I’m writing this at 20:10 and we all know Villa have a propensity to keep things really quiet until we’ve actually done the deal, so I could be totally wrong in anything I say here and things could easily change.
But it would seem we’re not getting a striker to replace Danny Ings.
Well, not a new one that is, because it seems pretty obvious to me that Bertrand Traore, who has been recalled from İstanbul Başakşehir is going to be that back up. Yes, he’s a winger really, but he is capable of playing anywhere across the front if called up on.
It’s not an ideal situation to me, as I can’t say I’m a big fan, but I suspect that while he might get a couple of run-outs on the left, I’d expect it to be more about seeing what he can do. I don’t believe he’s Emery’s first choice, the manager has said he won’t sign players for the sake of it.
It would appear suitable players are simply not currently available and that’s that.
Plus I would also expect that we have an emergency recall clause as regards Cameron Archer. Talking of whom, I think it’s only fair to say that I expressed some small concern about his finishing in a couple of chances I saw him get for Middlesborough at the weekend, only for him to go on and win the MOTM award.
It shows what I know.
Going back to Traore, the only concern I have with him coming back is if Emery really does see a place for him in the side.
If that’s the case, what does it say about the continuity that Lange is supposed to provide to the setup? Gerrard decides to play without wingers, yet Emery apparently favours them, is what I’m getting at.
I believe Emery has a lot of autonomy; more so than any Villa manager for a long time. But if that’s the case, where exactly does that leave Lange as the Director of Football or whatever they call the position now? And how does he feel about it, if he’s been somewhat sidelined?
Perhaps he’s happy just overseeing the identifying and procurement of players?
Or perhaps I’m worrying about nothing.
Augustinnsonn and Bednarak have returned to their clubs and I’m not concerned by that at all, as neither convinced me of much.
A decision I’m not so easy with is Marvelous Nakamba leaving for Luton Town. No disrespect to the Hatters, but that strikes me as a fair old step down. I always thought Nakamba did alright and never let the side down. It’s ovbious he’s not going to play though, so it’s probably in his interests to keep himself in the spotlight by playing regularly, especially as I think his contract is up in the summer. I suspect that’s the last we’ll see of him and I wish him well, with thanks.
Incomings then and we’ve signed Jhon Duran, who is a 19 year old striker, who we’re told is not ready. I don’t quite understand this signing. Either he’s something really special or the manager doesn’t think much of Cameron Archer, is how I see it.
Signing an immature 19 yo seems strange, when we have a blatant need for a top striker as back up for Ollie. Someone at the club obviously doesn’t care what we fans think though and I have no issue with that. If it’s Emery and he’s that confident about the situation, I’m okay with that.
But if things work against us, say with Watkins getting a serious injury and Traore not performing, you just know there are going to be very serious questions asked about how we can be so naive as to leave the side without decent back up.
Still, Ings strongly wanted out and hopefully things won’t end up with my nightmare scenario.
And the other addition is Alex Moreno, who we’ve already seen and looks a decent player, someone who makes me think Digne won’t be getting much of a look-in now.
So basically, it’s been a pretty subdued window, in my opinion.
There has been some concern that we’re really not spending much money of late and I agree with that. I do wonder though if this might be because Emery will be given a sizeable pot to play with in the summer. I remember saying last summer that I thought the plug had been pulled on Gerrard’s spending, so could it be that our owners now expect the club to reduce spending on players, at least to some extent?
We should remember that they’ve commited to pay for the ground improvements with cold hard readies and not saddle us with debt. Even they, as wealthy as they are don’t have bottomless pockets, after all.
But then, if money was an issue, surely it would have been okay to saddle us with at least a few million of debt? It would have been for a good cause, after all.
I’m going to guess that it’s more about Financial fair play and all that tosh though.
Meaning we’ve delayed our spend to go again in the summer.
I hope so anyway.
UTV!
Anyone else think we might have slightly missed out on a very good opportunity to push on rapidly in the back half of the season?
