Online Sports Journalist Craig Birch mulls over whether new Villa signing Emile Heskey will make all the difference in his latest blog.

Amid much fanfare over the weekend, Villa have finally got the striker their fans had been crying out for.

How they had been forced to wait. You have to go all the way back to the summer of 2007 for when manager Martin O’Neill last brought in a striker – and that was the anonymous Marlon Harewood.

But his previous capture to lead the attack had been the astute signing of John Carew – one still wonders how on earth the Villa boss persuaded Lyon to let him go in exchange for an original Claret and Blue flop, Milan Baros.

Which indicates what most of the Villa Park faithful knew all along, O’Neill will not just add for the sake of it. Each player has to be right for the club, so it looks as if he just hasn’t fancied anybody that came along.

There was no shortage of suggestions – everyone from Kevin Doyle to Michael Owen has been linked to the club this past year.

But Heskey is the man coming in and he is needed, Gabby Agbonlahor can’t be expected to shoulder the sole striking burden forever. But will the England forward prove a success, or do we have another Harewood on our hands? Lets take a closer look.

O’Neill, of course, gave Heskey his break while boss at Leicester. It was under him he scored his first competitive goal and it was under him that he first blossomed into an England striker in 150-odd games for the then-Filbert Street club.

Maybe it is also no coincidence that when City sold Heskey to Liverpool in £11million in March 2000, O’Neill followed him out of the door that summer.

Heskey’s four years at Anfield were hard to judge as a failure or success. A 20-plus goal haul in his debut season gave a false indication of what to come, as in coming campaigns he received flak for not finding the net often enough, no matter how hard he worked for the team.

By 2004, he had been sold to Birmingham – where the going really got tough.

After an encouraging first season with Blues, which saw him net 11 times and win the ‘player of the season’ award, his second season at St Andrews saw his stock plummet.

Steve Bruce’s side went down, with a vastly talented squad, and four goals in 34 games from Heskey hardly helped matters.

When Heskey wanted out that summer, no-one wanted him. In the end, Wigan were his only choice.

Two-and-a-half years at the JJB Stadium have what made Heskey a force to be reckoned with again.

His unselfish play, his willingness to be the target man – which came in handy when Wigan were hoofing the ball upfield – and his tireless work rate led to a new reputation, it didn’t matter whether Heskey scored eight or 28 times – it was what he brought to the team.

An England recall ensued, with similar results. Now it has landed him a move to Villa, will his star reach heights like never before?

Not all are convinced. There are a select band of people who have never been a fan of Heskey’s – even at Leicester. Yes, he does work hard. Yes, he will hold the ball up. Yes, he will play others in.

But he will only do so much, and there are so many ways you can play with him in the side.

Will he succeed? Depends on what Villa want him for. If it’s to be the star player and to single-handedly drag Villa into the Champions League on the back of 20 goals , then forget about it. Wrong man for the job.

But as a different option – someone for when it gets ugly – yes, our man is capable of that.

The best English striker? I am not even sure he is the best striker at Villa.