Just read this story on the 'Daily Fail' website. Seems reasonably accurate.
Darren Bent
When the England international was signed from Sunderland for £24m in January 2011, it was made clear by Gerard Houllier, Villa's manager at the time, that he had been bought to score from chances created by Ashley Young and Stewart Downing. Both have since left. Is it any wonder that Bent's goals are drying up? He has always been a taker of chances, rather than a creator of them.
And his statistics demonstrate that. In the opening match of the season at West Ham, he touched the ball just 19 times. It was a similar story last week at Fulham. Is that Bent's fault? Is Paul Lambert using him to Villa's best advantage?
The sacrifice of quality
Former boss Alex McLeish highlighted an unpalatable truth in a Sportsmail interview last month.
Aston Villa cannot continue to sell players of the calibre of Gareth Barry, James Milner, Young and Downing without results deteriorating. Other seasoned performers such as Brad Friedel, Carlos Cuellar and Olof Mellberg have simply walked away from the club for nothing. Add to that the loss of club captain Stiliyan Petrov, happily now in remission from his battle against leukaemia, and here is the backbone of a team that could justifiably be asked to make an impression on the top six.
Read the full story here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2223231/What-going-wrong-Aston-Villa.html
Darren Bent
When the England international was signed from Sunderland for £24m in January 2011, it was made clear by Gerard Houllier, Villa's manager at the time, that he had been bought to score from chances created by Ashley Young and Stewart Downing. Both have since left. Is it any wonder that Bent's goals are drying up? He has always been a taker of chances, rather than a creator of them.
And his statistics demonstrate that. In the opening match of the season at West Ham, he touched the ball just 19 times. It was a similar story last week at Fulham. Is that Bent's fault? Is Paul Lambert using him to Villa's best advantage?
The sacrifice of quality
Former boss Alex McLeish highlighted an unpalatable truth in a Sportsmail interview last month.
Aston Villa cannot continue to sell players of the calibre of Gareth Barry, James Milner, Young and Downing without results deteriorating. Other seasoned performers such as Brad Friedel, Carlos Cuellar and Olof Mellberg have simply walked away from the club for nothing. Add to that the loss of club captain Stiliyan Petrov, happily now in remission from his battle against leukaemia, and here is the backbone of a team that could justifiably be asked to make an impression on the top six.
Read the full story here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2223231/What-going-wrong-Aston-Villa.html
