villa lose again

villa lose again

>From what we have seen so far he's skilful, he's very committed, works hard in training (from what the rest of the team say), he's always looking for the ball while he's on the pitch and from the day he arrived he's been saying "I like it here. Please sign me, Aston Villa".

Ironically, when he arrived I thought it would be as a stepping stone back to Italy. This suited us as in the meantime he'd cost us hardly anything except his wages. We also had the advantage of watching someone with a bit of flair add another dimension to the team. So I was surprised to hear him making noises about wanting to sign a longer deal. Why haven't we offered him one?

The following points have been expressed either by John Gregory, the Mail or other Villa supporters as to why we haven't. Each of them has a counter-argument.

He doesn't, and hasn't, scored enough goals. This is a fair point and I agree. However, he isn't an out and out striker, but rather an attacking midfielder in the mould of Patrick Berger, David Ginola and our very own Paul Merson. All different in their styles, I know, but the end result is similar. Support for the front two, chipping in with a few goals and creating chances for others. At the moment if he isn't

scoring he's creating the goals for others. I've heard Sheffield Wednesday supporters say that his best times with them were when he was played wide in midfield, linking up with di Canio and another striker. If we ever repeat our brief flirtation with 4-4-2 we can use him in the position, while if we remain 3-5-2 (or 5-3-2 in reality) he can play behind the two strikers. Tommy Johnson played here, as now does Paul Merson.

I'm not suggesting Merse should move over, he's playing out of his skin at the moment. (Incidentally, just changing the subject for a moment, if anyone else hears Tom Ross say "Paul Merson's gutless", they should send him a copy of the Leeds FA Cup video and ask for his comments.) But by his own admission he's got no more than two years left, so we need a long-term replacement. I think Beni's worth trying.

If he was in midfield he wouldn't do the tackling and running required. First, I've never seen Carbone bottle out of a tackle, unlike Hendrie and Draper to name but two. Second, if he plays in a five man midfield just how much tracking back and tackling will he have to do? We play three centre backs, two converted full backs on the wings; add Taylor and Boateng to that and we look pretty solid. Finally, Paul Merson was criticised last season for not getting stuck in. He's definitely done so since his overdue return to the side. Players can change their approach when required, even ones with the flair and skill of Carbone and Merson.

He's a prima donna who won't sit on the bench and upsets team spirit. Do we need another Stan Collymore? There's no comparison. For a start we aren't asking Doug to shell out £7 million. And Wednesday supporters will admit that although he may have let them down, his attitude on the pitch was always 100%. Can we say the same for Stan?

Beni's problems started after a fall out with Danny Wilson because he wouldn't sign a new contract. Sorry Danny, but it's time you woke up. The Bosman Ruling has handed all the power to the players. I don't like it either but that's the way the game's gone. If you're looking for sympathy come and have a word with John Gregory; he'll tell you all about millions of pounds worth of talent walking out of the club for sod all and sticking two fingers up as they go.

Beni was stuck on the bench, watching a poor side losing regularly. When he played he made a contribution but still couldn't get back in the team. No wonder he was pissed off. He obviously had a bust-up with Wilson and although his behaviour may not have always been correct it was no worse than Mark Bosnich at Derby a couple of years ago. And we wanted him to sign a new contract. At least Beni apologised publicly to Wednesday fans, something that Bosnich never did.

His wage demands are too high. Yes, I agree, but aren't all players'? If it wasn't for Bosman, someone of Carbone's quality would cost us around £4 million and then we'd have to pay his wages on top. If we did sign Beni and pay him what he wants, then even with the extra £750,000 due to Wednesday we'd still have a bargain.

I can't believe anyone would think he wouldn't strengthen the squad. One of the most depressing things about going to Filbert Street was looking at our bench There was no inspiration, the only players with a modicum of talent were Alan Thompson and an injured Ian Taylor. Neither was likely to be a match winner.

Just as depressing as that defeat was the Mail headline "Carbone v Bartelt", saying that these two were battling for one contract. I know we should take it with a pinch of salt, but if Bartelt is any good then we should be offering them both contracts, not just the highest goalscorer for Christ's sake. If Doug wants to fill his 50,000 seater stadium it will take a lot more than these two.

Even in the worst scenario of Beni becoming a nightmare of Collymore-esque proportions, we can sell him. There would be a queue of continental clubs willing to pay £4 million plus for him. Look at Savo. We never thought we'd get our money back on him, but we did and if only we'd put a sell-on clause in to that contract.

For the first time we are able to benefit from the Bosman Ruling. I do feel sorry for Sheffield Wednesday, but that's football. We've been shafted often enough so it's time we did the shafting.

I really hope by the time you read this that we've taken significant steps towards keeping Carbone. Otherwise we will be sitting here next season wondering how we managed to lose out in a deal when we could only be winners.

Jo McFarlane