Thursday deadline.

[Atko's Engine]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Villa have spent phenomenal money since going down and have nothing to show for it. It isn't all about spending money. You can't buy team spirit like we have. We will be hard to beat and never give up, just like this season. If Mowbray adds 3-4 players of real quality, no reason why we cant be top half of the table. 

That's what you get for appointing Steve Bruce. There are few less inspiring, motivational & creative managers around at this level than him IMO. Admittedly tho, Villa have had a habit of making bad managerial appointments in the last 7 seasons that's enough to rival Venky's! 

[JacknOry]

3 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Villa have spent phenomenal money since going down and have nothing to show for it. It isn't all about spending money. You can't buy team spirit like we have. We will be hard to beat and never give up, just like this season. If Mowbray adds 3-4 players of real quality, no reason why we cant be top half of the table. 

Surely they will have little choice but to make some serious cutbacks now as its their 3rd season down here and FFP should start to come into play now? Already heard that they are wanting to offload Grealish for 30 mil.

[DE.]

Look at Sheffield Wednesday. Spent big, but they've been getting worse rather than better. In our one season where we spent really big on Rhodes, Murphy, Etuhu, Nuno Gomes, etc we ended up battling relegation.  

It's not necessarily about spending a lot of money, it's about bringing in the right players to suit the manager's style of football (and having a manager who actually knows what they're doing). Ipswich got into the playoffs in significant net profit paying no more than £10k p/w wages. 

A healthy budget is important, but a smart and calculated transfer policy is far more beneficial than splashing the cash. Obviously I'm discounting extreme examples like Wolves and Newcastle, as realistically we aren't going to be spending that kind of money. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, JacknOry said:

Surely they will have little choice but to make some serious cutbacks now as its their 3rd season down here and FFP should start to come into play now? Already heard that they are wanting to offload Grealish for 30 mil.

You would imagine so ya. Their wages must be astronomical, mostly Premier league players on the books. Then there are the fees. 12 million for Scott Hogan, Kodija 15 million was it? i would say they have spent as much as Wolves or Newcastle when they went up 

30 million? Lucky for them he declared for England. 

[JacknOry]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

You would imagine so ya. Their wages must be astronomical, mostly Premier league players on the books. Then there are the fees. 12 million for Scott Hogan, Kodija 15 million was it? i would say they have spent as much as Wolves or Newcastle when they went up 

30 million? Lucky for them he declared for England. 

Massive gamble that hasnt paid off - their parachutes will run out soon in the next year or two as well I imagine. 

So glad we have finally got rid of most of our high earners and wastes of space and have a more structured wage at the club.  

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, JacknOry said:

Massive gamble that hasnt paid off - their parachutes will run out soon in the next year or two as well I imagine. 

So glad we have finally got rid of most of our high earners and wastes of space and have a more structured wage at the club.  

Ya, they will destroy a club if under performing. Vila in big trouble. Very difficult to bounce back after losing a play-off final. Unless you are WBA under Mowbray  

Will Bruce stay I wonder? 

[JacknOry]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Ya, they will destroy a club if under performing. Vila in big trouble. Very difficult to bounce back after losing a play-off final. Unless you are WBA under Mowbray  

Will Bruce stay I wonder? 

Will they want him to stay? He has failed this season especially after what has been spent.

Cannot see Terry staying now either - he might have considered it in the PL for a year but not now i doubt. Plus there is the fact of his massive wages.

Their style of play hardly looked too attractive against Fulham either, so not sure fans will be content with Bruce. Fulham on the other hand looked excellent and they have built a team up over many seasons rather than splashed loads of cash.

[JHRover]

Can't help but think Villa's best chance is to keep Bruce. It might not be pretty but his record in the Championship is second to none and even on a limited budget I think he'll have them up there.

Of course we all want to see things unravel there as they are punished for extreme spending and not going up but I'll believe it when I see it. I expect they'll cash in on one or two and release a couple of big earners and that will be enough to keep them clear of FFP trouble.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Bruce is just a poor mans Mick Mcarthy :p 

On Villa though, it just doesn't seem fair that they can splash such cash and get away with it 

[JacknOry]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Bruce is just a poor mans Mick Mcarthy ?

On Villa though, it just doesn't seem fair that they can splash such cash and get away with it 

That is what Shrewsbury fans said about us this season.

All the relegated clubs do it to some extent as an immediate return is paramount. We did it and failed, Villa did it on an even bigger scale and have failed and there will be others that fail in the future.

What irks me more is clubs like Wednesday and Derby that have been spending millions for years in the hope of getting up and are somehow not being asked questions by FFP.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, JacknOry said:

That is what Shrewsbury fans said about us this season.

All the relegated clubs do it to some extent as an immediate return is paramount. We did it and failed, Villa did it on an even bigger scale and have failed and there will be others that fail in the future.

What irks me more is clubs like Wednesday and Derby that have been spending millions for years in the hope of getting up and are somehow not being asked questions by FFP.

My point was more the prolonged spending that Villa have done since going down. 

What we did in League 1 was no way comparable to what they have done. We kept our squad together and spent a million. Villa have spent more than some Premier league teams on transfers and wages. How we end up under FFP restrictions and teams like Villa avoid it, is very strange to me. 

I think we are in agreement actually   

[K-Hod]

7 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Bruce is just a poor mans Mick Mcarthy :p 

On Villa though, it just doesn't seem fair that they can splash such cash and get away with it 

Yet a quick Google search will tell you he's won twice as many promotions than Mick McCarthy as a manager....

