Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: garyshawsknee on November 28, 2015, 09:35:09 AM
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Interesting article, bit about us at the end.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/leicester-citys-marc-albrighton-using-game-to-help-heal-wounds-a6752366.html
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A good article.
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Seems a decent lad, good to see him playing well.
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I'm happy for him. My dad is a big Leicester fan (loves Villa, due to me, too) and has been really impressed with Albrighton this year.
I liked him a lot and thought he was a decent player. Good luck to him.
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I'm happy for him. My dad is a big Leicester fan (loves Villa, due to me, too) and has been really impressed with Albrighton this year.
I liked him a lot and thought he was a decent player. Good luck to him.
Same for me.
He really struggled after us selling Young and Downing in the same summer.
Still there were glimpses of a good player in there, probably just needed a fresh start.
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Probably just needed a new manager.
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Leicester are getting the most out of him and using his strength of crossing an early ball. He doesn't have the pace to beat many players and he never fulfilled his early promise with us, but he is clearly a confidence player who's working hard and is making the most of his capabilities.
Maybe others can take note.
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Leicester are getting the most out of him and using his strength of crossing an early ball. He doesn't have the pace to beat many players and he never fulfilled his early promise with us, but he is clearly a confidence player who's working hard and is making the most of his capabilities.
Maybe others can take note.
The article says he is quick, in the top 5 for speed in the premiership.
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Always had a soft spot for him and felt Lambert made a poor decision letting him go. He was was one of our bright sparks in the last half of Lambert's second season.
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He wanted more than we were prepared to give at the time. As usual we got it wrong...
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Or was he offered anything at all?
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I remember not being too bothered when he left but boy has he proved me wrong. I can't help but think what Gestede could do with some of his pin-point whipped in crosses. Aah bollocks!
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I remember not being too bothered when he left but boy has he proved me wrong. I can't help but think what Gestede could do with some of his pin-point whipped in crosses. Aah bollocks!
Oh I can - absolutely nothing. Another duff there Rudi Gestede. Albrighton should never have been sold in hindsight.
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He wanted more than we were prepared to give at the time. As usual we got it wrong...
Another Lerner inspired decision.
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Too good for us now.
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I really wish we'd kept him. Was really surprised at how many on here were happy to see him go when Lambert sold him. No surprise to see what a bit of coaching, patience and perseverance can do.
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Probably just needed a new manager.
For long periods, the managers he played under here would be quite one-dimensional in their play, insomuch as we'd have one way of attacking at any given point in time. If the flavour of their month at such point was "wingers", then that's what it was, and all the pressure would be on said winger to deliver. At Leicester, he's merely one cog in a balanced machine, something we've not played like since Barry left. I liked him, wished him well, and continue to do so. Circumstances dictated his departure, not him.
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He wanted more than we were prepared to give at the time. As usual we got it wrong...
Another Lerner inspired decision.
I think that was Lambert.
I don't recall too many pissed off voices of dissent that we didn't try to match the reported £40K per week at the time.
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TSM1 & TSM2 believed in fullbacks providing width.
Leicester are where they are with width.
We are where we are after TSM1 signing Hutton to supply width.
TSM2 putting him the bomb squad, then letting a player who could naturally supply a cross see out the end of his contract because he wasn't defensive enough.
Albrighton leaves - Hutton recalled.
Leicester Top - Villa Bottom of the league.
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He wanted more than we were prepared to give at the time. As usual we got it wrong...
Another Lerner inspired decision.
I think that was Lambert.
I don't recall too many pissed off voices of dissent that we didn't try to match the reported £40K per week at the time.
This... There weren't many who were sad to see him go on here....
IMO a decent player who even at the wages stated would have been a bargain as if he hadn't developed we could have probably sold him for a couple of million
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just remembered i seen him at the cock in wishaw ,,,,,,,,,gonna post it in the claim to fame thread
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Anyone ever thought of putting together an 11 of current players we got rid of because they weren't good enough?
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Cant believe we weren't prepared to give this guy a new deal, but thought Agbonlahor and Westwood merited them.