Not that i want to waste money.
Badger if you mean shipping out the deadwood then no.
I don’t think any of the players shown the door did anything more than fill squad numbers. Ings, if he wasn’t injury ravaged and the wrong side of thirty might have been the exception to that but as it stands I believe that was good business.
The January window is never the best time to recruit, paying well over the top for Joe Average.
Let’s see what happens in the summer matey.
Keep the faith Badger…
In Unai we trust.
🤞
I agree with everything you have stated Badger. We didn’t have to sell Ings until the summer and so what if is valuation dropped £5m if he bagged another half dozen goals! How many of us would prefer Ings to Traore as a back up to Watkins?
Like you mentioned, I think we have missed an opportunity to push for 6th or 7th with Chelsea and Liverpool having a poor first half of the season, although they are both likely to improve with players returning from injuries plus all the new signings. Realistically though there is now a ‘super 7’ with Newcastle joining the Sky 6. Maybe we have to accept that we are a team that is fighting for a place just within the top half with the hope of a cup run if we ever take them seriously.
I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes and whether Emery is happy with a squad of 16-17 seniors plus kids! I really hope we don’t get too many injuries going forward or we really are going to struggle.
I’m not bothered about Ings going, tbh.
It’s more about not having the proper cover.
And RSS, you have to admit, we look low on numbers.
I trust Emery to have good judgement and agree that most were only making up the numbers. But an injury or two is all it would take to make us digging into the kids or playing square pegs in round holes; something we’ve moaned about for years.
I guess what I’m saying is that whereas we might have pushed on and taken advantage of a pretty poor league, we could be leaving ourselves wide open and putting ourselves under uneccessary pressure.
I’m still tempted to think Emery has been given a pot of xxx pounds and thinks he’ll get much better value in the summer.
If so, that’ll be a new approach on me and takes some bottle.
I could happily live with that sort of confidence though, I guess, as long as it works out.
Good points Badger, Holte & RSS. Personally, I’m ok with the window. Emery had stuck to his word that he would not buy players for the sake of it.
Trimming the deadwood. Permanent leavers and loan departures mean the club has cut the wave bill.
The two players he has bought Moreno is already showing his worth. I have a sneaky feeling Duran will play a few before the end of the season and will surprise!
I do expect the summer to be the big transfer time for Emery. I do expect him to land the key targets he wants.
However, I do expect next season to be a break through for some of our U21 players.
Tim Iroegbagbam
Aaron Ramsey
Kaine Kesler Hayden
Cameron Archer
Interesting times ahead!
In the meantime I expect Emery to keep the players and the results on a similar trajectory since his arrival.
UTV
I echo your sentiments Sid, quality over quantity and little patience is the order of the day.
We’ve done the money ball thing and where did we end up?
The championship 😢
Like all fans we want to see new players coming in but, being realistic, we’ve seen too many bang average signings in recent years as well as poor strategic thinking in the transfer market.
I don’t know who that has been down to – the DoF, Purslow, the manager or, more likely a combination of all three. If reports are to be believed Emery now has more autonomy as manager than has been seen at VP for many years.
Emery is the first truly elite European manager Villa has appointed in the modern era and, as Purslow recently told the Fan Consultation Group, ‘he hasn’t come here to manage a middle of the table side’. I think it’s fair to assume he knows what he’s doing.
We do have a squad of good players and with Carlos / McGinn due back in February decent cover in every position albeit acknowledging that we’re short of an experienced central striker. My point is to get upgrades (which is Emery’s stated strategy) is going to take big bucks and January is not the time to do it unless the right player becomes available for the right price – they didn’t and I’m comfortable with that. In that scenario recalling Traore makes perfect sense; after all we were not realistically going to get a top striker in in January!
With the FFP profits from the Grealish sale and the low net transfer spend (c. £30m) resulting in (what’s looking like) a strong FFP position for this season we will be well set for a strong summer window which makes a lot of sense.
