^^ Let me give my two cents on MON's transfer dealings at Villa...
He made some great signings (Ashley and Luke Young, Milner, Downing, Freidal, Petrov, Dunne, Carew, Lichaj, Cuellar - the latter two need more playing time) and others not so good (Beye, Davies, Salifou). Some decent signings (Guzan, Heskey, NRC, Maloney, Carson, Sidwell, Shorey), and got rid of players who I think could've given us that extra push when we lacked depth from having such a small squad (Kevin Phillips, Whittingham, Angel, Cahill, Ridgewell, Steven Davis, Sorenson).
Many people said he couldn't handle the behaviour of some of the big name players. MON said he never had so much cash to spend in the transfer windows with previous clubs and so he felt bad signing expensive players. Curtis Davies was meant to be a good signing for us but he completely flopped. The talk about the wage bill and they brought in very average players like Heskey, Knight, Beye. Beye especially was a waste of space that sat on the bench and did nothing but play for the reserves and the occasional carling cup game.
We've really missed the likes of Wilfred Bouma, Martin Laursen and Olof Mellberg. There was nothing wrong with the partnership of gabby playing just behind carew (they sometimes used to switch over and Carew played just behind Agbonlahor flicking it on to him to latch onto). I thought it was a great partnership. Players like Barry, Mellberg and co wanted to move on and since then the team went from being a pacey and quite feared/intimidating side to playing slower, boring football.
Houllier made good signings in Bent and Makoun. McLeish is stupid... he sends Makoun out on loan (a good playmaker who is ready to play) and brings in Jenas, a player who is always out injured and is probably on a higher wage. N'Zogbia is a flop, Ireland is useless, Albrighton, Clarke and Delfouneso never get used. The only decent thing he's done is send Beye out on loan to Doncaster.
I wont be surprised if teams like QPR, WBA, Everton, Fulham and Stoke finish above us this year. We were lucky to finish 9th and above West Brom last year.