Shame he isn't going to a higher placed team, but he's obviously enjoyed his time down there and is going to be getting a lot of playing time. I think he could easily be in the Championship in the near future.
You make an excellent point Rob about nobody walking in to our first team based on transfer fee alone and that is really such a temptation for any manager and where we possibly started to go wrong with RvW.(not just him by the way) There is a lot to eb said for consistency and team spirit and it is what has held us together through the second half of the season and should not be disregarded via a cheque book.
This is exactly what I meant the other day when I said about investing in some quality players that have played in the premier league and not going down the foreign route. It's just too much of a gamble.
Finnbogason's career makes me wonder if he isn't related to RvW. We certainly only need one of them at the club, max, but it could make sense if the wage situation works favourably. Loan out or sell RvW and get a lot of his wages of our bill, and loan in Finnbogason for lower wages, so we've still the budget to pursue other targets. At the very least we'd have traded one misfiring Dutch striker for another.
Finnbogason is Icelandic rather than Dutch, DH, but I can see your point. However, if we sell off RvW cheaply, is the £7m loss not greater than any savings in wages. I'd rather see RvW back if that is the choice.
Maybe the club could arrange pre-season friendlies against, say, Luton, Shrewsbury and .....Preston. Just to give Ricky a fighting chance of impressing ?
Andreas Weimann anyone???? - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...s-Weimann-forward-told-club-Tim-Sherwood.html
If he can't figure in a pretty poor Villa team I'm not sure we should be interested. But it would seem his star has dimmed dramatically in the last two years.
I seem to recall he destroyed us in the League cup match which Villa won 4-1. But then most teams 'destroy' us in cup competitions, just ask Preston
I'd take Weimann. His career has stalled a bit but I think Neil is capable of getting the best out of him.
A couple of years ago Weimann looked excellent. But seems his development has slowed. Wouldn't be overly excited but wouldn't be a bad signing either.
Agree with this, decent squad player, but nothing more. I'd rather see what Andreu can do first, as we still have no real idea - apart from his (well documented) exploits at Hamilton Accs.
Agree with that Bath and I'd say the same about Odjidja-Ofoe, as he and Andreu will both seem like new players this season, except that they already know the set-up and other players. That could make a huge difference in getting off to a good start in the PL.
It's interesting to compare the squad we started with under CH to that currently under AN: Ruddy--- Ruddy Bunn--- Rudd Martin --- (Martin) Whittaker--- Whittaker Turner --- Martin R. Bennett --- R.Bennett -------------------Turner Bassong --- Bassong ----------------Miquel Olsson --- Olsson Garrido --- Toffolo Howson --- Howson Fer --- Odjidja-Ofoe ----------------O'Neil Tettey --- Tettey Johnson --- Dorrans --------------(Johnson) Snodgrass --- Redmond E.Bennett --- E.Bennett Hoolahan --- Hoolahan (Fer) --- Andreu (Howson) --- (Howson) Pilkington --- Johnson Redmond --- Lafferty RvW --- Jerome Elmander --- Grabban Hooper --- Hooper Becchio --- RvW Even before any further new players arrive, we already have a stronger squad now.
What AN won't have (from 2013-14): M.Bunn C.Nash J.Yobo J.Garrido J.Gutiérrez L.Fer D.Fox A.Pilkington R.Snodgrass J.Elmander L.Becchio What Hughton didn't have in 2013-14: D.Rudd I.Miquel H.Toffolo L.Thompson V.Odjidja-Ofoe G.O'Neil G.Dorrans A.Andreu C.McGrandles K.Lafferty L.Grabban C.Jerome EDIT: I hope that has spoiled everyone's fun.