May I suggest qualifying for Europe and good cup runs will be the aim for next season – a top half finish this.
Finally just a point on Lange. My understanding is that his role is much wider than just identifying new players. I read an article recently – sorry can’t remember where – that talked about all the good work he’s done on restructuring our scouting network, around the academy and in recruiting the best young talent for the future of the club.
UTV
Very much agree with Hitch’s piece (above).
The January window is usually a place for panic-buys; a team is either in danger of relegation, or likely to miss out on the ‘essential’ CL places (Chelsea…) so they go splurge a hundred million (or more) hoping for instant returns.
I’d suggest that Emery has looked at what he’d inherited, and decided that while a few choice additions would be nice, he really didn’t need to just go out and spend for the sake of it – barring any disaster with injuries, we’re still set for a comfortable mid-table finish in May – which is probably the target he was set for this season.
I’d also tend to agree with Badger’s comment about ‘spending’: nobody can go on simply writing out mega-cheques twice a year, even if there was a sure way to get around FFP (& without the Grealish sale, I believe we’d be falling foul of those regulations already). As others have mentioned, we have wasted millions on transfers over the last few years (e.g. Wesley, Sansom, etc.) and it would seem to make sense now to trim the wage bill and then save the money for whatever signings Emery will ask for in the summer – especially as the rumours that were flying around in January included reference to some pretty hefty wage rates apparently being offered to some of the players that we were being linked-to.
Hi Badger 123 it’s the WARRIOR here couldn’t answer last night so here goes it doesn’t really matter a lot who we do or don’t get the players in that the manager wants but if he fails he still gets his money until the end of his contract if I or you don’t perform we get finished up the sack goodbye but no money to help before our next job it’s all wrong being a football manager you get rewarded if you are rubbish and the club always say thank you for the work you’ve done it’s all a complete bollocks sorry well I’m off now to have a shower sorry once again
🙂
Your’re quite right Warrior.
Being a footy manager is almost as good as being a total disaster as a prime minister.
Liz Truss will be able to claim the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), currently set at a maximum of £115,000 per year.
That’s for life.
For a few weeks rubbish work!
According to Birmingham Live Traore should be fit and available for selection within 1 – 2 weeks.
Digne and McGinn are both available for Saturday’s game and Carlos is expected to be available before the end of February.
We all know Traore is injury prone. I’m not expecting anything from him TBH. All the comments on here are we are doing well getting rid of the deadwood which I agree with. The likes of Sanson, Guilbert and Augustinson needed to go and for some reason Traore is deadwood coming back IMO.
Personally I wish they would scrap the January window. If clubs haven’t sorted their squad out before season kicks off then it’s tough luck!
I’m pleased we haven’t spent silly money on Joe average but if we have any serious ambitions of challenging for Europe, we will need to bring in 4-5 top drawer players in the summer.
Emery seems to have the better idea. Design a system of play which suits the players you have available – rather than designing a system first and trying to fit players into a slot. The latter tactic fails when the players forget the role beyond the 1st 5 minutes.
It looks like Jhon Duran can shoot straight, it will make a welcome change if true. I don’t buy the ‘not ready – give him another year’ spiel. If Emery has got the final say – he would not have allowed a player like that in, when he is sending players who do fit that description out on loan.
Traoré and Bailey can book 1 permanent table in the treatment room and split their time on it with actually playing. 1 in 1 out.
Love the Bailey – Traore twin approach 🙂
Remember a certain Andy Gray – he was 19 when he joined from Dundee United and was joint winner of the Golden Boot with 29 goals the following season.
Dundee to Villa at 19; Chicago Fire to Villa at 19!
If you’re good enough you’re old enough.
God Hitch them was the days when they played football, Andy Gray I remember him coming and an instant hit. Still we can only dream and hope the change as come. Let the silly sods like Chelsea and Utd spend their millions, we will plod on and nick a top 6 place.utv
Bill – think his first game was against ManU and he scored with a header. Was it highlights on TV? I remember clearly the commentator saying – ‘the Villa fans are going to like this lad’ – or words to that effect.
