Transfer window

If we get two million for him then that's good business. Number one because he's shit, and number two because he's shit.

Joppe84 wrote:If we get two million for him then that's good business. Number one because he's shit, and number two because he's shit.

A compelling argument. Of course you haven't considered.....

No, actually you may be right.


PS can I just say how much I fecking HATE having to watching other teams scoreline updates!

Offloading Sinclair is probably more about wage bill reduction than anything else. Still dont like the fact were strengthening another team in the relegation zone, not that it will realistically make the slightest bit of a difference to our plight.

Dions_Bald_Head wrote:Did anyone actually want Sinclair in the 1st place? I remember reading that even Sherwood wasn't keen but the purchase was agreed soon after the loan.

Still, considering he's featured under Remi, if he IS being sold, I'd suggest that means we have imminent incomings....

Or we are trimming costs to be in line with championship clubs ?

I don't think Remi has any new money - he might not even get what he generates....

Farewell Scott, don't let the door hit you on the way out!

I was surprised we signed him in the first place as he was such a disappointment on loan at the baggies the previous season, he certainly hasn't done anything to light up Villa Park.
Still I suppose he was English so he helped make up the contingent of English based players in the squad and we certainly have worse players than him in the squad.

Sinclair hasn't really done anything for us, found wanting more often than not. It's almost certainly a cost cutting measure as well, the club have to shift as many highly paid and under performing players as possible in preparation for championship football. Not a bad thing. If we can also shift Agbonlahor then it'll have been a decent January on the outgoing side of things, i think Richards will almost certainly leave upon relegation too. The key for this club is regardless what happens they retain Ayew, Veretout, Gana, and Amavi. It would be stupidity to have done the hard work in year one only to watch another club reap the rewards of a settled second season.
Should the club fail to secure a centre forward of any note then we can assume they have accepted relegation as inevitable. I still maintain that escape is achievable with a smart January window, i still see Norwich, Swansea, and Sunderland as vulnerable. A Goalscorer, though, is vital in the next week or so.

Well all i can see is players departing quietly, some under the veil of a "Loan" others in actual sales by the looks of it. As for incomings it is all rather quiet and those rumoured appear to be just loans who will depart when we get relegated...So without doubt this club is preparing for the Championship.

Pathetic! See you on Thursday night Fox & co!

Dazzle wrote:Sinclair hasn't really done anything for us, found wanting more often than not. It's almost certainly a cost cutting measure as well, the club have to shift as many highly paid and under performing players as possible in preparation for championship football. Not a bad thing. If we can also shift Agbonlahor then it'll have been a decent January on the outgoing side of things, i think Richards will almost certainly leave upon relegation too. The key for this club is regardless what happens they retain Ayew, Veretout, Gana, and Amavi. It would be stupidity to have done the hard work in year one only to watch another club reap the rewards of a settled second season.
Should the club fail to secure a centre forward of any note then we can assume they have accepted relegation as inevitable. I still maintain that escape is achievable with a smart January window, i still see Norwich, Swansea, and Sunderland as vulnerable. A Goalscorer, though, is vital in the next week or so.

Thing is, its the cost cutting which has created downward spiral - not so long ago the cure for all our ills was getting rid of Cuellar, Heskey, Beye - now the names are changing, Gabby, Sinclair, etc - However I believe that mentality is fundamentally wrong for Aston Villa.
If we still run Aston villa as big club - our stay in the championship will be short - if however we 'cut our cloth to match our means' and run and finance as a championship club thats what we will remain.

I don't know about everyone else, but it feels like this window we are trying to offload players who don't fit into Garde's plans for next season, as opposed to just "cost cutting". Cole, Senderos, N'Zogbia, Gabby, Crespo, Bennett, Sinclair, and Lescott have all either already moved or are being linked to moves out. Lescott is the only one Garde has commented that he doesn't want to lose because he is our Captain right now.

Honestly, the only players I want to keep at the moment are Ayew, Veretout, Gana, Amavi, Okore, and Cissokho. Everyone else can leave, including Gil, Richards, & Grealish, and I wouldn't be bothered.

Saw on Villa Talk that some Croatian newspaper is saying we were wrapping up a signing for that goalkeeper we were linked with last week.

Also the Birmingham Mail says we've approached Dortmund for Adrian Ramos on loan for the remainder of the season. A very promising striker who hasn't been able to get a start behind Aubameyang, the league's top scorer. He was banging them in for fun at Berlin a few years ago, before Dortmund picked him up. Could be a fantastic signing, if we can pull it off.

A friend of mine is a B&H season ticket holder and says Bennett was good for them but not PL quality. He's just gone out on loan to Wednesday. I really do think it's a good idea to keep some of our options open, he's the kind of player who won't be on good wages and the loan will ensure he stays match fit, gets experience and has his wages paid but still keeps him on the books in case we need him as a reserve LB next season. Gardner and Steer on loan also make sense, as does Robinson (if we re-sign him).

I actually think our most important player is Okore, and will continue to be. We've stuck with him through injury and he's currently keeping Richards out of the team, and I think he'll be least likely to go if (when) we do get relegated, while I'm not so sure with anyone else we'd want to keep, with the possible exception of Amavi. Okore, Veretout and Ayew are the spine of the team we need to keep. A year or two ago it was Vlaar, Delph and Benteke. Sure, Ayew isn't (yet) a Benteke, but Veretout and Okore are upgrades on the other two. What we need, more than anything, is that spine around which to build the team, and to stick with and be loyal to us, and we need the club to see that and appreciate they really are three young players with a lot of potential.