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best crosser of the ball we had since ray graydon
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Marc is from us and a product of our academy and I wish him all the best however no one argued about the decision to let him go when we did so there is no need to slag off the club over it.
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Marc is from us and a product of our academy and I wish him all the best however no one argued about the decision to let him go when we did so there is no need to slag off the club over it.
i didnt want him to go
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Marc is from us and a product of our academy and I wish him all the best however no one argued about the decision to let him go when we did so there is no need to slag off the club over it.
i didnt want him to go
Do you want him to comma back?
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Marc is from us and a product of our academy and I wish him all the best however no one argued about the decision to let him go when we did so there is no need to slag off the club over it.
i didnt want him to go
Do you want him to comma back?
yeah ,, i think if nigel pearson had got the villa job ,, albrighton would have been top of his shopping list ,,
but Leicester wouldnt sell him would they
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Marc is from us and a product of our academy and I wish him all the best however no one argued about the decision to let him go when we did so there is no need to slag off the club over it.
i didnt want him to go
Do you want him to comma back?
yeah ,, i think if nigel pearson had got the villa job ,, albrighton would have been top of his shopping list ,,
but Leicester wouldnt sell him would they
That'll be the Nigel Pearson who barely played him? 9 starts and a few sub appearances if I heard the commentator correctly yesterday.
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That season under Lambert where we looked safe by February and then barely picked up another point to survive...Albrighton was our one creative spark. Even then, Lambert didn't seem to realise to play both Albrighton and a target man in the same team so when he did put some good crosses in, there was nobody there. It's been one fuck up after another for years now.
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Marc is from us and a product of our academy and I wish him all the best however no one argued about the decision to let him go when we did so there is no need to slag off the club over it.
i didnt want him to go
Do you want him to comma back?
yeah ,, i think if nigel pearson had got the villa job ,, albrighton would have been top of his shopping list ,,
but Leicester wouldnt sell him would they
That'll be the Nigel Pearson who barely played him? 9 starts and a few sub appearances if I heard the commentator correctly yesterday.
you must have heard wrong ,,,,,,thats nonsense
leicesters good run started this time last year ,,, and albrighton played most matches in the 2nd half of last season ,,,,,while pearson was manager
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He started 10 games for Leicester last season.
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Probably just needed a new manager.
Boom Boom! ;D
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He started 10 games for Leicester last season.
He started 10 games for Leicester last season.
says 18 here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Albrighton#Career_statistics
anyway ,,, i know he hardly played in the 1st half of the season
but was a regular for Leicesters good run in the last few months of last season
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That's total appearances. It includes his appearances as a sub. No matter how much you want it to be more, he only started 10 games last season.
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That's total appearances. It includes his appearances as a sub. No matter how much you want it to be more, he only started 10 games last season.
ok statto ,,,,,,how many games did they win out the ten
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Whatever I say you'll insist it's wrong. While failing to admit that you're wrong.
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Whatever I say you'll insist it's wrong. While failing to admit that you're wrong.
ok your always right ,,,,,,,and i am always wrong
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We finally agree on something.
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We finally agree on something.
apparently so
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That's total appearances. It includes his appearances as a sub. No matter how much you want it to be more, he only started 10 games last season.
As confirmed here.
Stato's corner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014%E2%80%9315_Leicester_City_F.C._season#Results_by_matchday)
Being a right sad f¤¤ker who's avoiding a mind numbing job, based on BBC match reports from start of December last year.
December 2nd - Substitute (80 minutes) - lost 1-3 to Liverpool.
December 7th - Unused substitute - lost 2-1 to Aston Villa.
December 13th - Not in squad - lost 1-3 to Man City.
December 20th - Not in squad - lost 2-0 to West Ham.
December 26th - Not in squad - lost 1-2 to Spurs.
December 28th - Not in squad - WON 0-1 over Hull.
Januray 1st - Not in squad - Drew 2-2 at Liverpool.
January 10th - Started - WON 1-0 over Aston Villa - Subbed after 72 mins.
