Young Villans: U23s suffer defeat while Clark, others will depart club

Aston Villa’s Under-23s suffered a Premier League 2 play-off semi-final defeat at the hands of Southampton to wrap-up another successful season.

For the second consecutive season, Aston Villa Under 23s suffered defeat in the Premier League 2, Division 2 play-offs. After making the Final last year, and losing to Brighton, Villa were back in it this year after compiling a record of 11 wins, 4 draws, and 7 losses for a +5 goal differential on the season.

Southampton, the runners-up, were the opponents, and benefited from two dead ball strikes. The Saints marched on with a first-half penalty kick and second-half free kick.

We saw some more experienced players such as Easah Suliman and Jacob Ramsey for Villa coupled with newer names like Jayden Bidace-Philogene.

In all, another solid season from the youth team that saw the reserve side in the promotion conversation. Sporting Director Jesus García Pitarch is in the process of overhauling the club’s youth team setup which brings me to the next topic of conversation:

Promising 20-year-old fullback Mitchell Clark will not be back next season in the claret and blue. Clark, who spent the entire year with Port Vale in League Two (amassing 45+ appearances), is out-of-contract in the summer and is one of several notable names that will not return. Others reportedly include midfielder Jordan Lyden, forward Harvey Knibbs.

Clark’s name, in particular, came as a shock to most of the Villa faithful. He’s one of the few Aston Villa players that is excelling on loan in a professional setting. With 24-year-old right-back Fred Guilbert joining the club in the summer, coupled with 21-year-old James Bree in contention, it stands to reason Clark didn’t have any room to make the first-team in that position.

Left-back is a whole other conversation, but manager Dean Smith feels like he would not be preferred next season. As such, they feel releasing him would allow the player to continue development for a first-team elsewhere.

It might just be agent-speak, but he seems to have many offers:

Ultimately, Villa decision-makers know what’s best, but hopefully this isn’t a case that comes back to haunt the club in the future. We’ve seen far too many Villa players not make it here, but excel elsewhere 2, 3 or 4+ years later.