We are on the verge of a new era for Aston Villa Football Club, and it is one many a fan will not relish.
We have become the most unattractive club to sign for in the Premiership and potentially a large part of the Championship.
There was a time when young English talent would choose Aston Villa as their preferred development ground, or hot Championship prospects would dream of the step up, players abroad would instantly recognise Aston Villa as one of the biggest names in English football. Unfortunately, our transfer power is very different now.
This January we must hope that Garde can persuade someone to join.
I fear the board may go for a mixture of experience coming to the end of their career and unknown foreign players.
Obviously, there will be a fine balancing act, we look destined for the championship so large wages are not something we will want to carry if we had won our last three and been in with more of a chance than that may have been an option.
The likes of Charlie Austin, Ashley Cole and Andros Townsend I’m afraid fall into that bracket.
Garde must build for the Championship now, identify a structure that he wants this team to play by and build a team for that game plan.
Energy, defensively solid but technically gifted, pace, passion and togetherness need to be the key factors. Build a team that have camaraderie, that get on the field as well as off.
This is the beginning of a new time for Aston Villa I just hope the hierarchy can only see the right path to take, God knows they haven’t chosen it for a long time.
