Our centre back situation

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I'm expecting Collins and Dunne to thrive under McLeish too and Clark is aplayer Ive been sure will make it as a top player since I first saw him a few years ago now. But I'm yet to be convinced with Baker although he's suprised me to a degree. I do feel there is another spot open with Cuellar leaving and Dann would be ideal.

Certainly need another centre back if Cuellar is off.
I can't see Baker being up to it, to be honest.

[Matt C]

Baker might benefit from a loan spell somewhere I reckon, see what he's made of in the Championship/League One and get a bit of experience.

[Mister E]

Given, Clark and Dunne - the new / old back three core: new to Villa, old to the Rep of Ireland. Great combination and seemingly an established team.
Add Collins and Baker as back-up (and the possibility of a new signing) we can now focus on LB where there is definitely need for a recruit. RB is covered by LY and Lichaj.
This gives us a strong defensive squad.

[Mazrim]

I always thought Shane Lowry had promise.
We still have him too.

[garyshawsknee]

I think we need a new quality addition. While I think Dunne can improve on last years poor season,he can't be too far away from being 32. Collins looks better when his partner is settled and consistant.

With the back four as it is now,I'd be worried about the lack of pace as well.

[Merv]

Yeah. With Cuellar going, I think we need a big replacement who's going to walk straight into the team. Dunne, Collins and Clark can fight it out to partner him at the back.

Baker adds extra cover, at LB too.

[brontebilly]

Not sure we need another centre half. 3 is enough as McLeish wont be one for rotation. Maybe someone who could cover full back and centre half if there was one going cheap. Bassong perhaps. The time to flog Dunne will be after the Euros. Defenders tend to last a bit longer but Dunne's lack of professionalism at various times during his career is likely to shorten his shelf life as a top central defender. Im worried about Collins more so, a swap deal plus some 6m or so could tempt Dann but Collins will hardly drop a division.

Central midfield is a more pressing priority right now. Too many questions marks about our options there we need an experienced dominant player to come in.

[SoccerHQ]

Won't Baker just be a back up LB like he was last season? I know he had a shocker against Wolves but he looked o.k there in the other games including up at wigan where he kept one Charles N'zogbia reasonably quiet.

[Concrete John]

Won't Baker just be a back up LB like he was last season? I know he had a shocker against Wolves but he looked o.k there in the other games including up at wigan where he kept one Charles N'zogbia reasonably quiet.

I think what we'll see is A N Other fullback come in, hence the strongish Hutton links, so that we can have any two from three with Young and Warnock, which should work nicely given Young's versatility.  Baker and Lichaj, who still might go back out on loan, will be for emergencies only, IMO.

[Merv]

We simply can't go into the season with three senior centre-backs, given the almighty injury problems we had on occasions there last time.

[Concrete John]

I even think it's wrong to say '3 senior centre backs' given the age and experience of Clark.

We need to replace Cuellar and Dann's the man!

[CJ]

I can't understand letting Cuellar go (although as someone said elsewhere 4 different managers last year didn't rate him) unless we're going to buy a straight-into-the-team replacement such as Dann.  Alternatively McLeish may think he can manage with Dunne/Collins/Clarke and as a last resort to cover injuries he could draft in Beye who's played there before (*runs for cover*)

[Merv]

Oi, come back from your cover.....!

Beye's the worst centre-back I've ever seen (remembers Gus Caesar, but holds firm). That won't be happening.

[Dave]

Oi, come back from your cover.....!

Beye's the worst centre-back I've ever seen (remembers Gus Caesar, but holds firm). That won't be happening.

Beye's played about 40 minutes at centre-back for us and did alright.

His only dreadful game was when he was playing at left-back. Other than that he's been alright when needed.

[Merv]

You think? Fair enough then. But I saw him play 45 mins there in a pre-season friendly last summer (when the Evening Mail reported the next day he was looking lean and determined to win his place back) and he was all over the place, really jittery. Plus, I'm sure I saw him there in a Europa League game and he looked similarly dreadful.

Not for me, I'm afraid.