Alan McCafu

[AV82EC]

It’s no coincidence that since we signed him we’ve been shite. He may try hard, he may put in a shift and he may appear to care but if ultimately you’re a crap footballer at either PL or Championship level, you’re a crap footballer no amount of getting your shorts dirty can hide that.

[themossman]

It’s not his fault he’s getting thrown into a makeshift team that can’t defend if attack and that he’s not a world class defender.

[Drummond]

He's done OK in this division. With guidance (eg Terry) he did quite well. He was never good enough in the top division as he was getting caught out of position and made rash challenges. Imagine what our defence would be like if he'd not been given the extension!

[London Villan]

We aren’t crap because we signed him, we signed him because we are crap... that said if we had 11 players that tried as hard as Alan we would have never been relegated.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Agreed.

[Hookeysmith]

Let's hope the next manager / coach pick players on ability to play and play under instruction.
For all his effort ( which has never been questioned ) he is a seriously below average player that has the occasional game where he looks adequate.
The days of rolling sleeves and pulling socks up I hope will soon not be a pre requisite for selection.

[Tayls_7]

Let's hope the next manager / coach pick players on ability to play and play under instruction.
For all his effort ( which has never been questioned ) he is a seriously below average player that has the occasional game where he looks adequate.
The days of rolling sleeves and pulling socks up I hope will soon not be a pre requisite for selection.

Don't worry mate.  I can confirm it hasn't been a pre-requisite for selection for a number of years  (wtf)

[Jon Crofts]

Do you think his school report said 'Alan is a nice boy and he tries hard'?

No.

It more likely said 'Alan lacks ability & tries to make up for it by being everyone's friend'

[Clampy]

I've never been a big fan of him as a footballer but I think he's been better under Bruce than at any other time here and you can't questioned his desire and attitude. He's not been terrible this season but not quite as decent as he was last season.

[Risso]

I've never been a big fan of him as a footballer but I think he's been better under Bruce than at any other time here and you can't questioned his desire and attitude. He's not been terrible this season but not quite as decent as he was last season.

A strong central pairing and decent goalkeeper last year let the likes of Hutton look better.  This season, the whole defensive unit including the keeper is an abomination, so it's no wonder they all look much, much worse.  I don't quite buy the deliberate sabotage theory, I'll just put it down to utter incompetence from Bruce.

[sirlordbaltimore]

Is he a good defender ?

IMHO he's a very average defender with horrendous positioning problems even at this level. But does make a few good blocks/last ditch tackles from time to time and his facial expressions make it look like he cares a bit.

Does he offer anything going forwards ?

No. He's utterly useless with the ball and 50% of his runs up field end with him killing the momentum of any breakout or move as he always realises he's gone too far and inevitably has to stop, and pass the ball back to someone else due to his inability to cross a ball. The other 50% usually end with losing the ball or a woeful cross that goes nowhere near where it should.

I'd wager Elmo has had more assists this season that Hutton has in his entire Villa career.


If that's your idea a good player then fair enough. I beg to differ obviously.

[Chris Jameson]

I don't dislike him, he's one of the few who look like they give a toss but bloody hell, he's a terrible right back and even worst left back.

[Pvb1968]

He should have left the club after he was bombed to the reserves and loaned out to Bolton, farcical that he is still a villa player but certainly fits the remit for the last 10 years.

[Risso]

He should have left the club after he was bombed to the reserves and loaned out to Bolton, farcical that he is still a villa player but certainly fits the remit for the last 10 years.

The fact is though, in terms of full backs, he's far being from the worst we've had in that time. 

[London Villan]

He’s not the worst now, or even the worst 1st team left back...