Villa player loan watch

[Duncan Shaw]

And make sure he's on a good, long contract!

[paul_e]

Get him back asap, don't let him be another 'promising youngster aged 26'

No. Next season he should go on loan to a top Championship club and would then be ready to come into our first team in 2015.

I'd give him a long look in pre-season games and maybe a couple of appearances as sub in August and then make a decision.

If Jack's as good as he looks, then maybe Villa only need a short term "10" (eg Hotlips).

As soon as we were linked with Hoolahan that was my thinking, With Carruthers as well I'm pretty sure that the thinking is to get someone they can learn from for a couple of years and see if 1 or both can force themselves into the team.

[Ads]

A pre-season with the first team, blood him as a sub in a few Premier League games and the League Cup, then off to the Championship for the rest of the season.

[RussellC]

I'm not sure that we'll need to loan him out again next season. he's only 9 months younger than Raheem Sterling who's been featuring in the Liverpool first-team squad since last summer. I think he's already done enough to prove he can handle the physical side of the lower leagues (and will only get stronger as he gets older), and I wouldn't be surprised if Lambert throws him straight-in next season.

I'm sure many will disagree but I already see more in him than I do in Albrighton, in that he has the ability to go past his man on either side, and seems to have excellent awareness about when to release the ball. If he impresses in pre-season, as he did last summer, I think Lambert will be reluctant to send him to the Championship.

[Handsworth Wood Villa]

[stubbsyandy]

I'm not sure that we'll need to loan him out again next season. he's only 9 months younger than Raheem Sterling who's been featuring in the Liverpool first-team squad since last summer. I think he's already done enough to prove he can handle the physical side of the lower leagues (and will only get stronger as he gets older), and I wouldn't be surprised if Lambert throws him straight-in next season.

I'm sure many will disagree but I already see more in him than I do in Albrighton, in that he has the ability to go past his man on either side, and seems to have excellent awareness about when to release the ball. If he impresses in pre-season, as he did last summer, I think Lambert will be reluctant to send him to the Championship.

This is what I mean, too many times we protect our players, did you see the 18 year old playing for Man City last night...if he's good enough, not this season, but defo next after a pre season as a first team squad player..

[SashasGrandad]

Wish somebody would buy him some shin pads and make him wear them!

But maybe he is good enough and fast enough to avoid the cloggers.

[RussellC]

It's really good that he played last night (and scored) having been clattered and taken-off at the weekend. Shows that he's made of pretty stern stuff.

[OCD]

He seems to be involved in a lot of their goals. If he's not scoring himself, he's part of the build-up play.

[Merv]

Hi all,

I was at the game last night. I live about 25 mins away from Peterborough. I try to watch them, as my local side, occasionally, and really wanted to get a good look at Grealish. I was pleased that he made the starting line-up, as he was rated something like 70-30 to be fit, given the injury he'd received against Stevenage at the weekend.

Have to say, he was good. Very good. I watched him with a critical eye, but even so, he was the best player on the pitch, IMO. Played left midfield and tended to pull more into the middle once Notts County were down to ten men (as has been posted, NC were 2-0 up inside six or seven mins but had a player sent off, straight red, after around 20 mins).

What I admired most about him was his close control. Faultless, on a pretty poor pitch that had passed an inspection at midday. He's one of those rare players who just glides past opponents, with an effortless style, never looking like losing the ball, or having to expend any energy to get past them. Played it simple whenever he could. He didn't really attempt to go outside his opponent though - even deployed wide, he rarely (if ever) moved to the touchline or tried to go around the defender. He looked like a No.10 in the making, happier to move inside and look for clever passes that way. He never seemed rushed, even under pressure, or panicked. I can't recall him giving the ball away.

What I didn't like so much was that, at times, he seemed more intent on hanging on to the ball and enjoying himself than trying to hurt the opposition. Maybe that's a bit unfair - County had a man short for most of the game. He was good at drawing fouls, too - there was a stage where one of the P'Boro midfielders had just been booked for a foul on him, and he seemed to be trying to tempt him into another rash challenge. Grealish was booked himself for time wasting in the first half. With socks rolled down (and I couldn't see any shin pads) and bright green boots, he wasn't popular with the home crowd, and it's easy to see why. He has to be careful while he's on loan and playing in League One.

He's not overtly quick, or strong, but held his own physically, even if Peterborough's midfield were on the smaller side (direct opponent, Swanson at RM, is 5ft 6ins - neither CM, McCann and Payne, are particularly tall).

He took his goal well - found a bit of space on the left hand side and then did show a burst of pace to go straight at the right-back, zip past him on the outside, and score with a decent low left finish.

All in all, I was impressed. Peterborough aren't in great form but are still one of the better sides in the division, and Grealish ran the game at times - to have that influence in a League One match at 18 years of age deserves credit. And with his team down to 10 men for the majority of the match.

Incidentally, the other lad who really caught the eye was County's RM: Freeman. Looked him up today and he's a 21-year-old on loan from Derby. Very tidy on the ball, nice footballer. Listed as a defender but played in midfield last night.

[paul_e]

He did really well in the build up to their 2nd, drifted away from a couple of challenges in the middle and then made the right decision to pass the ball out wide.

[RussellC]

Interesting Merv, great post!

[Monty]

Great post Merv, really useful. So basically what you're saying is that his only flaw is that he sometimes realises he's the best player in the match? He won't have to worry about that in the Premier League at least, so it sounds like we have a real potential talent here.

[OCD]

Another reason why he wouldn't have been popular with the home fans was that Peterbrough wanted to take him on loan too and he rejected them to stay with Notts County.

[richardhubbard]

I know its division 1 but he just glides with the  ball at his feet , the way he come this season is great