Aston Villa 2014-15

The world cup is over, back to the masochism  

This summer has been a cracker so far for Villa. Owner has announced he wants to sell but no sign yet of anyone wanting to buy, chief exec has quit, manager remains for now but backing is clearly limited & he has changed from a seemingly long-term policy of signing young, unproven players from abroad/lower league to signing proven-but-past-it players on free transfers as a short-term fix. Roy Keane is now assistant manager for some reason. oh and two of our best players, Vlaar and Delph, have 1 year left on contract & may well be sold     

Players in:
Joe Cole (free)
Philippe Senderos (free)
Kieran Richardson (unknown)

Also have reintegrated the 'bomb squad' to first team squad (Bent, Hutton, N'Zogbia, Given).

Players out:
Marc Albrighton (released, Leicester)
Nathan Delfouneso (released)
Jordan Bowery (250k, Rotherham)
Yacouba Sylla (season loan, some Turkish club)
Nicklas Helenius (season loan, Aalborg)

Good that we're getting rid of some who clearly aren't up to it. Expect more to follow (Luna apparently going to Verona. wouldn't be surprised if others like Herd, Tonev, Bennett go too). Very annoyingly we apparently turned down a WBA offer for Hutton - despite him not playing for 2 years, now Lambert wants him    There was also rumours of Bent going to Turkey, but so far unfounded.

Other rumoured signings:
Bendtner (perhaps not as mad as it sounds, with both Benteke & Kozak carrying long-term injuries, but still  )
Ki Sung-yeung (would be a good signing! hope it's true)

Dafuq? Wasn't Albrighton the next Beckham at one stage?

I think it will be Sob on the Rea this year.   

Luis wrote:Dafuq? Wasn't Albrighton the next Beckham at one stage?

Dunno? he's an old school winger, hard-worker, but inconsistent end-product. was on relatively high wages from MON days & Lambert doesn't really do wingers so he didn't get much of a new contract offer.

Villa got humiliated by Groningen!!!

I know it was just a pre-season friendly..but still.

Fey wrote:Villa got humiliated by Groningen!!!

I know it was just a pre-season friendly..but still.

Groningen are shit, we knocked them out of the Europa League last week.

ja, looking pretty shitty by the sounds of it. this could well be a relegation season if we plan to through whole year with uncertain ownership & absolute minimal investment in team. might just eke out another 16th place if Vlaar stays and Benteke gets back quickly.

Seems like we're actually making a good signing: Carlos Sanchez. Colombian DM, starter in their world cup team, currently at Elche.

can't say I particularly remember him from World Cup but DM is a position we've needed to strengthen for a long time & he sounds like he fits the bill.

debaser wrote:Seems like we're actually making a good signing: Carlos Sanchez. Colombian DM, starter in their world cup team, currently at Elche.

can't say I particularly remember him from World Cup but DM is a position we've needed to strengthen for a long time & he sounds like he fits the bill.

Signing confirmed. Slightly more optimistic about season now, but I'm sure that'll be crushed out of me by a miserable performance at Stoke tomorrow

sounds like El Ahmadi could be going back to Feyenoord. heard anything, Fey?

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didn't see Newcastle game, but sounds like similar story to last season of lacking creativity (esp. at home). two clean sheets is a good start though. keep a solid defence and the return of Benteke & Kozak should add enough goals for a mid-table spot

4 points for villa but only 1 shot on target is what I heard. That's efficient

Villa actually looked threatening on the counter, the Zog did quite well and Weimann is becoming a big threat at times. Defensively Vlaar has turned into a superhuman since the WC. Hutton was great too. As you say it's just that lack of goals that will keep you near the bottom.

110% wrote:4 points for villa but only 1 shot on target is what I heard. That's efficient

sounds like the kind of stat which will get Team Progress salivating..

debaser wrote:sounds like El Ahmadi could be going back to Feyenoord. heard anything, Fey?

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didn't see Newcastle game, but sounds like similar story to last season of lacking creativity (esp. at home). two clean sheets is a good start though. keep a solid defence and the return of Benteke & Kozak should add enough goals for a mid-table spot

Yeah was about to mention it, seems likely, not a fan of getting old players back but with Clasie leaving and our TD not having a network at all..one comes to El Ahmadi quickly. Already made an offer it seems.

KEA is alright but now we've signed Sanchez I don't think he'd get much gametime. doesn't really have enough presence for Premier League.

