Hi all, So I’ve been musing for a while about what might be for the future of our great club- for the ‘here & now’ there appear to be two big forks in the road- the dreaded ‘get relegated’, or stay up.
Personally, I believe we will be safe, but only because Tim Sherwood seems to have given the lads a lift.
Towards the end Lambert seemed a broken man, with ‘I thought we were excellent’ spouted out post-match regardless of if we even managed a shot on target or not, let alone score!
So, I know it’s still a big ‘IF’, but ‘IF’ we stay up, I must admit to not having the faintest idea about who our transfer targets might be. Who can we afford? What will the budget be? How will Tim spend it?
Gut feeling tells me we need to buy a minimum of 1 QUALITY midfielder, and 1 QUALITY forward. Also a new central defender to replace Vlaar should he go.
We’ve spoken a lot in the past about quality/experience vs youth. In my honest opinion, the two are not mutually-exclusive, and if a player is good enough, regardless of age, we should buy! So lets take a look at what might be our current ‘first choice’ fit starting lineup…
1) Goalkeeper – not an area that needs strenthening at all as we have two quality keepers competing over places.
2) Central defence – I believe if Vlaar leaves we may need a quality purchase here as a replacement, however technically we will still have 4 options in Baker, Clarke, Senderos and Okore. Who should be our first choice? Okore & Senderos?
3) Full Backs – With Cissoko probably first choice left back & Hutton first choice right back, with Lowton, Luna, Bacauna, Bennett providing cover. I believe both first choice players are OK – good enough for mid-table, but not a lot better. Positions we coould spend on, but probably shouldn’t.
4) Central midfield – This for me is the one area we are crying out for some quality in. Delph is a guaranteed starter, but other than that we have Cleverly until the end of the year (Has he done enough? Jury out for me), Sanchez (Good backup), Westwood (I’m not convinced but good backup). I personally think that to kick on we need a real quality signing to sit in the middle with Delph & control the park, but again, much depends on what shape Tim has in store for next season.
5) Wide/attacking players – We have Gil, Richardson, N’Zogbia, Sinclair (Loan), Cole here. Firstly i believe we should sign Sinclair, who i think has been great since he came. I also rate Gil highly and think he’ll get a chance next season. I don’t see a role for Cole other than an impact sub, and I’m not quite sure where Richardson might fit either, but he’s a very good squad player being so versatile. N’Zogbia i think is starting to become the player we signed from Wigan, so with Zoggy, Gil and Sinclair (assuming we make it permanent), we have some decent quality here. All that said, again, i think this is an area that we could strengthen, but certainly not our first concern, especially if Tim is going to play a 4-4-2 system.
6) Strikers – Benteke obviously is a first choice, which leave us with Gabby, Wiemann, and Kozak as Bent departs in the summer. Now along with Cenral midfield, this i believe is also an area that needs some attention. I’d like to see a real quality striker added to the mix to play alongside Benteke. Gabby as a pacey impact sub. Kozak also is good backup for Benteke as he has proven he can hit the net. Sadly, Wiemann isn’t good enough as he’s now had two barren seasons, and should be shipped out on Loan to rebuild his confidence.
So to summarise, i believe we need:
Critical – one central midfielder & one striker (both quality)
Required – one central defender
Nice to have – pretty much all other areas other than goalie!
So the big question over to you guys- who should we buy in the summer IF we remain a premier league side, and who would come? (Other than signing Sinclair permanently)
See also contract situation of current players: Aston Villa Players Contract Situations
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