Gary Gardner - including loan to Coventry

[Whiney MacWhineface]

Then you've got January to look forward to haven't you? :-)

I do not trust AM to give him a consistent and fair opportunity to prove himself.

I think I see how the land lies. So if you don't trust AM to play him, why not loan him to a manager who will? Win-win!

[Karl Bridges]

Some spectacular over reactions on here. He's down the road, playing at a better level and will also see how shit his career could end up if he loses focus and ends up at a steaming turd like Cov full time.  I think it's good for us to have a look at him at a higher level and I expect him to come back and be involved for us straight away.

[Mister E]

Sounds sensible to me. If they're preparing him for entry to the first team soon; a few full games in the competitiveness of the championship (how I hate typing that) is far better than 5 minute cameos for Villa. Its only 6 weeks.

I agree - at least they've done something, rather than let him get bored in our reserves.
I hope he makes such a great impresion that he'll come back in January ready to help us off the foot of the table as well.

[Chris Smith]

Just what he needs, the experience will benefit him and give us an idea if he's ready for the first team.

[Iago]

Then you've got January to look forward to haven't you? :-)

I do not trust AM to give him a consistent and fair opportunity to prove himself.

I think I see how the land lies. So if you don't trust AM to play him, why not loan him to a manager who will? Win-win!

No, I want AM to give him a chance. Admittedly, he will get games at Coventry, but who is indispensable from our current midfield? If he struggles in our first team, they can always take him out of the lime light with a loan move.

I am not trying to moan for the sake of it, I do not understand the logic of the club.

[Rick_avfc]

I dont think its over reaction to be honest.  I think many fans would have liked to have seen him given a shot in the first team squad first to see if he really has the potential to step up.  I have nothing against Villa loaning him out but without testing him out first considering he is playing very well?  Thats where I have a problem.  Just say if he was given his chance, for example, against Swansea this weekend (last 20/30mins of the game) and he has a blinder and helps us get 3 points?  Yes, this is hypothical speak but we will never know.  Yes he will get alot of game time at Cov but have you seen their league position?  He is going to be playing along side players who are under severe pressure to get results to get them out of trouble.  Surely that negativity will rub off on him if results are still not going their way.

Oh well, nothing we can do about it now.  Just want to wish him all the best and I how his has a successful spell there with a view to breaking into the first 11 at avfc

[Mister E]

Is it more about saving his wages, even a month's money??

Are we struggling that much?? 

no - if they want to save money they could ship Ireland out somewhere on loan (we'd miss him far less as well).
GG's going to get some great experience and will come back ready to rock for us. In the meantime McMinge should give more exposure to other deserving youngsters like Clark, Herd, Delph, Albrighton and Bannan, all of whom should form the mainstay of our team (along with GG) for some years.
My concern is in the possibility of players like Clark buggering off for first team football as a CB - another Cahill scenario - which would be madness.

[lukey27]

The argument people are wheeling out is, let him get valuable first team experience. Why can't he get that here, we're light in that area anyway.

If he does well great, but if that's coupled with us losing games in December, it's certainly going to be considered another stick to beat Mcleish with.

Monday night, confused and annoyed me in ways that left me with serious concerns and we obviously need to find a balance in midfield. He clearly doesn't seem to trust N'Zogbia or Ireland, Albrighton is MIA so we're light in that department. I would have thought he'd have been a great option for us with the amount of games coming up.

[richardhubbard]

If  Gary good enough for Coventry team , he is good enough for ours

I would rather see Gardner, Delph , Bannan , Herd and Albrighton play than Petrov, Hutton and Heskey in midfield

I dont see the point on loaning out .

[dave.woodhall]

The argument people are wheeling out is, let him get valuable first team experience. Why can't he get that here, we're light in that area anyway.

Because the step up to from the reserves to the Premier League will be a lot easier if he's played a few first team games in the Championship.

[PeterWithe]

If  Gary good enough for Coventry team , he is good enough for ours

We're not that bad.

[Chris Smith]

We're in danger of getting a bit carried away with Gardner. Very good prospect but he's still got a lot to learn about adult football and the expectation already being heaped on him is ridiculous. Let him develop at a natural pace and play a few Championship games, plenty of others have benefitted from doing the same.

[Clampy]

I'm in two minds about this. Playing well for the reserves should mean you're knocking on the first team door but i think in the long run it'll be good for him.

[pauliewalnuts]

I can see both sides of the argument here.

he gets invaluable experience, we learn a bit more about him, he's young and you don't want to put too much pressure on him (which i think is what happened to Albrighton last season)

but ...

we've got a midfield last seen featuring Emile Heskey and Alan Hutton, we have struggled there all season, we need options there, maybe he's good enough now and this is our chance to find out.

[Toronto Villa]

I think this is very good for his development. Yes, we could do with a bit of inspiration in the middle right now, but a few months playing at senior level without the weight of such expectation on his shoulders as he would be with us will benefit him. Gabby didn't set the world alight at Watford, but in the end everything the club has had him do has helped him become the player he is today. As fans we are crying out for a player to hang our hats on and he's been dynamite at youth level. But we need to keep a sense of perspective here. He's not leaving the club for any significant length of time and hopefully when he returns he'll be that much better and understand where he might need to improve to push himself on even further.