Aston Villa have managed to engineer a commendable season for themselves in the Championship. Under the tutelage of Steve Bruce, the Villans have gone from strength to strength and are currently one of the favourites to clinch a ticket for promotion to the Premier League. A lot of positives can be taken from the manner they have discharged their duties as a unit.
Bruce has managed his arsenal pretty well and there is no denying that his tactical nous has yielded substantial dividends, more often than not, this campaign. Although an automatic qualification spot seems unlikely, a strong set of performances in the business end of the season will certainly give them a lot of momentum going into the playoffs.
Irrespective of whether they get the uplift or not, Bruce is likely to bring in reinforcements in the summer transfer window. Interestingly, one of the latest reports by Birmingham Mail has suggested that the Lions are one of the favourites to land Joey Barton at the Villa Park. The speculation is expected to raise a lot of eyebrows as Barton has been one of the most controversial players in the game.
Having emerged through the youth ranks of Everton, Liverpool and Manchester City, Barton was eventually promoted to the senior side of the blue half of Manchester and he certainly managed to dazzle. Spells with Newcastle United, Marseille and Queens Park Rangers were followed by his moves to Burnley and Rangers. In the January transfer window of 2017, he moved to Turf Moor once again despite various controversies surrounding him.
However, he was charged with having breached the rules related to betting by footballers. Players in England’s top eight tiers are banned from betting on football but the 35-year-old admitted that he had placed 1,260 football related bets between 26th March 2006 and 13th May 2016. He was initially handed an eighteen-month ban in April last year due to which his contract was terminated a month later by the Clarets.
His suspension has been reduced to thirteen months and Barton is set to return to football next season. Although he has substantial amount of experience under his belt, he has had brawls in the training ground, useless verbal exchanges with his opponents, innumerable disciplinary issues and has seen truckloads of red cards in his career. Bruce must, of course, beef up the quality of his armoury in the summer but perhaps it would not make a lot of sense if he pursues someone like Barton coming on the back of a positive season.
