Ciaran Clark - now gone

[in exile]

Better than Elphick, less injury-prone than Baker. Would have liked to see how he'd have got on with Chester but he probably needed away from Villa Park to revitalise his career like his contemporaries in the class of '09, Albrighton, Bannan and er, Fonz who all went on to play well consistently again.

Are you serious about Delfonso?
Nah, you can't be

The brightest stars often burn out first.

I knew you weren't

[The Fish]

the question is: how many goals conceded by the Barcodes can be attributed to him this season?
I think he was a player that got ground down by the poisonous culture that has dragged Villa down over the last 7 years.
£5m was a decent price for him but we spent £3m on Elphick who is as useful as a chocolate teapot, and we'll still probably have to bring in another CB over the summer.

Clark was arguably Newcastle's best centreback. Seemed calm, committed, controlled and has settled really quickly. I can think of only one goal that was attributed to his mistake. He cartainly was at fault less often than Lascelles and Dummett.

Dunno if he'll be good enough for the top flight, but have more faith in him than in, say, Hanley or Lascelles. Fortunately it looks like we're selling Hanley to fund further strengthening of our back line.

[Gareth]

Sometimes taking someone out of their comfort zone is how you make them grow up...will be interesting to see if back in the top flight he finally fulfills his potential or whether he reverts back to Mr85 again where he looked good for 85 mins of the game but somewhere he always had a mad 5 where he was a calamity waiting to happen. 

Sure the huge salary he got up there when his release clause was met assisted the transfer in the first place

[SoccerHQ]

He was never really good enough for the prem although Benitez might improve him like he's done with many others in the past.

I just don't think for a CB he has one great attribute, he's not got great recovery pace, he loses strikers too easily in the box, he's not aerially dominant on crosses and he can get bullied by physical strikers (remember the trouble Anichebe gave him).

It's easy to look good for Newcastle in the championship but think he'll be found out again in the prem unless Newcastle play a defensive system.

[The Fish]

Sometimes taking someone out of their comfort zone is how you make them grow up...will be interesting to see if back in the top flight he finally fulfills his potential or whether he reverts back to Mr85 again where he looked good for 85 mins of the game but somewhere he always had a mad 5 where he was a calamity waiting to happen. 

Sure the huge salary he got up there when his release clause was met assisted the transfer in the first place

What is it?

I've seen nothing reliable on how much he's getting paid, but I'd presume that it wouldn't need to be ludicrous to tempt him away after his weekly wage was slashed in half due to the included relegation clause.

fwiw I think he was quality in the 2nd tier, and will likely be our 1st choice CB this season, but I'd hope to replace him pretty quick.

[brontebilly]

I couldn't believe when we got £5m for him, he makes too many costly mistakes

the question is: how many goals conceded by the Barcodes can be attributed to him this season?
I think he was a player that got ground down by the poisonous culture that has dragged Villa down over the last 7 years.
£5m was a decent price for him but we spent £3m on Elphick who is as useful as a chocolate teapot, and we'll still probably have to bring in another CB over the summer.

Exactly, Clark made a mockery of the decision to replace him, as did James Collins a few seasons before. Both needed a move away from Villa Park arguably. Anyway Elphick and Baker are far inferior players to Clark and we will be looking for two new central defenders again this summer.

Clark was probably signed as cover but ended up being Newcastle's best defender, fair play to him. Will be interesting to see how he goes next season but I'd expect Benitez to set up deep next season and hit teams on the break which will suit Clark.

[Gareth]

Sometimes taking someone out of their comfort zone is how you make them grow up...will be interesting to see if back in the top flight he finally fulfills his potential or whether he reverts back to Mr85 again where he looked good for 85 mins of the game but somewhere he always had a mad 5 where he was a calamity waiting to happen. 

Sure the huge salary he got up there when his release clause was met assisted the transfer in the first place

What is it?

I've seen nothing reliable on how much he's getting paid, but I'd presume that it wouldn't need to be ludicrous to tempt him away after his weekly wage was slashed in half due to the included relegation clause.

fwiw I think he was quality in the 2nd tier, and will likely be our 1st choice CB this season, but I'd hope to replace him pretty quick.

The talk when he moved was that he went from circa 20k a week to 40-50k a week...whether that's accurate none of us know but the speed it was done suggests an agent not wanting club to change their minds :-)

[KevinGage]

I couldn't believe when we got £5m for him, he makes too many costly mistakes

the question is: how many goals conceded by the Barcodes can be attributed to him this season?
I think he was a player that got ground down by the poisonous culture that has dragged Villa down over the last 7 years.
£5m was a decent price for him but we spent £3m on Elphick who is as useful as a chocolate teapot, and we'll still probably have to bring in another CB over the summer.

 We had signed Elphick before Clark left; from memory, the intention was to play Elphick and Clark together.  But the first chance Clark had to leave the club, he bailed. C'est la vie.  He had potential at 18/19, but despite prolonged stints in the side, didn't look like he'd ever fulfill it. He was 26 when he left, how long do you wait? I don't know too many Villa fans who were distraught at seeing him go. Chester wasn't business we had planned to do, but he's a vast upgrade on the error riddled Clark.

Chester looked reasonable for Hull and Olbiyun in the top flight (although he's more the sort that has had a good game if you don't notice him -if that makes sense).  And has looked fine at international level.   So if we ever do make it back to the big league, that is one player at least we don't instantly need to replace.

Clark has often looked ropey for Ireland and rarely convinced with us in the top flight, so if he was still on the books and we made it back next year, he'd most likely be on borrowed time anyroad.

[Steve67]

He had a great season for the barcodes, but this is where they'll find out that he's really not very good.

[mr underhill]

you can colour this anyway you like - Clark is shit.

[MoetVillan]

Wish we had 11 "shit" players like Newcastle had to piss this league

[mr underhill]

agreed they had plenty of players who weren't shit - Clark isn't one of them.

[RussellC]

Every time I saw Clark for the Barcodes last season, he looked the same hapless figure that he (more often than not) did for us. I remember him giving away at least 2 penalties and scoring one own-goal for them. I would be very surprised if he was a regular starter in a Benitez back 4 in the Prem next season.

[eamonn]

I'd take the judgement of their  fans who saw him every week other than us willing to see him do shit the odd time we might have seen some of Newcastle's games. He'd be our second best defender if we still had him.

[dcdavecollett]

Yes, Clark and Chester would have been a good combination, despite a lack of pace.