Ashley Westwood - Sold to Burnley

[andyh]

18 passes as a central midfielder is unacceptable at any level of football.

Couple that with NEVER heading the ball, pulling out of challenges (he did it again at Norwich) and having zero influence on games and it begs the question, how the hell does he continue to get picked?

[ROBBO]

Can I add that Gary Gardener is in the same bracket, wanted him to succeed but he is never going to make it he should drop down a division.

[Jimbo]

The writer got something very wrong indeed. The bit where he says Ashley Westwood can kick a football. He really can't, not to anywhere near the level you'd expect from a professional footballer. Not at Premier League level, not at Championship level.

He is a non-football playing millionaire footballer who should only ever have appeared at Villa Park as a visitor with a lower/non league club in a cup match, or as a fan or steward or hotdog seller. He is the Bartleby of our midfield, and worse. He is a hoodwinker. A phoney, a fake and a charlatan. Yet he perfectly encapsulates what Aston Villa has been these last few years, a club that's completely lost its way and is still groping in the dawn twilight trying to find it.

Get rid immediately.

[Axl Rose]

The writer got something very wrong indeed. The bit where he says Ashley Westwood can kick a football. He really can't, not to anywhere near the level you'd expect from a professional footballer. Not at Premier League level, not at Championship level.

He is a non-football playing millionaire footballer who should only ever have appeared at Villa Park as a visitor with a lower/non league club in a cup match, or as a fan or steward or hotdog seller. He is the Bartleby of our midfield, and worse. He is a hoodwinker. A phoney, a fake and a charlatan. Yet he perfectly encapsulates what Aston Villa has been these last few years, a club that's completely lost its way and is still groping in the dawn twilight trying to find it.

Get rid immediately.

I love it, and agree with every word. He is absolutely garbage. It has happened where I have seen him in the team lineup and just refused to watch the match.

[saunders_heroes]

The writer got something very wrong indeed. The bit where he says Ashley Westwood can kick a football. He really can't, not to anywhere near the level you'd expect from a professional footballer. Not at Premier League level, not at Championship level.

He is a non-football playing millionaire footballer who should only ever have appeared at Villa Park as a visitor with a lower/non league club in a cup match, or as a fan or steward or hotdog seller. He is the Bartleby of our midfield, and worse. He is a hoodwinker. A phoney, a fake and a charlatan. Yet he perfectly encapsulates what Aston Villa has been these last few years, a club that's completely lost its way and is still groping in the dawn twilight trying to find it.

Get rid immediately.

Hear hear! He's a damning indictment of the latter Lerner era and we're still suffering for it.

[JUAN PABLO]

the writer got one thing wrong

never does a major cock up?

I remember the one against Preston which more or less gave RDM the john Woo bullet

[Nelly]

We've been too nice or too disorganised as a club and ended up stuck with players because we had no better alternative. I think that's why Westwood keeps getting played. As others have said, I wish him no ill at all, but these stats were painful to read.

[Jimbo]

The only ill I could possibly wish upon Ashley Westwood is that he becomes some other club's waste of a shirt.

[peter w]

At which point (hur hur) he'd be playing for England within 3 years.

[Exeter 77]

For a few months after Westwood signed he looked like he would more than hold his own at the top level. Successive managers have coached that out of him and destroyed his confidence. A real shame as he was one of the few who appeared to care about our plight last season.

[passport1]

I agree I think his time at Villa has destroyed him as a footballer. He arrived as a promising Championship player. He has returned to the Championship looking totally out of his depth.

[nick harper]

the writer got one thing wrong

never does a major cock up?

I remember the one against Preston which more or less gave RDM the john Woo bullet

And the Cardiff game, when he gave it away 30 yards out. He is anonymous but even if Bruce never saw the article, he'd have those stats regularly as would previous managers. We employ people to analyse the games which makes it inexcusable if Bruce does not address the midfield as priority in January.

I would also bet that Bacuna, even with his limitations, would have far better stats playing there. He should be alongside Jedinak for the rest of this month at least.

[Brend'Watkins]

You don't need stats to see that Westwood is a nothing player. The highest accolade he can ever be given is 'tidy'.

[Jimbo]

I agree I think his time at Villa has destroyed him as a footballer. He arrived as a promising Championship player. He has returned to the Championship looking totally out of his depth.

Didn't he arrive here from a League One club? And what was promising about him, other than our own capacity to deceive ourselves with false promises? I have never seen anything about him to suggest he had any significant promise, personality, ability, application or anything at all. He's a player who has built his career on being anonymous, the type of player that gives the ball to better players (which means most players).

Even his manager at Crewe, Steve Davis, said it was "a bit of a surprise" when Villa came in for him. And the only reason we came in for him is because we'd decided, under Randy Lerner, that we weren't going to try to compete any more. Young and hungry my arse. Shit and shit is what we ended up with.   

[Chris Jameson]

He's one of those players that you just don't notice is on the pitch. He's the most anonymous player I've ever (not) seen. Gary Gardner appears to be similar.

He's probably better than Tshibola though. *smiley winky thing*