Although I have my doubts about Tony Xia tweeting as much as he has been lately, it seems he’s being pretty much true to his word, when he said that there would be players leaving.
Brad Guzan has undergone a medical at Boro and it’s massive odds on that the deal will be done tomorrow.
It’s a shame really, as I mostly quite liked him as a goalie; mainly because of his shot-stopping. His faults were there for all to see, but my thinking was that he’d improve his dominance in the box and more importantly, his distribution.
Sadly he didn’t improve either and ended up seriously lacking.
That said, I won’t forget he was our player of the year a couple of seasons back, an award richly deserved, in my humble opinion.
How times quickly change though and it’s good to see his fat wage off the books.
I think it says quite a lot that he’s seemingly happy to take second place to Victor Valdes and he surely must have known his days were numbered.
No tears overall on my part over this deal.
Then it seems Gana is off too, to Everton.
That’s the way to do a deal.
Get the bid in and just sign the player, job done.
And although it wrankles that we set such a measly release clause, given that we seemingly paid more than the supposed 7.1 mill Euro fee we’ll be getting, I can’t say I’m too sad about this one either. I know the stats were amongst the best to be had last season, but I was never convinced, as I’ve alluded previously.
Hence I’m happy that we’re getting that sort of money, but it still annoys that we probably could have got 10 mill+, with the right release fee.
Who sets a release fee lower than what you paid for the player, these days? Obviously, the Villa do.
Maybe it was just something that his agent specifically wanted, in which case, fair play. Sign him up to our negotiating team, I say.
I’d guess Sinclair will be next.
Which means it looks like we’re going to be stuck with the bad eggs.
To be honest, I’m really not surprised that we can’t shift the troublemakers.
But now, given Xia’s rattle on Twitter, he really needs to deliver something in return, if the Villa fans’ opinion of him isn’t going to go down the pan.
The uneasiness amongst fans about how little the squad/team has changed has been readily witnessed on all the Villa websites and we’re fast running out of time, even if you don’t think players need time to integrate.
We need players in, fast and I’m sorry, but the “massive squad numbers” argument doesn’t cut it for me.
If we go with what we have now, there isn’t a cat in hell’s chance that we’ll get promoted this season.
And even though I know we will still have a few weeks of the transfer window to run once the season is underway, it’ll be too late, as we’ll have lost impetus straight from the off.
I was speaking to a Wednesday fan today and he’s well confident that they’ll beat us, because we don’t have the balls for it, in his opinion.
I suspect he’s right.
Come on Tony, you’re supposed to be a “doer”.
Let’s see some doing.
Comments
104 responses to “Guzan and Geuye are goners; time to deliver Mr Xia”
3 or 4 more in at least, sharpish, imo.
Gutted about Gana. Decent player and will only get better. The price is an insult, shame on those who sorted his contract!!
#Helenius,
I know where you’re coming from, even though I don’t rate Gana that highly.
I just get the sneaky feeling that he’ll be a better player, in a better team.
But then, I’ve said similar about a few of our players.
It was the way the club was being run that made the team look so bad, imo.
According to some in the media it was a relegation release clause. If we were still in the prem the clause wouldn’t have kicked in.
Can’t blame him for going Everton are a massive step up from us at the moment plus he will get more money. No brainer for him really
Of course you don’t buy into the big squad idea, you’re a Villa fan. Most think we should spend blindly and go in with 35 players, 15 who will never play and get paid for doing nothing, which our fans hate as well. But as long as we spend, who cares, right?
Now cutting that bs out, we have to sell, 29 senior players, only 3 under 21 I believe it was. You can’t go into a season with more than that, that would be absolutely stupid, and adding to it would be financial suicide. Has nothing to do with being a doer or financially well off, that’s not sustainable for a championship club.
We’ll get players in, we still have over a month. Claiming going into this season with this squad we won’t go up in malarkey. Especially with the fact after the season starts, we can still ADD to the side.
You have your opinion Andrew and I have mine, which is how it should be.
All I know is I’m convinced the squad as it stands isn’t good enough to get promotion.
As much as it might be financial suicide, surely not getting promoted would be equally as bad?
