Lee On Solent Saint Posted 27 February, 2021 Share Posted 27 February, 2021 Just caught some of the Villa-Leeds game earlier. Have to say I was pretty impressed with Targett and got me thinking whether, in hindsight we should have kept him and allowed Bertie to leave. Might be that he might just be going through a decent patch, but have to say he looks more athletic and more aggressive than I remember him being when he was here. At the moment, compared to Bertrand, think I would prefer Targett at the moment. If I'm being honest, I didn't expect to say that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusic Posted 27 February, 2021 Share Posted 27 February, 2021 (edited) No, at the time we sold him Bertrand was much better than Targett and probably still is. The excellent fee we got enabled us to sign Adams to replace Austin. Ideal world we kept him and Bertrand but we have no money so needed to generate cash to improve other positions. Good to see Targett doing well, but the issue was not his sale but the fact we haven't replaced his role as backup LB. Edited 27 February, 2021 by Dusic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Duckhunter Posted 27 February, 2021 Share Posted 27 February, 2021 Not good enough at the time we let him go, the fact he is now, says more about Bertrand’s appalling 3 months, than Targett’s ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenilworthy Posted 27 February, 2021 Share Posted 27 February, 2021 Would have been great to have kept Targett but he would have been backup for at least another season and he wanted regular games. If he had stayed he would now probably be forcing Bertrand out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macca155 Posted 27 February, 2021 Share Posted 27 February, 2021 Became too good to keep as a back up, but not good enough to replace Bertrand. Right decision but annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevy777_x Posted 27 February, 2021 Share Posted 27 February, 2021 4 minutes ago, macca155 said: Became too good to keep as a back up, but not good enough to replace Bertrand. Right decision but annoying. We could have sent him on loan last season and then have him challenge Bertrand this season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micky Posted 27 February, 2021 Share Posted 27 February, 2021 Watched him tonight, thought he did well. But he seems to play better when Grealish is in front of him. Decent player, our loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Saints Posted 27 February, 2021 Share Posted 27 February, 2021 He was pretty pony for us to be fair. Seems to have gained a bit of stature at Villa as he was weak as piss in games for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 27 February, 2021 Share Posted 27 February, 2021 (edited) He's a pretty solid, reliable left back. No more than that. The club had two issues at the time of his departure. 1) We had Bertrand playing regular, he was clearly at that time the better and more established option 2) We wanted to buy a striker to add competition, replace Austin and add a forward with more attributes towards a Ralph system. In an ideal world we'd have kept Targett and he'd have been used as part of the squad, he'd have ended up playing a lot of the last couple of years tbf. But, we felt at the time that a first choice attacking option was the priority. We made the decision to cash in (For a very decent fee, it has to be said) on a squad player to bring in a first choice player to another position. If we'd have kept Targett, we wouldn't have brought in Adams. The problem with this approach is that over time you reduce your squad depth, as we have found. You're also relying on your first choice option remaining injury free and as good. We weren't able to bring in a Targett replacement which added to the risk. Edited 27 February, 2021 by S-Clarke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 27 February, 2021 Share Posted 27 February, 2021 He wanted first team football, we got a decent fee for an academy player who wasn’t getting first team football. He wouldn’t have developed like he has at Villa if he’d stayed. Seems to me like all three parties were a winner here, no need to put a negative slant on it. Besides, I don’t think he’s anything astonishing. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 28 February, 2021 Share Posted 28 February, 2021 45 minutes ago, Lighthouse said: He wanted first team football, we got a decent fee for an academy player who wasn’t getting first team football. He wouldn’t have developed like he has at Villa if he’d stayed. Seems to me like all three parties were a winner here, no need to put a negative slant on it. Besides, I don’t think he’s anything astonishing. Is the correct answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexLaw76 Posted 28 February, 2021 Share Posted 28 February, 2021 7 hours ago, Lighthouse said: He wanted first team football, we got a decent fee for an academy player who wasn’t getting first team football. He wouldn’t have developed like he has at Villa if he’d stayed. Seems to me like all three parties were a winner here, no need to put a negative slant on it. Besides, I don’t think he’s anything astonishing. he is miles better than our current reserve LB and would probably give Bertrand a run for his money/oust him from the team this season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwertyell Posted 28 February, 2021 Share Posted 28 February, 2021 (edited) We had to sell him to fund the Che Adams transfer. In retrospect, we could've just played Targett up front instead and he'd probably have scored as many goals. Edited 28 February, 2021 by qwertyell 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpweySaint Posted 28 February, 2021 Share Posted 28 February, 2021 11 hours ago, Lighthouse said: He wanted first team football, we got a decent fee for an academy player who wasn’t getting first team football. He wouldn’t have developed like he has at Villa if he’d stayed. Seems to me like all three parties were a winner here, no need to put a negative slant