Lichaj at Villa: released and looking for a new club

couldnt they keep it at a 1 month loan and extend given everyone on the team remains healthy?

 

Grayson doesnt want to get in the short term loans with Lichaj again and then not have him (potentially) for the playoffs. He has said previously he would be interested if it was a full-season loan.

 

Breaking News: Aston Villa have confirmed full-back Luke Young is holding talks regarding a move to Queens Park Rangers. More on www.skysports.com shortly.


I am guessing this would be a good thing for Eric's PT

 

Probably not, because if they're talking to QPR about Young, it would likely suggest they are poised to get Hutton from Spurs.

 

Luke Young is in talks with QPR, so if that happens, Eric would be the top natural RB left at the club. There is speculation that this move clears the way for McLeish to go after his former Rangers/Scotland player Alan Hutton. Beye seems to be completely out of the picture and I'm sure they would love to sell him.

 

You would know better than I but I have heard rumblings that Lerner is pulling back on spending. I have no idea what Young will sell for and what Hutton will cost but does that look likely to happen?

 

It is more about the wages than the fee for Lerner. Young and Hutton are probably making something similar, around 40k a week. Lerner is basically operating with a salary cap to prepare for the financial fair play rules. They have recouped plenty of cash from sales this summer but their wage bill is still close to or over what they can presumably comfortably operate at.

 

If that's true then maybe they wont bring Hutton in. Thanks for the info!

 

If young is sold, I imagine Villa will stick with Cueller, Beye, Lichaj, or Herd at RB.

EDIT: Just read from McLeish that when Young gets sold, Villa will sign another player. Now that could be another RB or another CM.

 

I always chuckle a bit when I read statements from those in charge at Villa talking about efforts to cut the wage bill in order to prepare for the financial fair play rules. I want to ask them if they realize the rules only apply to teams playing in European competition. Which is something Villa likely won't have to worry about anytime in the near future given the quality of the current squad...

Frankly, I suspect that Lerner is just using the fair play rules as cover for a desire to drastically cut spending.

 

Watch for Lichaj starting this weekend.

 

Chris Herd is starting at RB. Lichaj didn't even make the bench.

 

Neg rep for getting hopes up.

 

I am shocked to see herd starting over beye and lichaj. Herd is a make shift RB while those two are actaul RBs. I just don't get it.

 

Knew the news was bad when I saw no gameday thread. Didn't make the bench after scoring mid week. Did Eric make too many ginger jokes in practice or something?

 

Amazing how Lichaj has managed to slip down the ranks for no apparent reason. What a nightmare if he can't get back to Leeds soon.

 

Yeah the guy needs to high-tail it out of town. The manager clearly doesn't rate him.

 

Get that loan done immediately. Come on

 

Young deal to QPR complete
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/949484/luke-young-joins-qpr-from-aston-villa?cc=5901

 

Herd who played RB today for Villa looked very good in that spot. Lichaj has competition.

 

For what its worth to those of you panicking I'm pretty sure Eric is still considered the 2nd choice left back although I was suprised to see Herd get the call this morning. Villa looks to be in the process of offloading some of their youngsters (Hogg sold to Watford, Weimann loaned to Watford).

Herd has been around for a few years now and I'm fairly certain that they wanted to give him a game to see whether he's worth keeping around, loaning out or selling as he hasn't gotten many first team opportunities. I expect that Eric is viewed as a known quantity relative to some of their other youngsters and I fully expect him to get some playing time this season.

For anybody wondering about our fullback depth this is what we have:
RB: Lichaj, Cuellar (CB), Herd, Beye (CB)
LB: Warnock, Lichaj, Clark (CB) , Baker, Herd

Herd is a bit of a wild card as apparently he literally can play anywhere on the field and still doesn't really have a set position for the first team, though I was impressed with him today, I think Eric offers a little bit more going forward.

 

Villa look to be adding Alan Hutton which should free up Eric for a loan move.

If Leeds can get Lichaj back and also add QPR defender Clint Hill it would really help to shore up the back four.

 

They also seem to be talking to Guy Demel in case the Hutton deal doesn't work. There doesn't seem to be any room for Lichaj in the Villa line up this season.

 

Bad news:

Aston Villa defender Eric Lichaj could miss as much as four months' time after a Tuesday evening exam showed a labral tear in his hip, MLSsoccer.com has learned.

A source explained that the US fullback had carried the injury since making his season debut with the winner in a Carling Cup victory over Hereford United, but an initial check left the club thinking it was simply a standard knock.

After experiencing pain in Monday's reserves tilt, Lichaj was taken back for a closer inspection, which revealed the hip socket cartilage tear.

Meanwhile, MLSsoccer.com has learned from an English source that former loan employers Leeds United were planning to make a transfer offer for Lichaj before the injury diagnosis. Though immaterial at this point, it can be noted that Aston Villa had snubbed all previous approaches made for the 22-year-old American this summer.