If Villa had offered us £2m for Dale Stephens at the start of the transfer window would you have thought this was a good deal? AllHell
A great deal then and still a great deal now. What did we pay for him a year ago? 500,000? That is what this club is all about. Buying and selling players for a profit and hopefully also bringing through between one (or two) of our own juniors a year. That way we can stay in the black and gradually improve our squad to inch back to the Premiership. I think the implication is that it is less of a good deal now because CP doesn't have time to find a replacement. But CP has stated on the OS that he already has replacements pencilled in for all the players where there is a reasonable chance of their leaving. A deal could be finalised within a few hours. A player like Daryl Russell wouldn't weaken the team in the short term and if CP has two-thirds of the cash to spend he could find someone for the longer term in the New Year or next summer. And someone like Buzsaky is available outside the window because a free agent and would actually strengthen the team compared to Stephens. If Fuller is fit enough to play up front for two-thirds of our playing-time we might even drop Kermorgant a bit deeper and wouldn't need a direct replacement at all, though another squad central midfielder is needed as we don't have any cover in that area.
Not sure what the point of the initial question was? Is it about the value compared to the time to find a replacement? I think £2m for Stephens is a good deal regardless of timing. We want Buszacky!!!!! I'm becoming as much of a broken record on that one as Eddie is on Russel.l
You have got the question right Ybab but I'm not saying that say £1m could be used on finding a replacement for Dale but say two new players at £500k to add strength to the squad. I'm not sure what Quinn when to U'll for but I doubt if it was for much more than £750k.
Looks like Crewe got £2m for their midfielder, who was Villa's second choice, so very possible that an even higher price was turned down
OR that the offer was for less than £2m as Stephens could have been seen as the cheaper option? We are still a crisis/selling club aren't we?
more of a selling club than Crewe? Their model for the last forever has been to sell on young players.
Would have taken £2m in June, or even July, but by last night I wouldn't have done, as the disruption of last-day transfers can have serious implications on the team, and we would have had no opportunity to replace with a quality centre-mid. So, I'm happy overall.
We should have bitten Villas hand off for that money, i have never really rated Stephens anyway. Has signs of potential but was inconsistent at league one level and our central midfield has been pretty much none existent this season. We needed Reo-Coker, without a ball winning midfielder we are in trouble this season. JJ should be playing as a more attack minded central midfielder with a ball-winner alongside him. Every goal we concede tends to be caused by us not stopping teams in the middle of the pitch, which puts our back four under a lot of pressure for the whole game. Scott Parker and Claus Jensen are a good example of this, Claus couldn't tackle to save his life but was creative and good going forward, Parker picked everything up in midfield and got a lot of blocks and tackles in, allowing us to focus more on going forward than sitting on the back foot. At the moment we have Hollands and Stephens who don't win the ball enough or do enough going forward, and if we do not address it we will be seeing a lot of wins turn to draws and a lot of draws turn to losses. Very upset we have not sorted this out, we have had the whole transfer window come and go and have not strengthened the first 11 at all if we are all honest
We have signed six players and have strengthened the squad but not the first XI. We might see Button replace Hamer at some point but that will be because Hamer has lost form rather than making the team better. Dervite, Wilson, Cook and Kerkar are all useful signings but none are automatic choices for the first team. The only one who is better than what we have is Fuller, but firstly his durability is suspect (there is a reason why no-one else signed him) and secondly he would have to displace either BWP or Kermorgant which, while a useful option, does not address our main weakness, which is the midfield. LM remains our glaring weakness. I personally am glad that CP has not addressed it by signing a proper left-winger like Ephraim. We really need to sign another player like Jackson, who can both create and defend. I am sure there will be options among loanees and free agents to do so. I did post in the close-season that Jackson could not and should not be relied on as a regular starter and should become a utility sub which would put less strain on his fitness. Maybe CP didn't get my email on the subject?
Completely agree RE our signings not adding anything to our starting XI, but disagree in regards to the LM position. Whilst I agree that it is our glaring weakness, I feel we need a 'traditional winger' (though I don't agree Ephraim is a natural left-winger, given my dislike for right-footed players on the left). There's no point in having 'two Johnnie Jackson's'. Whilst it is a good idea to have a player who can defend as well as create, that does not necessarily mean they cannot be a 'winger'. Scott Wagstaff's main strengths are his pace, and his knack of coming back and defending too (as well of course, as his goal threat), and his playing style is quite a contrast to Jackson's. Given that the free agent and loan window's are still open, I'd like to see us try bring someone in with a bit of pace (and as I've said on another thread, I'd be happy to see Lee Cook return), and resign Jackson to the bench.
I agree. But the problem is that we no longer have one Johnny Jackson. If we still had the JJ who played so well last season we wouldn't be having this debate. Poor example. We have a similar weakness at RM but Wagstaff is not in contention to solve it, despite his good understanding with Solly. In fact he seems fifth in line after Pritchard, Haynes, Wilson and Green at present and a near-cert to go out on loan. Lee Cook has signed on a five-month deal for Leyton Orient. If he shone there we could sign him in the New Year but I guess CP fears his fitness will be as much a liability as Jackson's. Then we would indeed have two "Johnny Jacksons", if only in the treatment room. Plus we need to do something long before January.
She's got a couple of strikers upfront, and enjoys the service from my 'through balls.' That said she refuses to be used as part of a squad rotation. Though I should actually point out that we will not be officially married for another 4 days...