If Xia has the money, he has to go all out to get straight back up, it’s as simple as that in my book.
Agree 100% Badger, we need to get back up straight away otherwise we’re be the next forest imo! New signings in now please!!!!!!
No one’s saying we shouldn’t spend more, and I think Xia has plans to do so. However even if we get promoted it’s still financial suicide NOW to bring in 3-4 more and get rid of no one. Likely why we’re willing to loan off the likes of Veretout and already loaned Gil. We all want to go back up but we have to be smart about it. Even if Premier League sides started taking Lescott, Richards and such on loan, I’m sure Xia would be thrilled. The wage bill right now is probably to the championship what O’Neill’s was to the premier league, a disaster.
Agree Badger squad nowhere near good enough for promotion. Midtable at best
Only thing Mr Xia will deliver is false promises.
Right back, attacking mid, winger, striker….
That will do for the time being 😃
Headline in the Sun –
‘Hammers go for Ayew’
Thankfully its brother Andre (phew!)
Yes that one nearly caught me out aswell phew
I am beginning to have a concern that our better players will leave and we’ll be stuck with last season’s rubbish – and here I agree with Badgers’s Wednesday mate – they won’t have the ‘balls’ for it in the Championship.
I’m also starting to be concerned that Dr. T is overplaying his hand and it’s starting to sound like a lot of blustering. Prove me wrong and let’s see some quality signings in weak areas before the transfer window closes.
Well said Hitchens60.
Guzan gone!
What a relief! One down several more to go
The majority of fans are getting impatient and am one of them. League starting next week and incoming transfers are very slow. In my opinion I don’t believe in that bullshits sell to buy and that is what seems to be happening is Lerner still in charge. If we have money get the players in first. I taught a manager would want the majority of his players in before the league starts.
Well you would of thought so,makes sense shorley !!
I think, managed and coached properly, we probably have a top 6 side. With Clarke coaching, Elphick’s arrival and Amavi returning (assuming he stays) the defence should be better. i haven’t seen Gollini properly tested but let’s assume he will prove to be more reliable than Guzan.
Even with Gueye going we have Sanchez, Westwood and Tshibola in midfield. Up front we have Ayew and Gestede. Put Grealish into the mix, with some talented youngsters who may step up and there is enough there to maybe be challenging at the top.
I don’t think it will take much to take us closer to being real contenders, but it will depend on how RDM and Clarke perform, and some luck with injuries.
Wholesale change of the squad is difficult when we want to retain the better players and get rid of the “under performers” (that’s me being kind).
Oohhah says we should sack them. We can’t. Paying them off is a big call, and every penny spent doing that reduces the spend on new players.
A few decent signings with a few more leaving may do the trick. The other thing to bear in mind is that this is the Championship. It’s not generally full of outstanding players. Teams like Bournemouth and Norwich have been promoted without star names. It’s a physically demanding league, and whether we have what it takes to fight our way out of it remains to be seen. We should have enough talent though.
We still need a few decent signings to achieve this imo!
Maybe so South Coast. I took a look at Newcastle’s squad this morning. It looks to have a stronger midfield, and perhaps has the edge overall, but there’s not a lot in it in my opinion. Whether that’s still the case after the window closes and the season is under way remains to be seen. Norwich are far from exceptional. Shelf Weds were good last year and may well kick on. As to the other contenders who knows.
Well according to the BBC Gana is now definitely a goner.
Kind of agree with DS that the squad as it now stands is good enough to give us a reasonable season. I’m not one of those who think going straight up is going to be easy.
I’m not sure what RDM and Clarke’s approach is here – do they see something in the wasters that we can’t? – do they want to build more slowly with new recruits coming in in January when the team will have proved itself (or not)?
At this point I’m not sure of anything except that I’ve decided to trust the new managerial team and give them my support for this season at least to see what they can do.
UTV
Enough.
Spend.
Buy some proven quality.
One week to go andDIMatteo saying Agbonlahor still has a chance.
Oh dear have we been had?
Sounds like our last three managers. Working with what they gave.
Tony Please prove me wrong. Spend some money.
Aren’t you aware of how woeful we were last year?
The majority of the squad not good enough. Why aren’t you addressing this?
