Author: Dale Rutter
Over the course of January, I have looked at the rumours surrounding potential transfers involving Villa. We are now entering the final week of the winter transfer window and Villa has only signed two players to date. We keep talking about it on social media, blogs and the terraces but Villa must improve their defensive options. Especially if we are to have any chance of pushing for the top six. Tyrone Mings One option we could look at is Tyrone Mings. It is a rumour that has been circulating for a few days now. Bournemouth signed Mings from Ipswich in 2015…
Another week has passed in the transfer window and more and more players continue to be linked with a move to Aston Villa. Here is a breakdown of some stories in the rumour mill during the last seven days. I give you my take on whether I think they are suitable or not. Macauley Southam Hales. Macauley Southam-Hales is a twenty-two-year-old right back who currently plays in the Welsh Football Leagues for Barry Town. He used to play in midfield but was converted into a full-back so you would hope he was decent on the ball. Something Dean Smith seems…
Ten days have passed in the January transfer window and the rumour mill is currently in overdrive, as you would expect. I am going to discuss some of those rumours and explain why some intrigue me more than others. Romain Sawyers I will start with Brentford’s versatile midfielder Romaine Sawyers. He has been linked with us on and off since the appointment of Dean Smith. This week, however, he was linked with Middlesbrough by BT Sports and later they denied any interest. So this would leave just Villa in the race but would he be a good acquisition? Players are…
Yesterday, Sam Burnett discussed on this website about how important the transfer window is this month. We all know just how desperate the back four, or five if you want to include the goalkeeper require big changes. The full-back positions are one that manager Dean Smith needs to seriously focus on. Smith has opted to recalled goalkeeper Jed Steer and Tommy Elphick. Something I am happy about. I believe Steve Bruce made a big error by allowing both to leave the club on loan. New signing Lovre Kalinic has also arrived and could make his debut against Swansea tomorrow. There are also…
Christmas is less than a week away but for football fans, the excitement is also set to begin. The January transfer window opens in a little over a week. Just like every transfer window, there will be plenty of speculation, good and bad. The speculation that is worrying me the most relates to Tammy Abraham and the sacking of Jose Mourinho. Let me explain. Tammy Abraham Abraham is being linked with a £10million move to either Newcastle United or Crystal Palace. For me, this is a snip and if we could buy him for that then I would be looking…
In recent days Aston Villa have been linked with a move to bring Christian Benteke back to Villa Park. It is no real surprise that the rumour mill is picking up with the January transfer market looming. The real question is, is there any truth in the story or is it idle gossip? Benteke has struggled since he left Villa Park. He is hardly getting any game time at Crystal Palace and has failed to recapture the form that earned him a big money move to Liverpool. It is no real surprise that a former player has been linked in…
Despite improvement under Dean Smith, it is clear that Villa still requires reinforcements in the right areas in January. I am a massive supporter of promoting youth so I have no issues should Smith decide to bring some of the under-23 squad through to the senior squad. Something he has already done when 18-year-old Dominic Revan was on the bench against Middlesbrough. Should he decide to dip his toes into the transfer market in January I believe he should look at Brentford, his former club. They have three players who I believe could improve our current side. Yoann Barbet I…
What. A. Game. Aston Villa scored five goals at home and still only come away with a point. It was a crazy game. We can take positives and negatives from the performance. We may have scored five but we also conceded five. If we are being honest, they were five pretty easy goals for Nottingham Forest. We come up against Middlesbrough tomorrow and much improvement is required. Improvements A lot has been made about the performances of our goalkeeper, Orjan Nyland. I feel that over recent weeks he has improved but you can’t escape the fact that he failed to…
The loan market is something that teams in the football league look to exploit and so they should. It is an opportunity for the top clubs to send out young promising players to gain experience of first-team football. In return, lower league sides get potential gems for pennies and in some cases free. If it works out, then great but if it doesn’t then the lower league side can send the player back with virtually no outlay. Until recently, Villa never seemed to look at the loan market. It was as if it was beneath them. Then last season, we sore the…
Before the International break, Villa enjoyed an emphatic victory over Derby County, which let’s be honest, surprised a lot of us. With the club football close to returning many people across the City will be turning their attention to this weekends Second City derby. Judgement day is almost upon us. After the impressive performance at Pride Park, I have waited in excitement to see how we follow up that performance. I just hope the break doesn’t unsettle all the work Dean Smith and his coaching team have been trying to achieve. We all knew we were capable of one-off big wins. Just take a look at…