A fairly dull, if acceptable performance pushed Alex McLeish’s Aston Villa into the third round. After extended periods of excellent defending, the deadlock was finally broken in the 79th minute by young American Eric Lichaj with a secondary goal eight minutes later from Nathan Delfouneso.
Overall, the score was quite deceiving as Villa enjoyed a lot of shots at goal, with the primary concern being that of the lack of conversions of those efforts. Villa had 8 shots on target, 9 off target, and 9 corners, yet only managed to score 2 goals in the end. For those of you who claim Darren Bent is the salvation of the team with clinical finishing, it wasn’t in effect this evening.
Anyway, now isn’t the time to be overly negative, as we are finally through to the third round. We didn’t make easy work of it but, as mentioned previously, this was largely down to a solid Hereford defensive display.
I can’t say I was surprised that we put out a strong team as the league cup is arguably our best chance of glory this year. Whilst none of us want to succumb to the fate that Birmingham suffered when winning the cup last year, I would take a 10th place finish and a cup than a 7th place finish and nothing. Ultimately, the question has to be asked as to why Villa haven’t won anything in so many years, given they have had 30 attempts at a cup win since 1996.
Other news
Other than that, the round up of news details a number of player transfers that could occur with the notable one being Luke Young. Young is sought by QPR and is interested in the move to be closer to his family. Given the circumstances, and the fact we have both Beye and Lichaj at the club, it may well be fine to let him go. Some might say Beye is not good enough, but he did show glimpses this evening when he came on that his Villa career may not be over just yet.
The second player in the transfer news is Jean II Makoun. After a fairly muted introduction to the Premier League, it appears that several sides including Olympiakos are interested in taking Makoun away from Villa Park on a loan or permanent move. Whilst he undoubtedly has talent, the centre of midfield is one of the areas where we have a (relatively) abundant number of players and thus could afford to let him go. He is arguably one of the few players we could also sell who would make us a fee, as other players are either needed, unlikely to raise any fee, good prospects, or are unsaleable at present. Thus Makoun may well be the sacrificial lamb of the piece.
Finally, and perhaps less relevant in some ways, Darren Bent has bought a new house in Cambridge. Quite how this will go down with Alex McLeish given his attitude towards wanting players to live in the local area, is another thing. I don’t read anything into it regarding any desire for Bent to leave, but I do consider it quite strange that he is ultimately purchasing a house elsewhere.
Alex McLeish is also unlikely to be the only one disappointed as his girlfriend Amy Bruce, daughter of Sunderland manager Steve, is seemingly unimpressed with his desire to not live in Birmingham, where she is currently based.
All in all, I also understand the house warming party went well, although several players I know decided to not attend. Whether this underlines something else is quite ambiguous, but I know Alex McLeish has asked players to act more instinctually, and be selfish with finishing, rather than just supplying Darren with balls.
Anyway, that sums up the game succinctly, and a few of the bits going around. What are your thoughts regarding the match? Did you go? Also, what do you think about the Young and Makoun potential transfers? Do you see either of them as suitable for leaving and, if so, who do you see filling gaps should they leave?
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