Emile Heskey, James Collins, And Others Set To Leave Aston Villa

Normally this is the sort of story that would have me dancing a jig of glee: Emile Heskey, James Collins, Habib Beye and Carlos Cuellar are set to leave Aston Villa in pursuit of clubs that actually, you know, want them. These four leaving would free up £10million and Randy Lerner would double that amount, giving Alex McLeish £20m to play with in the summer. And, of course, AML has a proven record of being responsible with money and only bringing in the most talented of players.

It's almost certain Emile Heskey will go. He's 34 years old and, well, not very good. It's been rumored for quite some time that he'll be on his way to Leicester. Perhaps we'll replace him with a Jamaican striker?

The initial glee at seeing this story wore off when I read that Martin O'Neill wants both James Collins and Carlos Cuellar. I think I speak for most Villa fans when I say that I can't wait to be rid of the ginger. How many more goals will we concede thanks to his utter inability to do his job, before some sort of change is made? Hell, at this point, I'd pay Sunderland to take him.

But, again like most Villa supporters, I'm not ready to see Carlos Cuellar leave. He's a versatile defender, much better than Alan Hutton at right back and James Collins in the middle. King Carlos isn't the weakest link in the defense, and, honestly, I fear letting two defenders go at once. This club has a tendency to wait until the last second of deadline day to finish business, and I worry that we'll replace only one of them, further compounding problems at the back.

Then there's Habib Beye -- and that's where my faith in this story is completely shattered. Aston Villa are going to sell Beye? Hahahahahaha. No one is ever going to pay his wages. He's an old, incompetent defender. The only way we're getting rid of him is to show him the back door and give him a wad of cash.

But one can dream, I suppose.