January 17th - Unused substitute - lost 0-1 to Stoke.
January 31st - Unused substitute - Lost 3-1 to Man Utd.
February 7th - Substitute (60 minutes) - Lost 0-1 to Crystal Palace.
February 10th - Unused substitute - Lost 1-2 to Arsenal.
February 22nd - Not in squad - Drew 2-2 at Everton.
March 4th - Not in squad - Lost 2-0 at Man City.
March 14th - Not in squad - Drew 0-0 at home to Hull.
March 21th - Not in squad - Lost 4-3 at Spurs.
April 4th - Subbed in after 45 minutes - WON 2-1 over West Ham. This is where their good run started - Also coinicides with Schmeichel returning to the team after a broken foot.
April 11th - Started - played 90 minutes - WON 2-3 at WBA.
April 18th - Started - played 90 minutes - WON 2-0 over Swansea.
April 25th - Started - subbed after 72 minutes - WON 0-1 at Bunrley.
April 29th - Started - played 90 minutes and scored - lost 1-3 at Chelsea.
May 2nd - Started - played 90 minutes - WON 3-0 over Newcastle. (Newcastle 2 players sent off)
May 9th - Started - played 90 minutes - WON 2-0 over Southampton.
May 16th - Started - played 90 minutes - Drew 0-0 at Sunderland.
May 24th - Started - played 90 minutes and scored - WON 5-1 over QPR.
So 9 of his 10 starts were part of the crazy 9 game run at the end of the season.
But if he was so highly rated by Pearson why didn't he try him earlier in the appalling run when he was in full on Nice but Dim mode and switching team / formation every other week?
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April 4th - Subbed in after 45 minutes - WON 2-1 over West Ham. This is where their good run started - Also coinicides with Schmeichel returning to the team after a broken foot.
April 11th - Started - played 90 minutes - WON 2-3 at WBA.
April 18th - Started - played 90 minutes - WON 2-0 over Swansea.
April 25th - Started - subbed after 72 minutes - WON 0-1 at Bunrley.
April 29th - Started - played 90 minutes and scored - lost 1-3 at Chelsea.
May 2nd - Started - played 90 minutes - WON 3-0 over Newcastle. (Newcastle 2 players sent off)
May 9th - Started - played 90 minutes - WON 2-0 over Southampton.
May 16th - Started - played 90 minutes - Drew 0-0 at Sunderland.
May 24th - Started - played 90 minutes and scored - WON 5-1 over QPR.
So 9 of his 10 starts were part of the crazy 9 game run at the end of the season.
But if he was so highly rated by Pearson why didn't he try him earlier in the appalling run when he was in full on Nice but Dim mode and switching team / formation every other week?
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thats right ,,,,,and it just shows you , the turning point in Leicester rising from bottom of the table to top of the table is not all down to jamey vardey ,kasper smicheal and claudio ranieri , but also marc albrighton as his inclusion into the side on a regular basis is a major factor as to where they are now
god knows why pearson wasnt playing him before those last ten games of last season ,,,,,maybe he thought he was an ostrich or maybe they had a row in training and pearson grabbed him by the neck and wouldnt let him get up
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I remember not being too bothered when he left but boy has he proved me wrong. I can't help but think what Gestede could do with some of his pin-point whipped in crosses. Aah bollocks!
Pretty much how I feel. A useful enough bit part player who never showed enough consistency to merit us giving him the kind of contract that a newly promoted side of Leicester's ilk were prepared to offer. Fair play to him. It's rare that a player markedly improves after leaving the Villa. Nobody seems to be rending their garments over Nathan Delfouneso or Barry Bannan who left the club in similar circumstances.
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He wanted more than we were prepared to give at the time. As usual we got it wrong...
Of course we did...
Anyone ever thought of putting together an 11 of current players we got rid of because they weren't good enough?
1 Scott Carson
2 Phil Bardsley
3 Antonio Luna (but a lot of competition in this position I have to say)
4 Habib Beye
5 Richard Dunne
6 Brett Holman
7 Stephen Ireland
8 Karim El Ahmadi
9 Nathan Delfouneso
10 Marlon Harewood
11 Barry Bannan
"I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me."
