it seems fair that its his head thats on the line if it all gos wrong. If December comes and gos and we're below 10th, he'll have to be judged on his decisions, and won't deserve any more reprieves.

Mr Alan

Also worth noting that two of Villas biggest rivals, Portsmouth & Spurs have strenghtened quite a lot already.

With Man City proving already they are going to spend big by bringing in Jo and trying to get Ronaldinho.

IMO Villa fans are very right to be annoyed/nervous.

DSB

Mr Alan wrote: »

Also worth noting that two of Villas biggest rivals, Portsmouth & Spurs have strenghtened quite a lot already.

With Man City proving already they are going to spend big by bringing in Jo and trying to get Ronaldinho.

IMO Villa fans are very right to be annoyed/nervous.

I'm not worried about what other clubs are doing. Spurs have always spent big on gambles, generally attacking players, it didn't get them too far last season and until they start bringing in world class defenders I reckon the same will happen. Portsmouth haven't strengthened that well either. I maintain that Agbonlahor and Carew are better than Defoe and Crouch.

I maintain that we don't need to be spending huge amounts of money. If O'Neill wants to go search for some excellent cheap signings that he thinks will do a good job for us, then thats fine enough by me. I'd much rather take the Man Utd approach relative to the race to the top 4 rather than the Chelsea 1. Spend big on top players like Young, but also bring in good cheaper players that will ensure we're well covered for years to come. Again I'm referring to transfer fees on a relative basis. Since the likes of Nani and Anderson would be classified as a bigmoney signing for us.

wynters

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Knight was bought to sit on the bench IMO, hes happy to do that too but unfortunatley we dont have enough defenders to facilitate that happening.

Well said Bounty Hunter. 100% correct.

It’s difficult to find squad players who are prepared to ‘fight for their place’ having some knowledge that they probably won’t start 70-80% of games. And I think the likes of Knight and Harewood for example are as good a player as we can hope to get to fill that squad role. Knight is a hometown boy aswell, a Villa fan all his life so he’d be content to wait for his chance on the Villa bench more than most.

We’re not gonna sign eleven £20m players. A squad has to be in some way supplemented with lesser quality in parts. That’s all he was bought for. United have O’Shea and Fletcher as squad players… Knight and Harewood would be in the same tier.

DSB

wynters wrote: »

Well said Bounty Hunter. 100% correct.

It’s difficult to find squad players who are prepared to ‘fight for their place’ having some knowledge that they probably won’t start 70-80% of games. And I think the likes of Knight and Harewood for example are as good a player as we can hope to get to fill that squad role. Knight is a hometown boy aswell, a Villa fan all his life so he’d be content to wait for his chance on the Villa bench more than most.

We’re not gonna sign eleven £20m players. A squad has to be in some way supplemented with lesser quality in parts. That’s all he was bought for. United have O’Shea and Fletcher as squad players… Knight and Harewood would be in the same tier.

I understand the general idea of what you're saying and I agree, but I can't put Knight into that bracket. Harewood yes, hes great to have, but Zat Knight is a liability for every minute he spends on the pitch. Having him on is definitely more of a disadvantage than an advantage. He is terrible and isn't upto being in the squad of a top half side, nor is he upto being in the first team side of a bottom half.

Villain

FFS lads seriously its the 22nd July not the 30th August, I know I want signings done ASAP but we have signed Sidwell and Guzan and Friedel looks to be on his way. We bid for Bentley but were rejected, Give MON a bit of time before you judge him on this transfer window.

DSB

Villain wrote: »

FFS lads seriously its the 22nd July not the 30th August, I know I want signings done ASAP but we have signed Sidwell and Guzan and Friedel looks to be on his way. We bid for Bentley but were rejected, Give MON a bit of time before you judge him on this transfer window.

