Tag: Villa

VILLA GET KEANE ON LOAN

Aston Villa have completed the loan signing of former Tottenham striker Robbie Keane from MLS side LA Galaxy. Darren Bent has praised the management at Aston Villa by saying that it is one of the best deals for the club over the short-term.

Robbie Keane has been one of the prolific scorers in the Premier League, but found opportunities very limited at Tottenham. He has since moved on to MLS side LA Galaxy where David Beckham also plays. Landon Donovan is also part of the LA Galaxy set up and the American International recently signed a loan deal with Everton.

Aston Villa has snapped up Robbie Keane on a similar deal, which will see the Republic of Ireland striker spend the next two months on loan at Villa Park. This comes as a major boost for the club, which has been suffering from a number of issues of late most importantly the amount of injuries. One of their most important strikers – Darren Bent – has missed the a lot of the season due to the hamstring problem. He returned to the first-team action by scoring the final goal against Chelsea recently, but Alex McLeish does not want to depend on one striker alone. Hence, the arrival of Robbie Keane has been praised by Darren Bent.

“He will bring experience which will aid a few of the younger lads who are breaking through into the team and the other youngsters in and around the place. He also brings that competition to the striking department. And he will bring goals too, hopefully,” Bent said when asked about the importance of signing Robbie Keane. Even though Aston Villa have a number of strikers like Gabriel Agbonlahor, they have not been able to score the required number of goals to take them into the top half of the table.

Citizenship Setback for Donacien

There was sad news for Janoi Donacien of Aston Villa last week, after his application to become a UK citizen was rejected by the courts. This has come as quite a shock as this 18 year old star will not be allowed to play any of the Premier League matches he had been anticipating, and he can’t afford to leave Birmingham for European games because it’s unlikely he would ever get back into the UK! It’s a cataclysmic blow to the young strikers career.

The result of this decision has affected not only the young kid, but also the other members of the Aston Villa club including the director Bryan Jones who was heard saying that if these matters are not sorted out at the earliest possible opportunity (in the court of appeal), there are very limited chances for Janoi to play football in this country. Jones has gone on record to say that the authorities should examine the case once again and grant permission so that the Janoi’s football career is not put on hold any longer.

The biggest surprise of all is the fact that Janoi has been staying with his family for the last 10 years in Britain and he still has to face such problems.

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Guzan Delighted with Start

Aston Villa’s number two keeper of the past 3 years, Brad Guzan, was delighted to be given his first start against a premiership team in the league for the first time since he arrived at the club from Chivas USA in 2008. The American keeper was kept out of the team first by his veteran compatriot Brad Friedal, and then by the arrival of Shay Given from Manchester City.

Guzan could only watch on in frustration as Friedal notched up match after match without injury or being rested, and Friedal is still continuing on his record-breaking run of 289 consecutive premiership appearances. “The number of games Brad has strung together is fantastic, a testament to his professionalism. At Villa he was never injured,” recalls Guzan.

It was then the turn of Irish international Shay Given to deny Guzan that elusive start, as he arrived from Manchester this season. Brad must briefly have thought he luck was in when Friedal departed on his way to Spurs, but these hopes were short lived as Alex McLeish brought in another top goalkeeper to take the number 1 spot. “A bit of me believed I’d get my chance when Brad left,” Guzan admitted. “But I knew we were in the midst of bringing in a new manager and the chances were another quality goalkeeper was going to come in with him.”

However, when Shay Given pulled his hamstring racing out to make a clearance against Manchester United, Guzan was called upon, and Given’s month long absence gives the American a real chance to show the manager what he can offer. Brad will play at least six games during a busy Christmas period, and believes his previous experience will stand him in good stead. “It’s unbelievable Sunday’s game will be my first league start at Villa Park. But playing in cup competitions and Europe a few years ago have prepared me for this,” said Guzan. “”You don’t need to be the superstar everyone’s talking about after the game. As long as you’ve done your job and kept a clean sheet that’s all you want as a goalkeeper.”