So all the talk is about the cups.
We played the backup team and they were frankly rubbish against Fulham, to my mind.
The debate continues about if the players are simply out of form or just poor, but that’s not what this post is about.
My question now, is why haven’t we got any players in yet?
The main area of concern is obviously in the striking department.
We have Wesley, Kodjia and Davis as our only realistic options.
Let’s take a look at them;
You’d have to be extremely optimistic to say that Wesley has performed well and looks like a player who will get us more than 10 goals this season. Either our system doesn’t suit him or he just isn’t good enough.
To be honest, he doesn’t look anything like a finisher to me at all, but I’m very possibly being unfair.
I think expecting him to produce the goods this season is just too big an ask.
He’s playing a different game, in a different country and needs time to learn. Then add in that he has massive expectation on his shoulders.
My hope is that he’ll come good next season, but we should have been looking for someone else to come in as backup, on the first day of the window.
And now he’s out for the season, it’s even more important that we replace him.
Jonathan Kodjia.
Well, he’s Marmite isn’t he?
I like him, because he offers something different in my opinion.
Yes, I get it: he never looks up and doesn’t pass to the obvious choice. He’s a greedy so and so, who is bone idle, to boot.
But he can get goals.
My opinion here doesn’t really matter though, because recently he’s looked shattered and it’s like he’s running through treacle, probably through a lack of games.
Which is why my opinion has been for a good while that he wants out. He’s after that last big payday, for which I don’t really blame him.
It would seem we’ve denied him that opportunity early in the season and keeping a player in that state of mind just doesn’t bode well.
Keeping him until the end of the season just shouldn’t have been an option, but I suspect we now don’t have a choice.
And then there’s Kienan Davis.
I like this kid.
He holds the ball up and can introduce others into the game, which I suspect is what Dean Smith wants.
But that alone is not good enough.
We need someone who does that and scores goals too. Kienan just doesn’t do this, although he might start to do so in the future.
Whatever, I don’t feel he’s the answer just yet.
So what do I think?
The fact that we never got a Striker in on the 1st of January tells me we were going to go with what we had before the current state of play.
That’s a big concern, because if the Hierarchy thought that would be good enough, I think they’re seriously deluded.
And I don’t believe they’re that stupid.
Which tells me that we are seriously bound by FFP rules or they just don’t want to spend massively on what’s available.
Scott Hogan, who can’t even do it at Stoke? If Smith seriously rated him, with the players we have, why did he loan him out for the season?
Glenn Murray?
Adebayour? What would his wage demands be?
These links are just a joke and will not happen.
But you would think we’d have sounded out someone and his club months ago.
I suspect we’re only now looking around in a mad panic and are going to have our pants pulled down on either a well past it, massively overpaid or another unproven foreign player.
Which is ridiculous and frankly bloody worrying.
That’s if we get anyone in at all.
Am I seeing too much into things?
Possibly.
But I seriously expected someone in on New year’s day.
Never mind the strikers, where are any new players?
I’d say we seriously need reinforcements, but suspect they won’t happen until the last minute.
Which is really concerning.
I’#ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if we don’t get a striker and a good midfielder in then relegation beckons. Surely Smith and the board can see this!!!
The money wasted on some of the players brought in the close season also begs the question; DO THEY ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING???
Tony, I suspect they do know what they’re doing, but might be seriously constrained.
watching the fa cup on beeb that Gabriel Martinelli looks a decent player, quick feet and very tricky. i watched leeds and they shame lots of players and teams with their work rates. their pressing is second to none.
i hate Marmite and bumford. but leeds forward might play act and try to con the referee, but he worked his arse off. defending from the front. they all worked hard, well drilled they were and very hard to play through or against. arsenal struggled too and were very lucky that leeds failed to build a lead.
villa need to take a leaf out of leeds workrate. you get what you deserve or what you put in.
Nath, a lot of what you say goes back to how much control Smith has.
I’d guess at Brentford, he had a lot more shout than he does at the Villa.
So we aren’t neccesarily buying the players he wants.
That’s not automatically a bad thing, but I really doubt Smith wanted Wesley and the decision was made over his head.
This is a problem for me, as it’s the manager who faces the flak and gets sacked , while the DOF might survive.
Oh, I very much doubt he wanted Terry there, either, fwiw.
The January window is a nightmare. No club really wants to sell anyone decent mid season without first getting a replacement in – even if they’re not playing regularly – and if they do they want silly money. And that includes us – JG anyone – maybe if you offer us £100m!
So, yes, we’ll get our ‘pants pulled down’ but we won’t be alone on that score.
The long term injuries have really screwed us in more ways than one and, add to that, the two so close to January and we’re double screwed.
I don’t think FFP is a real issue as long as we don’t get relegated and thereby hangs the conundrum for the owners. So if they are able to buy big in this window and we don’t survive then it’ll be goodbye to McGinn and Grealish before the end of May to balance the books.
For me the most interesting name being linked with us is Giroud.
In the meantime (because I agree that we’re not going to get anyone worth having quickly) and notwithstanding his game time (or lack of it) at Stoke, I’d rather see Hogan leading the line than Kodjia.
Just seen one interesting piece in the media this morning – Smith ‘will not be restricted to signing players under 26 AS HE WAS IN THE SUMMER’ (in this window).
Danny Drinkwater to undergo a medical! £110,000 per week reportedly and played hardly any football since leaving Leicester. Injuries are not being good enough for Burnley suggests panic buying IMO.