If we go into the season with only three new purchases. Two who are unproven and one who could not get into the Bournmouth side as well as Agbonlahor your hype will soon disappear.
Time for you to act
I get where you are coming from Ted but last season was in the Prem (we weren’t good enough) and we had three managers each having their favourites and systems.
We need good leadership, to play a system that suits the players, and some consistency.
I don’t think the issue here is simply lack of money or appetite of the owner. The squad needs an upgrade that’s true. Wholesale change is more likely to go wrong than work.
I think we need some additions but it’s not as bad as last season makes it look.
Of course we’ve been had Dr X is no better than Lerner and just as potless imo.
we FANS need to be patient, rdm knows the players he wants to keep and those he wants out. but expressing ur hands in a press conference isn’t a clever move. if he can’t move on players, like gabby lescotts and richards he is hardly gonna burn the bridges, cause he might need the to play some part later on in the season.
RDM already has a striker i think lined up. but all efforts are on reducing the size, its better for the overall squad that it is reduced. you don’t want too many top guns like gabby richards and lescotts disrupting the training efforts,
big sam becoming england manager has truly fooked us up we almost got shut of richards.
i am quietly confident we will be good enough, to get promoted need a good start. but we have enough quality as it stands. you add another solid striker or attacking midfielder we will tear this league up.
What’s your views based on?
You are at best guessing.
I’m basing my comments on fact.
Didn’t Tony say we would get rid of the unwanted? suggested would pay them off.
The team is poor has been for years. Players not good enough where are the players Tony suggested we were getting.
There’s been little investment why?
Nath you are making assumptions/guessing. I’m basing my observations on fact.
Why is Agbonalhor still here?
Why do you keep ignoring comments made by Tony? Why are you ignoring what he has said?
No one suggested he’d pay them off, he even said he couldn’t pay them off, and he’d let them go for cheap as he possibly could. Guess what… NO ONE WANTS THEM. You’re not basing your comments on fact, you’re attempting to infer what he said with the unreasonable opinion that he was paying off players for Millions each, which would be ridiculous to even think he could/would/should do so.
ted its my opinion based on teams that have tried to spend their way into premiership. derby being one i recall buying doesn’t guarantee shit. ask leeds and fulham fans. teams like wba who are run correctly and norwich another club. the list of tight knitted squads tend to get out of championship. whoops another burnley they are just jumping out now any more examples. what facts are you basing your opinions on.
Tonys comments?
Stated would get our buisness done early. Oram I wrong?
Do you remember the bullets comments?
The team is poor has been for years. It’s not about wasting money it’s about necessary investment to prevent further decline.
Didn’t Tony say we would get rid of the trouble makers? Or am I wrong?
i haven’t enough time to street walk you through all your questions. but quality of our squad is better than most clubs in the championship. its not the champions league. teams that do well in this league and usually teams with commitment and good team ethics. this is why its essential to reduce the size of over paid wasters, we have some exciting youth which also will tear championship defences apart.
gabby will stay at villa until he wants to leave and some club pays his wages which wont happen. if you go around buying up contracts you will have not transfer funds to buy anybody with
After we got stuffed at home by Liverpool one of the pundits (can’t remember who) said that our team would be lucky not to get relegated from championship that not one of our players would get in another prem team. Hard to disagree. Staying up is our priority next season anyone thinking we will go up are deluded.
the business has been done early, 3 players all with loads to offer and a leader. all have joined these will be the new spine of the team.owner never said he would buy a new team or if he did i missed that.
I heard RDM on sky sports news, Ayew staying., there will be more outgoing than incoming during transfer window can’t put a number on it. Start of the season might be difficult but when we settle in we will be OK. Something like that.
That’s just it we don’t need a difficult start to the season,Not after last. We need a good start and repaire their confidence what go shot to pieces
That’s why we need a couple in asap and hit the ground running from the get go!! Winning games breeds confidence. Look at Leicester get a good run going and who knows what can happen!!
I still believe it was beating us 3-2 last season which was the turning point for both teams.
Agree 100% SCV. We were brilliant for the best part of 60 mins in that game and the team that won the league weren’t in it. A couple of changes, more direct play and a couple of defensive cock ups and we lost. Interestingly, Lerner said that he felt we were in trouble after that game. Mind you, he did eff all to stop it.