Premiership starts August 16th. Or do the 3 games before the transfer window closes not count? Because with the team that played against Odense, we'll struggle to win any of them.

leninbenjamin

Mr Alan wrote: »

I may be wrong, but would that not make MONs supposed inactivity even stranger?

nope. a deflated transfer market makes people reluctant to sell. just like in an economic recession, you'd imagine now would be the time to buy but the uncertainty puts people off and they tend to just hang on to the assets they have.

anyone see Coppell's statement's during the week? he basically said the longer the interested parties take to make bids and do a deal the higher he'll ask in terms of tranfer fees because he can't guarantee he'll be able to get replacements in in time. that's the current situation everyone faces.

Villain

Yes DSB I know that, I already said that signing players early helps them settle in etc and train for our dead ball plays etc, but the fact is that the transfer market has been fairly quite, what do you want MON to do give Blackburn a blank cheque for Bentley, sign players that are cheap and really want to come but aren't at the quality we want???

Neil3030

Friedel will have a massive impact if he signs. Never mind his goalkeeping skills, we've lacked a talker in the box, and by jeebus he talks.

DSB

Villain wrote: »

Yes DSB I know that, I already said that signing players early helps them settle in etc and train for our dead ball plays etc, but the fact is that the transfer market has been fairly quite, what do you want MON to do give Blackburn a blank cheque for Bentley, sign players that are cheap and really want to come but aren't at the quality we want???

I would hope O'Neill had planned his transfer window plans long before it opened, and has a number of other options that he can turn to if his number 1 target is grossly overpriced or unavailable. No excuses of any kind should be accepted this transfer window. We need an average of a player every 3 days until the season starts. No less should be excused. We've been through this almost every transfer window since O'Neill arrived. Every year we hear optimistic people (and fair play to them) saying we should wait til the end of the window to judge, and yes at the end is when the final judgement will be made. If he pulls 9 good players out of the bag that are eligible to play on the first game of the season, then I think everyone will be happy, even though they should have gotten a pre-season. But I think everyone is entitled to be largely unrealistic about the prospects of that happening. Apart from Bentley all we're hearing is links to players like Kaboul and Johnson. Not the sort of player we need to be getting, also.

MementoMori

Current squad

GK Brad Friedel - Automatic first teamer if arrives
GK Guzan - Presuambly number 2 if he arrives
GK Stuart Taylor -
GK Elliot Parish (18) - Never made an appearance for

DF Wilfred Bouma - Automatic first teamer
DF Martin Laursen - Automatic first teamer & captain
DF Curtis Davies - when will he be back to fitness? -Definite potential
DF Zat Knight - Very suspect
DF Stephen O'Halloran LB - (20) Don’t think he has played for the first team
DF Nathan Baker - (17) - Don’t think he has played for the first team

MF Steve Sidwell - Automatic first teamer
MF Gareth Barry - Automatic first teamer if still at VP
MF Ashley Young - Automatic first teamer
MF Nigel Reo-Coker - Automatic first teamer
MF Craig Gardner - Good player - but not a right back
MF Stiliyan Petrov - looked over-the hill last season - doesn’t seem the type of player
MF Isaiah Osbourne - (20) - 19 games - shows the lack of cover in the squad -don't know yet if he's up to PL standard
MF Moustapha Salifou - 4 games for Villa so far
MF Wayne Routledge - 1 game for Villa so far - Always thought he was Championship standard
MF Zoltán Stieber - (19) Don’t think he has played for the first team
MF Chris Herd - (19) Don’t think he has played for the first team

FW Gabriel Agbonlahor
FW John Carew
FW Marlon Harewood - Is he up to the standard of being first-choice sub in a team who hopes to get into the top four?
FW Shaun Maloney - Don’t think he has settled - should let him move back to Scotland
FW Nathan Delfouneso - Don’t think he has played for the first team

The ones in bold are the ones who I would rate as decent PL quality ( and being good enough to be in a squad challenging for the top four)
It appears that MON doesn't seem to think he needs a decent squad, it just seems like he wants a decent first-choice eleven and will make do with youngesters/lesser players as cover. If you look at the current top four squad, there is a massive difference in terms of what they have in terms of cover squad players and what Villa have in their squad.

