For a continuity player, there were plenty of times I can recall him not showing for the ball.
Villa fans, like most fans, are big on effort if the skill isn't always there. The explosive player who flies into tackles and bombs forward will always get more attention, but there is room for the unfussy player who puts himself in the right position and keeps the play ticking over. We seen a bit of that in his first season. A poor-man's Petrov, of sorts. Less so from that point onwards.
My abiding memory of that second season is him placing himself behind an opponent in such a way that there was no chance of him being picked out with a pass. The period after that I mostly try to forget.
He speaks about his anxiety there, so that might have been part of it. But it's difficult to get behind players who don't look like they're trying. As would be true for fans of most clubs, I'd imagine.
