A Word Of Caution

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As we prepare to bid a not-so-fond farewell to helium-voiced Didier Zokora, just one of the many fringe players likely to be packing their bags at The Lane this summer, a word of caution is in order.

The exodus of deadwood and clodhoppers is going to leave us very short of numbers, so much so that we may well find ourselves restocking the shelves with similarly uninspiring players. For all of you who are on the brink of unfettered joy and thoughts of dancing naked in the streets, remember that there may be a Nigel Reo Coker lurking just around the corner, threatening to rain on your parade.

It goes without saying that every team needs its water-carriers but what is wrong with hoping for a better class of water-carrier? Reo-Coker's career has stagnated in recent times, making him a peripheral figure at Villa. Just like Zokora, he has found himself called upon only in times of injury crises and so on, plugging a hole in the right back position, for example.

He's a fine athlete but if we're being honest, isn't he a bit of a bungalow really? He's a shoddy passer and he'd almost need a map to find the opposition's goal. Almost. He may have found his way a couple of times in the past but it was probably an accident, the kind that sees the ball richocheting in off Darren Bent's posterior. Maybe Steve Sidwell would be a better, if unspectacular alternative?