I'd venture it was a mutual decision. Eric saw he was behind both Lowton and Bennett with little chance of becoming preferred at either position (especially right back). At 24, I'd hope Eric still wants full time football instead of being a squaddie. Leaving Villa is his best hope for that and Villa wasn't going to make him a stupid offer to convince a decent utility player to re-sign.
Why? Lambert doesn't rate him and never gave Eric much of a chance to win a job, even when Joe Bennett proved time and again that he's in over his head at the Premier League level. Lichaj is young enough and talented enough that he shouldn't settle for being a squad player at Villa. It's best for him and best for Villa to part ways at this point. EL can now move on to a place where the manager rates him and where he has a real opportunity to start and prove himself.
On a personal note, Eric proposed to his long time girlfriend. They already have a daughter together.
Leeds could be nice. Huge fan base, they seem to like him there, and certainly have the ambition for promotion next year, despite a disappointing season finishing 13th.
Just wondering, how many seasons in a row is it now that Leeds have "had the ambition for promotion" despite not doing too well?
That's true, but you have to think they'll get back there eventually! I do see what you mean, though.
wasn't leeds quite close in the year(s) that grella was there, when they had becchio and that guy who went to everton leading the line?
Jermaine Beckford. Leeds was in League 1 at that time ('09-'10), but they finished 2nd that year and got automatic promotion to the Championship.
Leeds would not be a bad move. While times have changed, while Lichaj was there a few seasons ago he played well and Leeds was doing okay from what I remember. I'll just repeat what I said earlier, Eric needs to go to a place that wants him and he wants to be at.
Championship sounds about right for Lichaj. A solid season or 2 might help him raise his standard and return to the PL either with a promoted club or otherwise. Any idea how close was the decision for the club to not renew his contract? Was it just he not in Lambert's plans at all?
I didnt think he looked completely out of depth as a Premier League RB. He never really got a good run of games at RB. He played LB and was not that great. he was decent at RB, except for that one game when Houllier ripped int him with the media following a mistake.
Newly appointed Nottingham Forest manager, Billy Davies, is interested in signing Lichaj. http://www.dailystar.co.uk/posts/view/317383/Billy-Davies-has-eyes-on-Eric-Lichaj/
Lichaj is a good defender but he needs to be playing consistently so if that means going down a division, that is fine. I fully believe that Lichaj will prove he is EPL quality if he is starting each week. Confidence does a lot for a player.
Unless Leeds sell Byram, Forest would be a better spot for Eric. It may be better anyway because Forest seem to be a little closer in their quest to getting back to the PL than Leeds. As a fan I'd like to see both Leeds and Forest back in the PL, two historic clubs like that belong in the top tier unlike the Stoke's and Hull's of the world.
Stoke is on some reckonings the sixth oldest existing soccer team in the world and the oldest team in the top two English divisions.
I think he was referencing Stoke's battles in the 2nd tier from '85-'07. For anyone born from '75-95 on this board (a good chunk of people), they are not "usually" in the top tier, even if they spent a lot of time there in the 60s, 70s and early 80s. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and they certainly have a strong history, but I just thought I'd clarify what he meant when he mentioned historical top tier sides, of which Stoke is not considered one in many minds.
I wasn't correcting anybody, and Leeds and Forest have won a lot more trophies than Stoke. I'm just saying that that Stoke is a really old club that deserves to be in the top division as much as anyone.
When I said historic I was referencing success, not age. As far as deserving to be in the PL as much as anyone else, agree to disagree.
Forest is actually kind of a smallish club as far as potential (fan base), that hit the manager lottery with Clough. They're basically Derby County at their natural water line. Now Leeds is another story altogether. They were the the team everyone loved to hate. If you haven't seen Damned United, it's worth a watch. It's wierd to think for us, but just one wrong managerial hire at Man U, and they could look just like Leeds to our kids. As big as they are, they're still who they are because of Fergie. When I started getting into soccer hard, right as leeds went down, I said to myself that when I become a billionaire I will buy them and return to glory. They might be waiting a while yet I had in my mind Leeds, PSG, Valencia, and Newcastle as good clubs to buy for potential. Newcastle has an unfortunate limiting factor here in the US in that you can't wear a jersey in public without looking like a criminal. Turns out some arab guy thought the same about PSG. I read later that Wenger thought PSG had the most unlocked potential in football with the size of the market and only one club (also my reasoning). I'm still surprised Valencia hasnt' been snapped up, but that might be a matter of time. If Spain ever gets their TV squared up, Valencia is going to be a potential juggernaut if the new stadium ever gets finished.
On a side note, I had long and successful "back to glory" careers with both Leeds and Forest on Football Manager. My favorite memory is a 37-year old Beckham coming back to the Premiership and then getting sent off in his Forest debut against Man U. It would be nice to see them back in the Premiership.