Albrighton set to join wigan on loan.

[eastie]

Tonev will be decent for us - at least he shows some positivity and drives forward - I'd like to see him have a decent run of games wide midfield with bacuna wide on the right - Weimann and gabby have been woefully off form - time to bench them.

Some say play gabby alongside benteke but I would prefer to play Kozak and benteke .

[SoccerHQ]

Tonev is no wideman imo, plenty of poor crosses on Saturday. But like others I noted a good throughball for Benteke's second chance so I think he could in time be an option to play off the striker which we desperately need.

I wish Albrighton luck but with his contract running down I think good form on this loan will either lead to Wigan permanently or another championship club.

[eastie]

Tonev is more a wide midfielder rather than an out an out winger.

[paul_e]

Tonev is no wideman imo, plenty of poor crosses on Saturday. But like others I noted a good throughball for Benteke's second chance so I think he could in time be an option to play off the striker which we desperately need.

I wish Albrighton luck but with his contract running down I think good form on this loan will either lead to Wigan permanently or another championship club.

Like Delph last year, what Alby really needs is 10games without any injuries so he can get a bit of match sharpness, that's what's been missing from his game for a few years and it's understandable given his injury record.  Getting that run of games in the championship suits everyone and if he comes back fit then we'll see from there.  He's got a lot of natural ability though.

[sirlordbaltimore]

Albrighton was at the training session this morning (and scored one cracker, not that its important)

Tonev looked very bright too

[eastie]

@MatKendrick: Wigan are at home to QPR tomorrow night and hope Marc Albrighton will be signed on loan in time to make his debut in that game #avfc

[rob_bridge]

@MatKendrick: Wigan are at home to QPR tomorrow night and hope Marc Albrighton will be signed on loan in time to make his debut in that game #avfc

I think this could be a good move for all parties. I really don't think he has the quality to be anything more than a squad player - then again we seem to have a lot of those, some of who play regularly.

[supertom]

Tonev is no wideman imo, plenty of poor crosses on Saturday. But like others I noted a good throughball for Benteke's second chance so I think he could in time be an option to play off the striker which we desperately need.

I wish Albrighton luck but with his contract running down I think good form on this loan will either lead to Wigan permanently or another championship club.

The problem with playing Tonev in the center is that we would also conceivably have Gabby, Weimann and Benteke all trying to play through the middle with him. Just for the sake of balance as much as anything I'd keep Tonev out wide.
Part of the reason our attack went totally non existent after Everton score saturday is that Tonev came off and Helenius came on. We then had no width at all.
Tonev's ball control, like many in the side, isn't very good either so that again is an issue if he's to play centrally.

I'd give him a run of games out wide and see if he can just get a bit more consistency with his delivery. Hopefully not being against a quality fullback like Baines might see him stand out a bit more in the next month.

[PaulWinch again]

Tonev showed promise at the weekend and hopefully he'll improve. It really is last chance saloon for Albrighton.

[VillaAlways]

Looks like it's done

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-winger-marc-albrighton-6253001

[dekko]

Heres hoping he can get some confidence back.  The poor lad looked a wreck at times last season.

[eamonn]

Interesting to see Coyle say he tried to buy him before. There's no way we would have sold him in his breakthrough season under Houllier or in the McLeish year where he was involved (scored the winner at Coyle's Bolton, didn't he?) and played a lot better than people (mis)remember. It's only under Lambert when he's been largely injured or not had a run of games that any move would have been likely.

When people say he's not up to it I find it a bit strange considering most of our entire squad are pretty average talent-wise. If he does leave permanently I wouldn't be surprised to see him doing a Peter Whitts or even Steve Davis (seemingly under the radar for years after he left us and now playing for a team in the top four) in years to come and carve-out a decent career for himself in the Prem as he does have the talent and work ethic in my opinion.

[Clampy]

I'd have liked to have seen him being given a bit more of a run with us before sending him out on loan but hopefully this will help him get back the form he showed under Houiller.

[eastie]

I'd have liked to have seen him being given a bit more of a run with us before sending him out on loan but hopefully this will help him get back the form he showed under Houiller.

I agree, although with lamberts reluctance to use wingers I'm not sure he would have played much even when fit in all honesty.

[Irish villain]

I love Albrighton. How many points did he win us in the Houllier season? Before Bent arrived he was almost our main threat that season and he did ok under TSM too. The poor chap lost a lot of confidence that second season and I have always hoped he would get it back because he is a winger that carries a goal threat and boy do we need non-Benteke goal threats right now.