Aston Villa: Plenty of fans have sympathy for Tommy Elphick after tough time at club

Things didn’t go to plan for Tommy Elphick, who signed for Villa from Bournemouth in 2016 but failed to hold down a place in the side before being sold to Huddersfield in the summer. In that time, he played 46 games for the Villans as a centre-back, but he was sent out on loan to Reading and Hull for much of his contract.
He’s played 14 times this season for Huddersfield and recently took some time to speak to Brighton‘s media team this week. He began his football career there as an academy player, and he spoke about his time at Villa Park during the interview too.
Aston Villa news aggregator @Villareport on Twitter posted the quotes where he spoke about his willingness to join the Villans and how great it was being around all the fans. You can see the comments he made below. Many Villa fans read what he said and had sympathy with the way things turned out.
Elphick: “It’s when you are there that you fully appreciate how big it is. Fans outside training ground every day waiting to get stuff signed. Everywhere you go, there are #avfc fans, everywhere in the world, & to captain that club was such an honour & a magnificent experience.”
— villareport (@villareport) 15 January 2020
Elphick: “But when things go well, there is no better experience in football than having the Holte End roaring you on. If you took me back & gave me the choice of staying in the Prem with B’mouth or dropping down to to captain #avfc, I’d make the same choice again every time.”
— villareport (@villareport) 15 January 2020
Elphick: “The first day I saw Jack Grealish in training, I thought ‘Wow, this is someone special’. Yes, he can look very confident, shall we say, but you have to have that self-belief, and arrogance almost. And he has the ability to back it up.” #avfc
— villareport (@villareport) 15 January 2020
You can see some of the fans’ reactions to the comments below:
Shame we wasted him
— ItsReinaSZN (@R_eina_SZN) 15 January 2020
Not wrong. History of poor management sadly
— Chris (@ChrisPe51882185) 15 January 2020
We treated him poorly, which is something I do not like to associate my club with. I see us as a respectable family club ran properly.
— Smethwick_Villan84 (@green_raqeeb) 15 January 2020
top man
— RicardoAV (@RichieLionel81) 15 January 2020
Respect to Tommy. Always the ultimate professional and a great guy. Shame it didn’t work out for him
— Claret and Blue (@debbieb63) 15 January 2020
Always liked Tommy. Never forget he was in the first row of Villa away fans at St. Andrews last season and he lost his mind (like the rest of us) when Jack scored the go-ahead. Wish him the best.
— Jack Whidden III (@JackWhidden3) 15 January 2020
Villa fans, what’s your opinion on the way your club handled Tommy Elphick’s time at Villa park?