Let’s hope Duran lights up VP like Gray did.
Bill / Hitch, As much as i would like to see Duran become the next Andy Gray, we need to reign back the enthusiasm. There have been far too many Wesley’s than Gray’s! I’m sure having an elite manager like Emery will help him to develop. The step up from MLS to Premier league is probably even more than from the Championship so it will take time. Fortunately he is only 19 so he is young enough to adjust.
Agree with all those who are saying “if you’re good enough, you’re old enough”.
Duran may need a while simply to get up to speed with the style of play in the PL, but it shouldn’t be anything to do with his age – he seems somewhat more physically ‘developed’ than most of the 19 year-olds who come out of the Villa academy anyway.
It sometimes feels as if the modern way is to mollycoddle the ‘kids’ in the development teams all the way through to U21/U23 only to then say that they’re ‘not ready’ to compete at 1st team level in the Prem; so they get sent out on loan into the lower leagues. We’ve got half-a-dozen out on loan at the moment.
When was the last time one of our youth products last come back from a loan to the Championship, L1 or L2, and step into the 1st team as a regular?
You may remember I talked about exactly this a while back, Ardent.
My conclusion was that the club massively over-hypes our kids and ultimately it’s not good for the fans or the player.
I now prefer to think that we’re training kids for the game generally (and we do a decent job of that, in producing Championship level players) but it would take someone exceptional to be better than that.
I think I also suggested that whoever is assessing our youth players as better than they are is not really doing their job, unless it’s as a hype merchant.
Well, I suupose in a way selling players to Championship clubs every season may help pay for running the academy, and allow the club to find maybe one real 1st team player every 3-5 years.
But overall you are right – far too much hype about ‘the next big thing’ supposedly coming soon, yet somehow never quite making it…
Badger, Ardent, I agree with your comments about the over hyping of young players generally – there are plenty of examples around the game originating from most if not all the EPL sides – so not just a Villa issue.
However, I think the finger should be pointed at the media – they take a comment like – ‘we (Villa) think a lot of him and are hopeful he will develop’ – and blow it up completely out of context. This is then seized upon by the ‘Twitterarti’ and, hey presto, the player’s the next best thing since sliced bread!
Emery is making positive but guarded statements about Duran – let’s see how the media report it?
Bloody hell Badger I never had you down to be a Garry Newman fan, my lad went to all his concerts and even met his family, sod it I’m still a Vera Lynn me. Love the banter to be honest you all have Villa in your vains and stop worrying we do have at last the man to lead us to greater glory, mark my words.
Roll on 3 o’clock Saturday
(Seems like an age since the Southampton game)
Too right, Ron! A rare 3pm isn’t it?
Something to tell the grand-kids about
(-:
I think the Answer to Ardent’s question is Jack Grealish – from Notts County was it?
The first 3pm home Saturday of the season – Leicester must be so boring no TV channel wants the feed.
…and Grealish was indeed one of the (very) few – that’s now quite a few years ago (he’s now 27+)!
It seems to me young players coming thorough Villa’s academy (instead of being bought in) get assessed for size and speed. If you are not exceptional in one of those attributes coaches doubt you will make a top flight player. If a young Luka Modric was in an academy he would be written off as too puny and not quick enough.
I would like to see a year in league 2 as part of the standard development programme. If a young man can adapt his game and survive in the division of giants he will be a real 1st team prospect.
That echo’s the sentiments of a friend of mine who did a bit of scouting a number of years back, he was talking about Carlos Tevez and how he would have never of made it in this country.
As he put it – “Wrong size, wrong shape.”
Emery is an elite manager but he fielded a weakened side against man u ,lost to a fourth division team in the fa Cup and has had a totally crap transfer window
We have a chance off finishing in the top 10 and he weakens us by selling Danny ings and not getting a replacement however we have to trust him and I do for the future
Little 8, I echo your sentiments. Especially the opportunity to get a good run in the FA Cup but then disrespect Stevenage and blow it big time.