on it. Besides, I don’t think he’s anything astonishing. I expect we could make a similar point about Reed. He would have seen a fair bit of game time this season but unfortunately several factors made we felt compelled to cash in. I may be misremembering but wasn’t there a lot of hype about Vokins? May have all been bluster but I seem to remember talk that he was seen to have a lot of potential and would kick on this season. Shame it’s not worked out thus far, hoping he gains some experience from his loan and can have a good preseason. If either him or Ferry could step up it would be a real bonus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 28 February, 2021 Share Posted 28 February, 2021 3 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said: he is miles better than our current reserve LB and would probably give Bertrand a run for his money/oust him from the team this season Because he has left and forged a decent career as a first team player at Villa. Chelsea fans probably thought the same about Bertrand when we signed him and he started putting in consistently excellent performances. Likewise Spurs fans are probably moaning about KWP being so good for us this season. At some point a young player has to move on for his own career and start playing regular football. Not play reserve football for years and wait for someone better to get injured. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macca155 Posted 28 February, 2021 Share Posted 28 February, 2021 16 hours ago, stevy777_x said: We could have sent him on loan last season and then have him challenge Bertrand this season He'd already had 2 loans, he wanted 1st team football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzhugh Fella Posted 28 February, 2021 Share Posted 28 February, 2021 5 hours ago, macca155 said: He'd already had 2 loans, he wanted 1st team football. Do we sell every player who “wants” first team football? No this was all about getting 13m in the bank and was a mistake. Ralph didn’t rate him, so we let him go and now we will probably have to spend more than 13m to get a player the same standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 28 February, 2021 Share Posted 28 February, 2021 1 hour ago, Fitzhugh Fella said: Do we sell every player who “wants” first team football? No this was all about getting 13m in the bank and was a mistake. Ralph didn’t rate him, so we let him go and now we will probably have to spend more than 13m to get a player the same standard. Yes, eventually. I can’t think of a single academy player who’s spent his whole career being backup at Saints. Of course it’ll cost more than £13m to find a player of the same standard, he’s had 1.5 years of consistent football and has improved significantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 28 February, 2021 Share Posted 28 February, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Fitzhugh Fella said: Do we sell every player who “wants” first team football? No this was all about getting 13m in the bank and was a mistake. Ralph didn’t rate him, so we let him go and now we will probably have to spend more than 13m to get a player the same standard. Managers discretion I guess. He thought we needed more presence up top and decided to cash in on a squad player to get that player. Edited 28 February, 2021 by S-Clarke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marino Posted 1 March, 2021 Share Posted 1 March, 2021 Henry Winter of The Times had a centre page spread on Targett last Saturday week, having chatted with him on Zoom. Ambitions of England recognition etc on the strength of this season's form. Opened the paper last Saturday and this time he has a centre page spread on Harrison Reed - the 'heartbeat of Fulham' etc. A bit galling to see two former Academy players improving so much away from Saints but good luck to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapel End Posted 1 March, 2021 Share Posted 1 March, 2021 5 minutes ago, Marino said: Henry Winter of The Times had a centre page spread on Targett last Saturday week, having chatted with him on Zoom. Ambitions of England recognition etc on the strength of this season's form. Opened the paper last Saturday and this time he has a centre page spread on Harrison Reed - the 'heartbeat of Fulham' etc. A bit galling to see two former Academy players improving so much away from Saints but good luck to them. Target. ....... England team..... 🤣🤣🤣 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Duckhunter Posted 1 March, 2021 Share Posted 1 March, 2021 He lost me at Henry Winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainchris Posted 1 March, 2021 Share Posted 1 March, 2021 Letting Target go was a poor Ralph decision. Not to say strange. In the Gabby category I’d put it ..... Still I suppose we have a ready made left full back replacement in errrrrrr Bednerek anyone ..... None of us saw that one, still that’s why Ralph is paid the millions I suppose !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simo Posted 5 March, 2021 Share Posted 5 March, 2021 On 01/03/2021 at 18:24, Chapel End said: Target. ....... England team..... 🤣🤣🤣 https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-player-line-shock-19969575 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 6 March, 2021 Share Posted 6 March, 2021 I think we’ve just seen his main limitation highlighted on MotD - like running through treacle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Le God Posted 6 March, 2021 Share Posted 6 March, 2021 On 01/03/2021 at 23:51, captainchris said: Letting Target go was a poor Ralph decision. Not to say strange. In the Gabby category I’d put it ..... He wanted regular football, Bertrand is the better player... so he left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooney Posted 7 March, 2021 Share Posted 7 March, 2021 7 hours ago, Matthew Le God said: He wanted regular football, Bertrand is the better player... so he left. and we got very good money for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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