Move was good for Barry Bannan, says Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert
Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert insists he has no regrets about Barry Bannan's summer exit ahead of the midfield playmaker's return with Crystal Palace today.
The 24-year-old former Academy star has put his career in forward motion again after a frustrating spell under three Villa managers which saw him struggle to fulfil his potential.
Bannan's passing range made him an instant hit when ex-boss Gerard Houllier gave him his first team blooding but the Alex McLeish and Lambert regimes saw the Scottish international stall.
At a time when Villa fans are crying out for greater creativity from the current team, Lambert insists there was little more he could have done to push the player's case.
Lambert said: "If you look at the amount of games he played under me it was a lot. I don't think you can say he didn't play much.
"We just had to try and change the club. There was no malice at all. He's only a young lad that needed to play probably more regularly than he was going to.
"It wasn't as if he never played. We just felt that we had to keep changing and he found something at Crystal Palace.
"He's only a young lad as well – he's a young guy with his whole career in front of him."
