It seems there’s plenty being written about the club and team, but it’s all fluff in my opinion.
There’s talk about Spurs offering us Dembele as a swap for Delph.
While he’s a decent player, I just don’t see it happening.
Give us about £5 million on top and I might consider it as a decent deal.
Does that sound daft? Not for me, as bear in mind Dembele’s had 6 games in a Spurs side that aren’t exactly setting the world alight. Did he even start them all? I doubt it, but don’t know.
Delph is an England newcomer, which automatically gives him higher value and my attitude is that we should really push the boat out to keep him, wages-wise.
It just isn’t going to happen though, is it?
It’s bordering criminal, the way we’ve let this one play out and no doubt whatever we get for him (less a few bob for Lerner’s back pocket) will go into the rumoured decent transfer pot in the winter window.
So one of our best players gone in exchange for whatever Lambert gets us.
That’s worrying, given Lambert’s record of signings.
Whatever, it’s a story that’s being touted by the London media backing one of their own clubs. Enough said.
There’s plenty of talk about Cleverley, as in should we take up the option of buying him at the rumoured £8 million or whatever it is?
Interestingly, stats seem to back up reasons why we should keep him, but I’m just not seeing it, as he contributes nowhere near enough for my liking.
I personally wouldn’t pay £2 million for him on what we’ve seen so far, but a poll has been asked for regarding this and I’m happy to oblige.
I see Hutton is talking about how we can beat Man United.
Good luck with that one, but I guess you never know. Given our results against them over the last 20 years, you would think we are due a win. But that’s for another day.
I haven’t even bothered looking at any rumours of who we might get in, as I’ve come to the firm conclusion that there will be no-one of any major interest, full stop and the simple fact is nobody can second guess what Lambert thinks, let alone name players he might be interested in.
As for ITKs, well, you have to laugh, don’t you?
Lerner doesn’t have a scooby and I’m sure even Lambert thinks our defence isn’t the problem it was.
Which probably leaves him somewhat flummexed.
So where would any ITK’s get their sources from?
Am I downbeat? No, not really.
I think I’m just becoming used to the way things are.
And seriously missing any excitement about the club.
Prove me wrong Lerner/Lambert and give us something to cheer about.[polldaddy poll=8531720]
Spot on. Guess if you look at Cleveland Browns we should have seen it coming. Sad fact about having no excitement
I’d take Dembele over Delph any day. Fact we could get around 2m or so extra would make it an even better deal.
Cleverley at 8m is a large waste of money that we might have, but if that’s basically over half our funds unless Vlaar goes then that would be the worst waste of money we could do. I’d pay around 4m for him at most currently. I do like Cleverley but he’s nowhere near worth 8m. But we need at least one more CM in even if we sign Cleverley based on always playing 3 centrally. We do get Gardner back but do we get Johnson too? I wouldn’t mind seeing them given game time. Can’t be any worse than seeing Richardson or unfortunately having to see Clark back in midfield due to injuries/suspensions.
Other then 2 Championship wingers, I’ve hardly read any real rumours bar Cleverley which is odd this time of year. Very few about ins and the only linked out are Vlaar and Delph, which are the two obvious, bore media ones. And a few other blogs claiming N’Zogbia should be sold, which I’d agree.
if villa continue to play three central mids, then villa need two forward thinking midfielders, westwood, sanchez are both similar, in both are defensive, both will want to play the sitting mid, the other two need to be able to pick a forward pass, cleverley has been slagged off in manchester for sideways passing. sofar at villa hes done nothing to suggest hes got more in the locker. could lennon not play the sterling floating role pool play. dembele isn’t any different to sanchez and westwood, hes not gonna be attacking and hes worse than delph, or why would spuds want him. i say lennon and MONEY
noway would everton buy cleverley for 8 mill, he wanted to go to toffees but utd wanted to sell, we had agreed the 8 mill, but hopefully fox will pull that plug based on the performances.
Nath, why would u want Lennon? He’s always injured…
i make suggestions, i know he can create goal opportunities, he can drive past defenders and score goals, hes not in the spurs first team set up, so he will be cheap, if they want delph, we need a player that wants to come and that could be a assist. we can’t afford another ireland situation, player swaps are dodgy. if lennon is fit and isn’t in the spurs set up cos the manager doesn’t fancy him. iam sure he would jump at the chance of a villa lifeline. also hes better than anything we have in creating and ghosting past players, charlie insomnia hasn’t ghosted past a opposition player since a friendly for wigan
Lennon looked great a few years ago but would be a massive risk. I always called him “headless”, as he seems to run around with the ball without really knowing what to do once he gets started.
