Every Aston Villa fan should be aware that former player James Collins has been at Bodymoor Heath working towards earning a contract with us following his release by West Ham United.
The 35-year-old former Welsh international was brought in by former gaffer Steve Bruce and given an opportunity to impress, but it has been a lengthy process given he arrived with an injury – so our decision was delayed for ages.
Delayed by so much in fact that Bruce departed and new head coach Dean Smith was left with the decision on whether or not he could provide short-term cover in the centre-half position. We are now almost at the end of December and according to the Mirror this week we made that decision and he put pen to paper on a deal.
An hour later he tore said deal up because he’d come down with another injury, and whether or not it was worth the £50,000 they claim (in total until the end of January), if he’s now reneged on the deal given he can’t hold up his side of the bargain – fair play indeed and lots of players would simply sit on it.
Given the past history at B6 with Collins, this is a huge tick in the right column even for those who didn’t believe he deserved a second chance to sport our badge.
I assume he will remain with us as he recovers once more, and as the paper intimate, it could play in his favour when next fit again.
“James has picked up a calf injury and hasn’t trained. He has a tight calf so there’s nothing moving with that.”
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