Who could have seen this 5 years ago? Alan Hutton still playing with the claret and blues, at a high level nonetheless, with talks of his future not set.
Alan Hutton, bomb squad member, former Spurs man, transformed Scottish Roberto Carlos, was on loan at Real Mallorca just five years ago as Aston Villa were battling to stay in the Premier League under Paul Lambert. Since then, we’ve seen a host of managers and even more players come and go, suffered a terrible drop down to the second tier, and witnessed a change in ownership after a decade of tumultuous misdirection under Randy Lerner.
One thing that has remained constant however, is Alan Hutton being an Aston Villa player.
He has been frozen out, loaned out and wanted out of Villa for the best part of his 7 years at the club, but he has found his place since Villa dropped down to the Championship. Steve Bruce has been a huge admirer of Hutton since taking over as manager in October 2016. He has played him most matches since, even putting him in at left back, a position he currently occupies ahead of Wales international, Neil Taylor. His commitment and effort cannot be doubted, even if his footballing ability is rather questionable at his nominal right fullback role.
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He has bounced back from “bomb squad” humiliation to prove to the club he was willing to do anything as a squad member. As a supporter, it’s great to see him exude so much passion in his play and his genuine pride in the shirt. However, Villa are being smart financially here, the reality is he’s 33 now and Villa have squeezed every single ounce of value out of him – witnessed by his starting role as this season winds to a close. For one, Villa have too many fullbacks at the club and both positions are rather due for an upgrade, especially in England’s top tier.
While a return is not 100% out of the cards, it is rather clear the club needs to further improve the fullback positions when summer arrives. Hopefully, with a return to the Premier League.