what is the risk,you keep playing noz or bring in a replacement that can produce a end product, i am suggesting give me a bigger budget i will suggest a better player. iam just thinking about where this club is and what type of players would find us attractive,
we need a cutting edge, we started getting some decent positions only for no decent crosses or final pass over, hit missed place or in nzog just disappear for 60mins or touch ball twice and lose its three times, the guys a fake.fraudster. top signing that i would say is a much bigger risk than lennon
Is Lennon that cutting edge though? Even with our “lack of funds”, Lennon’s not the best we can get. He’s mainly a pacey player who’s pretty much lost that due to injuries, his final ball isn’t near that good. Of course he’s better than N’Zogbia, but wasting money on players just because they’re better, you could find hundred’s. He wouldn’t really make us attractive as his passing isn’t good and his kick and run dribbling isn’t either.
Unfortunately he’s on loan but I’d look at going all out for Vargas of Napoli/QPR.
Romain Hamouma for right wing would be a good signing.
Joãozinho for Left wing would be also a good signing. Or Vitolo.
lennon is a suggestion, only i hold no authority at vp thankfully. i believe if i had the chance to have nzog or lennon in my team, theres no question or debate. i would play lennon even if he was missing a leg or two
westwood is not a attacking midfielder, never will be and sanchez is a holding midfielder were ever hes played, even for his country. so if cleverley is the attacking mid, we need than iam missing the plot. grealish is the attacking midfielder we need, only hes not ready and will never be, unless hes risked in this weekend game,,,,, sink or swim.
villa midfield usually plays a deep laying mid,WESTWOOD is playing this role, now hes injured sanchez took the role, delph is back,if you want to hurt utd. then you have to play grealish as the link to the forwards, the aim has to be using gabby and weimann wide pinning young and valencia back
but i fear the manager would go for the save option of using okore or clark as the sitting mid and use sanchez and delph as the other two which is ok. but then theres no room for grealish, he needs to be thrown in…..given a chance to shine,
lastly okore was thrown in, having no other choice at centre back he and clark have more than held the fort, goes to show you, sometimes out of a crisis, shines a star
Good thing I never said Westwood was in fact an attacking midfielder. I said he has been our most attack-minded midfielder, which would be of course different than attacking midfielders. He’s the only midfielder currently who passes forward more often than anyone else on the team. When he gets the ball, his first reaction is to get it forward. I am in fact well aware of where he’s being played, that however doesn’t mean that he’s not our most attack-minded midfielder currently. It is why most call it a deep-lying play-maker role. When you have a player that can pass as well as Westwood can, you have a golden opportunity.
Valencia’s been poor all season bar the Liverpool game who often make most players look good. Young does worry me as he’s been very good this season and has one of the best crosses in the league.
Okore was always known to be a star though. He was proving it before he got injured. It was ridiculous it took them this long to throw him in.
don’t get all defensive andrew, i knew what you meant, what i mean is the third midfielder, needs to be more attack minded, ie grealish could well be the missing link. cole is the idle type, but will he even be fit enough to grace vp
point i make is we need players and we need creative players like cole used to be. which or who i haven’t the foggiest, because those types in their prime aren’t cheap, so would tight arsed lerner cough up the dough and would a decent player of the quality we need actually come to VP
also midfielders like gerrard at pool struggle to pass forwards, when theirs no movement up field, my mate is a scouser, hes crying about rodgors like most ere cry about lambert, funny as fook. they accuse him of being tactically naive. they hate Balotelli and aren’t happy. when a midielder at villa gets the ball the only forward ball available is benteke,with nobody else to find the ball ends up going sidways, so you can sympathize alittle with our basic midfield
Not being defensive at all, in fact I’d definitely agree with that. Movement up front is our problem. Largely because he’s again switching out of nowhere how Villa play. It’s why we were awful last season and why while we look better passing-wise, it’s mainly between Sanchez and the defense. It’s far too slow and with it being slow, Prem clubs are wise enough to get back into formation quickly and stand around waiting for a lumped up ball that will eventually come.
Also agree we need an attacking mid. Hell if they don’t want to buy one, give Abdo a chance. With Grealish, Robinson and Benteke. Yes they’re costly but then again you gotta know where too look and unfortunately you either pay a lot of money or do the smart thing all the big clubs have been doing for years, look outside of England. Prem experience means little nowadays.
Westwood in fairness have been our most attack-minded player. Cleverley has done more defensive work than Westwood has. Westwood next to Sanchez with an attack minded midfielder would be more than good enough.
I think that attacking player ye are describing is very much in the Tadic mold, last January we apparently had the 10 million ready for him, but his club at the time wanted 11 million.. we really couldn’t cough up an extra million?? Such a shame, especially seeing light up that Southampton midfield.
