Gary Gardner - including loan to Coventry

[rutski]

after seeing how gary has come on in the wolves game and then his cameo against newcastle he is obviously a gem that needs to be polished and protected, then rewarded.
how much do we look after gary and his obvious talent because if we dont it wont be long till siralex and the likes will be offering big money.
can we give him the package to make him our steven gerrard, a player for villa for life!

[Shoody]

We have to. Only 2 years left on his (new!) contract at the end of this season. Dont get him tied down this summer and we'll pretty much have to let him go for pennies next summer if his head gets turned. Needs a 6 or 7 year contract imo. Thats how good he could be and even then would only give us 4/5 years until we'd be in danger of losing him again (if we're lucky). And he'd still only be about 22/23 nowhere near his prime.

Give him pretty much whatever to get a Fabregas-esque contract, even if its a clause to make him our highest paid player at 25 or whatever. If he turns out to be no good (i doubt it) then we can cut and run. But i honestly think he could be our best player within 18 months and it'll seem like great business then. Theres always a risk with footballers that they wont make it, or they'll get injured but I was surprised Gary only signed a 3.5yr contract last Jan and I think this is one of those times you have to take a leap of faith by securing him longterm. If it doesn't work out it'll suck but atleast we'd be showing ambition by trying to tie-down our best up and coming players.

[Singapore Villa]

In the short glimpses that I have seen of him he looks real quality.  It has been said before, but to me he looks like a young Steve Gerrard - comfortable on the ball, athletic, good eye for a pass and positions himself well for goal opportunities from deep.  I really think we need to tie him down long term and build a team around him.

[willywombat]

I think he's the best thing to come through the youth system since Sir Brian, he's a cross between Steve Gerrard and Trevor Brooking in my opinion and we should move mountains to keep him

[Clampy]

He reminds me of Lampard more than anybody. In the few appearances he's made, he's got himself into good positions in the box and nearly bagged himself a couple of goals. I think you'll see him starting against Wigan and Blackburn.

[Chris Smith]

I can only echo the last few posts. I'm generally cautious when it comes to hyping up the youngsters but Gary really does look like he's the real deal. I can see here people are coming from with some of the comparisons, and it helps to have a yardstick, but I think we'll soon be forgetting all that as he establishes himself on his own merits.

[JUAN PABLO]

Sounds great with people posting he is like Lampard , he is like Brooking , he is like Gerrard  .. bloody hell , how exciting.

[Big Dick Edwards]

Sounds great with people posting he is like Lampard , he is like Brooking , he is like Gerrard  .. bloody hell , how exciting.

It's also dangerous and unhelpful heaping such expectancy on a young boy's shoulders. Like many before him, he has to fulfil his undoubted potential before he can be compared to such great players. Remember the Moore brothers...

[Dante Lavelli]

Sounds great with people posting he is like Lampard , he is like Brooking , he is like Gerrard  .. bloody hell , how exciting.

It's also dangerous and unhelpful heaping such expectancy on a young boy's shoulders. Like many before him, he has to fulfil his undoubted potential before he can be compared to such great players. Remember the Moore brothers...

When someone says that I do not read they are as good as "lampard" etc but that is their style of play i.e. it's a description rather than assessment of quality.

[Mister E]

I think he's the best thing to come through the youth system since Sir Brian, he's a cross between Steve Gerrard and Trevor Brooking in my opinion and we should move mountains to keep him

He Who Walks On Water has always been my all-time favourite Villa player but surely Sid Cowans is also up there as a fantastic product of the youth team? - but maybe I'm just being picky!

What I like of GG so far is that he looks so damn comfortable on the ball; he's always looking for the ball and seems to know how he wants to use it before receiving it. Also his games in the youth / reserve set-up show his movement into goalscoring positions.

The future definitely is bright: let's hope that both RL and McL give all these guys the appropriate development pace and exposure to max their potential.

[Matt Collins]

I can't imagine he won't be starting very soon. I think the thing that stands out more than anything else: personality / character. He wants the ball. He doesn't shirk tackles. He wants to score.

None of these things mean he'll make it. But plenty of kids with great talent don't make it because they lack those characteristics.

He should have had 3 goals by now really. That's encouraging, but he needs to start sticking them away soon!

[dave.woodhall]

That month at Coventry worked out fine then.

[Shoody]

Think he'll be an impact sub vs City and do well for 15 mins to keep his confidence up. Then he needs to be starting for Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton and Fulham. He needs 70 minutes in a game atleast to try and find his feet and actually 'do' something.

Not knocking the lad, but its the same as with Ireland. He was always the 'nearly man', where we'd be thinking 'if only that pass made it' or 'had that shot just found its way in'. But he's done well since he had a run of games. Think the same will happen with Gardner, give him a proper chance and he could take it. 10 minute cameos will only do him good for so long.

[Dante Lavelli]

Think he'll be an impact sub vs City and do well for 15 mins to keep his confidence up. Then he needs to be starting for Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton and Fulham. He needs 70 minutes in a game atleast to try and find his feet and actually 'do' something.

Not knocking the lad, but its the same as with Ireland. He was always the 'nearly man', where we'd be thinking 'if only that pass made it' or 'had that shot just found its way in'. But he's done well since he had a run of games. Think the same will happen with Gardner, give him a proper chance and he could take it. 10 minute cameos will only do him good for so long.

Sounds like a good plan to me.  Especially as Keane will be departing so Ireland can take his place and Gardner can play with Petrov in CM.

[Matt Collins]

You would have to think that Gardner, Petrov, Ireland should be solid enough as a three, even without a proper ball winner? Gardner puts himself about a bit as far as I can tell.