So there’s no game tomorrow, which is quite good news on my part, as I would have had to miss it yet again, if there was.
It’s poor really, but I actually appreciate us playing the evening games, as it suits my working pattern.
Whatever, I thought I’d take a look at what might happen in this transfer window and the truth is, I really don’t think there will be much going on at all.
We’ve signed Axel Tuanzebe from Man Utd, who is apparently a centre-back come central midfielder.
While I am happy to welcome him and totally understand why Steve Bruce might think he’s required (Whelan and Jedinak are frankly two old crocks, who we are obviously nursing along), so I’ve never heard of him before now.
And after watching part of the Yeovil- Man Utd game tonight, I would hope he’s a little bit better than the rest of their kids.
I’m really not convinced about how the young lad will operate in the very tough league that is the Championship, as it’s a different world to the U-23’s or whatever, but no doubt someone has seen something in him that might suit us.
I just wonder who it was.
I see some Villa fans have thought about bringing Ross McCormack back and here I have to question their sanity.
He won’t be coming back as long as I’ve got a hole in my proverbial.
Let’s get this straight.
He and Bruce hate each other, simple.
And scoring a boat-load of goals in a ridiculously Mickey Mouse A League means absolutely nothing, in my opinion.
Will we sell him?
Not a chance, unless we’re going to suck up at least half his wages.
I’m sure Bruce will be thinking the further away he is, the better.
Leonardo Ulloa?
Hmm, it’s hard to call this one.
My guess would be that he might prefer to move to us, as it means he wouldn’t have to move home.
But it would seem Brighton might be willing to buy him outright, which is what Leicester want.
At the end of the day, I suspect it will mostly come down to the wages and unfortunately, you’d have to guess that Brighton can edge us out, given our FPP dilemma.
Which says it all, when we consider how far we’ve fallen.
I find that quite depressing, but that’s how it is.
Players out?
That’s an interesting question too.
Elphick?
I strongly suspect he’ll go, as even though I thought he’d done enough to get a run after Terry’s injury, so he was immediately dropped.
The sticking point here will be his wages. He’s on very decent money and I struggle to see who will match what we pay him.
Bjarnasson?
I know he’s come out and said he wants to stay, but a fortnight ago, he apparently wanted to leave.
Can two starts really have made that much difference?
Unless he has cut a deal with Steve Bruce, where he’s been promised lots of games, I don’t see him starting that much. And I’ll bet he’s been promised nothing.
I can see him going to fund someone else, but knowing us, he’s probably got an extra £10 grand a week to stay and keep his trap shut.
And that someone else might be the oddball that none of us expected.
As long as it’s not Alex Bruce, I’ll live with it.
In short, I see Bruce being very much true to his word and there won’t be much happening.
I’m sorry to disappoint those of you who love the speculation.
All very quiet, I reckon.
And that’s probably OK, to be honest.
I think Bjarnasson may have finally found his place at DM. I hope he gets a decent run of games with Tuanzebe being there as an other option. I agree on Jediank and Whelan, the latter especially is just not up to speed against the better teams,
The safe option would be to sign another striker, but a part feels Hogan and Davis are good enough to fire us up into the Premier League. If one gets injured we will be very short of options thought. We are screwed if Gabby end up being that option.
the striker we seek in ulloa. might well choose brighton and we miss out. if we do miss out.then that swansea kid is inexperienced, but he does have talents. he moves well, good in the air and holds up play. he is very similar to davis.
but as benno points out we might end up short of numbers up front. hogan gets injured. we are left with davis and unproven kids who are just not ready at this level. oh and gabby. we need one more striker who will it beeeeeeeee
Apart from Ulloa, the names being mentioned as a striker coming in don’t inspire me. Trouble with January window is signing players just for the sake of it. Personally I wish they would scrap it and force clubs to get their business done in the pre season. This would mean smaller clubs won’t have their teams ripped apart if they have developed a good team.
It’s all a guessing game isn’t it.
We’re linked with that many players and the media constantly appear to ignore the message from VP that there is no money for transfers.
If loan fees are paid then why can’t we afford a low cost permanent deal (McGoldrick for instance) – but an interesting side note on the Snodgrass loan appears to be that loan fees are only paid to remove the recall option of the parent club. Does that mean that January loans do not (generally) attract loan fees – so reinforcing the no money message. If so we can forget any links which entail payment of a fee UNLESS we sell a player first.
Given the signing of Tuanzebe (sic) does that mean Bruce is trying to unload Elphick / Bjarnasson or both (plus possibly McCormack if Leeds are daft enough to buy him) and would those sales fund the permanent acquisition of ‘say’ Ulloa (which is being reported as Leicester’s preference) and would he come in any event?
Like many, I don’t like the transfer window system but it may be an interesting night for Villa fans on Wednesday.
The hype over Ulloa is strange? Hes not exactly prolific plus hes now at the end of his career. Call me crazy but id rather see Mccormack given another go! Just because hes fallen out with Bruce doesnt mean hes fallen out with the players does it? so not guranteed to ruin the dressing room. Bruce could have 1 chat with him and all could be sorted, you never know! Bad results for us today..must win on Tuesday now.
I kind of agree on McCormack if it is purely down to a falling out between him and Bruce. Someone I know whose son plays for academy kids said McCormack is a bit of a diva and was causing a bad atmosphere, although this was after his fallout, which would be understandable after being told to train with kids. If Bruce could integrate him, without upsetting harmony of club, and without grudges, then it might be an option. Thing is it looks as unlikely as Gabby getting into double figures in the goal scoring chart.
I manage in my line of work and it’s a very tricky game to play, I’ve found.
You get divas, that are really not as good as they think and are stroppy with it.