Hopefully we have that kind of money again for players. 10 million could definitely get a quality attacking midfielder at Villa Park.
In fairness to Lerner, he does seem to back Lambert when he needs it. So hopefully Lambert can push the boat out for another 10 million this transfer window. Every time I see Tadic in a Southampton jersey I can’t help but think of what could have been.. maybe we will have more luck this time round!
Maybe as despite the criticism, he does back the manager’s in who they want for the most part. I can see the reason behind not getting Tadic as the amount of risks taken Lerner has done on higher transfer fees not working out, sure he had a set amount wanting to pay and not going more than that.
I do wonder who has the most say in transfers now though. Fox, Lambert or Paddy Reilly. My guess is the latter as it’s claimed he is the new head of recruitment with the full backing of Lerner.
Be interested to see who we really want.
Nath, I think Lennon would cost a reasonable amount of cash. CNZ was expensive and has never delivered for us. the risk is that Lennon doesn’t recover the form he once showed, and doesn’t get over his injuries, like CNZ again. Have to agree with Andrew and his assessment of Lennon
All this talk about Lennon, we are stuck with an idiotic “manager” who doesn’t believe in wingers.
Cleverly – A good free loan, but not a buy.
Delph – Inherently flawed, I cannot quite explain why (up to last season he over-rated his own ability in a challenge and kept getting robbed) because he has matured – but still causes breakdowns and opposition goals. A player where the stats don’t lie (Villa results with Delph) but the casual impression is different.
Lennon – excellent, if fit. But nowadays that is a big if – it puts him in the same bracket as Joe Cole – could not play 180 minutes in 7 days.
Thanks to the improvement in the athleticism of full-backs, good wingers are a rarity. Twenty years ago most teams had a winger who could skin a full back either by pace or trickery, now few teams have such a winger, and almost none who beat players with trickery rather than pace.
I was hoping for a Given loan (then signing – HA!) from Newcastle, but it looks like Alnwick is going to be fit.
As for Delph, Vlaar and Cleverly:
1. Delph is good, but not someone to build a team around like Benteke. We can find someone just like him, and Dembele would do the trick though he’s a couple years older. As some have mentioned, Gardner will be coming back too…for a week before getting injured again. I’m not sure Gardner is even worth putting time into anymore.
2. Cleverly isn’t worth 8 mil, but I have been impressed with him. More so for the fact that people haven’t complained about him much rather than anything good he’s done. That means he’s at least been solid unlike N’Zog!
3. Vlaar will be leaving, and if he doesn’t want the Claret and Blue, then fine. I think our backs have shown that he isn’t irreplaceable either (though still a great back for us). Once Senderos returns, we’ll have multiple options to find a good pair with him. Maybe Clark has matured now?
I think we would miss Vlaar’s experience. Clarke and Baker have done well, but I would be a bit worried of a dip in form. I think Okore is perhaps better but time will tell. N’Zogbia has been a massive disappointment. His casual style doesn’t do him any favours if he isn’t lighting the place up with flair, goals and assists.
I agree that Cleverly isn’t worth £8M, particularly if that’s all we have to spend. Sanchez looks a good prospect, and Westwood is decent. Delph will probably go, and if so it will be better to try to get a decent price in January, as long as a replacement has been lined up. We need some flair in that midfield, and some attacking width as well. I am completely underwhelmed by Gabby and Weimann. In an ideal world we would have replacements for them as well as Zog. A bit too much to ask for I suppose
Just wanted to say that, to be fair to Lambert, he’s been good at retaining players so far.
Also, I would like to see us bring in a new keeper. Yes, Guzan is a great shot stopper and he has single-handedly kept us in many games. However, he does have a few blunders in him, makes some poor decisions, his kicking is not great, and I don’t feel he always commands his box or inspires his defenders with confidence. Just putting that out there!
I think Okore-Delph-Benteke is a good spine to build a team around.
Maybe but who are we gonna replace Guzan with. I honestly think he’s the best we’ll be able to get. I mean I can’t think of anyone I’d replace him with and think he’s currently the last one we need replacing.
Grealish, Bacuna and Robinson all to start against united! (I hope)….Bacuna, Sanchez in the middle, Grealish and Robinson either side and Benteke up top. High tempo all out end to end football please Lambert!
Bacuna should definitely start. Out wide or central, doesn’t matter but he needs to play. I have my doubts Robinson will start but he should be on the bench.
I do question his comments of youth being on the bench to make up numbers. Nothing says confidence like telling someone young they’re there to make up numbers.
It winds me up big time, Robinson could have played about another 5 games for Preston which would surely be more positive than sitting on the bench or not even making the bench for us!