**********************************************************

Goalkeepers :- Friedel - only a short-term measure surely but at least there is a proper keeper in the squad; Guzman I don’t know but has potential. At least this seems sorted for the coming season.

Defence :-Two Rbs needed - the current RB situation is insane - with Mellberg gone surely two Rbs are needed ; Could also do with an upgrade on Knight as CB cover; Bouma with O’Halloran should be ok on the left

Mid-field : - The major problem is a serious lack of experienced decent cover. Once you go after Sidwell, Barry, Young, Reo-Coker and arguably Gardner, there is a massive drop in quality when it comes to Petrov, Osboroune, Salifou and Routledge. Need for a right-sided midfielder in particular, but could do with upgrading in terms of depth and cover.

Forwards - Agbonlahor and Carew are decent but an upgrade wouldn’t hurt on Harewood and Maloney

If the aim is challenging for a top-four an awful lot of work would seem to be necessary. I think MON might fall into the trap of remaining loyal to players who got them up to 6th but aren’t good enough to challenge for a place higher up the table. Also a fair few of the players pretty much know they are automatic choices as there isn’t much in the way of competition for their place, which I think this is a very poor thing if Villa want to progress. The lack of decent cover is truly shocking. People say that Villa have gotten by with a small squad in the past and that’s true. However I do feel they have been massively lucky to have survived so far to date without major injuries. There are a couple of older players in there ( Laursen, Friedel, Bouma, Carew, Reo-Coker) and I would be surprised if one of them didn’t pick up a longish term injury sometime over the course of the season. You could easily make a case that up to 8 players are needed to improve the squad in addition to the two goal-keepers. I think the most frustrating thing is that apparently the funds are there but very little progress seems to have been made (goal-keeper situation aside).

Cant see Bentley agreeing a move to Villa under any circumstances. Just don't think there is enough of the step-up from Blackburn he is hoping for. I think he is much more likely to stay at Blackburn for another season or end up at Spurs. I'd put the percentage chance of him ending up at Villa Park to be around 2%

Unless there are major additions to the squad I just can't imagine Villa managing to match last season's sixth.

DSB

MementoMori wrote: »

Current squad

GK Brad Friedel - Automatic first teamer if arrives
GK Guzan - Presuambly number 2 if he arrives
GK Stuart Taylor -
GK Elliot Parish (18) - Never made an appearance for

DF Wilfred Bouma - Automatic first teamer
DF Martin Laursen - Automatic first teamer & captain
DF Curtis Davies - when will he be back to fitness? -Definite potential
DF Zat Knight - Very suspect
DF Stephen O'Halloran LB - (20) Don’t think he has played for the first team
DF Nathan Baker - (17) - Don’t think he has played for the first team

MF Steve Sidwell - Automatic first teamer
MF Gareth Barry - Automatic first teamer if still at VP
MF Ashley Young - Automatic first teamer
MF Nigel Reo-Coker - Automatic first teamer
MF Craig Gardner - Good player - but not a right back
MF Stiliyan Petrov - looked over-the hill last season - doesn’t seem the type of player
MF Isaiah Osbourne - (20) - 19 games - shows the lack of cover in the squad -don't know yet if he's up to PL standard
MF Moustapha Salifou - 4 games for Villa so far
MF Wayne Routledge - 1 game for Villa so far - Always thought he was Championship standard
MF Zoltán Stieber - (19) Don’t think he has played for the first team
MF Chris Herd - (19) Don’t think he has played for the first team

FW Gabriel Agbonlahor
FW John Carew
FW Marlon Harewood - Is he up to the standard of being first-choice sub in a team who hopes to get into the top four?
FW Shaun Maloney - Don’t think he has settled - should let him move back to Scotland
FW Nathan Delfouneso - Don’t think he has played for the first team

The ones in bold are the ones who I would rate as decent PL quality ( and being good enough to be in a squad challenging for the top four)
It appears that MON doesn't seem to think he needs a decent squad, it just seems like he wants a decent first-choice eleven and will make do with youngesters/lesser players as cover. If you look at the current top four squad, there is a massive difference in terms of what they have in terms of cover squad players and what Villa have in their squad.

