I saw this story early this morning, but didn’t want to undermine TGV’s article, so have left it a while.
Hence by now, you may have already seen it.
But it’s one I feel I have to bring up;
Adama Traore’s on £40k a week, which might be upped to £75k, after as little as ten games.
I find this quite simply unbelievable and I’m almost lost for words.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve raved about this kid, as some of you probably know and he looks the best thing since sliced bread, what with his two footed dribbling ability combined with frightening pace.
A Messi on speed, if you like.
And he looks a superb prospect, one so good that I’ve passed on his Youtube videos to a few of my non-Villa supporting mates, who have all agreed, he looks 100% class.
Which is something I’ve never done before, for what it’s worth.
But what on earth is this deal about?
I thought we were playing Moneyball, where yes, the aim is get them in young, but also supposedly cheap?
Where does this sort of deal come into that way of thinking?
It’s not the money that bothers me.
You need to pay top dollar for good players; that goes without saying in the Premier league.
But I would have thought with the constraints we’re under, that the money should be saved for those at the peak of their game.
Those that have been proven, for at least sometime.
The likes of Adebayor, for example, who as much as I didn’t/don’t want him, is a much better bet on his supposed* £100k a week?
We all know Traore has come from Barcelona, but what the hell justifies this sort of wage for an unproven kid, who might not be able to live with the rigours of the Prem in the middle of winter?
This strikes me as a Randy Lerner signing, as surely it can’t have come from Fox or the moneyballers, can it?
Purely because it’s a Barcelona player, where someone thought it might make us seem we’re ambitious?
This was a signing that was made by someone, that Sherwood simply didn’t approve of and he said as much, when he said “the kid’s raw and isn’t ready” or words to that effect.
He must have been fuming and rightly so.
Talk about undermining your manager and this must be about as bad as it gets, in my opinion.
How can you even consider making a club in Villa’s position’s highest paid player, a nineteen year old?
What’s it going to do to the morale of the older players, many of whom aren’t being paid half the money we’re talking about here?
I’m quite frankly astounded.
And it just goes to show what sort of people we have running the club, if they think this is the way to go.
I’m clutching at straws now, in that I hope this story is total rubbish.
But it’s in the Telegraph, so I really suspect it’s not far off the mark.
And it’s probably come from Sherwood, himself.
Regardless, it’s a bloody disgrace, in my opinion and I’m fuming mad.
Or do you think I’ve got it wrong and this is the way to go?
If true it’s very surprising, but it doesn’t seem likely after 10 games, maybe 50? I can see how you find it a strange.
If I may take the glass half full side of the discussion though. Our recent signings have been a huge improvement on many years of absolute dross. That we can identify and be willing to take the calculated risk to pay the wages necessary to get players of the quality or potential of Traore, Richards, Gana, Amavi, before them Gil and Benteke, shows great promise.
Don’t get me wrong, the club is undoubtedly being run in a shambolic fashion, but some credit where it’s due, the recruitment department are mostly doing a good job. Now hopefully they can get the big one right and employ a manager who can get the best out of these unpolished gems and get us to safety.
Have to agree that many of the signings this summer look potentially great. Have great hopes for Veretout. It does sound very political behind the scenes at Villa. That’s the last thing we need.
Call me dumb. But are you saying Sherwood was playing against the two upstairs? he may have tried to belittle the recruitment side, it’s a good shout because mystery injuries of late would answer something that didn’t look right. Anyway tonight’s game 2-1 Southampton but probably a better show from the lads.
Team always play well in cup no pressure
This was in papers ages ago re Traores wage. Why did you think he left Barca for us it wasn’t for the good if his health that’s for sure
To state the obvious: what exactly is in any player’s contract is [& should be] between him, his employer and his agent. So anything we hear is basically rumour – and we don’t know what clauses are in Traore’s contract anymore than we know what it says in Agbonlahor’s or N’zog’s.
I’m also puzzled by the idea that Adebayor – a player who NOBODY contributing to this site wanted anywhere near VP [whatever our individual views of Sherwood] – is somehow worth £100k a week: the consensus of opinion around him was that he’s the sort of player who only bothers to turn-up for maybe 3 or 4 games a season at best, and we already have a couple of those at VP.
Let’s face it, EPL players are on Monopoly money anyway, compared to the real world. If one very promising player is supposedly being offered another wad of notes each week then what difference does it make?
Only Sherwood has accused the club of following a moneyball strategy and many on here thought he was setting out ‘it’s not my fault guv’ excuses. Whatever the Telegraph publish must have a source – maybe it’s Sherwood and maybe it’s a load of bo**ocks – let’s face it when do the papers ever print the truth. Villa is an easy target at the moment so expect more stories about disharmony etc. etc.
The only people who know the absolute truth are the Board, the players and Sherwood himself.
This was touted as one of the signings of the summer by many a few months ago and nothing changes. We have yet to see the best of him. Sherwood rarely gave him a run out and when he did he basically through him into the team without much help or direction from what I could see. Under real management the kid should prove his worth. Plus, the deal was made because he is a hot prospect whose stats backed him up and let’s be honest coming from Barca to Villa is a bit of a step down for him. There was always going to be a pricey add-ons in his deal. Personally I have no issue with the club paying more for hot young players and taking a risk. Does it not show what we have all been asking for – intent and promise?
As for Moneyball, I would say age has very little to do with it. On a basic level it has more to do with evaluating players and scouting players and searching for players who are undervalued by the traditional scouting world. Of course the flip side of that is to sell players when they are overvalued but when has that not been the case? If you want to understand what it is roughly based off of I recommend reading about Sabermetrics.
He was injured though…I don’t understand why TS wouldn’t play him or aome of the others. It’s foxing…
He was an old school manager who thought experience enough could save him – hence giving the British experienced players more than enough chances to prove themselves and the new recruits barely a sniff. The odd one out is Clark – didn’t really do anything wrong and still was sidelined.