The decision to let Ings go and only bring in a teenager as cover is a big risk.
I think this season offers a chance of getting 6th with a number of the big boys underperforming. Unfortunately we have a good first eleven and not much on the bench. If Watkins is injured we are looking at an unproven Duran to get the goals. I think Ings would have been a good role model for the youngster.
Still we trust in Emery to keep the momentum going. Time will tell if the transfer dealings, or lack of proves to be a missed opportunity.
Aren’t we in danger of being over critical here and making Emery responsible for every action that we, the supporters, don’t agree with?
Stevenage – we didn’t disrespect them – we put out a team of international players that should have had more than enough quality to beat them. Stoke beat them – are you arguing that Stoke put out a stronger team than Villa – if so we better rush off and buy some of their players!
We didn’t win because our players failed to perform! Emery, I’ve no doubt, has noted that and a number have already been shown the door and more will go in the summer.
My understanding is that Ings was unhappy at not regularly starting and was keen on a move – Emery said as much and that he wouldn’t stand in his way. We got a good offer and took it – football is, after all, a business. He’s now injured again – that could well have happened – given his injury record – had he still been at Villa.
We won’t get 6th nor would we have realistically got 6th just by keeping Ings although I do accept that their is a risk should Watkins get a serious injury. 9th or 10th is a far more realistic expectation this season given our rubbish start and given the teams now sitting above us are not all going to collapse over the next 18 games.
There has also been criticism over our failure to sign more players in the window rather than recalling Traore. You can’t just magic up signings and why pay over the odds just to add squad players – we’ve done that too many times in the past. Emery said quite early in the window that it was proving difficult to get the players he wanted and would only sign players that would improve the squad. If Ings leaving weakens the squad then Traore joining strengthens it. Gerrard completely ignored Traore who had a very good season when he joined us and is, as good a player as some linked with us in the window. Emery has said it was a deliberate and well considered decision to recall him and he likes the player.
Apologies for the rant.
UTV
Hitch, you’re entitled to your opinions as am I.
Dropping 8 players against Stevenage gave me the impression that our second string who most hadn’t played together as a team would win because after all they are internationals! Stevenage on the other hand were second in the league so confidence was high and they were playing together regularly as a team which compensates for lack of ability. I’m more frustrated that had we played say Martinez who wasn’t exactly in need of a rest and a couple more established outfield players, we would have won. Still there’s always next year and Man Utd away again in the 3rd round!
We didn’t have to sell Ings. He may have wanted to leave but he was under contract and I don’t think he would have sulked if we said he had to wait till the summer. The injury is irrelevant because it probably wouldn’t have happened if he had stayed.
Generally I’m happy with Emery and what he’s achieved but that doesn’t mean he’s beyond criticism when he makes decisions that have or could prove wrong.
Rant over!
UTMV
What’s this blue nose night?
I can’t believe what I’m reading on here.
We have won 4 out of the last six games, 3rd in the form league and beaten Man U for the first time in what? A quarter of a century?
But hey ho the sky’s falling in because we sold an over the hill, injury prone striker with a dodgy knee and on top dollar?
I think maybe David O’Leary had a point.
Exactly my point RSS – although maybe I didn’t put in such stark terms 🙂
I’m really shocked Hitch.
What short memories people appear to have?
A couple of months ago we couldn’t buy a win, it looked a given we were on for a relegation dogfight.
Two months later we are in a completely different much healthier and ( I thought) happier place but no?
I truly do f**(ing despair )-:
I’m with Hitch, but understand the frustration. As Sir Chewalot said, football is always in transition. It would be catastrophic for us to sneak into Europe this season while Emery is shaping his squad. Player prices have shot through the roof. Players priced in the under £40m bracket are now £60m+. The idiotic Sky 6 have caused this inflation but will it be allowed to burst? Probably not.
