Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2017

CSF

Scott Hogan signed, who even gives a f*ck at this stage.

CSF

Ross McCormack gone to Forest on loan, pretty much the only thing that can cheer me up tonight. Hopefully he does well there, but only so we can get a decent transfer fee in the summer.

Sono

The most depressing thing of all is we are on tele again this weekend and it's away to Forest, I'm guessing Tish and Ross aren't allowed to play against us.

Every week I tell myself we are going to turn a corner and it never happens, so fed up with it all and it's truly depressing fooling myself into thinking we are gonna go on a run.

Walter H Price

Hard to feel anything but bitterly dissapointed with last nights perforence , promotion is gone for this season 12 points off with 18 to play simply cannot see us bridging that gap .

In all honestly it's probibly a good thing becasue we do not even have the bones of a premier league squad there to build on. I think with another 2 windows like the one we've just had and another season and a hlf for some of these players to come together as a unit we will challenge next year. From the forrest game Bruce can revert to his favoured 4-4-2 with Hogan and Kodija up top, hopefully that will bring goals.

The defense last night were appalling but in the case of Baker and Chester that at least is uncharacteristic this season, i'm not yet sold oh Johson in goal and i don't think the centre halves are either, i thought he was an odd and possibly the wrong signing at the time and hes done little to convince otherwise so far , its a positions we have gotten woefully wrong since Friedel left.

silver lining for me is we can now relax and just see out the end of this season in mid table, maybe with that pressure off performances may improve.

LeBash

Walter H Price wrote: »

From the forrest game Bruce can revert to his favoured 4-4-2 with Hogan and Kodija up top, hopefully that will bring goals.

If he has a full squad fit it will be a 433 or 451 with Kodjia out left and 3 in midfield. That was so poor last night he can't leave 2 in midfield.

basillarkin

LeBash wrote: »

If he has a full squad fit it will be a 433 or 451 with Kodjia out left and 3 in midfield. That was so poor last night he can't leave 2 in midfield.

We're Hourihane baranaseon and lansbury all not in the middle last night?

Walter H Price

basillarkin wrote: »

We're Hourihane baranaseon and lansbury all not in the middle last night?

yeh they were with Kodija played as a lone striker , i cant see that happening again to be honest he aways looks much better with a partner or on the right , think we he's left up top on his own he goes missing.

I wouldnt mind seeing Amavi pushed forward possibly , with Taylor tucked in behind at LB , his pace and crossing are quality but hes lacking the discipline of staying in position and the Awareness it takes to play at LB ... Still think Thor will make that wide left spot his once hes up to full fitness , incredible work rate

CSF

I'd be dropping Amavi. He hasn't performed anything like what he has looked like being capable of and badly needs the competition. Hutton aswell had a howler against Brentford and should be another to lose out this weekend.

Hopefully Jedinak is back and then him in for Bjarnason would be the only other change I'd make. Even if Jedinak isn't back I'd be finding someone who can play that holding role instead.

matrim

I don't see why we'd push Amavi forward when Green looks promising and we have other players who can play on the left.

If we wanted a more defensive Left side against a good team it might work, but I wouldn't be looking to do it all the time.

Walter H Price

matrim wrote: »

I don't see why we'd push Amavi forward when Green looks promising and we have other players who can play on the left.

If we wanted a more defensive Left side against a good team it might work, but I wouldn't be looking to do it all the time.

have to say green didnt overly impress me the other night i though his first touch looked heay at times and he looked a little out of his depth i would expect him to fall behind Grealish or Bjarnsson as soon as either can find some form.

The ionly reason i think Amavi might have something to offer as a winger is that all he has is pace the ability to beat a man and a decent cross , but he's in no way a defender to be honest i would try him in advanced roll if he under performs there i would be looking to move him on.

Its absolutly incredible the amount of money wasted in the last 4 windows (ecluding the one just gone) other than Chester, Jedinak and Kodija i'm struggling to find a single player we have signed in the last 2 years that has made any positive improvement to the team in the slightest , truth on it most have been sold or loaned including half of RDM's summer signings and nearly all of the players we wasted the Benteke cash on ... Hopefully Bruce will have found one or two who can improve the team because its becoming incredibly concerning , you look at teams like Fulham and QPR a few year of really poor business has absolutely crippled them , i's already cost us our place in the premier league and any chance at promotion at the first time of asking, i really really hope Bruce can stop the rot with thees new additions because if he cant i think were in a world of trouble.

CSF

I mean that is a big worry in itself. Need to hope that these signings will work under future managers because there is very little to suggest Bruce is going to be a) the manager to bring us up b) that he'd be even remotely capable of turning around with us his generally woeful Premier League record.

Managerial appointments need to be made going forward with the squad we have in mind rather than bringing someone in randomly and letting them undergo a complete overhaul.

It should really only need to be a keeper and a centre back signed in the summer after all the money we've spent in the last year.

artanevilla

I wouldn't be dismissing any of Bruce's signings yet.

