What are your expectations for Ashley Westwood?

Of all the signings of the Lambert era to date, I must admit that Ashley Westwood is perhaps the one that has me most intrigued. To be fair I knew little about any of his signings, given they were hardly household names, and while it’s all quite exciting, there is also the unknown factor.

Westwood seems to be quite highly rated, and given the Crewe factor there has also been numerous mentions, whether fairly or not to David Platt. Of course if he gets anywhere near that level then that can only be a good thing, but it’s not really worthwhile to keep bringing up.

If anyone has any idea of what the player is about, then please let us know. Lambert seems to rate him highly, and it will be interesting to see if he finds his way into the starting eleven sooner rather than later, or whether he’ll be more of a squad option. I think we could do with another player like Westwood in the side, maybe shepherding the back four and playing the Petrov role, keeping possession and setting us on our way. I like the fact the player himself was so keen to join us, and he seems to be really willing to make the most of his opportunity. Here is a section of a Westwood feature in the Birmingham Mail:

“It was mid-afternoon when I had a call from my agent who said Villa want to do something,”

“I said ‘Yes, I’ll do it, straight away, whatever the deal is, I’ll go there’.

“So I rushed down here, passed the medical and signed on the dotted line.

“I had a few clubs interested and a couple of bids went in, but nothing really came of it. I was waiting for a phonecall on Friday to head down to this other club, but they were stalling a bit and Villa jumped in.”

It appears that Swansea were quite heavily linked, and given their success in recruiting players hopefully that’s a good sign! He featured in the under 21 game in the week, and AVFC website man Dan Harrison offered his views on the players, and again it seems quite encouraging:

‘Westwood – accomplished in possession,didn’t give it away once.Talked fellow midfielders through the game too which is a good quality’

‘He may only be 22 but has played lots of first team games and looks a really mature footballer.’

I really think he could turn out to be a terrific bit of business for us, based on early signs. As mentioned above he’s played a lot of football for someone his age, and to be named captain so young is certainly a positive, for we could do with as many leaders on the pitch as possible.

So what are your expectations for the player? Do you expect him to force his way into the side, or see him more as a work in progress? And as mentioned if anyone can offer more information on what the player is all about, feel free to do so!

UTV.