Joleon Lescott - GONE

[silhillvilla]

Lescott has not come here to keep the bench warm

[garyshawsknee]

Someone correctly mentioned early,  Clark is getting too old for these basic defensive errors, he has racked up a lot of games now in his career, so strong competition can only help him.

[fredm]

 I like Clark but he'll need to stay on his toes and Lescott will help him to do that but also support him in his development.
[/quote]

That is one thing that has always troubled me about Clark.  He always seems to be on his heels so that his weight is backwards, never up on his toes anticipating and moving forward naturally.  This seems to me to make him slower than he should be in his decision making/movement. If he had been more alert on Saturday and aware that the Sunderland player had so much space, he could have been moving towards him earlier which may have helped him make the challenge before the opponent had it fully under control.

[PeterWithesShin]

Bit of a schoolboy error forgetting to count Lescott!

When the football-mad five-year-old was involved in a freak accident as he walked home from a Birmingham school his family feared he might not live to kick a ball again.

But, fortunately Aston Villa's new signing Joleon Lescott refused to be beaten and he has now added a claret and blue chapter to his battle against adversity by signing for his boyhood club.

Lescott not only recovered from his horrific childhood accident, but kickstarted a career which is still going strong in the Premier League at the age of 33.

It's an amazing success story for the former pupil of World’s End Infant and Four Dwellings High School, in Quinton, who won his brave battle for survival almost three decades ago.

Lescott suffered severe brain injuries when he was struck in the head by a manhole cover that flew off the back of a truck as he walked home from school.

Since then the central defender has enjoyed a glittering career which reached a pinnacle with his Premier League winners medals at Manchester City in 2012 and 2014.

Lescott, who boasts 26 England caps and scored his for the Three Lions at Euro 2012, also won the FA Cup in 2011 and the League Cup in 2014 at City.

He started his career with Wolves, coming through the ranks at Molineux, before moving to Everton, Manchester City and then West Bromwich Albion, were he was fans' player of the year last season.

oining Villa finally brings him to the club he supported all those years ago and he mentioned Dalian Atkinson, Muller-sponsored shirts and his Bodymoor Heath graduate brother Aaron, in his first interview as a Villa player.

Ian Trevethick is a friend of the Lescott family and as a teacher at Four Dwellings taught Joleon's footballing big brother Aaron, mother Debbie and younger sister Hope.

Lescott still bears the scars of the traumatic accident and Mr Trevethick says his family regularly thank their lucky stars that the footballer has recovered to excel in the sport he loves.

“I’m told he was only five years old and it could have killed him,” said Mr Trevethick .

“He was very lucky to surivive.

“He was at junior school just down the road. There was a council wagon or something like that and a man hole cover flew off the back and hit him in the head.

“He suffered severe swelling of the brain, so he was very lucky to live.

“For a kid of that age to even live after something like that, let alone go on to achieve what he has achieved in football, is phenomenal.

“But he’s grown up to be a big, strong guy, so he is clearly very durable.

“I know his family are so, so proud of him, as are we all here at Four Dwellings, immensely proud.”

Lescott is a boyhood Villa fan and boss Tim Sherwood is delighted to welcome his to Villa Park on a two-year deal.

His first home matches are set to be against former club Albion in the Premier League and Birmingham City in the Capital One Cup.

Sherwood said: "I'm delighted to bring Joleon on board. He's a player who has great Premier League experience and he'll be a huge help to the younger members of our squad."

[Exeter 77]

I thought it was funny that he has been in contact with Moin Younis - the kid who gave him a hard time when the Smethwick players went to the Children's Hospital before the derby game in December last year.

http://mobile.avfc.co.uk/default.aspx?s=news-display&aid=4975071

[Dante Lavelli]

It's a subject that's been broached before, during the dark days of yesteryear, in regards to training with and against better players. Coaches can only impart so much; our younger players now being able to practice what (I hope) they're learning in a more testing environment away from the magnifying goldfish bowl of the league has to be a good thing. Lescott's a winner, he's somewhere that he really wants to be, and he'll be desperate to do well. I think he's an excellent signing, and as long as we don't set up so's were relying on his pace, I see him making a big difference, on and off the field.

There's probably some truth in that.  Whilst an expensive coach, the players can probably learn more from the 'right' experienced pros than they ever could from coaches or Richard Dunne.  I don't know a huge amount about Lescott's personality but having a few key characters about which dictate the work ethic could be very useful. 

I recall interviews in the past - one specific one from Guzan - which seemed to question the player's commitment so a change of culture is probably over due.

[Ads]

Fordies was a very handy school. The Milwall of the local secondaries.

[silhillvilla]

Did we overlook or reject Joleon as a kid ? I know he's a mad villa fan but recall the goals he scored for Everton vs us and the one he really celebrated wildly as if he was getting some stuff of his chest ?

[peter w]

Fordies was a very handy school. The Milwall of the local secondaries.

Yeah, they were near to my school and they did have a bit of a reputation.

[KRS]

May be a little bit too sentimental or OTT considering his goal celebrations against us, but considering he'll be lining up against the Stripy Filth and the Blue Scum for his first home games, then may be we can put the past behind us with a rendition of...

He's coming home,
He's coming home,
He's coming,
Lescotts coming home.

...or may be not!

[silhillvilla]

His first 3 games are 3 derbies (tenuous link to Leicester game)

[KRS]

Post edited

[ChicagoLion]

Welcome home

[PeterWithe]

Did we overlook or reject Joleon as a kid ? I know he's a mad villa fan but recall the goals he scored for Everton vs us and the one he really celebrated wildly as if he was getting some stuff of his chest ?

According to Peter Withe the other day, who was involved on Villas coaching staff at the time, Lescotts brother was already here signed up, Lescott came along and trained, we wanted him but his parents wanted him to go to Wolves, Withe didn't know why they didn't want both at Villa.

[kippaxvilla2]

According to Joleon he was rejected, I saw it in some interview he did the other day.