I’d be ecstatic with 8th but concerned with anything higher. We’re not ready and it would dramatically stretch our squad new season.
Spot on about poor Ings. Bad luck for him and Wet Spam but great business for us. While we’re getting the wage bill down and keeping an eye on FFP, it seems the effing Sky 6 aren’t playing by the rules once again. Whatever happened to the sanctioning of Citeh when they ‘sponsored’ their own club for £400m?
Pep and Arteta aren’t criticised for keeping their squad smallish. Why should we be?
Anyway, looking forward to today. I hope Em has got the boys well drilled and right roiled up!!! Here’s to 3 points!!!!!
…stretch the squad NEXT season…
Any chance of an Edit facility Badger?
On the transfer issue: I think that in the past we would have gone out and and bought 2-3 more players at maybe £15-£20m each in January; the sort of players who would simply be decent ‘squad fillers’, and who in normal times would have probably been available for half that price in the summer.
And then in 12-18 months we’d be trying to sell them on again, and hoping to get £5-£6m for each. I think of Digne and Chambers – not that they’re ‘bad’ players, but were they any better than the ones they replaced?
If we’re aiming to actually upgrade the team to be able to compete in the Euro-spots, then we may have to sacrifice squad-depth for 1st team quality, in the short run.
It could make for a hairy ride if we suffer a lot of injuries, but if it works…
Great thing about this blog is that we can express our views in strong terms without any personal abuse. Love it.
It’s what being a supporter is all about.
UTV
Indeed Hitch.
Fwiw, I’m in the middle, but tend to side slightly with Ardent.
I think we’ve weakened the side by selling Ings, but then I didn’t really rate him AT THE VILLA.
That said, I heard on WM that Duran might be involved tomorrow, which suggests that Emery talks with forked tongue! 😉
I’m reminded of that Gary Numan song “Down in the park”
“A different face, but the words never change”
Just as many thought Ellis was a good, safe owner, so many always thought “if only”.
That’s how Emery comes across to me.
It’s early days though and the thought at the back of my mind is always “this bloke is a winner”.
As opposed to when we appointed Gerrard, where my underlying thought was “this bloke is a donkey, who has done nothing to justify his appointment at the Villa”.
My instinct isn’t usually miles off the mark overall, I feel.
No doubt we’ll see.
I’ll write a new post tomorrow, where predicting the team should be pretty easy!
“Where the mach-men meet the machines
And play ‘kill-by-numbers.”
What a blast from the past, Loved Replicas.
I loved Complex. A hit single barely 2 minutes long. 2 verses. No chorus. Awesome!
79 ish?
Ellis was instrumental in Sir Ron’s departure so to me he’ll for ever have hoofed feet, horns and a tail.
Hitch I like your analysis.
I would go further. This season is about resetting.It’s stopped the Gerrard rot. Now it is time to clear the decks of the unwanted. And so what if we sell one of our strikers. It’s meant the club has recouped £10-15m that can be spent in the summer in contributing towards a higher quality replacement.
We will not be relegated this season, not some I would have said 7 games ago if Gerrard was still in charge. Massive improvement!
And yes it would have been great to make progress in either cup. But Emery used it as an opportunity to test out the squad and confirm those who were deadwood.
We have a winner as a manager. A winner as an owner and a fan base who want success. It’s all lining up for an exciting future. I can’t wait for August 2023 with a team who can challenge the so called elite!
Emery has done a helluvalot more than stopped the rot.
He’s given us all a big stiffy!!!!!
In the hope that history repeats itself.Juan Pablo Angel joined Villa for just under 15m and then went to New York. More important is that he went on to become Villa’s 3rd top scorer. Young Duran could be just as good in time. We have to be patient though
Bloody hell Badger I never had you down to be a Garry Newman fan, my lad went to all his concerts and even met his family, sod it I’m still a Vera Lynn me. Love the banter to be honest you all have Villa in your vains and stop worrying we do have at last the man to lead us to greater glory, mark my words.