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Albrighton would have stayed here.
Villa didnt offer a contract. The story I heard was that Albrighton and his agent had had an offer from Leicester, but wanted to speak with Villa. They had a meeting with Lambert who basically said we wont be offering you a contract, but if the press ask you can you say we did.
We then essentially gave his contract (supposedly around £25k per week) to Joe Cole for 3 years.
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Cole is on a two year contract.
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Cole is on a two year contract.
hes on loan to coventry
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I know, that doesn't change that his contract with us is 2 years, not 3.
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I know, that doesn't change that his contract with us is 2 years, not 3.
My mistake. Still, it's that sort of decision making that leads us to where we are right now.
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Purely guesswork but I wonder if a big part of us letting him go was that we had Grealish coming through.
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I know, that doesn't change that his contract with us is 2 years, not 3.
My mistake. Still, it's that sort of decision making that leads us to where we are right now.
exactly glasses ,,the length of joe coles contract is irrelevant ,,
its the fact we didnt give albrighton one ,,,,,,,but we gave him one instead
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Maybe. That would point to us looking to save money, but then doesn't explain the ludicrous appointment of Cole with the 'saving' in the wage bill.
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Again purely guesswork, but I doubt we'd have played them both very often, whereas Cole and Jack could play together. Also, that Cole was bought in for experience and helping off the field. Maybe wishful thinking but Cole could help Jack in training etc a lot more than Marc would.
And it's worth remembering that while he is playing pretty well for Leicester, it's one game in the last 12 where has scored or had an assist. I'd have preferred to keep him and said so at the time, but it's not like he's turned into Messi since he left.
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No and I know what you mean. People do make players out to be better ones when they no longer play for us. (And when they're not in the team)
He was a better player than Cole at the time though, and its an awful lot of money to pay to have someone with 'experience' not playing very often. With all due respect thats what coaches are for, and they are paid about a 10th of that. I'd go as far as saying Albrighton would have been a better role model off the pitch that Cole too. A local hard working lad who rose through the academy and knew the place inside out.
It's easy in hindsight, but the sheer amount of bad decisions at all levels outweigh the good ones in the last 4 or 5 years. They can't be coincidental.
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He was a better player than Cole at the time though, and its an awful lot of money to pay to have someone with 'experience' not playing very often. With all due respect thats what coaches are for, and they are paid about a 10th of that. I'd go as far as saying Albrighton would have been a better role model off the pitch that Cole too. A local hard working lad who rose through the academy and knew the place inside out.
And worth offering a £40,000 per week, four year contract to?
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He was a better player than Cole at the time though, and its an awful lot of money to pay to have someone with 'experience' not playing very often. With all due respect thats what coaches are for, and they are paid about a 10th of that. I'd go as far as saying Albrighton would have been a better role model off the pitch that Cole too. A local hard working lad who rose through the academy and knew the place inside out.
And worth offering a £40,000 per week, four year contract to?
If that was what Leicester were offering, that's what they were offering. We didn't even offer him the same contract again. We didn't try to keep him. Who's to say he wouldn't have stayed here at 2 or 3k above what he was earning? (supposedly £25k)
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He was a better player than Cole at the time though, and its an awful lot of money to pay to have someone with 'experience' not playing very often. With all due respect thats what coaches are for, and they are paid about a 10th of that. I'd go as far as saying Albrighton would have been a better role model off the pitch that Cole too. A local hard working lad who rose through the academy and knew the place inside out.
And worth offering a £40,000 per week, four year contract to?
If that was what Leicester were offering, that's what they were offering. We didn't even offer him the same contract again. We didn't try to keep him. Who's to say he wouldn't have stayed here at 2 or 3k above what he was earning? (supposedly £25k)
Because a young fringe player is not likely to write off over £2 million of wages and a substantial signing-on fee just because of sentiment?
