Aston Villa and the summer ahead

Zebedee

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Taking it here rather than derailing transfer thread.

True, though I think Ireland is less of a problem than Beye, Heskey et al - he does at least have SOME quality (if a terrible mentality). All the people I mentioned (with the exception of Young and NRC) aren't playing in the first team, with the exception of Petrov, and quite a few aren't even squad players. I think the time has come to bring up some of our youth. The likes of Albrighton, Bannan and Clark have all excelled this season, and Delfouneso, Baker, Johnson and Gardner are all excellent prospects. We would need to invest in new full-backs, maybe new centre-backs (offset by the sale of our current ones) a new keeper (the excellent Benjamin Siegrist can act as a No. 2) and maybe a creative midfielder and then we would have more or less a complete squad. For example, from our current starting line-up of this:

Friedel
L. Young - Collins - Dunne - Clark
Makoun - NRC - Delph
Downing - Bent - Young

to this:

New GK
L. Young - Cuellar - Clark - New LB/Baker
Bannan - Makoun - Delph
Albrighton - Bent - Downing

Would require very little investment, and likely end up with far less wages on the first team. And, I'd say, not too much drop-off in ability: an ineffective Young is replaced by one of the most promising wingers in the Prem, and Nigel Reo-Coker is replaced by a Champions League-standard defensive midfielder moving into his favoured position and an extremely talented young midfielder taking that spot. That's just an example, of course, but it can definitely be done.

The point about some of the players you'll understandably want shifting on is that currently most of them are on fairly long term contracts with very favourable wages. Who will take Ireland on at 50-60k a week given his track record and pay a transfer fee on top of that? How about the older pros? That's the real problem most clubs are facing. Can blame City and Chelsea for really hammering wages up, but everyone's feeling the pinch and sooner or later will have to make adjustments. Spurs will be making some this summer and be running into similar problems as you guys are facing. God knows Liverpool are going to struggle to rectify some of the issues with our squad too.

Do you think such a young squad could cope with a few injuries and maintain a consistent level of performance over the course of a season? You've got a lot of excellent young talent coming through the ranks, definitely agree. If you can keep hold of them, in the medium term things look great. But can they reasonably be expected to keep you even mid-table as the team matures? It's a catch-22 I guess - the better the player, the more likely they are not to be satisfied with staying at a team which is running hard to stay still. But as soon as they move, it puts the whole team back.

No. Ireland's on about 55k p/w, Heskey on 60k p/w. Beye's on 40k, and Downing on 45k. Downing's not on 115k p/w (which is what Heskey and Ireland would be) by any stretch of the imagination.

Have been told that Downing is on between 55k and 60k (ie Villa's top tier in their existing pay brackets). Didn't mean he was on the same as both combined :D

Well, that's your opinion. As I said, Lerner knows he won't challenge for Europe without retaining key players, and Downing is most definitely one of them.

That's the problem you have though, isn't it? Just how do you get back up into the top 5 or 6 whilst also cutting costs? The resale value of most of the players you want to shift on will be minimal. More cash coming in from Lerner when he's already covering your losses every season to the tune of £30m? This summer you'll get the cash for Young (presumably). Will that be sufficient to persuade your better players that they should be staying with the club? Bent is another player who will be watching carefully to see what happens. I can see you spending £30m this summer, but a lot of that will be from the Young sale and/or other sales.
 
Don't think he has played at all under Houllier.

I imagine he has been left out, pending a transfer in the summer.
 
Mmm, was left back for Sparky at Blackburn and we need a left back with Salcido going home so Fulham could be his likely destination.
 
Personally, I believe Young, Downing, Friedel, Warnock and Beye will go in summer. Meaning we require a new goalkeeper (Guzan is far from Prem first team quality), brand new wingers, especially on the left as we can put Albrighton on the right. LB position could be filled by Clark, although he is naturally central. RB we have L Young, Walker possibly, but are still in the sh*t.

I don't think it's looking good, we need serious money, other we will finish 9th again, not the ideal European places.
 
In
Westwood
Green
Parish (promote)
Lichaj (promote)
Baker (promote)
Gardner (promote)
Weimann (promote)
Hogg (promote)
Herd (promote)

out
Carew
Osbourne
Salifou
Reo-coker
Friedel
Pires
Warnock
Beye
Ireland
Guzan
Lowry
Young
Heskey
 
In
Westwood
Green
Parish (promote)
Lichaj (promote)
Baker (promote)
Gardner (promote)
Weimann (promote)
Hogg (promote)
Herd (promote)

out
Carew
Osbourne
Salifou
Reo-coker
Friedel
Pires
Warnock
Beye
Ireland
Guzan
Lowry
Young
Heskey

Wow thats quite a change of players you'd have. Would be interesting to see how Villa went if they did promote lots of young players as youve suggested, especially as they have quite a good record of promoting young players but I just wonder if they have to many young players then they will lack the experience and it could backfire? Do Villa fans mind potentially getting relegated next season if it means a major change in players and promoting lots of young lads into the team?
 
