Senior trio linked with shock Aston Villa statement
|
Three senior Aston Villa players reportedly were behind last week's critical statement of chairman Doug Ellis.
The Sun says Juan Pablo Angel, Thomas Sorensen and Patrik Berger are the stars believed to have been at the briefing which led to the Villagate statement.
Striker Angel, 30, begged the Villa board back in May to make changes this summer. Denmark keeper Sorensen, 30, has called for team-mates to improve after years of under-achievement. And midfielder Berger, 32, has made just three first-team starts.
The statement read: "People talk about Aston Villa being a big club and winning the European Cup in 1982.
"We feel it should be a big club but if the chairman has got ambition, he needs to start showing it. It has to come from the top.
"As players we're all ambitious and we want to improve on last season. The chairman should be behind the club and not working against what we're trying to achieve.
"There have been a series of cutbacks. At the end of last season, the chairman refused to pay £300 for the pitches to be watered. The training ground development has stopped.
"Now we have lost a masseur because the club refuse to pay for one and we are clubbing together to pay for our own. We also heard the physio, who was on his way to see Martin Laursen, could not claim back for a cup of coffee at the airport.
"We feel with all the cutbacks, it is difficult to attain the targets we all share.
"In the second half of last season, there was no investment in the team. There are no positives coming out of the club. We need to see a plan where the club is going. All the players feel the same."
The Sun says Juan Pablo Angel, Thomas Sorensen and Patrik Berger are the stars believed to have been at the briefing which led to the Villagate statement.
Striker Angel, 30, begged the Villa board back in May to make changes this summer. Denmark keeper Sorensen, 30, has called for team-mates to improve after years of under-achievement. And midfielder Berger, 32, has made just three first-team starts.
The statement read: "People talk about Aston Villa being a big club and winning the European Cup in 1982.
"We feel it should be a big club but if the chairman has got ambition, he needs to start showing it. It has to come from the top.
"As players we're all ambitious and we want to improve on last season. The chairman should be behind the club and not working against what we're trying to achieve.
"There have been a series of cutbacks. At the end of last season, the chairman refused to pay £300 for the pitches to be watered. The training ground development has stopped.
"Now we have lost a masseur because the club refuse to pay for one and we are clubbing together to pay for our own. We also heard the physio, who was on his way to see Martin Laursen, could not claim back for a cup of coffee at the airport.
"We feel with all the cutbacks, it is difficult to attain the targets we all share.
"In the second half of last season, there was no investment in the team. There are no positives coming out of the club. We need to see a plan where the club is going. All the players feel the same."
<< Home