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He was a better player than Cole at the time though, and its an awful lot of money to pay to have someone with 'experience' not playing very often. With all due respect thats what coaches are for, and they are paid about a 10th of that. I'd go as far as saying Albrighton would have been a better role model off the pitch that Cole too. A local hard working lad who rose through the academy and knew the place inside out.
And worth offering a £40,000 per week, four year contract to?
If that was what Leicester were offering, that's what they were offering. We didn't even offer him the same contract again. We didn't try to keep him. Who's to say he wouldn't have stayed here at 2 or 3k above what he was earning? (supposedly £25k)
If Leicester were only too keen to pay albrighton 40 grand a week and we wasnt
it just goes to show how far we have fallen behind ,, and not only in league positions ,
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He was a better player than Cole at the time though, and its an awful lot of money to pay to have someone with 'experience' not playing very often. With all due respect thats what coaches are for, and they are paid about a 10th of that. I'd go as far as saying Albrighton would have been a better role model off the pitch that Cole too. A local hard working lad who rose through the academy and knew the place inside out.
And worth offering a £40,000 per week, four year contract to?
If that was what Leicester were offering, that's what they were offering. We didn't even offer him the same contract again. We didn't try to keep him. Who's to say he wouldn't have stayed here at 2 or 3k above what he was earning? (supposedly £25k)
Because a young fringe player is not likely to write off over £2 million of wages and a substantial signing-on fee just because of sentiment?
You think spending that £2m on Joe Cole was the better move then?
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He was a better player than Cole at the time though, and its an awful lot of money to pay to have someone with 'experience' not playing very often. With all due respect thats what coaches are for, and they are paid about a 10th of that. I'd go as far as saying Albrighton would have been a better role model off the pitch that Cole too. A local hard working lad who rose through the academy and knew the place inside out.
And worth offering a £40,000 per week, four year contract to?
If that was what Leicester were offering, that's what they were offering. We didn't even offer him the same contract again. We didn't try to keep him. Who's to say he wouldn't have stayed here at 2 or 3k above what he was earning? (supposedly £25k)
Because a young fringe player is not likely to write off over £2 million of wages and a substantial signing-on fee just because of sentiment?
You think spending that £2m on Joe Cole was the better move then?
I'm absolutely certain that offering Marc Albrighton an £8m contract and offering Joe Cole a £2.5m contract weren't the only two options available to us.
Personally I'd have offered an £8m contract to somebody worth an £8m contract.
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I wonder if it was down to Lambert liking Bacuna more and he was a cheaper option too.
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As Glasses says earlier, hindsight makes decision making easy. I don't remember many posts on here missing him when he spent 8 months not starting for Leicester last season. Why wasn't it such a bad decision then?
For the record, his 3rd league start for Leicester was in April.
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Of course they weren't the only two options. I'm giving a hypothetical, based on what we had and what we ended up with. I'd say that's pretty fair.
I'd have said it at the time, and still believe now that Marc Albrighton would have been a better player in the last 12 months than Joe Cole. He'd have had a similar impact to Jack Grealishs development (it's down to Jack and coaching staff ultimately).
We didn't play him often enough when we had him, and we didn't try to keep him. He's doing well for himself at Leicester and will more than likely have a good career in the premier league.
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As Glasses says earlier, hindsight makes decision making easy. I don't remember many posts on here missing him when he spent 8 months not starting for Leicester last season. Why wasn't it such a bad decision then?
For the record, his 3rd league start for Leicester was in April.
It was a bad decision based on what he showed in the last few months of Lambert's reign, one of our few bright lights. I wouldn't have had him pegged as a ''only put a shift in when you're looking for a new contract'' type, I think he loved playing for the club he grew-up playing for and supporting and was plenty good enough to get in our team after the 2013/14 season finished.
I'd have kept him at £40k a week and off-set the difference by attempting to get rid of whatever dross we had at the time - KEA, Tonev etc. and not sign Kieron bloody Richardson.
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I've already said i'd have preferred to keep him, my point is that this thread has appeared with hindsight. There were no such threads for 8 months and virtually no one was overly fussed on his leaving thread.