Cheers for El Ahmadi...

Clasie and EA to be reunited...should be good.

enjoy. seems we might be signing your other favourite to replace him. one hand giveth, the other taketh away..

Dream on. Clasie extended his contract, that puts him in the 15m+ category. You arent that rich yourselves

Fey wrote:Dream on. Clasie extended his contract, that puts him in the 15m+ category. You arent that rich yourselves

I was talking about Cleverley!

Seems we've signed Cleverley on loan after all. guess Man Utd were desperate to offload in the end 'cause they previously only wanted a permanent transfer. Perhaps they didn't even have room in the 25 man squad for him. Loan is ideal - if he doesn't find form at Villa, we haven't spunked 7/8m on him but if he does, presumably there's an option to make it permanent.

Final reckoning:

In:
Philippe Senderos, Kieran Richardson, Joe Cole, Carlos Sanchez, Aly Cissokho, Tom Cleverley (loan)

Out:
sold/released - Marc Albrighton, Nathan Delfouneso, Samir Carruthers, Karim El Ahmadi, Jordan Bowery
loan - Joe Bennett, Jed Steer, Yacouba Sylla, Gary Gardner, Daniel Johnson, Aleksandar Tonev, Antonio Luna, Nicklas Helenius, Janoi Donacien

Squad:

GK: Guzan, Given

RB: Hutton, Lowton
CB: Vlaar, Senderos, Okore, Baker, Clark
LB: Cissokho, Stevens

CM: Delph, Sanchez, Cleverley, Westwood, Bacuna, Herd
AM/Wing: N'Zogbia, Grealish, Joe Cole, Richardson
FW: Benteke, Agbonlahor, Weimann, Kozak, Bent, Robinson

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Generally look well covered all round, esp with versatile players like Bacuna, Richardson, Herd able to cover various defensive and midfield roles. I wasn't enthused about several of our signings but there's no question the team and squad look more solid than last year. Done well to clear out most of Lambert's cheap punts that haven't paid off.

Ideal world we'd have shipped Bent out and brought in a wide forward, 'cause I can't see Bent even getting near the bench once Benteke and Kozak are fit, whereas the wide positions could do with a bit more competition. But who would want Bent after his shitness for Fulham last year?

Still a question-mark about creativity but there's some potential between Cole, Grealish, N'Zogbia and Cleverley (all new compared to last season) - it's whether any of them can produce consistently.

Next priority: new contracts for Delph, Grealish and Vlaar, all expire next summer. Suspect Vlaar will wait it out and go for a lucrative Bosman at his stage of career. hopefully sort the other two out soon though.

I think Cleverley's out of contract next summer so he'll be on a free... With silly wage demands no doubt!

This season is rather surreal, and not just the results. At the start of the summer, everything seemed to be set in short-term thinking - free signings on 2 year contracts, just enough to keep things ticking over til a takeover. But now it's just been announced Lambert's got a contract extension to 2018.

this follows the bizarre turnaround where Alan Hutton gone from training with the kids last season to being back in the first team and getting a new contract yesterday after all of 4 matches. Gabby also got a new contract the other day, but nothing yet on the three that really need to be signed up (Delph, Vlaar, Grealish all have contracts expiring in June).

fuck knows what all this means about whether the club is still being sold or not.. I hope this isn't some kneejerk reaction to a good start to the season. Managerial stability would be good and I think we could do worse than Lambert (though he still has plenty to prove), but it's strange to have this apparent shift back to long-term planning while the owner still wants to sell as far as we know. wonder if it means he's changed his mind about selling?

I really don't see why anybody would buy Villa. They're never going to get in the Champions League, and they really shouldn't get relegated, unless they do something very stupid. They're one of those clubs that will always be stuck in mid table obscurity, like Newcastle.

We're only stuck in obscurity because of a lack of will and intelligence from the owner.

But Villa is bigger then Newcastle though, no?

If Man City can become a top team, anyone can do it with a rich owner.

Fey wrote:But Villa is bigger then Newcastle though, no?

If Man City can become a top team, anyone can do it with a rich owner.

Yes, but there aren't many rich owners out there.

Villa are a more successful club than Newcastle. Newcastle get bigger crowds. either could be competing at the very top with the right investment.

Bigger revenue.

Sherwood appointed, unlucky 'baser.

http://shop.avfc.co.uk/shop/aston-villa-gilet/index.html

Soon to sell out.