Bruce's No 1 Plan For January | Vital Football

Bruce's No 1 Plan For January

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Manager Steve Bruce has admitted that ideally Aston Villa will do a deal for goalkeeper Sam Johnstone during the January transfer window.


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Certainly hope so. Sam is proving what a good young keeper he is. If we can sign him permanently, he'd be our No1 for years.....


 
I can't see him getting into the first team at Utd any time soon so they will be happy to sell. They are on the back foot too because his contract expires at the end of season.
 
Mr. Bruce has more than Johnstone to think about.
At the end of season we lose;
Johnstone.
Bunn.
Samba.
Terry.
Hutton.
Onomah.
Snodgrass.
Agbonlahor.

So Mr. Bruce has a busy January onwards in front of him.
 
Well, he could solve one problem by offering Gabby a contract he can't refuse :71:

Wonder if internal negotiations aren't better done behind the scenes. Putting pressure on Johnstone at this stage of the season might not be a good idea. And Johnstone himself might reasonably want to have a good idea he'll be playing in the PL next season if he signs for us.
 
Don't see it as pressure, Bruce is pointing out he's key to us....it's to boost confidence and I'm pretty sure Johnstone's knows he's playing for a contract with us already.
 
1958Villan - 3/10/2017 06:00

Mr. Bruce has more than Johnstone to think about.
At the end of season we lose;
Johnstone.
Bunn.
Samba.
Terry.
Hutton.
Onomah.
Snodgrass.
Agbonlahor.

So Mr. Bruce has a busy January onwards in front of him.

Bunn, Samba, Hutton and Gabby shouldn't get another deal.

Terry might not want another season.

The others are all on loan and so the parent club might not want to do a deal or might be asking too much. The players will probably want to see which division we'll be in next season so I can't see us doing early deals for them.
 
It depends on which Division we are in come the summer. If we get promoted I expect a vastly different transfer window than if we are not promoted, but agree Gabby, Bunn, Samba and Hutton hopefully will be surplus to requirements.
 
Definitely quite a few big questions to be resolved.

If Johnstone is signed where does that leave Steer? Maybe he'd be looking to move on. If so, who is backup goalkeeper? Would keeping Bunn be the answer?

We have 3 recognised RBs none of whom are playing. As Hutton is not getting any younger maybe he at least should move on, but does Bruce see it that way? Is Hutton the choice backup to Elmo? Elmo looks fit but also isn't getting any younger, while Bree and de Laet have youth on their side (relatively speaking in de Laet's case); will they get their chance, or are they for the door?

Would Terry stay another season? Would we keep Samba? We need good investment at CB if Terry goes, as I suspect he will.

Taylor is our only recognised LB. Will we invest in another, which might mean Taylor becomes backup? Suspect we need to unless Clark can step up, particularly if we do make the PL.

Centre midfield is formed around the rocks of Jedinak and Whelan. Rocks aren't noted for mobility, and in their case age is a factor. How do we build for the future? Tshibola seems to have established himself at MK Dons; might he come back? Has Lansbury any future? Hourihane is more attack than defence. What's Lyden's future?

There are questions further forwards but at least there we seem to have options.

 
If we got promoted I expect a major overhaul of the team as the current squad is just not up to it.
 
To think that this squad has been put together to gain promotion and within the financial contraints put upon us is understandable. However, as Wurzel quite rightly points out, if we gain promotion, major surgery will be needed, otherwise we would be plunged straight into another relegation fight.

 
Yes that was the original plan , a team to take us up , then a team to stay up , then a team to kick on.
 
Think it was Moyes who said that, but not sure if it was the "Villa plan". Think some form of overhaul would be needed, critical players in the right places, but a radical overhaul could backfire. If it's taken this long to get a promotion squad together, how long would a radical overhaul take to get working in the PL? In the PL you don't get time. Think that as far as possible we need a hard core of a team which could survive the PL in place before we get there. Evolution not revolution.
 
Whether we get promoted or not the defence will need rebuilding.
We will have only three premiership standard defenders in Chester, Elmohamady and Taylor, that's assuming Terry will not want another season.
Hutton and Samba are out of contract, while Richards, Elphick, DeLaet and Bree aren't of the required standard, (although Bree is young enough to improve).
Proving how shortsighted the decision to sell Baker was.

The centre of midfield, the defensive and holding, (box-to-box), positions are of paramount importance.
With Jedinak succumbing to injury, as well as age, expecting him to play up to premiership standard would be too much. While it looks like Whelan has shot his bolt.
The wide midfield positions are probably good enough.

With the emergence of Keinan Davis I think the forward line could do a good enough job in the premier league.
 
George Thorne of Derby County, who plays Defensive, Central and Attacking midfield, is making his comeback from a leg break and then a hamstring injury playing for Derby reserves. He is out of contract in June/July 2018.
Playing at, or close to his best, he would definitely be an asset.
I think he'd pair well with Jack Rodwell.
Heerenveen have a young rightback, centreback, defensive midfielder, Denzel Dumfries aged 21
who, those that tend to know, think will be a big name in years to come.