Does Eric have player backing?

I'm happy that Djemba Djemba has had the confidence to come out and blame the manager for the poor football Aston Villa have played this season and most of last season because it needs a player to come out like this to make the Chairman act - he doesn't like getting this type of national coverage.

Doug Ellis has refused meetings with players and this is something he will not be able to get away from.

The problem for Eric is whoever he plays for now there is always going to be that concern that he may open his mouth and run to the press - he has to now keep his mouth shut. Maybe it was the players that asked him to come forward and maybe he has the support of the team but he hasn't done himself any favours as long as David O'Leary is the manager.

Eric has maybe dropped us a hint of something about to happen when he said "Maybe the manager doesn't understand how I play so maybe I need to wait and try to get my chance. But I know everything will be OK for the second half of the season, and maybe I'll get my chance to play".

Do the players know that things are about to change and is Eric letting us into a secret?

The national press have got hold of Eric's comments today so there should be a day or two more of this and hopefully now that this has been highlighted there will be more pressure on the manager if the result isn't 3 points on Saturday.