Taking it here rather than derailing transfer thread.



The point about some of the players you'll understandably want shifting on is that currently most of them are on fairly long term contracts with very favourable wages. Who will take Ireland on at 50-60k a week given his track record and pay a transfer fee on top of that? How about the older pros? That's the real problem most clubs are facing. Can blame City and Chelsea for really hammering wages up, but everyone's feeling the pinch and sooner or later will have to make adjustments. Spurs will be making some this summer and be running into similar problems as you guys are facing. God knows Liverpool are going to struggle to rectify some of the issues with our squad too.

Do you think such a young squad could cope with a few injuries and maintain a consistent level of performance over the course of a season? You've got a lot of excellent young talent coming through the ranks, definitely agree. If you can keep hold of them, in the medium term things look great. But can they reasonably be expected to keep you even mid-table as the team matures? It's a catch-22 I guess - the better the player, the more likely they are not to be satisfied with staying at a team which is running hard to stay still. But as soon as they move, it puts the whole team back.



Have been told that Downing is on between 55k and 60k (ie Villa's top tier in their existing pay brackets). Didn't mean he was on the same as both combined :D



That's the problem you have though, isn't it? Just how do you get back up into the top 5 or 6 whilst also cutting costs? The resale value of most of the players you want to shift on will be minimal. More cash coming in from Lerner when he's already covering your losses every season to the tune of £30m? This summer you'll get the cash for Young (presumably). Will that be sufficient to persuade your better players that they should be staying with the club? Bent is another player who will be watching carefully to see what happens. I can see you spending £30m this summer, but a lot of that will be from the Young sale and/or other sales.
I reckon Villa will sell some top players this summer (Young, etc.) and invest around 1/3 - 1/2 of the money on new transfers. Maybe some cheap Man City 'flops' (i.e. Players not scoring around 1 goal a game ;)) and some youth too. But will Lerner be willing to spend, after spending a bit on Dunne, Collins, Downing, Bent, etc. in recent years?

Oh, and welcome back Zebedee, and great article/post as always.
Wow thats quite a change of players you'd have. Would be interesting to see how Villa went if they did promote lots of young players as youve suggested, especially as they have quite a good record of promoting young players but I just wonder if they have to many young players then they will lack the experience and it could backfire? Do Villa fans mind potentially getting relegated next season if it means a major change in players and promoting lots of young lads into the team?
I think he's taking the ****.
 
I would love a new GK possibly Enyeama (love that guy), i personally really liked Warnock until GH arrived and he hit a slump (apparently handbags with the staff), so wouldn't mind too much if he was sold as long as we got a decent lb in return i'm a fan of Kieran Gibbs from arsenal (not sure he'd leave) or Ryan Bertrand (most likely loan).Maybe Leighton Baines if we could entice him

Makoun playing as a DM would get the best out of him and maybe Delph could be a creative midfielder but i doubt he be too consistent at his tender age so a creative midfielder would be vital maybe Keisuke Honda from CSKA (any other ideas?)
 
Sorry I didn't reply. Was busy yesterday, wouldn't have had enough time to do a reply to my satisfaction.

Taking it here rather than derailing transfer thread.

The point about some of the players you'll understandably want shifting on is that currently most of them are on fairly long term contracts with very favourable wages. Who will take Ireland on at 50-60k a week given his track record and pay a transfer fee on top of that? How about the older pros? That's the real problem most clubs are facing. Can blame City and Chelsea for really hammering wages up, but everyone's feeling the pinch and sooner or later will have to make adjustments. Spurs will be making some this summer and be running into similar problems as you guys are facing. God knows Liverpool are going to struggle to rectify some of the issues with our squad too.

Hardly any of them are on long-term contracts. Carew has (literally just) left, Beye's got very little left, Petrov has a year left, Heskey a year, and so on. I think there will be takers for Ireland, even if he has to take a pay cut, as he is undoubtedly a talented player; his move to us just didn't work out, it happens occasionally (Forlan, for example, has carved himself an excellent career after flopping at United).