Should’ve stayed till January. Then we’d know at least if Lambert would look for another striker or have to play Robinson. Either way, it’s stupid to waste his talent like this. I know 2 Preston Fans who are pissed off that Lambert’s brought him back and is currently wasting him. We may not have many good young players anymore (though Abdo looks the real deal), Robinson seems to be one of them that is.
I like the sound of that, Adam!
If nothing else it adds a bit of a surprise to the game. Could go in our favor could not but I’d rather see it tried than just the same old boring selection.
Anyone else find it entertaining that Benteke’s claiming it was a mistake to put in a transfer request, he hopes to repay Lambert for his backing and now making the team revolve around him and isn’t just lumping the ball up to him so he can take 100 hits but instead they’re playing football? Which he himself (and most others could probably tell you) suits him better? At least that is some good news.
I am not looking forward to the match today. Losing Hutton to suspension will cook our goose against a left-sided attack like United. I look at who we have available and reckon we are done for – before a ball is kicked. If Lambert can devise a formation and tactics to win this game, then I will just have to quit moaning and hail him as a genius!
Well, you won’t be doing that! Just looked at the ‘match facts’ on BBC – it makes depressing and embarrassing reading both from a club and manager Pov. At least no one expects us to win today so a thrashing will go unnoticed! 4-0 United – feel sorry for those going today unless it’s to see how real footballers play the game!
0-3 manure I can’t see anything else but a loss today,a win today & my names Santa Claus.UTV
I’ll go with Hitchen 60, 0-4 Man, not got the player’s to score goals.
this match suits lambert excuses all ready suspensions injuries it was man u we are playing should not be on same pitch remember leicster beat them ,it was quite smart of cleverly to get booked last week when he couldnt play today probarly the best bit of play from him and for suspensions only hutton missing baker sendross out but would only make bench at best westwood you are always going to have someone out kozack been out for almost ayear giroud was out for 11 weeks why is our medics as crap as lambert lerner
match day and iam excited, how long this will last is the question???? i look at the opposition and it scares me not, yes they have world class players, but they aren’t unbeatable, they can be got at, whether lambert does go for it today, will show us if hes got the bottle for the fight.
somebody put up a preview 🙂 hard to predict this game cos villa sitting back will get beaten without a sweat broken by utd, but if i was the manager i would read um the riot act and get the team pushed up, if theirs a weakness in utd its defense. we need to win ball high and get at um. benteke will beat all the makeshift utd defenders, if hes given any sort of decent balls to attack.
i hope we attack and press high, pinning the wingbacks is key for me i will get shit for this but i can see a villa win 2,1 benkete double
if they sit back and think of england they will get beaten and lambert deserves the shit he will get,
I’ll have some of what your on Nath -:)
🙂 even LOL
Lambert getting team to attack? Why would he do that against Man U with a weakened team when we wouldn’t even do it against lower league clubs in the cup? I think he has bottled it and is just interested in trying to hold the opposition and sneak a goal.
We will sit back and let them play and just roll over. Easy win for United.
sitting back allowing utd to dictate the pace and countering won’t be a recipe for 3 points, i fear. you have to look at the opposition six straight wins, beating pool last week, will assure them they are still in the title, they need a rude awakening, get in their faces, press um high, win ball high this is how they can be beaten.
i don’t believe the manager will attack, but countering utd will be just as hard. man utd lack pace upfront, so you can afford to press up and try win the ball high, rvp isn’t gonna beat okore or vlaar for speed
New gear ( test)….. Utv,
Is that computer gear or Carnaby Street gear Bill? 🙂
On my third Tablet, just broke the plug in the tablet this morning and using Christmas present now, I see Bent just scored for Brighton.
VILLA: Guzan, Lowton, Vlaar (c), Okore, Clark, Cissokho, Sanchez, Delph, Weimann, Agbonlahor, Benteke. Subs: Given, Bacuna, Herd, N’Zogbia, Robinson, Grealish, Calder.
MAN UTD: De Gea, Jones, Evans, Carrick, Young, Valencia, Fletcher, Rooney (c), Mata, Van Persie, Falcao. Subs: Lindegaard, Rafael, Di Maria, Januzaj, McNair, Blackett, Wilson.
5 at the back… Shocker. And Calder’s the fortunate youngster to get called up to make the numbers.
Or Clarke will play at the base of a diamond in mid field…….. oh silly me that would require tactical thinking!
Possible but that was Villa’s official facebook page and how they put the team like that. My guess is 5 at the back. So much for giving youth a chance. I have my doubts more than Grealish will get on, and that’s pushing it.
put your money on falco getting a few we are good at letting players and teams break there ducks