Ritchie De Laet - CONFIRMED

[sirlordbaltimore]

He's the one player I'm surprised that Smith hasnt called back.

I'm not surprised. He's not very good

[tomd2103]

I think it was just a case of  Bruce not fancying RDL as a player. He didn't sign him, so he brought in his own players and let him go. Smith might have a different view and bring him back. I think that's all there was/is too it.

Or that there was some kind of issue between the two.  Think that could have been the case with Steer and a few others as well.

[Ads]

He's the one player I'm surprised that Smith hasnt called back.

I'm not surprised. He's not very good

I think the only reason he's not here is because his knee has gone. Perhaps the only player to have both a Premier League winners medal and a Championship promotion under his belt in the same season.

He's only played 8 games, pity.

[Clark W Griswold]

I'm certainly surprised he hasn't played more games for us in his Villa career. I always thought he looked quite decent when fit.

[FrankyH]

He looked good pre season , prompting Bruce IIRC to say he was the best player during the friendly games. Followed by Bruce loaning him out !

[Caribbeanvillan]

Interesting comments, the first one made me laugh.

Ritchie De Laet: “It’s a massive club but I never got going at Villa. The injury was a terrible time, then I couldn’t get into the side. Steve Bruce wasn’t my cup of tea. The football was too similar to Tony Pulis, but at least Tony had a plan.”

De Laet: “I remember Steve would throw the ball into the middle in training and say ‘let’s play’, like we were under-nines. It was crazy.”

[Drummond]

Interesting comments, the first one made me laugh.

Ritchie De Laet: “It’s a massive club but I never got going at Villa. The injury was a terrible time, then I couldn’t get into the side. Steve Bruce wasn’t my cup of tea. The football was too similar to Tony Pulis, but at least Tony had a plan.”

De Laet: “I remember Steve would throw the ball into the middle in training and say ‘let’s play’, like we were under-nines. It was crazy.”

Wow! That is really cutting! I'd laugh if it wasn't about us.

[Caribbeanvillan]

He probably vented to Bruce at some stage, thus his loan out.

[Hookeysmith]

Only supports what we knew and what other fans have said about his time at their clubs

I am amazed he keeps getting jobs based on this

[Somniloquism]

Where are the comment about Bruce from?

TBH I totally forgot about him as a player but looking at his stats, 202 appearances over 14 years is not a lot. (although Wiki has not been updated for almost a year as well.)

[Demitri_C]

Dinosaur bruce? Never

[Caribbeanvillan]

@Somniloquism - The Athletic