Will Capello give the forgotten great a chance?

New England manager Fabio Capello flies into the England today and will head to Birmingham for tonight’s FA Cup match between Aston Villa and Manchester United. But will he come to see fresh faces, England regulars or will an England manager finally give Gareth Barry a real chance?

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Everyone knows that Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard don’t play well together in midfield, but star-power has always forced managers to select the pair instead of constructing a team which is balanced and has good chemistry. Barry has the perfect resume.

All indications are that Capello is there to see Gabriel Agbonlahor who has truly been outstanding, but he should keep a close eye on Barry who has been so consistent throughout his career, a real leader on the pitch and, oh ya, takes penalties really well.

If any manager is willing to buck big names for a good side, its Capello, and personally, I would view his inclusion of Barry as an indication of great things. His first game in charge will be in February against Switzerland.

City and Villa make formal inquiries for striker

Manchester City and Aston Villa have both made formal inquiries to Newcastle United for Nigerian international striker Obafemi Martins. The news has piqued the interest of Portsmouth and Tottenham for signs that Newcastle will be accepting offers.

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Manchester City has already admitted they are looking to bolster their front line but an official approach by Aston Villa could lead rise to the speculation that Gabriel Agbonlahor could be headed to Arsenal. I was surprised at Villa’s move, but in any event it appears the race is on with no less than 4 clubs interested.

Martins has a release clause in his contract of 13m pounds, a number which is keeping a move from happening. It has been indicated that Martins prefers a move to Manchester City but only Aston Villa appear willing to meet that price tag.

Martins has signalled his frustration at Sam Allardyce’s tactics this season, especially his substitution rate, he has started 11 games, 9 of which saw him substituted, he’s been a sub 6 times.

As for Tottenham and Portsmouth, the chances are remote. Portsmouth have resigned themselves to the fact that John Utaka will be leaving at the end of the season with interest from allover Europe (note to interested clubs, he needs to learn to cross better). Tottenham would be better served working on their back line than buying yet another player. With 4 good strikers on the books, Martins would not add anything unless Berbatov leaves.

As for City, they have money and Newcastle knows it. If any club mentioned here needs a striker its them. Can you imagine Martins’s pace running onto Elano’s thru balls?

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Gabriel Agbonlahor

I’ll tell you what, after the impressive display over the weekend against Everton, Aston Villa have a start in the making with Gabriel Agbonlahor.

While Gareth Barry and Ashley Young have been good, Agbonlahor been Villa’s best player this season with his sights set on and England call up which he is really starting to deserve. At age 20, his potential is outstanding.

The finest example of this was a sublime piece of ball control against Everton that saw Agbonlahor beat the offside, receive a goal kick from 70 yards, kill the ball’s pace and then slide it past keeper Stefan Wessels perfectly. I was almost as good as Dennis Bergkamp’s winner against Argentina in the ’98 World Cup knock-out round.

He’s been a consistent starter since Martin O’Neill arrived at Villa Park and has steadily improved to the point where every team is aware of his threat going in. He lead Villa in scoring last season with 10 goals and has already netted 4 this season including the winner against Chelsea three weeks ago.

Agbonlahor has a Nigerian father and Scottish mother. He’s got an accent so thick you can hardly understand him. His first season at the Aston Villa academy was in 2002 where he scored 9 goals in 18 appearances. The next season he scored a huge 35 goals in 29 games in the 2003 season, and followed with 18 goals in 22 games the next season. That’s 62 goals in 71 appearances. By any standard an impressive youth record, in the remaining 37 games he played for the reserves, he netted 19 more times.

His promise was rewarded as he scored in his March 2006 debut against Everton. Agbonlahor is developing a reputation for scoring against the big teams. He’s fearless, quick and technically gifted, he’ll continue to make an impact in the Premiership and should soon have his first senior cap.

Harewood no longer a Hammer

Aston Villa have secured the signing of West Ham striker Marlon Harewood, beating out Wigan Athletic in a three year deal, 3.5m pound deal.

Harewood had a great first season for West Ham scoring 16 goals, but was one of the players seen as an underperformer last season, scoring only 4 goals in 35 appearances.

Harewood will follow teammate Nigel Reo-Coker to Villa Park. He was linked with several clubs since the end of last season including Wigan and Birmingham City.

All told, Harewood had a decent run at West Ham. He scored 56 goals in 178 games since his arrival in 2003 from Nottingham Forest.

Harewood has certainly not been a one season wonder, Harewood was the top scorer for West Ham in 2004-05 promotion campaign with 23 goals. For Forest, he scored 21 goals in 2003 which sparked the transfer to West Ham for a 500,000 pound fee.

Reo-Coker a Hammer no Longer

Aston Villa have ended the protracted transfer situation and signed West Ham midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker.

The 23 year old was transferred for 8.5m pounds for a 4 year contract. He passed a medical at Villa Park on Thrusday.

While Reo-Coker moves clubs, he doesn’t change colors as West Ham and Villa share almost identical strip. He made 142 appearances for the West Ham and guided the club to a promotion back to the Premiership. He was the team’s youngest ever captain, as well as being the England U-21 skipper.

"People ask me if I felt I was hung out to dry at West Ham and I believe I was - I was made the scapegoat" –Reo-Coker

Don’t expect a warm reception the next time you are at Upton Park, Nige.

Reo-Coker is Villa’s first signing of the summer. Gavin McCann moved to Bolton and Steven Davis joined Fulham, so Villa needed midfielders. They also need to hold on to John Carew up front too as he is actively being courted by FC Porto.

In the end Reo-Coker cost West Ham 500,000 pounds when he moved from Wimbledon so there is a tidy profit realized regardless of who has a bad taste in their mouths.

John Carew

Norway’s best footballer moved to Lyon over the summer and has started brightly. The French League has never been so popular in the Nordic country.

In his debut, against Auxerre in the season opening Trophy of Champions, John Carew scored a hat-trick. Lyon ended up beating Auxerre 4-1. Carew has since scored a goal in his first two league games and Lyon has the 6 points.

At 6’ 4” (193cm) and powerfully built, Carew has had his way against every defender he’s faced in France. His goals have all been well taken and demonstrated his ability to overpower most anyone. I can assure you he’s already on the minds of every coach in France. Imagine Liverpool’s Peter Crouch, a bit shorter, but built like a tank.

You may remember John Carew from his stint at Valencia where he made the Champions League final in 2000 and won La Liga in 2002. Well, you may remember him from a number of places; he’s played in 5 countries, most recently in Turkey for Besiktas, but also in his native Norway for Rosenborg Trondheim and Italy’s AS Roma.

While the critics of Carew say he’s shown his talent in glimpses, I don’t agree. Carew is a victim of the Norwegian long ball mentality (always bad for strikers) and also a stint being tragically underplayed at AS Roma. Given consistency, he’s quite productive and paired with Sidney Govou it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him as top scorer in France this season.