And we sent Tonev out on a season long loan and let KEA go that summer.
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I wanted to keep him and said as much on here because the player he is this season is the one I thought was in there, as I've said a few times about him if you're a winger who gets 2-3 genuinely good crosses in per game then the rest of your game only needs to be decent for you to have a very good career. I'm in no way comparing them but look at Beckham as the absolute peak example, worked hard, crossed very well and had a good free kick on him and got himself into many a world team of the year, etc.
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Abrighton has been ok but hardly the star performer we are making him into in latest revision of this thread. Take Vardy out of his Leicester team, which may happen in January, and they will be fighting relegation next season.
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I've already said i'd have preferred to keep him, my point is that this thread has appeared with hindsight. There were no such threads for 8 months and virtually no one was overly fussed on his leaving thread.
And we sent Tonev out on a season long loan and let KEA go that summer.
I think you will find that I was critical of letting him go, I still am.
Another fuck up
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So who do you think is better Grealish or Albrighton ?
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So who do you think is better Grealish or Albrighton ?
Albrighton did more and contributed more than Grealish has so far.
Jack has more potential.
I also remember Albrighton comming on playing well and getting dropped a few times and being taken off when he was playing well.
I think he was pretty badly managed.
Thanks Lambert
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It's hard to judge really, Grealish only broke into the squad last season.
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I've already said i'd have preferred to keep him, my point is that this thread has appeared with hindsight. There were no such threads for 8 months and virtually no one was overly fussed on his leaving thread.
And we sent Tonev out on a season long loan and let KEA go that summer.
I think you will find that I was critical of letting him go, I still am.
Another fuck up
Which is why I said virtually no one, rather than no one. You obviously missed that part.
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He wanted more than we were prepared to give at the time. As usual we got it wrong...
Of course we did...
Anyone ever thought of putting together an 11 of current players we got rid of because they weren't good enough?
1 Scott Carson
2 Phil Bardsley
3 Antonio Luna (but a lot of competition in this position I have to say)
4 Habib Beye
5 Richard Dunne
6 Brett Holman
7 Stephen Ireland
8 Karim El Ahmadi
9 Nathan Delfouneso
10 Marlon Harewood
11 Barry Bannan
"I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me."
All sold because at the time they just were not up to the Villa required standard. Don't start getting too romantic over ex players. The only one who I hold a proper candle for would be Richard Dunne.
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I've already said i'd have preferred to keep him, my point is that this thread has appeared with hindsight. There were no such threads for 8 months and virtually no one was overly fussed on his leaving thread.
And we sent Tonev out on a season long loan and let KEA go that summer.
I think you will find that I was critical of letting him go, I still am.
Another fuck up
Which is why I said virtually no one, rather than no one. You obviously missed that part.
I was one of the 'ones'. I even started the thread!
http://www.heroesandvillains.info/forumv3/index.php?topic=52097.msg2605113#msg2605113
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I was sorry to see him go, always liked him. Pleased for him to see him doing well but not for the club he plays for.
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He wanted more than we were prepared to give at the time. As usual we got it wrong...
Of course we did...
Anyone ever thought of putting together an 11 of current players we got rid of because they weren't good enough?
1 Scott Carson
2 Phil Bardsley
3 Antonio Luna (but a lot of competition in this position I have to say)
4 Habib Beye
5 Richard Dunne
6 Brett Holman
7 Stephen Ireland
8 Karim El Ahmadi
9 Nathan Delfouneso
10 Marlon Harewood
11 Barry Bannan
"I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me."
All sold because at the time they just were not up to the Villa required standard. Don't start getting too romantic over ex players. The only one who I hold a proper candle for would be Richard Dunne.
You could add Gary Cahill, Steven Davis and James Collins
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*heavy sigh*
Stirchley Villain was suggesting that letting Albrighton go is yet another example of us letting talented players slip through our fingers. The patently awful XI I have posted (with hindsight, Curtis Davies is more worthy of inclusion than Dunne) was my attempt at saying that Albrighton is the exception rather than the rule and as other more diligent in their research posters have pointed out, barely anyone had noticed he had gone such was his lack of impact at Leicester.