It's a funny old game. 

Edited May 29, 2018 by K-Hod

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, K-Hod said:

Yet he's got twice as many promotions as Mick as a manager....

It's a funny old game.

I didn't realize he has 4 promotions

Mick has won the league more times though  Showed far too much loyalty to Ipswich as well. Did a great job there under the circumstances 

Edited May 29, 2018 by Bigdoggsteel

[Blackburn Ravers]

 Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End, Bolton Wanderers and Bradford City are chasing Walsall midfielder Erhun Oztumer on a free transfer. #Rovers #pnefc #bwfc #bcafc #WalsallFC https://t.co/TXshRHfYbI

[Oldgregg86]

1 hour ago, JacknOry said:

Surely they will have little choice but to make some serious cutbacks now as its their 3rd season down here and FFP should start to come into play now? Already heard that they are wanting to offload Grealish for 30 mil.

With dack a possible replacement ?

On a more serious note. 30 million for grealish. Who is going to pay that. Surly that can't be right

Edited May 29, 2018 by Oldgregg86

[tomphil]

I think at any point under Venkys until maybe now most of us would've welcomed Steve Bruce with open arms let's not pretend any different. He's a good solid medium term manager whose proved it time and again but like a few others lacks that bold flair element to his coaching that probably costs him at times.

[Oldgregg86]

When mowbray goes to united I would be more than happy with Bruce as a replacement

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

11 hours ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

All managers sign players who for whatever reason don’t work out. Not all managers sign players who have the impact of Dack, signed on a longer contract.

Dack was the one shining successful signing last year out of how many signings ? One or two others were decent signings. We'll need to do better than that next time.

[Bigdoggsteel]

That HITC website and the72 website are 99% garbage. Clickbait nonsense  

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Dack was the one shining successful signing last year out of how many signings ? One or two others were decent signings. We'll need to do better than that next time.

Smallwood, Chapman, Armstrong, Downing and Bell all good signings

Those who didn't perform were by and large injured most of the season 

Obviously we will need to do better, we are a division up. Mowbray has repeatedly spoken about improving our recruitment. 

When you look at the amount of players who left last summer, Mowbray did exceptionally well to build a squad capable of getting out of the division and putting us in a position where we now have a stronger squad than the one we went down with. 

Edited May 29, 2018 by Bigdoggsteel

[JacknOry]

27 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

With dack a possible replacement ?

On a more serious note. 30 million for grealish. Who is going to pay that. Surly that can't be right

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/aston-villa/2018/04/20/steve-bruce-jack-grealish-is-worth-at-least-40million/

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

17 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Smallwood, Chapman, Armstrong, Downing and Bell all good signings

Those who didn't perform were by and large injured most of the season 

Obviously we will need to do better, we are a division up. Mowbray has repeatedly spoken about improving our recruitment. 

When you look at the amount of players who left last summer, Mowbray did exceptionally well to build a squad capable of getting out of the division and putting us in a position where we now have a stronger squad than the one we went down with. 

I'd say Smallwood was good for a big chunk of the season then went off the boil. Which version will we get next season ? Chapman looked to be a good player in the making but he got injured and at the end of the day he was a loan player. Armstrong blew a bit hot and cold,  again he looks a decent player in the making but he's another loan player. Downing was a fairly good signing especially when you consider he was on a free. Bell ? Who knows ? He's obviously rated highly by other people but I think it's fair to say he hasn't exactly set Ewood Park alight yet.

Dack was the one signing were you could say we really got a bargain there. If Grealish is worth the sort of dosh Villa are talking about Dack must be up around the £7.5 million mark.  Players of that style, the David Dunn type,  are the worst to play against. The ones that can carry the ball from the halfway line to the penalty area in centre field and then makes things happen are worth their weight in gold.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I'd say Smallwood was good for a big chunk of the season then went off the boil. Which version will we get next season ? Chapman looked to be a good player in the making but he got injured and at the end of the day he was a loan player. Armstrong blew a bit hot and cold,  again he looks a decent player in the making but he's another loan player. Downing was a fairly good signing especially when you consider he was on a free. Bell ? Who knows ? He's obviously rated highly by other people but I think it's fair to say he hasn't exactly set Ewood Park alight yet.

Dack was the one signing were you could say we really got a bargain there. If Grealish is worth the sort of dosh Villa are talking about Dack must be up around the £7.5 million mark.  Players of that style, the David Dunn type,  are the worst to play against. The ones that can carry the ball from the halfway line to the penalty area in centre field and then makes things happen are worth their weight in gold.

That's a good comparison. If Grealish is worth 30,40 million what is Dack worth? From what I have seen Dack is a better player although we will have to see if he can do it a level up of course. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

That's a good comparison. If Grealish is worth 30,40 million what is Dack worth? From what I have seen Dack is a better player although we will have to see if he can do it a level up of course. 

Grealish has played at top level so he's going to be rated  higher than Dack. Grealish is quicker  but Dack is stronger. Both have " life style issues ".

[blueboy3333]

25 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Those who didn't perform were by and large injured most of the season 

Whittingham got injured around Christmas. He was very poor up to that point. He then couldn't get back in the side when he recovered. His failings had nothing to do with injury, more that his legs had gone and he was totally unsuited to League 1 football. Gladwin was just awful. He looked like he was on a heavy dose of sedatives whenever he came on. Again, nowt to do with injuries. Caddis just spent most days in McDonalds. I saw him eating one on the bench once. He had half a fillet o fish round his mouth when he was warming up.