A decent start and a few wins under our belt and we are in the mix. I don’t think wholesale change is an option, and maybe we don’t need that. I’m cautiously optimistic but then I’m like that before the start of most seasons.
We also played well at home to Leicester and well worth the point. But one good performance all season means nothing
An article from the Mirror has just hit news now claiming that we are buying Pantilimon for £2m. I’m not sure what to think about that. I thought Gollini was going to be the new keeper, but the article is suggesting they would both compete for the number one spot.
With Bunn and Steer still at Villa, I think the Mirror’s solely rehashing a story just to put one out. Villa weren’t in for him to start with, or we’d have gotten him already.
Why do people insist we’re going to have such a bad start. I get we were bad last season. But we finally have a player who is captain material. We have players back from loan who did well in the Championship so that experience (which usually means nothing but our fans seem to love it so there you go, plus we just bought 2 that have it).
Gotta tell ya people, Wednesday lost a fair few players who played a lot of games for them last season, Lopez, Pudil, they no longer have McGeady, Turner, and they’re heavily reliant on one player, Forestieri for goals. We don’t have this ridiculously hard start. I know people like to think we do, but we don’t.
But we still have too much dross in the team Lescott Bacuna Richards and gabby. None of those players are good enough for championship they are crap. Sanchez Westwood Clarke all rubbish too. Baker is injury prone and nothing special anyway, Joe Bennett is average championship at best. Traore will be lucky to start any game and would be kicked of the pitch anyway plus too injury prone. Veretout is too lightweight, Ayew scores great goals but is not a great goal scorer. Gestede may do ok not sure. Gabby is fat and finished. So tell me again why you think we will get promoted as they is no logic. Youngsters will be hit and miss but we need men not boys for this league.
Seems with Marseille getting Gomis on loan and paying a chunk of his wages, they can’t afford Sanchez or Veretout on loan with their wages. Incredibly sad for a club their size.
As far as I know, the maximum squad size is the number of players the club states are its senior professionals from who the team will be chosen at the moment the transfer window closes. Any players still being paid wages by the club but not in the plans do not count as squad members. Chelsea for example had teams of players available for loan but not always on loan. So the Bomb Squad players at VP can be listed as available for loan. This would not provide a numbers restriction on signing new players, though it would be a financial constraint.
no link again for today friendly GRRRRRRRRRR hope this isn’t a norm for the season. being in championship iam only get to see the odd game on the box. this is why we need to go up asp. my saturday afternoons are ruined thanxs randy
i can see many clubs going under through debts.clubs are spending crazy amounts. makes our debts look like pocket money. time we stopped trying to compete with this. back to basics. we have first class facilities. we should improve these and invest more in surrounding areas and schools. the youth team should not be a conveyor for lower lvl clubs. it should be conveyor to our first team.
far too long have we abandoned the kids after a certain lvl. our kids are great up to a certain age, then they seem to fade away. must be a reason why this happens.
if this season we come out of it, with our premiership status back and blood grealish, green, murphy, toner, sellars and lyden give them this season, iam sure all these players are lacking, are experience not ability.
@Nath
Do you mean video link?
Its on AVTV free again and all you need to do is register if you already haven’t – https://www.avfc.co.uk/AVTV
This should give us an idea of where we are as a team. Boro got up in second so a win or draw would be okay in my book.
How have the mighty falling when a draw against a newly promoted team is acceptable? Anyway its where we are.
UTV
SORRY!
Its not on AVTV. I had it on relaible info from someone and just checked.
Nath can I also say GRRRRRRRRRR!
i was jumping for joy then pat lol but i soon returned to my misery. lol i was so much looking forwards to this game. see how we fair against a team that was so strong in championship last season
It will be hard to find any links with the Villa in the championship. Our days surfing the net looking for links are over.
@Nath
Sorry about that. Last time I’ll listen to that wally in the pub!
HOLD THAT HE WAS RIGHT AFTER ALL
https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2016/07/29/pre-season-middlesbrough-live
It was on the website opening page this morning as free to watch