Bjorn Engels follows Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause to Bodymoor Heath, leaving James Chester, an £8 million signing in 2016, potentially a fifth-choice central defender. Yet Dean Smith seems to think that 30-year-old Chester has a part to play and wants to see him challenging for selection for the first match, at Spurs.
What an extraordinary situation. The acquisition of four new central defenders (though we already know two of 'em) seems to be wildly over the top. Two were needed for certain, and Mings was a priority, but I can't help but see Chester now playing a secondary role, with Hause as extra cover for left-back.
The situation for Chester could be said to be unfair as he stood alone, carrying what proved to be a serious injury, until defensive reinforcements arrived last January. So to have played his heart out under great pressure and now to be in this situation must be very disappointing for him.
However, the secondary role could be just as important, with the return to Villa of a genuine reserve side to draw from rather than the u-23 system. Chester would surely be an example for new players coming through the ranks, and perhaps should be the reserves' captain.
With the virtually certain imminent signing of midfield enforcer Douglas Luiz in the next few days, this has been an extraordinary summer of spending, which worries me a little, especially as I do not yet see an end to the expenditure.
My "worry" is more to do with the approach of spend-spend-spend as a policy for Villa. It rarely produces great results (though the top clubs of the last 25 years could say they can show otherwise) ... unless we have a proper youth basis in place. But I feel that Villa is - based on history - a different kettle of fish to most other clubs and why journalists often don't 'get it'.
The academy seems to have let us down somewhat, not able to reproduce what came through in the early 60s and then 70s, with the odd 'success' since then. Barry was not really one of our own deliveries, nor Ehiogu.
So, in my view that's what we need to keep an eye on if we want to maintain our 'special' character. AVFC's playing success was mainly due to what was developed within the club. The character of the club will not diminish if we build from youth. To start getting into big scale spend-spend mode and acquiring players who do not develop an attachment for the club - being more concerned about their careers - is something to be concerned about i.m.o.
However, I rather think that we are not 'doing a Fulham'. The kind of expenditure taking place has sense about it for the future, and perhaps there's more that's going on that is positive than I realise.
This post seems to suggest a lot of good thinking going on.
We shall see...!
UTV!
What an extraordinary situation. The acquisition of four new central defenders (though we already know two of 'em) seems to be wildly over the top. Two were needed for certain, and Mings was a priority, but I can't help but see Chester now playing a secondary role, with Hause as extra cover for left-back.
The situation for Chester could be said to be unfair as he stood alone, carrying what proved to be a serious injury, until defensive reinforcements arrived last January. So to have played his heart out under great pressure and now to be in this situation must be very disappointing for him.
However, the secondary role could be just as important, with the return to Villa of a genuine reserve side to draw from rather than the u-23 system. Chester would surely be an example for new players coming through the ranks, and perhaps should be the reserves' captain.
With the virtually certain imminent signing of midfield enforcer Douglas Luiz in the next few days, this has been an extraordinary summer of spending, which worries me a little, especially as I do not yet see an end to the expenditure.
My "worry" is more to do with the approach of spend-spend-spend as a policy for Villa. It rarely produces great results (though the top clubs of the last 25 years could say they can show otherwise) ... unless we have a proper youth basis in place. But I feel that Villa is - based on history - a different kettle of fish to most other clubs and why journalists often don't 'get it'.
The academy seems to have let us down somewhat, not able to reproduce what came through in the early 60s and then 70s, with the odd 'success' since then. Barry was not really one of our own deliveries, nor Ehiogu.
So, in my view that's what we need to keep an eye on if we want to maintain our 'special' character. AVFC's playing success was mainly due to what was developed within the club. The character of the club will not diminish if we build from youth. To start getting into big scale spend-spend mode and acquiring players who do not develop an attachment for the club - being more concerned about their careers - is something to be concerned about i.m.o.
However, I rather think that we are not 'doing a Fulham'. The kind of expenditure taking place has sense about it for the future, and perhaps there's more that's going on that is positive than I realise.
This post seems to suggest a lot of good thinking going on.
We shall see...!
UTV!
