Leon Bailey - signed

[Chris Smith]

I can see the logic in giving him a run in the side.

He played football before arriving at the Villa and was apparently quite good at it. We should give him a fair crack before writing off another 30 million quid.

I agree, he could have done with the keeper not tipping his effort on to the bar, I reckon a goal would boost his confidence massively.

[paul_e]

Why does he need a pre-season to even attempt to take an opposition defender on?

I think he's scared of going full pelt in case his hamstring goes yet again. Loads of players talk about not being able to fully trust their bodies if they've had a run of injuries so it's not some bizarre mentality.

He was very unlucky not to score yesterday with that great Krul save but does feel like he's a bit broken for the premier league.

Think we've just got to see how he starts next year. Gerrard's started him in 3 of the last 4 so he obviously sees him as a player for next season unlike Sanson and Traore.

The player I think back to in situations like this is Delph. He got a horrible injury , was out for ages and after he came back he looked slow, had an iffy first touch and was getting a lot of yellows for late tackles. For about 6 months you had people on the internet saying he'd lost it, should be dropped and we should do whatever we could to get some money back on him. Then almost overnight he flipped back to the player he was at Leeds and he started bossing games for us week after week.

Recovering from some injuries is hard and takes time, I trust that Gerrard understnads that and has been giving him the game time he needs as a 'reward' for his effort in training (Something he's been given praise for in the last few weeks). If we want to see if he's worth what we spent then we're going to have to be patient with him.

[Gareth]

One of the harshest thing to do to anybody is question their integrity, but I do wonder exactly how ‘injured’ he is. When he gave up tracking back that once and the crowd started to get on his back, the limping ‘got worse’.

Or he was injured couldn’t get back and was subbed. Should have come off sooner as it was obvious he had a problem.

100% this, he should have gone straight off, when he tried to run back we saw him visibly wince before pulling up….I’m not convinced mentally he has recovered from that first injury this season because those after burners he had in that amazing cameo don’t seem to be there or he is too scared to do it.

[dave.woodhall]

Three years into his Villa career I didn't even think of Delph as our player, and if he hadn't got injured when he was at Leeds on loan he would very likely have stayed there. Eighteen months later he was our captain and playing for England

[SoccerHQ]

you wouldn't want Bailey in your team in a relegation battle.

Leverkusen were more than happy having him in the team that was constantly europa/CL standard in his years there.

Do think going forward the formation tweak we had yesterday which meant he was much wider than he's played under Gerrard will help a bit.

[paul_e]

Three years into his Villa career I didn't even think of Delph as our player, and if he hadn't got injured when he was at Leeds on loan he would very likely have stayed there. Eighteen months later he was our captain and playing for England

Yep, the season after his loan started quietly but it was around November/December time he started to click again and from there we had about 2 1/2 years of him being a superb player for us. I'm not saying Bailey will go the same way but pointing out that just being able to run without pain doesn't mean you've 'recovered', particularly with long-term injuries.

[Clampy]

He might just need another goal to get him going again. He was unlucky with that shot he had yesterday. If that goes in, his confidence might have shot up and he goes on to have a  really good game.

[N'ZMAV]

reminds me of Sasa Curcic or Charles N'Zogbia. Talented, but injury prone and a bit work-shy. Could still work out.

[SaddVillan]

Interesting to compare Bailetans Sanson.

Both have had extensive injury problems but imo Sanson has probably been more effective when he has played.

However it seems that Gerrard is willing to keep Bailey, but not Sanson.

Raises the question - is Sanson a "difficult" player - Smith was reluctant to use him.

[LeonW]

There’s been many a good player (some great) who have struggled settling in to the premier league. Bailey has played a handful of games in the position we recruited him for. He hasn’t looked great since his injury Vs Everton but think we should keep persisting with him. It’s unlikely we’ll get close to the money back for him that we paid, so why not keep working to integrate him.

[eamonn]

Bailey cost twice as much as Sanson and probably earns a fair wedge more. More pressure to give Bailey opportunities to show what he can do.

To me, Sanson has a cultured playing style that we've not really had from midfielder since the days of Petrov and Barry. I'm really disappointed we have never given him a proper run in the team to show what he can do.

[olaftab]

reminds me of Sasa Curcic or Charles N'Zogbia. Talented, but injury prone and a bit work-shy. Could still work out.

Tend to agree but I think next season will be his zenith. N'Zogbia had multiple chances with us and Wigan but always ended up delivering short.

[mike]

Bailey cost twice as much as Sanson and probably earns a fair wedge more. More pressure to give Bailey opportunities to show what he can do.

To me, Sanson has a cultured playing style that we've not really had from midfielder since the days of Petrov and Barry. I'm really disappointed we have never given him a proper run in the team to show what he can do.

I thought the reason we hadn’t given him a decent run is because he hasn’t been able to run decently. Or at all in fact as he is in a close relationship with the physios.

[brontebilly]

Three years into his Villa career I didn't even think of Delph as our player, and if he hadn't got injured when he was at Leeds on loan he would very likely have stayed there. Eighteen months later he was our captain and playing for England

He was getting pelters from the crowd at Villa Park for a while. As did Petrov.

[ROBBO]

Can only watch him on the box but i get the impression he's not as speedy as we thought he would be.