Do you think such a young squad could cope with a few injuries and maintain a consistent level of performance over the course of a season? You've got a lot of excellent young talent coming through the ranks, definitely agree. If you can keep hold of them, in the medium term things look great. But can they reasonably be expected to keep you even mid-table as the team matures? It's a catch-22 I guess - the better the player, the more likely they are not to be satisfied with staying at a team which is running hard to stay still. But as soon as they move, it puts the whole team back.

Point well made. This is what worries me. I hope they can make the step up to be consistent performers with pros like Makoun and Bent around them, but they'd have to mature under pressure and do it fast. Time will only tell, I suppose. Luckily, we have youngsters like Delfouneso and Albrighton, die-hard Villa supporters. I know it counts for a lot less nowadays, but it will surely help.

Have been told that Downing is on between 55k and 60k (ie Villa's top tier in their existing pay brackets). Didn't mean he was on the same as both combined :D

Haha, sorry I misunderstood. I understand (questioned Tim Abraham and Mat Kendrick on it) and they say Downing's on between 45-50k p/w.

That's the problem you have though, isn't it? Just how do you get back up into the top 5 or 6 whilst also cutting costs? The resale value of most of the players you want to shift on will be minimal. More cash coming in from Lerner when he's already covering your losses every season to the tune of £30m? This summer you'll get the cash for Young (presumably). Will that be sufficient to persuade your better players that they should be staying with the club? Bent is another player who will be watching carefully to see what happens. I can see you spending £30m this summer, but a lot of that will be from the Young sale and/or other sales.

Well, we'll see. Frankly, if we can do deals like we did with Makoun (4 mil for a superb player) that 30 mil will stretch a long way. Lerner's no fool, but equally he's an excellent chairman, and knows that we need to spend money to make it.
 
BBC Sport - Nigel Reo-Coker and John Carew leave Aston Villa

Holy Christ!


If you don't want to read the article, it's just says that 10 Villa players have been released, including John Carew, Nigel Reo-Coker, Isaac Osbourne, Moustapha Salifou and Robert Pires. It's surprising, because I thought Carew and Reo-Coker were key players, but I'm a bit behind the times. Carew and Agbonlahor made a good partnership, scoring constantly and Reo-Coker is a solid defensive midfielder. I guess that they are on too much of a wage though. Many clubs have released players this summer, and I have a feeling some may regret it.
 
Reo didn't want to stay, therefore refused to sign a contract, according to news. Besides Houlier disliked Carew, hence the reason for swapping him for Baros while at Lyon and I think he also disliked Warnock, at the time he was at Liverpool.

I personally believe the club won't be back into shape next season, but maybe the one after. The youngsters have a lot of potential and i'd love to see more of Bannan, Baker and Delph playing an important role in the squad next season. I'd also love to see Agbonlahor return his goalscoring ability, because he was hardly a threat, not using his pace as a threat enough either.

Hopefully we'll also get a replacement for Young too, as by the looks of it he will be leaving, so once that's sorted then I recon we'll progress back to Europe :)
 
BBC Sport - Nigel Reo-Coker and John Carew leave Aston Villa

Holy Christ!


If you don't want to read the article, it's just says that 10 Villa players have been released, including John Carew, Nigel Reo-Coker, Isaac Osbourne, Moustapha Salifou and Robert Pires. It's surprising, because I thought Carew and Reo-Coker were key players, but I'm a bit behind the times. Carew and Agbonlahor made a good partnership, scoring constantly and Reo-Coker is a solid defensive midfielder. I guess that they are on too much of a wage though. Many clubs have released players this summer, and I have a feeling some may regret it.

Yeah, went over this in the transfer rumours thread.

Carew hasn't been a key player for over a year, and whilst NRC was he wanted 60k p/w and we weren't giving that to him. (though wierdly NRC wasn't a key player when Carew was, so you're a little messed up somewhere along the line :p)

---------- Post added at 10:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 PM ----------

Warnock's a great player, surprised Houllier doesn't like him.

Great player my ****. His form was terrible, and then he went and publicly complained about the manager, the fans and the club for not playing him because he was *****. He can **** right off with that attitude.
 
Yeah, went over this in the transfer rumours thread.

Carew hasn't been a key player for over a year, and whilst NRC was he wanted 60k p/w and we weren't giving that to him. (though wierdly NRC wasn't a key player when Carew was, so you're a little messed up somewhere along the line :p)

---------- Post added at 10:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 PM ----------



Great player my ****. His form was terrible, and then he went and publicly complained about the manager, the fans and the club for not playing him because he was *****. He can **** right off with that attitude.

Oh, haha. Was a good player at Liverpool and Blackburn at least then
 
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