Oł est Johnny Deux?

[Dave]

Quite agree.

If someone as obviously competent as Lambert doesn't want to play him then I'd fully agree that it's time to move him on.

Personally I'd be surprised if that happened though.

[Ger Regan]

I'm sure PL and the new management team will give him a fair chance and draw their own conclusions on whether or not they think JDII is good enough. This can be identified in training and pre-season games with the rest of the squad. Thats all we can ask of them.

And nobody is asking for anything more. All some of us are saying is to give him a chance rather than flog him at the next available opportunity, which is what some on here have the horn for.

[VillaAlways]

According to the Mirror


Jean Makoun's Aston Villa career is in jeopardy - because he has not learned to speak English.

Cameroon midfielder Makoun was signed by Gerard Houllier from Lyon in January 2011 for £6million.

But he was loaned out to Greek side Olympiacos for last season by Houllier's successor Alex McLeish.

Makoun has been told he would be considered again this season under Villa's new boss, Paul Lambert, but the 29-year-old has not yet returned to England because of work permit complications.

And MirrorFootball understands one of those complications is his inability to pass the English language test, after he discontinued lessons while he was living in Greece.

Makoun may now be part of Lambert's shake-up as the Scot seeks to wheel and deal.

Lambert plans to offload three or four players to free up funds to bring in Feyenoord defender Ron Vlaar and Leeds midfielder Robert Snodgrass.

Meanwhile, Lambert reckons Villa fans have stopped moaning and will back the side now McLeish has left.

Many Villa fans were on McLeish's case last term from day one after he crossed the Second City from arch-rivals Birmingham.

But successor Lambert has been warmly welcomed after he left Norwich to succeed his fellow Scot.

His first pre-season friendly, a 2-1 win at League Two Burton, was attended by 2,500 Villans - to the delight of Lambert.

"What happened last season has totally gone. We don't look back," he said.

"At Burton, the crowd were with the team, which was really important - you need the crowd to go with you rather than against you.

"I thought the crowd were brilliant at Burton - non-stop. If they continue to get behind us, we will do OK."

Villa fans moaned at McLeish's side's lack of creativity last term as they scored just 37 League goals.

Lambert insists: "We'll try and play football - I don't like long ball."

[Irish villain]

It looks increasingly likely that Makoun will be put in the same file as the likes of Balaban and Berson. I think he hasn't been given a fair chance but he's 18 months into his villa career now and he isn't making any progress. In football, 18 months is a long time to be out in the wilderness.

He could end up being known as the man who signed amid lots of fanfare and expectation (that jumper!) but ultimately never made it. At 29, it's hard to see how we can recoup much for him.

[willywombat]

Irrespective of his ability, none of us know what his attitude has been like at the club. The fact that he seemingly hasn't made much effort to learn the language despite being paid a shitload of money isn't particularly impressive. If he mopes around the place sulking and feeling sorry for himself then there's not much point in hanging on to him. 

[eamonn]

Well if he was in Greece for the year it makes sense that he should be studying Greek moreso/rather than English. Though I suppose he should still have made an effort..wasn't Mellberg his team-mate out there? Surely he would have helped him. I dunno, it's all Greek to me.

[Toronto Villa]

I'm calling a bullshit strike on that article. So he's gone backwards in his English because seemingly it was good enough when he joined the club?

[Percy McCarthy]

He had a French manager.

[Toronto Villa]

you've lost me Perce. What's that got to do with his ability to attain a permit?

[Percy McCarthy]

Ah got ya. I thought maybe the suggestion was his English wasn't good enough for Lambert.

Carry on.

[supertom]

How did he get a work permit in the first place then? Would he not have had to take a test then? I thought language tests would have been for things like citizenship not work permits. There's plenty of people working legally in this country who can't speak a word of English so I don't see the problem with Jean 2. Seems like a horseshit, guess of an article. There's a lot of foreign players at big clubs in this country who still can't speak much English at all. They've not had permit problems. Would it not be more down to the fact he's not played in this country for a year, nor been selected for many internationals?

That said. my gut feeling is that we'll never see Jean play for us again and he'll take his lovely jumpers away to a new club for a fraction of what we paid for him.

[PaulTheVillan]

I won't lose any sleep if he goes.

[villastikz]

I may be wrong here but I believe in the last year or so the government have stepped up the efforts in putting tighter controls on allowing foreigners in to the country to live and part of that is trying to cut down on the amount of people coming here to work/live but can't speak our language properly.


This is taken from work permit website and is part of the rules for requirements to gain visa for the UK

To gain entry into the UK under all categories * of Tier 2 it is necessary to fulfill the English Language Requirement. This is intended to demonstrate an applicant's ability to succeed in his or her new job and to successfully integrate into UK society.

Applicants must be able to speak English at a level that shows familiarity with everyday expressions and basic phrases. They must be able to introduce themselves to others and answer basic personal questions about themselves.

An applicant can demonstrate the necessary competence in English in one of three ways.

By being a national of a majority English-speaking country
By successfully completing a degree equivalent to a UK Bachelors degree taught in English
By passing an acceptable English language test

[Risso]

I can almost hear the "he hasn't had a full pre-season" excuses when he turns out to not be very good again.

[Surrey Villain]

I may be wrong here but I believe in the last year or so the government have stepped up the efforts in putting tighter controls on allowing foreigners in to the country to live and part of that is trying to cut down on the amount of people coming here to work/live but can't speak our language properly.


This is taken from work permit website and is part of the rules for requirements to gain visa for the UK

To gain entry into the UK under all categories * of Tier 2 it is necessary to fulfill the English Language Requirement. This is intended to demonstrate an applicant's ability to succeed in his or her new job and to successfully integrate into UK society.

Applicants must be able to speak English at a level that shows familiarity with everyday expressions and basic phrases. They must be able to introduce themselves to others and answer basic personal questions about themselves.

An applicant can demonstrate the necessary competence in English in one of three ways.

By being a national of a majority English-speaking country
By successfully completing a degree equivalent to a UK Bachelors degree taught in English
By passing an acceptable English language test

Let's hope that works after seeing the results of the 2011 Census yesterday - highest immigration ever.  Take a walk round Villa Park (I mean outside) and you will hear very little English!