What Could Have Been: Aston Villa and Andy Carroll

After The Guardian reported today that Liverpool has offered Manchester City Andy Carroll in exchange for Carlos Tevez, erstwhile Villa reporter Mat Kendrick noted on Twitter that Aston Villa were planning on adding Andy Carroll before Liverpool snapped him up last January. Obviously, the club ended up with Darren Bent, who has notched nearly three times as many goals for Aston Villa as the misfiring Carroll has since going to Liverpool. However, it's worth noting that while Bent was vastly better suited to the Aston Villa of one year ago than Andy Carroll would have been, we've been through a lot in a year. Could it be that a big man up front like Carroll would give Villa more options than a poacher starved for decent service? After all, Alex McLeish won the Carling Cup last year with Nikola Zigic who—much like Carroll—is a lumbering oaf that isn't all that good at football.

So let your voice be heard! Do you think Aston Villa would be better off with Andy Carroll or Darren Bent?