Luke Moore – Top Of (Shoulder) Pops

Luke Moore has admitted that if David O’Leary had stayed, he probably wouldn’t have.

I did an ‘exclusive’ a while back saying that Luke was possibly moving to Fulham, seems it was partly right, the player wasn’t happy and might have been looking for a move!

Moore said: ‘Last year’s gone now, but I had my times towards the end of the season where everyone could see that I wasn’t too happy. I felt I had every right to be. But it’s a new year and a new beginning for the whole club. I don’t think I would’ve been here if David O’Leary had been in charge. But he’s not, so it doesn’t matter. There’s a lot of relief on the whole.’

And suggesting that the dressing room was split, Moore continued: ‘It’s not just me – I think last year there was too much talking going on. We’re footballers and we’re here to win games and I think if we do that, then everything else will take care of itself. There’s no point saying we’re going to do this and we’re going to do that like we did last year. The biggest difference under the new manager is that he’s just straightforward in what he asks – and what more can you ask for? It’s as simple as that.’

‘It’s not even making you feel good about yourself – he’s a great manager. Everyone knows he’s a great manager and the reputation he has got. But as a man too, he seems like a really nice guy. From a personal point of view, if you’re being honest, then you’re doing something. That’s all you can be, is to be honest and I think the players are responding to him already.’

Ahhh right, so they are an ‘honest bunch of lads (copyright DOL) then?!’ :-))

Moore also admits he isn’t the finished article yet, and it would do us Villa fans to remember if we want the youth players to come through, then we’ve got to expect them to go through a steep learning curve and that will mean mistakes will be made!

‘I’m still learning about how to deal with situations. But I’ll get better – it’s as simple as that. My confidence is getting higher the more I play and I enjoy playing under him because he lets me come and play the game I really want. He just lets me get involved by coming and getting the ball which is what I like.’

I’d forgotten to add in my match report the other day that near the end of the game, Luke had problems with his shoulder, not sure if was dislocated, but he did look in agony, then he ‘popped’ it back in and stayed on the pitch. OUCH!

He explained: ‘My shoulder went out last week against Arsenal and I popped it back in. It came out twice on Wednesday night. I’ve got to work on it and it’s up to me to get in the gym and build up my shoulder. It’s not been right for a couple of years but it seems to be getting worse at the minute. I think I did it when I went on loan at Wycombe – that’s how long ago it was. I’ve just got to build it up – there’s no way I want to miss games because of my shoulder – I’ll just pop it back in.
‘It just comes out of place – that’s all I know. But we’re going to get it scanned and get it done. But at the minute it’s nothing I’m going to miss football over. Even last year it was coming out but I didn’t want to miss football.’

Now there is a committed player!