Aston Villa are used to disappointment and these five certainly didn’t let them down in that department.
We apologise Aston Villa fans. We know it’s not exactly the best time to remind you of your most spectacular flops and wasted talents what with the run of five defeats in six and everything.
But here goes regardless.
Nathan Delfouneso
The local-born striker may have admired Thierry Henry growing up but that didn’t mean he would develop into the Midlands answer to the fleet-footed French goal machine. In fact, Delfouneso has managed fewer goals in 188 career league appearances than Henry mustered in five of his eight Premier League seasons as Arsenal’s prolific figurehead.
Once the jewel of Villa’s youth academy, the 26-year-old has played for seven clubs in seven years and is currently on the books of League Two Blackpool.
Carles Gil
A typically Mediterranean midfielder blessed with a thunderbolt strike, it didn’t take Carles Gil long to capture the imagination of Aston Villa fans desperately in need of some excitement. 51 minutes into his full debut, the former Valencia starlet whipped a sublime strike into the top corner of Bournemouth’s to brighten up an otherwise dull FA Cup fourth round tie.
Stunners against Sunderland and Leicester City followed but Gil’s galling inability to supplement his class with consistency meant he was loaned out to Deportivo at the start of the season with an option to buy. Though you get the feeling they could live to regret that decision.
Jordan Bowery
When Aston Villa weren’t traipsing through the European backwaters to pluck unknown Bulgarian wingers or briefs-flashing Danish targetmen, they were scouring the lower leagues for under-the-radar talents. And while Matthew Lowton, Jordan Bennet and Ashley Westwood struggled to meet the demands of the top flight, at least they stuck around longer than Bowery.
The striker was 21 when Villa snapped him up from Rochdale for £500,000 in 2012, according to the BBC. Suspiciously old, and cheap, for a ‘young talent’. In a grand total of 22 appearances, Bowery didn’t bother the net once in Villa colours and, as it stands, he is also yet to open his account with League Two Crewe.
Milan Baros
Unlike Bowery, Czech striker Baros arrived at Aston Villa with a reputation. He had lifted the Champions League with Liverpool just a few months prior and, a summer earlier, earned the Euro 2004 Golden Boot, narrowly edging out a teenage Wayne Rooney.
However, his £6.5 million transfer fee, as reported by the BBC, manifested itself in a goal ratio just short of one in five in Villa colours. He’s still playing these days, back in his homeland with Slovan Liberec. But it’s fair to say his best years were his earliest.
Gabby Agbonlahor
Now, before you scowl and publically question our footballing credentials, consider this; the most prolific season of Agbonlahor’s career was seven years ago. Netting 13 times in 2009/10, the Birmingham born speedster forced his way into Fabio Capello’s England squad and looked every inch a bonafide top flight striker with his rapid pace and lethal finishing.
Flash forwards and he is still at Villa Park. In the Championship. Having been stripped of the captaincy and without a goal in over a year. Agbonlahor may not have evaporated into non-league but he certainly never threatened to get anywhere near his undoubted potential.
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