Nottingham Forest missed out on Conor Hourihane to Aston Villa.
Aston Villa’s Conor Hourihane celebrates at full time
According to The Guardian, Nottingham Forest had a deal lined up to sign Conor Hourihane from Barnsley in the January transfer window, before their takeover collapsed.
Hourihane went on to sign for Aston Villa, where he has starred, scoring one and providing two assists in their last four games.
In total this season he has six Championship goals and 13 assists, and Nottingham Forest fans would be right to be jealous.
Looking at Forest, Hourihane may well be delighted to have dodged a bullet, as the situation stands.
Villa are the more stable of the two clubs judging by the Championship table, sitting in 12th place while Nottingham Forest at down in 19th.
Forest find themselves drawn into a relegation battle, only two points above the drop zone.
They have moved today to appoint Mark Warburton as manager, in the hope he can have an impact on the team to stave off a disastrous fall into League One.
Hourihane has joined a more secure club in the short term in Villa, but the jury is still out long term.
Mark Warburton has a point to prove at Forest after his Rangers failure, and has a solid Championship track record with his previous work at Brentford.
Whether Fawaz Al-Hasawi will give him the tools to succeed is another matter, while Hourihane is playing at Villa under an owner in Tony Xia who has shown he is very capable of investing big money, which should eventually pay off.
Picture Supplied by Action Images – Aston Villa owner Dr Tony Xia
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