There are many different reasons that players from a club might be loaned away. However, sometimes these decisions need some extra explanation. Queue up André Green.
Villa man André Green will be lending his services to Portsmouth for the remainder of the season. This decision was met with a lot of backlash from numerous Aston Villa supporters, much of which I cannot repeat here.
This was especially disappointing internally, as almost all of the team at Claret Villans predicted in one way or another that this would be a season for Green to finally get the opportunity to flourish for the first team. Our fault was that we’d predicted it would be the Aston Villa first team.
More from Claret Villans
- Aston Villa dismiss Everton for first win of Premier League season
- Tyrone Mings injured in Aston Villa’s season-opening 5-1 defeat
- Aston Villa draw Hibernian or FC Luzern for Europa Conference League play-off
- Aston Villa sign winger Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen
- Aston Villa close in on deal to sign Pau Torres from Villareal
That brings us to the focus point: how should we feel if Green racks up assists and goals in bunches for his temporary club?
Unfairly, I feel as if many a fan would be quick to point the finger at the gaffer, (especially if Villa struggle to score goals through new loan signings El Ghazi or Bolasie) suggesting that retention of Green would’ve been a better decision for the team.
There are a few reasons why this claim might be unfounded.
A. The style of play and player quality are different in Legaue One as opposed to the Championship, so it’s far more difficult to perform any sort of statistical comparison to what could’ve been.
B. If Green wasn’t loaned out, he wasn’t going to see the field. Steve Bruce loves Elmo, and that isn’t going to change this season. (To be fair he’s also been one of our best players to this point)
C. This is a calculated decision for the club. Getting Green playing time now will only serve to benefit him in the future, thereby providing a greater benefit for Aston Villa in the seasons to come. Bolasie and El Ghazi are loan players and will not necessarily be purchased. Therefore Villa are right back to Green, Adomah, and Elmo next season, among a smattering of other possibilities.
We should want Green to score in bunches not because we want to give an “I-told-you-so” to our manager, but to improve as a player that will contribute to the future success of the club.
Don’t you want to see more of this?
You should.