I may well be in minority, but it appears that the Villa fans have been plagued with either silence or inconsistencies with the transfer (and other) news coming out of the club. Being completely impartial and looking at things how they are, it has been a little disrespectful to the fans.
After the contentious and well-publicised appointment of McLeish, there was talk of a £40million transfer 'war chest'. Young and Downing left, along with Friedel and a raft of other fringe players, yet that money seems to have largely disappeared.
The Downing fiasco saw the club declare him as not for sale before duly selling him. Another contradiction for the fans to put up with. Most were not naive enough to believe McLeish's statement, but that is not the point.
Given and N'Zogbia have now signed. Given looks to be a great bit of business, and N'Zogbia could well fill the void of Downing (with talent to spare). This was preceded by a statement that N'Zogbia would be the last signing.
Since then, however, we have been linked with another selection of players. Joey Barton, Alan Hutton, Peter Crouch, DJ Campbell, to name but a few. Now, some of it may be speculation but some are, apparently, genuine possibilties.
I'm all for players coming in to join the squad, but it just seems that every statement made is contradicted by either an action or another statement. I cannot recall such a turbulent close season, littered with supporter unrest and poor PR from the club.
It is possible that McLeish is playing his cards close to his chest so as not to tip off rivals, but if that is the case then he should just say nothing at all.
Many may disagree with this, and others will undoubtedly say that it is to be expected. The point is though: why should it be expected? Has it not been disrespectful to the fans in the way that they have largely been either ignored or offered contradcitory statements and actions.
I would just love to know exactly what is happening at my beloved club, and the conduct of this pre-season has left the majority of fans with many unanswered questions.