Mellberg issues warning
Olof Mellberg has warned his Villa team-mates "the pressure is on to live up to the club's ambition" in the wake of owner Randy Lerner's huge investment.Olof Mellberg has warned his Villa team-mates "the pressure is on to live up to the club's ambition" in the wake of owner Randy Lerner's huge investment. Lerner has backed up his determination to return the region's flagship club to a position where they are challenging for honours with hard cash in the signings of John Carew, Ashley Young, Shaun Maloney and Phil Bardsley (loan) in the January transfer window. He has reinforced that ambition off the field, after restarting work on the club's mothballed £8.5m training complex and undertaking a £4m to restore the Holte Hotel. Read the full story in the Express & Star
Lerner has backed up his determination to return the region's flagship club to a position where they are challenging for honours with hard cash in the signings of John Carew, Ashley Young, Shaun Maloney and Phil Bardsley (loan) in the January transfer window.
He has reinforced that ambition off the field, after restarting work on the club's mothballed £8.5m training complex and undertaking a £4m to restore the Holte Hotel.More signings are expected to follow in the summer as the American backs manager Martin O'Neill. In recent years, departing players such as Gareth Southgate and Dwight Yorke have cited Villa's lack of ambition behind their decisions to move away.
Defender Mellberg believes players can achieve their goals with Villa rather than having to jump ship, but warned they must mirror Lerner's ambition on the pitch to achieve success.
"People can now see the ambition at this club. That hasn't been the case for years and players have moved to other clubs to fulfil their ambitions," said Mellberg.