Corholio

It's very hard to bring in a manager and tell him 'that's the squad you gotta work with'. Every manager will want their own change, that's why chopping and changing managers isn't always a good thing. Changing managers and keeping a settled squad rarely goes hand in hand. I don't know if Bruce will be the man to improve us, the results this year has been disappointing but I think he deserves a chance with the players he's brought in. It's not about gelling or anything like that, we all know results need to come fast, but repairing the damage of the summer dealings and what was there before anyway was never going to be an easy job. Lot of money was made back too this January rather than all the current loans from last summer.

Walter H Price

artanevilla wrote: »

I wouldn't be dismissing any of Bruce's signings yet.

absoluoutly not , to be honest for the first time in a while we look to have done good business selling Ayew ,Gestead and westwood for a combined 16m and briningin players proven and performing at this level for a fraction of the cost is a real improvement on what we've seen in the past few years.

Its a shame the result the other night put such a dampener on what really was a fantastic window, hopefully thees lads settle quick and Bruce gets them firing for next season

CSF

Corholio wrote: »

It's very hard to bring in a manager and tell him 'that's the squad you gotta work with'. Every manager will want their own change, that's why chopping and changing managers isn't always a good thing. Changing managers and keeping a settled squad rarely goes hand in hand. I don't know if Bruce will be the man to improve us, the results this year has been disappointing but I think he deserves a chance with the players he's brought in. It's not about gelling or anything like that, we all know results need to come fast, but repairing the damage of the summer dealings and what was there before anyway was never going to be an easy job. Lot of money was made back too this January rather than all the current loans from last summer.

I agree, but you need to bring in a manager who will only want to freshen up the squad and tinker a bit, not overhaul it. If you're in that situation again, you've either a bad transfer policy, or a bad managerial appointment policy.

We've invested heavily on the best in the division. These guys, by and large, need to be kept to get the job done even if Bruce is not.

Panrich

We brought in a guy from Southampton in the summer and he came with a reputation for data analysis and getting all teams from very young all the way up to play to a defined style of play and for video analysis of all training sessions. This was a positive move and well overdue as you always had the feeling that there was no long term views being taken at the club. Going from MON to Houllier and to McLeish in the space of a year tells you all you need to know about progression and a vision for a playing style. This new guy has left already.....

Now I wonder if Steve Bruce is one of those old style managers who does not see the value in new fangled data analysis and fancy diagrams. If Andrew Stone had been sidelined then it would explain why he left so soon and there's been no noise about it or no replacement announced that I saw.

It looks like we've looked around and Bruce has identified midfield as the issue and replaced it en masse. I hope he's proved right because Hourihane and Bjarnesson did a more than passable imitation of Westwood and Gardner the other night.

matrim

https://twitter.com/Dr_TonyXia/status/827515627535532032

Hepburn-Murphy has signed a new contract. Hopefully he can show that he was worth the hassle

Savman

Harsh comments on Bruce given that he took over someone else's team. I respect him hugely for taking a no nonsense approach with McCormack and shipping him and Lescott out the door, it's attitudes like theirs that has dragged us down to where we are now.

Happy enough to give Mr Potato head a full pre-season and let him have another go next year. Promotion and stability is what we need.

Also can't judge any new players for a while yet, certainly not on one performance when they were barely in the door.

artanevilla

Is Bruce a busted flush?

Sono

artanevilla wrote: »

Is Bruce a busted flush?

No

pavb2

At least Bruce is honest he's come out and said it was a mistake playing 3 newcomers in midfield during the week. He says he's going to change things a bit for Forest not sure how though 3 at the back 5 in midfield has been mooted.

35 in and out in 6 months I think you've got to keep Bruce for the start of next season and as long as we don't have a catastrophic start review things at Xmas, though isn't his contract up in the summer anyway?

artanevilla

Sono wrote: »

No

I joke by the way.

CSF

pavb2 wrote: »

At least Bruce is honest he's come out and said it was a mistake playing 3 newcomers in midfield during the week. He says he's going to change things a bit for Forest not sure how though 3 at the back 5 in midfield has been mooted.

35 in and out in 6 months I think you've got to keep Bruce for the start of next season and as long as we don't have a catastrophic start review things at Xmas, though isn't his contract up in the summer anyway?

I think if Bruce is gonna be in charge next season it's because he shows over the next 3 months or so that he is on the right track towards turning Villa into a winning team, particularly away from home when we've frequently not even been competitive.

I think you have to have that confidence because going into the season with real doubts over whether your manager will be there come Christmas time because he is already under pressure, is a seriously bad idea.

I'm willing to accept that this season is probably gonna be a writeoff, but next season absolutely can't be. He has 3 months to remove the pressure and go from being an under performing manager to a winning one. If he can do that, great. If not, then it just adds more uncertainty to the situation.

pavb2

Yes I think your right if we have any designs on promotion there's no way we should be giving 4 points to the likes of Wolves, Preston & Brentford,

CSF

I'd even be willing to let those things lie in the past if he could bring the feel good factor back to the club by the end of the season.

