Many Villa fans will breathe a huge sigh of relief if England collect the required point from their final qualification game tomorrow, writes Villa blogger Greg Williams.
It seems unlikely that Steve McClaren would be sacked under the circumstances, meaning that we won’t have to worry about losing Martin O’Neill until next year at the earliest. Thanks for your help Israel!
Meanwhile our thoughts are starting to turn to the January transfer window, and some rumours are picking up pace. I love the story about a possible return to Villa Park for Peter Crouch, and I’m starting to believe there may be some truth in it.
If you look at O’Neill’s strategy so far, he has looked to build the team around young English talent, Carson, Davies, Reo-Coker, Barry, and Ashley Young to name but a few. Crouch could slot right in among them, and could be seen as the perfect foil for Gabriel Agbonlahor.
The question is would we want him back? This is not easy to answer, as in football generally it is thought that you should never ‘go back’ to a club you’ve previously had success with. Maybe the fact that his first spell at Villa Park wasn’t entirely successful could work in our favour, he has undoubtedly improved as a player since then. I think that he would have a lot to offer, and although I love John Carew up front for us, his injury proneness is becoming a real issue. Maybe Crouchy could provide the extra ammunition we need.
Of course, Crouch may not want to leave Liverpool. He hasn’t been out of the side completely, and they are still title contenders competing in the Champions League.
However, if Benitez decides he needs the money to strengthen other areas of the team, and deems Crouch the player to leave, he could be tempted to join the O’Neill revolution. If we did have to spend upwards of £10 million to get him, what would that say about our decision to sell him for only £2 million?
One thing’s for sure, I trust Martin’s judgement more than a certain Mr O’Leary!
3 Comments
I think we should get him. The money we sold him for is irrelevant as he never shone for us in the same way as he doing and has done over the past few years. I have to admit that I was a crouch hater and I still don’t understand how he’s so good when sometimes his movement just looks stupid. I think he would play well for us and if we can get him in a deal with Carson there should be no hesitation.
I love PC, i think hes got great talent and is a great striker for england. do i want him back at the villa? im not sure. even though he has improved 10 fold, i still see this as a step backwards. im worried we may start to rely on long balls( even though i think PC is better with his feet than his head) id prefer to see us play more like utd(fast paced one touch) when we play like that we are unbeatable (first half against spurs at WHL) 5 mill - go for it, but if we are going to use a big chunk of money on a striker, lets spend 20 and try for Dimitar. still at least PC wont get his house robbed living in dudley!
I like Peter Crouch his movement is excellent and he is always pealing away on the blind side of his markers. But he thrives on crosses not balls from the half way line. At the minute Villa have four out and out stoppers in defence who all like to lump it forward. Crouch’s presence might give them an excuse to do just that every time we win possession.
If Crouch does come then it is absolutely vital we sign a quality right back who is comfortable enough on the ball to pass it through the midfield and also able to deliver decent crosses on the overlap