I can't believe anyone is overly misty eyed about any of the players I listed and there are plenty more I could name. So I will. Lichaj, Herd, Tonev, Stevens, Salifou, Bowery (who I had to look up so dim was my recollection of him). That Albrighton has belatedly done well with his new employer is to his credit rather than evidence of some fundamental flaw in our player retention strategy. Maybe the change of scenery is what has spurred him on to deliver consistently and had he stayed with us he'd be no more effective than when he left.
There will always be "the one that got away" and I think most of us are in agreement on Gary Cahill in this respect but the vast, vast majority of exits from Villa Park have seen the player moving onto a level appropriate to them, like Milner or Young to title challengers, Collins or Davis to similar middling clubs or finding their level in a lower division like Weimann or Whittingham.
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Of course they weren't the only two options. I'm giving a hypothetical, based on what we had and what we ended up with. I'd say that's pretty fair.
I'd have said it at the time, and still believe now that Marc Albrighton would have been a better player in the last 12 months than Joe Cole. He'd have had a similar impact to Jack Grealishs development (it's down to Jack and coaching staff ultimately).
We didn't play him often enough when we had him, and we didn't try to keep him. He's doing well for himself at Leicester and will more than likely have a good career in the premier league.
His improvement has coincided with the arrival of Ranieri and the style of play he wants from his team, based I imagine on the ability of the players in the squad currently.
Obviously the loss of Vardy would have a big impact, but as a squad they have something Villa don't have at present, confidence and a player who's on fire, but that will eventually change or they'll sell him
.
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I've already said i'd have preferred to keep him, my point is that this thread has appeared with hindsight. There were no such threads for 8 months and virtually no one was overly fussed on his leaving thread.
And we sent Tonev out on a season long loan and let KEA go that summer.
I think you will find that I was critical of letting him go, I still am.
Another fuck up
Which is why I said virtually no one, rather than no one. You obviously missed that part.
loads of villa fans wanted him to stay ,,,,,he is one of our own and was playing well enough for a new contract
maybe he took time to settle at leicester
or pearsons attitude was the reason he left him out the side for most of last season
untill he realised what marc can do and as someone posted earlier ,
he started the last 9 or ten games of last season and they practically won them all
this season he is one of the reasons they are where they are
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So who do you think is better Grealish or Albrighton ?
For pure football talent there is no contest Grealish all the way. For application and hard work it has to be Albrighton. Combine those two and you have a world class player.
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So who do you think is better Grealish or Albrighton ?
Albrighton did more and contributed more than Grealish has so far.
Jack has more potential.
I also remember Albrighton comming on playing well and getting dropped a few times and being taken off when he was playing well.
I think he was pretty badly managed.
Thanks Lambert
Albrighton made a great impact for us in first half of 2010/11 but tailing off towards the end and then really struggled the next season so not too dissimilar to Jack although Marc is as good as gold off the pitch.
I can't help feeling the problem when we do produce youth products who do show promise in the first team is we then at that point sell some of our major players and try to make the youth player a focal point of the team when they're not ready for that.
When Albrighton broke into the team in 2010, opposition didn't know who he was so would double up on Young and also Downing so would leave Marc one on one with a defender and he exploited that. Of course both left the following summer we just signed CNZ and teams started doubling up on Albrighton and we had a problem as he didn't have enough experience/quality to beat it.
Same with Grealish. Looks a player then we lose Benteke and d*lph and suddenly the opposition don't have as many things to worry about so can mark Grealish out of games hence him looking pretty ordinary for most of this season or worse in the last month.
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Paul merson says albrighton is nice and maybe too quiet. And that Jack is cocky and has a swagger. Both have ability but very different personalities. I think if offered chance to come back sharkfin would say yes and help us in our plight. There are those players who are affiliated with clubs and albrighton is one. Even weimann could come back to do a job. Probably stretching it in asking for benteke, Barry, milner or youngy though !
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Good article I liked Marc I wish we had kept him now.