With me being in the early stages of a serious amount of work in my proper job, I’ve had very little time to look at what’s been going on with regards to the club.
But what little I have seen has been mostly the usual tripe that the club’s PR department pump out.
And I really can’t be doing with that.
So I’ve had a quick glance at the news available today and it seems we might be looking to sign a few, with us being linked to no less than four players.
First off is Marouane Chamakh from Palace.
Really? A 30 year old?
Even if you accept that Lambert might be moving away from cheap youth, I don’t see this as the sort of player he’d be looking at. A yawn factor of 9.5 for me, if, (as quite a few of us seem to think) we’re going to be spending serious money in the summer.
Then there’s a “teenage sensation” from the Ryman league in Johan Ter Horst, who plays for Folkestone Invicta.
No disrespect, but I asked “who?” too.
And that was just the club.
That said, all players have to start somewhere and no doubt the thinking would be that he’d go in the academy, not the first team. Mind you, Lambert tried it with Bowery and it really wouldn’t surprise me if Lambert tries similar again.
I could, of course, ask if the player is really better than what we have at the academy, but that’s another debate.
Then there’s a midfielder from FC Brugge, Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe.
A bit more likely, I suppose and is nearer the sort Lambert would look at.
Finally, we’re supposed to be tracking a kid from Ajax, namely Davy Klaassen.
So, we’re linked to four players, all in one day. Can’t be bad can it?
So why do my eyes gloss over when I read these stories?
A couple of reasons, I guess.
First off, I very much doubt there’s any truth in any of them.
Us Villa fans don’t have a clue what sort of players Lambert will sign, let alone any third parties, given that we’ve all expected him to go for players in the positions we’ve constantly complained about.
And then, if the rumoured decent summer spending money proves real, are these the sort of players we’re going to be looking at?
If so, it might not just be a bumper crop of signings; it might be a whole new squad!
I’m really not sure if I want to see Lambert spend, say £40 million in the summer.
That said, if we do spend some decent money, I fully expect a step up in quality, with something like four players out, four similar players in to replace them and say three more in the £7-10 mill class coming in (I think our squad size could cope with that?).
We can all wish can’t we?
And after all, there’s no excuses this time.
Don’t forget the EXTRA £30 mill a season we’ll get.
But you can see the sort of players the media seem to think we’ll be looking at, can’t you?
And I’ll bet they’re closer to the mark than what I expect.