Then you get those that aren’t willing to play the game overall, with a poor attitude but know what they’re doing and will do the job, because they know they should.
These are the sort you have to go with, mostly.
And then there are those who are utter shit at their job, where the attitude doesn’t really matter, either way.
.
There’s a smaller percentage that are decent and apply themselves (I suspect your Whelan types).
And then there are those who excel and apply themselves.
They’re a rarity and you will bend over backwards to accomodate them (Terry springs to mind).
I’d guess McCormack and Gabby fall into the Diva group, myself and they’re the sort I would want rid of first.
The point here is, that while they might think they’re good, you know they have a ruinous effect overall, because they’ll complain about everything.
Hence you can easily do without them, because they’re poisonous to the team effort, regardless of whether they might be able to turn it on ocassionally.
Gabby’s a classic example of this.
He turns it on against the shit?
Bruce is well aware of what he does and how he thinks.
Hence he’ll be gone at the end of the season, with absolutely no chance of a new contract.
And rightly so, because that’s what I would do, too.
It’s why RM will never get a sniff under Bruce, imo.
Good points Badger and I agree that, as a manager, it’s the Divas you need to be rid of as they tend to negatively influence the majority group.
Not Villa related but…….Albion are 3- 1 up in Cup at Anfield….Ha ha.
While not normally wishing the baggies any luck by the end I was willing them to win.
Well done WBA
january transfer window should not exist or be shorter. say max 1 week or day lol. nothing happens for 30 days just loads of disruptions for the smaller clubs. are we gonna lose a important player, we cant afford to lose or replace. only benefits the rich clubs that are under performing, a chance to correct mistakes that the poorer clubs can not do.
Nath, you and I understand its all to sell papers plus agents dropping innuendo to get manager to secure their players, your right by saying one week open door, that in my mind would kerb silly paper talk.
its all bulshit well 99% its too long surely they could shorten it if it has to exist at all. it does more harm to settle camps drives prices up as if your not achieving your goals you pay 10m mill for a player worth 1mill. also players can bunk up their wages as desperate clubs will pay anything to land a player 11.59pm on last day
Transfer windows are all about TV and media who dedicate entire programming to who might be going or leaving blah blah blah. The time spent by Sky on transfer deadline day has become embarrassing, with bored interviewers waiting outside stadiums in the hope that a signature has been made in time. If we have to endure these ‘windows’ I agree make it a week so disruption is kept to a minimum.
I’m watching the game with Chelsea Newcastle, when are the the FA putting a stop to Managers making it a ridicule event in the name of football, 100+ event being a laughably game. as a young man I looked forwards to them games and travelled length and breast of the country to support my team. Today its not taken seriously, yet if you fall foul playing the game they are quick to take your money. The FA are a joke.
Loic Remy would have been a useful addition from Las Palmas on loan. although it looks like he’s signing for Watford.
Tshibola heading to Kilmarnock to join up with Steve Clarke again. I wish him well and hope his fortunes turn round. Also Elphick could be going to Reading, which would again be a good move for him. Hopefully we won’t suffer injury to Terry because we are still lacking in experience there with Samba out, although he isn’t ideal either.
Breaking news,
Brighton and hove Albion have signed Ulloa, we stuck with McCormack then.
Think Leeds will get him Bill probably on deadline day. I think we will end up with no more signings, maybe Nahki Wells?
To be fair our u23s ran riot today. Hepburn Murphy with 2 goals. O’hare with his 8th of the season. Maybe its time to give Murphy in particular a chance.
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Brighton have re-signed Leicester City striker Leonardo Ulloa on loan until the end of the season.
The Argentine, 31, returns to the Amex three and a half years after leaving for the Foxes in a record £8m deal.
Ulloa scored 20 goals for Leicester, including six during their Premier League-winning campaign in 2015-16.
“He’s achieved a great deal since he left and his experience at this level will be hugely beneficial to us,” said Brighton boss Chris Hughton.
Ulloa, who joined the Seagulls from Almeria in 2013, scored 26 goals in 58 appearances and was the first player to score a hat-trick at the Amex.
Hughton added: “I wasn’t here during his first spell at the club, but I know he was very well thought of by all concerned, including the club’s supporters.”
So as I suspected, then.
RM’s back, but I wonder if he’ll actually get a game?
I very much doubt it, myself, unless there’s only Gabby left as an option.
Can’t see McCormack playing while Bruce is manager. Hogan, Davis, Agbonlahor and Hepburn Murphy are all ahead of him in the queue, and to be honest I still wouldn’t be surprised if a striker is signed on loan despite Ulloa going to Brighton.
Interesting comments from Bruce (according to the Mail) which suggest we won’t be signing a striker having lost out on Ulloa.
One comment might be worrying though – apparently McCormack cannot play for another club this season (although he could register for one) unless it’s the MLS as their season doesn’t run parallel to our – so no likelihood of a loan to (say) Leeds. Bruce is quoted as saying ‘I’ll chat to (McCormack) in a couple of weeks and see how things are going’.
Might yet see him in a Villa shirt!
Here’s what Bruce has said about McCormack – verbatim
“McCormack looks as if he’s come to an end at Melbourne. I’ve given him a couple of weeks off.
He can’t go anywhere else because he’s played for two other clubs. When he comes back after having a couple of weeks off I’ll have a chat with him, see where he’s up to and we’ll go from there.
I would have liked him to have stayed in Australia and play because I think he’s benefited from playing.
But he’ll come back in and we’ll see how he is.
It’s disappointing on both sides. You can never say never and I’ll never ever cut off my nose to spite my face, even though I’d like to at times. We’ll see what happens. At the moment, he’s away for the next couple of weeks.”
If we’re stuck with him then we need to try and get something from him – however, apart from his well publicised problems, Is he a number 9 which is what we need.