Lee Hendrie Being Forced Out?

Certainly looks like Lee Hendrie is being forced out of Villa.

An article in the Express & Star by Martin Swain claims that Villa have ditched plans to give midfielder Hendrie a testimonial.

The 29-year-old midfielder is Villa’s longest serving player having joined in 1994. He was due a testimonial this year, but as he now appears to be on the list for the Villa Park exodus this summer, Villa are no longer willing to offer him the reward for his services.

The paper quotes a Villa spokesman saying: ‘We do not feel that it would be in the best interests of Lee or Aston Villa for a testimonial to go ahead at this stage.’

Sheffield United have been strongly linked, as well as Portsmouth, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

I must admit I’d question just how popular a testimonial it would have been. Hendrie has always had a love hate relationship with the Villa faithful and has certainly had a mixed career on and off the pitch.

However if the reports suggesting he will be offloaded for as little as £500 000 are true, then you have to question the sanity of the manager and board. Who will we replace him with at that price? Surely, as we have such a tiny squad, we should hold on to experienced players UNLESS they can raise realistic and useful sums of money?

I’d not have been buying a ticket for the testimonial, who you? Let us know in the article comments below.