11 or 12 wins say, from the last 18 games and I'd be happy to say, well ok, he didn't get playoffs this season, which should have been the goal with all the signings we/he have been permitted by Xia, but at least we can see that he has already gotten his new team playing with promotion form and we go into the new season as a favourite for promotion next year.

But if he goes into next season still as an underperformer who is under pressure, then you're just asking to be talking about a bedding in period again come November. You hear people use the term stability but to me those kinds of situations are anything but stable.

Sono

CSF wrote: »

I'd even be willing to let those things lie in the past if he could bring the feel good factor back to the club by the end of the season.

11 or 12 wins say, from the last 18 games and I'd be happy to say, well ok, he didn't get playoffs this season, which should have been the goal with all the signings we/he have been permitted by Xia, but at least we can see that he has already gotten his new team playing with promotion form and we go into the new season as a favourite for promotion next year.

But if he goes into next season still as an underperformer who is under pressure, then you're just asking to be talking about a bedding in period again come November. You hear people use the term stability but to me those kinds of situations are anything but stable.

Yeah I would agree with all of that, if he can kick the losing mentality of the club and the lack of fight when we do go 1-0 down in a game because at the moment this side has shown feck all guts in games.

We have come from behind to win a game once this season at home to Blackburn, it's pathetic, teams go behind but it's how you react and we just react terribly and I hope Bruce can shift this and quick.

pavb2

I don't think even Bruce expected to bring all those players in during the transfer window though he had kept any eye on them for some time. So really the core of the team should be there and summer really should be about shipping a few more out (I think Sanchez Hutton Bunn's contracts are up along with a couple of others) and only bringing in a couple more.

CSF

Yup, and with all that said, this is what genuinely should happen now. We've signed huge in this window and Tuesday night should be the darkest before the dawn. Player for player I think we now have a case for having the best 11 ahead of Newcastle in the league, who didn't strengthen.

On paper. Which unfortunately means absolutely nothing until Bruce figures out a way to turn them into a cohesive winning team.

CSF

pavb2 wrote: »

I don't think even Bruce expected to bring all those players in during the transfer window though he had kept any eye on them for some time. So really the core of the team should be there and summer really should be about shipping a few more out (I think Sanchez Hutton Bunn's contracts are up along with a couple of others) and only bringing in a couple more.

I think we'll still need to sign a keeper and a CB in the summer. Those are areas where we'll be weak in numbers. If Xia wanted a marquee signing you could splash the cash on a game changing wide player too.

We've signed too many already for it to be another overhaul though, for sure.

Sono

The most frustrating thing is when we do go 1-0 down you just know we aren't going to win and let's face it draws are no good to us.

A good side shows fight and unfortunately this club has lacked fight for years.

I just hope we haven't bought another batch of players with bad attitude but I am confident these are better than what's been there, let's face it they can't be much worse.

Bounty Hunter

for the 500th time... today is the day it'll all start to get better

New signing Scott Hogan is set to make his debut for Aston Villa, who are without Gabby Agbonlahor (hamstring).

also McCormack and Tshibola are not able to face Villa.

CSF

Jedinak being fit would be key.

Bounty Hunter

CSF wrote: »

Jedinak being fit would be key.

don't think he is expected to be but yeah i'd feel more confident if he was sitting infront of the defense both giving them more much needed help from midfield but also allowing the new CMs do what they do best and supply Horgan, Kodija etc

Raven Runner

no matter what happens today keep the faith, there's no point looking for a quick fix we've got to be patient

CSF

I don't know what that lineup is or is meant to be but I'm very displeased that Elphick is in it.

JPA

Looks like a back 3, Bree and Bjarnsson wing backs I'd guess.

Sono

Just when I think I can't get more confused he goes and puts out this 11!?

CSF

Look I'm gonna reserve major judgement until we've seen it in action, but at first glance that looks like a bit of a trainwreck away from home.

Corholio

Hard to know how it will pan out but at least he is able to put out his favoured 2 up front now. Looks like Grealish in behind perhaps.

After the disaster the other night changes had to be made I guess, we'll see how it works out. At the very least glad to finally see Hutton out of the team.

CSF

I think Adomah is an unfortunate victim of whatever tactical changes have been made anyway. He has been constantly our most dangerous threat.

Sono

I don't care how I just want us to win and would love to see a few goals, that game midweek is still very fresh so would like to erase it from the memory.

I'll go for a very optimistic 3-1 Villa win, Hogan to get a brace!

Savman

Huge game tbh. A win here is vital.

artanevilla

Must win game defiantly.

We're not getting to the playoffs at this stage so it's all about pride for the rest of the season.

Sono

Cagey start from us, can't seem to string a few passes together.

artanevilla

Some run from Scotty Hogan.

Sono

YES!! Super kodjiaaaaaa

artanevilla

Super goal.

Sono

Now let's get another and put these ****ers to the sword, they are ****e in fairness

basillarkin

Poor from Conor there

matrim

1-1 mistake from Johnstone