A short term loan replacement for McGinn. Rather, I think, demonstrates how impossible is the January window.
Here we go again, the deadwood stage is coming.
Matt Law
✔
@Matt_Law_DT
Danny Drinkwater is at Bodymoor Heath having a medical ahead of joining Aston Villa on loan until the end of the season from Chelsea.
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The 29-year-old midfielder spent the first half of the season on loan at Burnley but he only featured once in the Premier League at Turf Moor.
Drinkwater has therefore decided to cancel his loan spell with the Clarets and Villa now appear to be closing in.
Drinkwater, who was part of Leicester City’s title winning side in 2015/16, has only played 25 matches since moving to Stamford Bridge in 2017
Can’t sign anyone else (on loan) from Chelsea once Drinkwater signs so good bye Giroud even though I suspect he wouldn’t have come to Villa.
It seems that any substantial money we spend will be on a striker.
It’s confirmed, Drinkwater till the end of season, at least we don’t keep him.
Drinkwater was a good player at Leicester. It is difficult to explain what happened to him since but not fitting-in at Chelsea is a persistent hazard (not intended) because it is a cliquey club.
Dean Smith liked the look of hunger in Drinkwater’s eyes. It’s a bit like my missus choosing a horse in the grand national because she liked the colour of his jersey. One thing is certain and that is he will be rusty and take quite a while to get up to speed. We aren’t signing him based on form because there is none to speak of. Question is, can we afford to have players anything below 100% especially at CM?
Apologies if I’m not enthused by the ‘window’ so far. A while back, I said that I would scrap the January window and my thoughts on this haven’t changed. Tough shit if you don’t get things done in the summer is my take on things.
I agree with you to a point in that I don’t see what the current transfer window regulations have accomplished other than to artificially drive up the cost of transfers. The January window is an extreme example of this and to that end there is a clear argument to scrap it.
However, it seems to me that it would be better all round to scrap the window system altogether and revert back to open transfers all year round. The system is completely illogical with each association setting it’s own dates and even setting different dates and rules within the different leagues in the same association!
Steve Coppel is quoted as saying I cannot see the logic in a transfer window. It brings on a fire-sale mentality, causes unrest via the media and means clubs buy too many players” adding that “The old system, where if you had a problem you could look at loans or make a short-term purchase, was far better than this system we have at the moment”. And he’s not alone in this view.
But then when did those that run any sport ever admit to being wrong.
Aaaagh – that post was me 🙂
Talk of Luis Barry coming in, well thought of player but only 16 in age.
Birmingham Live,..
Aston Villa want Barca youngster
Aston Villa are leading the back in the hunt to bring highly-rated English youngster Louie Barry back to England.
Barry, a sixteen-year old West Bromwich Albion graduate moved to Barcelona in July last year, but disputes have emerged over the fee owed by Barcelona to West Brom.
Reports in The Daily Mail suggest that Barcelona are still to pay compensation to The Baggies, and are now looking to sell Barry for a fee of around £1.5 million.
Furthermore, the article suggests that Aston Villa are already in talks and ready to swoop to capitalise on the opportunity to bring the youngster over to Birmingham.
The striker scored on his academy debut for Barcelona, and is the first English player to board at La Masia , Barcelona’s legendary academy.
The youngster is no stranger to Villa’s Academy Manager Mark Harrison, he was his boss at West Brom, his former employer.
Barry won’t fix Villa’s striker issues on his own, and is certainly a buy for the future, but if Villa are successful in bringing him in – it’d represent a massive opportunity for the club and the player.
It’s also a sign that Villa are playing smart and diving in on opportunities that arise.
Barcelona pushed back a number of European giants to snag Barry, but the situation has clearly changed – and a move closer to home could suit Barry, and suit Aston Villa
I really wish we could keep Davis fit, as I think he could really do a job for us, and would get better every game. In my opinion, bringing Benteke in may be a masterstroke. He would also be a good player for Davis to learn from, and i think he would lift the fans too. A confident Benteke could still be a force in the PL.
We also should go for Bowen, even if the price is a bit inflated.
Think we will only make one significant purchase in this window – and that for a top striker. Otherwise we might do a couple of loans.
Supposed to have bid 25 million for an Inter Milan forward…..forgot name but Polish…..
Krzysztof Piatek
Links to bring Benteke back to Villa after we enquired about his availability according to Metro.
Piatek??? yes please
Sorry DSVilla Piatek a none starter on coming to us. But look at Luis on wages.
The 29-year-old midfielder has joined Villa on loan until the end of the season in a deal that manager Dean Smith hopes will help bolster his midfielder options with John McGinn currently sidelined through injury.
The report claims that Drinkwater “jumped at the chance” to join Villa and almost immediately agreed to the deal while the two clubs tried to make a deal.
But the stumbling block between the two clubs came when discussing what percentage of Drinkwater’s reported £110,000-per-week wages Smith’s side would contribute.
Chelsea are said to have demanded that Villa pay the full amount, despite Burnley having only contributed £50,000-per-week towards his salary during the first half of the campaign.
Drinkwater made just one Premier League outing for Sean Dyche’s side during the season’s first five months, forcing the Lancashire side to trigger a break clause in his deal that saw him return to Chelsea’s Cobham training centre on January 6.
But after days of negotiating, it is reported that Chelsea “relaxed their demands” and the deal for the midfielder was completed.
To be honest Bill I can’t see Piatek coming. Nice to dream though
Would have loved him, yes nice to dream.