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Goalkeepers :- Friedel - only a short-term measure surely but at least there is a proper keeper in the squad; Guzman I don’t know but has potential. At least this seems sorted for the coming season.

Defence :-Two Rbs needed - the current RB situation is insane - with Mellberg gone surely two Rbs are needed ; Could also do with an upgrade on Knight as CB cover; Bouma with O’Halloran should be ok on the left

Mid-field : - The major problem is a serious lack of experienced decent cover. Once you go after Sidwell, Barry, Young, Reo-Coker and arguably Gardner, there is a massive drop in quality when it comes to Petrov, Osboroune, Salifou and Routledge. Need for a right-sided midfielder in particular, but could do with upgrading in terms of depth and cover.

Forwards - Agbonlahor and Carew are decent but an upgrade wouldn’t hurt on Harewood and Maloney

If the aim is challenging for a top-four an awful lot of work would seem to be necessary. I think MON might fall into the trap of remaining loyal to players who got them up to 6th but aren’t good enough to challenge for a place higher up the table. Also a fair few of the players pretty much know they are automatic choices as there isn’t much in the way of competition for their place, which I think this is a very poor thing if Villa want to progress. The lack of decent cover is truly shocking. People say that Villa have gotten by with a small squad in the past and that’s true. However I do feel they have been massively lucky to have survived so far to date without major injuries. There are a couple of older players in there ( Laursen, Friedel, Bouma, Carew, Reo-Coker) and I would be surprised if one of them didn’t pick up a longish term injury sometime over the course of the season. You could easily make a case that up to 8 players are needed to improve the squad in addition to the two goal-keepers. I think the most frustrating thing is that apparently the funds are there but very little progress seems to have been made (goal-keeper situation aside).

Cant see Bentley agreeing a move to Villa under any circumstances. Just don't think there is enough of the step-up from Blackburn he is hoping for. I think he is much more likely to stay at Blackburn for another season or end up at Spurs. I'd put the percentage chance of him ending up at Villa Park to be around 2%

Unless there are major additions to the squad I just can't imagine Villa managing to match last season's sixth.

Agreed, although I think referring to our first team as only decent is very harsh.

MementoMori

DSB wrote: »

Agreed, although I think referring to our first team as only decent is very harsh.

True - probably wasnt the correct term for what I meant - Mostly when I use decent when referring to a player I mean that they are normally good to very good, sometimes excellent and only very rarely poor.

In my head a decent PL player is a lot better than an average PL player, if that makes any sense?

DSB

MementoMori wrote: »

True - probably wasnt the correct term for what I meant - Mostly when I use decent when referring to a player I mean that they are normally good to very good, sometimes excellent and only very rarely poor.

In my head a decent PL player is a lot better than an average PL player, if that makes any sense?

Yup. But in my head, 2 goalkeepers and 7 outfield players (not including Sidwell) is the bare minimum of what we can accept from this transfer window.

leninbenjamin

MementoMori wrote: »

Current squad...

wow, when you put it like that, i'd no idea that Villa were that short on depth. i can certainly see why people question MON now...

MementoMori

DSB wrote: »

Yup. But in my head, 2 goalkeepers and 7 outfield players (not including Sidwell) is the bare minimum of what we can accept from this transfer window.

Have MON/the General/anyone given any indication of how many players MON wants/hopes/plans to bring in?

From what I've heard it seems to suggest MON has no plan to bring in that number of players - more along the lines of four or five max (excluding GKs)