To those three I'd add Cissokho and Gueye, and Steer in goal, as a good, solid, base of a Championship team. I'd like us to keep Grealish, we have to remain loyal to our own (unless they become lazy and disruptive and cease to be loyal to us) and we have to make our academy attractive, with a real possibility to come up through the ranks into the first team. I'm not convinced where he should go though, in a number 10 role? If Kozak and Gestede work out in a 4-4-2 can we afford to have Grealish on the wing or does Ayew trump him every time?

These are just the players we already have. We might now have a new goalie, but we need a proper striker, and if Sinclair goes at least two wingers!

KMitch wrote:Saw on Villa Talk that some Croatian newspaper is saying we were wrapping up a signing for that goalkeeper we were linked with last week.

Also the Birmingham Mail says we've approached Dortmund for Adrian Ramos on loan for the remainder of the season. A very promising striker who hasn't been able to get a start behind Aubameyang, the league's top scorer. He was banging them in for fun at Berlin a few years ago, before Dortmund picked him up. Could be a fantastic signing, if we can pull it off.

That would be an excellent signing in our situation, can't really lose either the player or Villa.

What other team could be marooned at the foot of the table and not be doing their utmost to get players in and save themselves from certain relegation, the way this club is being run is an absolute frigging joke, if I didn't have to worry about money I'd hire a hitman to take Lerner out once and for all, I hate the guy with a passion.

Seems like it's an important point in the season for Remi who is probably now (after last night) in no doubt about the 1st team & with 4 games unbeaten, a corner is (slowly) being turned in terms of team spirit & confidence. Maybe as important as the 1st game against Wycombe when the team was changed fairly dramatically & the fans blew up after the performance - that could have gone either way. Add the possibility of a new face or 2, there's a risk that it'll either upset things again or add to the forward thrust. If he manages to judge it correctly then I'll fully take him to my claret & blue heart.

Ah who am I kidding - he had me at 'allo.

If he manages to keep us up when Randy the sugarbag offer fuck all investment, then he should get a fifty year contract and a statue.

Another one bites the dust, Crespo out on loan, never really given a chance:

http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~5287122,00.html

So we are struggling at the bottom and we release
Crespo
Bennett
Gardner
Senderos (Yet to happen)
Cole
Nzog (Yet to happen)

And others

And sign

The Utterer wrote:So we are struggling at the bottom and we release
Crespo
Bennett
Gardner
Senderos (Yet to happen)
Cole
Nzog (Yet to happen)

And others

And sign

Senderos aside, all simply underachieved and proved not good enough. And it's January 20th, so time for bodies in yet.

Dazzle wrote:

The Utterer wrote:So we are struggling at the bottom and we release
Crespo
Bennett
Gardner
Senderos (Yet to happen)
Cole
Nzog (Yet to happen)

And others

And sign

Senderos aside, all simply underachieved and proved not good enough. And it's January 20th, so time for bodies in yet.

You say underachieved but Crespo, Bennett (perhaps a bit too lightweight) and Gardner haven't had any chance to prove themselves.
To me it is purely a cost cutting exercise and as for getting bodies in, don't hold your breath it will be last minute desperate players (if any)!

achilles wrote:

Dazzle wrote:

The Utterer wrote:So we are struggling at the bottom and we release
Crespo
Bennett
Gardner
Senderos (Yet to happen)
Cole
Nzog (Yet to happen)

And others

And sign

Senderos aside, all simply underachieved and proved not good enough. And it's January 20th, so time for bodies in yet.

You say underachieved but Crespo, Bennett (perhaps a bit too lightweight) and Gardner haven't had any chance to prove themselves.
To me it is purely a cost cutting exercise and as for getting bodies in, don't hold your breath it will be last minute desperate players (if any)!

To be fair, we've not really had many spare games to give them a chance to prove themselves - Remi's come in when the situation was dire so he can't afford to not pick the players he most has faith in from what he's seen in training. So far, I think he's been a pretty good judge so I'm content to take his word for it & just be glad we're freeing up wages for someone more suitable.

Yes, I do continually live in hope.

Wookster wrote:http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/transfernews/6875182/Former-Manchester-United-defender-Nemanja-Vidic-set-for-shock-return-to-Premier-League-with-Aston-Villa.html

Yes, I noticed that he was a free agent the other day.
On the face of it, it sounds good but he hasn't played this season, he has had injury problems, he is 34, is he fit to play in the PL, probably not!
Taking all that in account I don't think he would be of any value to us, therefore we will probably sign him!

achilles wrote:

Wookster wrote:http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/transfernews/6875182/Former-Manchester-United-defender-Nemanja-Vidic-set-for-shock-return-to-Premier-League-with-Aston-Villa.html

Yes, I noticed that he was a free agent the other day.
On the face of it, it sounds good but he hasn't played this season, he has had injury problems, he is 34, is he fit to play in the PL, probably not!
Taking all that in account I don't think he would be of any value to us, therefore we will probably sign him!
 

Considering we're on a winning streak ( ) I don't think we need him for a consistent contribution to the 1st team - just some occasional arse-kicking when needed.

I can't summon up any enthusiasm for Vidic. He hasn't played since last May!