The transfer activity is slowly warming up as bigger teams are adding to their squads.
When our ownership situation is sorted out Sherwood can begin to start looking at options to strengthen Aston Villa.
Over the last few years there have been some successes with transfers. Most notably Benteke, Vlaar, Bacuna and re-signing Guzan after he was released by McLeish.
However, there have also been a lot of poor acquisitions too. The number of players out on loan to inferior clubs this season after only being signed a year or two before was embarrassing. It just goes to show how ill-prepared these players were for the Premier League and that signing them showed poor judgement .
If Sherwood is to learn anything from Lambert it should be not to waste money on sub-standard transfers.
Here’s how some of Lambert’s buys fared:
Antonio Luna
The left back nicknamed ‘Tony Moon’ scored a goal on his debut against Arsenal in a 1-3 away win. After that match, things were looking rosy.
However, the promise didn’t materalise and his positivity going forward was not backed up by solid defensive work.
Since being dropped from the first team the Spanish defender has been on loan in Italy. He initially went to Verona and, having not played a minute, then went to Spazia in the second division, appearing only four times and being sent off once. He has not had the best of times.
Yacouba Sylla
I couldn’t have been the only person with raised eyebrows when I saw we were signing a French second division player for a couple of million pounds. When he started playing, Sylla looked pretty solid if unexciting. After a brief run in the starting XI he quickly became the fifth or sixth midfielder in the pecking order.
Frustrated at not playing, he went to Kayseri Erciyesspor in Turkey. He has said he remains committed to Aston Villa but will the club commit to him? I can’t imagine too many Sylla shirts will be flying off the racks next season.
Aleksandar Tonev
Tonev has been in the news more this season whilst not at Villa than last season when he made a handful of appearances and shot more than a handful of times. An energetic player who always looked like he should be good but never was, it was no surprise to see him loaned out in his second season to Celtic.
Controversy surrounded him when he was accused of racially abusing an opposition player and was given a seven match ban. I can’t imagine Sherwood will fancy him, as he isn’t as committed as Sherwood likes his players to be.
As he has been suspended for being racist, is he even the type of player we want at our club?
Nicklas Helenius
Out of all the players on loan, Helenius is the one I am most inclined to welcome back. He had a rough time at Villa, suffering from physical illness (bacterial infection) and mental illness (depression).
After hardly playing at all he went back to Denmark last season where he has enjoyed more playing time.
It seems his contract is not going to be renewed ,which is a slight shame as he is the only one we didn’t actually get to see was a waste of money like the others. The likelihood is he would have been fifth choice striker anyway so it is best for him to be somewhere else playing.
Joe Bennett
Slaughtered by some of the fans on Twitter, Joe Bennett was another player who looked quite good to begin with before his form tailed off.
He was on loan at Brighton and Hove Albion for the whole season but Sherwood has hinted that he will assess the left back and may bring him back on board. Left back is certainly a position we need to improve on, even if Richardson did put in a shift or two at the end of last season.
All these players came and went in the space of a year. We can’t afford to be so wasteful in this transfer window. Darren Bent and Enda Stevens have gone and Carles Gil’s Villa days looked numbered, which serves to remind us of even more money wasted by previous managers. Sherwood strikes me as a man who knows his own mind. Let’s just hope that mind is filled with thoughts of sensible, exciting and fruitful signings!
I wouldn’t consider the re-signing of Guzan to have been a success. He’s held a place in the team but very little else. A very average player who should have been let go and replaced with someone better.