I don’t suppose either subjects are massively important, but it’s news anyway, given that we don’t play again until over a week’s time.
Call it me cynically trying to maintain some interest, if you like. Which is basically what it is and I’m not trying to hide it.
So first off John McGinn has spoken to prince William and suggested that he might be ready in six weeks.
Dean Smith seems to confirm that his protective boot is due to come off, so that’s good.
But I personally think six weeks sounds ambitious.
It seems McGinn is a good healer, but even so it sounds a bit of a push.
Six weeks to be running, maybe, but fully up to speed, ready to play? Well, I’m cynical.
And then of course, there’s the mental effect.
Will the injury mean that McGinn won’t go in for tackles the way he used to, as we all know can affect players?
Personally I doubt it.
McGinn reminds me of one of my all time favourite Villa players and another Scot, in Alex Cropley.
He broke his leg twice while at Arsenal and came back just as willing to put the boot in for us. Indeed it was only(!?) his third leg break that finally finished him off.
He was a crafted player, who had an eye for a decent pass, while being tough with it, all while being only slightly built.
I doubt there’s any footage to see, but if there is, you should have a look.
So hurry back John, we massively miss you!
And then there’s a bit of news about Bodymoor Heath, where it seems there’s some good work going on in improving the facilities.
I can’t say I’m a big fan of the place, ever since the club stopped you going and actually watching the players train without an outsized pair of binoculars and I’ve been a constant critic of our academy which never seems to produce much of note (Grealish apart).
But I do appreciate that it’s where the players do most of their work and needs to kept up to date.
I seem to remember that the last time we refurbed it not long ago, it was called state of the art.
But now, it seems that the gym was small and needed extending?
Hmm, it would seem there was some club PR going on at the time and there probably still is.
Whatever, the fact that we’re improving the facility (albeit that the club has had a payout from HS2, which has probably paid for most of it) is to be commended.
Roll on the important stuff, which is the footy eh?
