Grexit for Lescott as Villa Park nightmare ends at last
Defender makes sad exit from club he supported as a boy
JOLEON Lescott’s claret and blue nightmare is over after the unpopular defender finally found the Villa Park exit.
The 34-year-old centre-half has joined Greek club AEK Athens on a two-year contract.
It ends a forgettable episode for Lescott at the club he supported as a boy.
Villa fans had high hopes for Lescott when he signed from rivals West Bromwich Albion a year ago.
But he went from hero to zero after compounding Villa’s woes on the pitch with some high-profile errors of judgment away from it.
In truth, Lescott was by no means Villa’s worst performer last season.
Not that such a statement is in any way a compliment given how dire the claret and blues were, particularly defensively.
Villa conceded a whopping 76 Premier League goals last season, that’s two a game – and the former England international must take his share of the blame.
He made 32 Premier League appearances and one Capital One Cup appearance – the 1-0 win over Blues – for Villa. His first league clean sheet as a Villa player came in the 1-0 home victory over Crystal Palace in mid-January, and that was arguably his best performance.
Lescott also played a big part in the winning goal that night, although Eagles keeper Wayne Hennessey gave him a helping hand by fumbling it over the line.
That performance against Palace was particularly well-timed given the match that preceded it. Lescott had been an unused substitute for the FA Cup draw at Wycombe Wanderers – and managed to get himself into a sticky situation.
As Remi Garde’s Villa laboured against their League Two hosts, Lescott was spotted having a gumspitting competition with Brad Guzan on the bench to see who could propel gum the furthest. It infuriated fans who were gathered near the dugout, given the tight surroundings of Adams Park.
As Lescott’s decision-making on the field deteriorated, so too did his decision-making off it. Having contributed to Villa’s heaviest home league defeat for 80 years, he then made a complete twit of himself on social media.
As if tweeting a photo of a flash Mercedes sportscar within hours of a 6-0 battering by Liverpool wasn’t bad enough, he then explained that his phone had sent the tweet itself from his back pocket. In the final weeks of the season the atmosphere turned nasty at Villa Park. Lescott was one of a small collection of players whose every touch was jeered by his own supporters. By then his legs were creaking, so the pressure of playing in front of a hostile home crowd began to tell.
When relegation finally arrived with a defeat at Old Trafford on April 16, his clumsy wording got him into trouble when he described the drop as a “weight off our shoulders”. It became clear over the summer that a parting happen.
Lescott played a couple of friendlies but was never in Roberto Di Matteo’s plans.
There were suggestions of a move to Major League Soccer which never materialised and he came extremely close to joining Rangers last week.
It didn’t happen, with personal terms, family reasons and medical issues among the reasons mooted.
As it is he has gone Greek instead, to AEK Athens and a city famous for its ruins. of the ways would