Aston Villa and Southampton fans have been in contrasting moods in the Transfer Tavern this week, what with the Villans beating Sunderland 2-1 on Tuesday to move up to fourth place in the Championship, while the Saints suffered a fifth Premier League defeat of the campaign at Liverpool.
Steve Bruce’s Villa didn’t make the best of starts to the new second tier campaign but have been much-improved in recent times, so much so that they are now firmly in contention for a return to the Premier League. And they strengthened their position in the Championship’s top six with a 2-1 win over Sunderland on Tuesday, which was their ninth victory of the campaign and third in their last four matches. Yet things weren’t as good for Mauricio Pellegrino’s Saints, as his side were comfortably beaten 3-0 by Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday to suffer a fifth loss of the season, in turn slipping down to 14th place in the table.
Thus, there have been differing moods among both sets of supporters in the Tavern this week, with Villa fans keen to revel in their side’s recent run of good form, while our resident Southampton fans are firmly focused on their team’s crucial home clash with fellow strugglers Everton at St Mary’s on Sunday.
In the meantime though, both sets of fans have been discussing the business their respective teams may conduct in the New Year, with Villa clearly on the lookout for players that can help sustain their Championship promotion push, while Southampton know that more firepower is needed if they are to avoid getting sucked into a relegation battle.
And with several Saints players struggling for minutes on the pitch and possibly looking for a move away in January, here are TWO Southampton stars Villa must snap up to enhance their promotion credentials…
Alex McCarthy
Fraser Forster hasn’t produced his best form at all for Southampton in recent times, yet number two Alex McCarthy still has yet to get a chance to prove his credentials in between the sticks.
And the former England Under-21 international may feel like he won’t ever get an opportunity to showcase his talents to manager Pellegrino, and as such could be eyeing up a January move away for regular first team football.
And Villa could be the ideal destination as reports earlier this week linked current shot-stopper Sam Johnstone with a move to West Brom, which could leave Bruce short of a number one going into the second half of the campaign.
And with McCarthy having proven his capabilities at both top-flight and Championship level in the past, the 27-year-old could be the perfect addition to the Villans in January.
Shane Long
With Charlie Austin and Manolo Gabbiadini arguably better finishers and more prolific goal-scorers than Shane Long, the Republic of Ireland international looks set for further struggles for first team football at Southampton.
The 30-year-old may well have started six Premier League matches for the Saints this term, but he has completed just two of them and failed to net at all so far, even if his all round play and tenacity does make life uncomfortable for defenders.
But with Pellegrino’s men in need of goals, one would suspect that they’ll seek a striker in January, which could spell bad news for Long, but potentially good news for Villa.
Number one striker Jonathan Kodjia faces time out with injury and as such Bruce could seek attacking reinforcements in the New Year, and with Long having scored goals at Championship level before, he could well be the man to come in and help propel the Midlands giants back to the Premier League.
