[quote author=Hansern link=topic=44931.msg1362900#msg1362900 date=1310316859]
Henderson was 13 mill + 3 mill add ons. Confirmed by Comolli.
So you dont want us to improve then Ross? Continue with the same players we had for LW last season? Or are you just arguing for fun without having a clue about what other targets we can get? Do you know who has hit the most accurete crosses in total over the last 3 seasons? Downing. Not to bad when you're *shite* that..
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I love this logic, because I want to wait for good players to be available at sensible prices I must not want us to improve. I do want us to improve Hansern - I just don't want us to repeat the mistakes of years gone by when we've settled for average players and usually overspent on them so when better players become available all our money is spent and we're left moaning about not having ambition and all that other nonsense people talk about.
I happen to think Downing is decent and would add something to the side, just not enough to warrant a 20m pound transfer. Realistically he's a replacement for Maxi, but he's not going to produce much more than Maxi - he'll do it differently, but it will amount to around the same thing. I would have preferred to stick it out with Maxi for another season, or maybe pick up a cheap short term deal rather than handicap us for the future by committing about 35m+ to a deal for Downing. If our aim is to make the CL, it's all we'll ever get as we've found out for the last decade. If we have real conviction about our goals and what we do we can win the league. I'd prefer us to do that. The notion of there being a gradual way to do it is nonsense, by the time we're a settled CL regular again the players that got us there will need replacing because a lot of them will be past it, not good enough for a title winning team etc. So we need a massive outlay to improve again, which will probably be beyond us. I'll repeat what I said before, because of the natural improvement that is possible from the squad we have, we should be looking to add players who will be good enough for a spot in a title winning team, not next season but the season after that and for the few years after it. I don't think Downing will be up to that level at that time so I'd be happy to pass on him at 20m and exercise some restraint.
I am shocked at the deal, I really thought having Comolli would prevent this type of wastefulness. It's not fun watching a team with fuck up consistently when you can see it coming a mile off.
Re - the stats - how is an accurate cross measured ? I presume it takes a teammate to get on the end of it. Does it have to give them a chance on goal or is any touch by a player enough ? Are we sure that it's an indicator of good crossing ability or do Villa flood the box with players. Did they have players who were unusually good in the air ? etc etc. Don't take stats like that at face value.
And really if he's been so good for three years I'd be worried. I always think players like Downing have a three year window usually around mid to late twenties where they perform best. If Downing has just had those three years this deal gets worse. I don't think that's the case though I think he'll be slightly above average until he's 29/30.
