I DON’T MIND NOT HAVING ANY WONGA, SAYS MCLEISH
ASTON VILLA manager Alex Mcleish is not disappointed by the club’s lack of January transfer activity.
Mcleish has had to trim the club’s wage bill as chairman Randy Lerner is unwilling to spend the kind of money available to Martin O’neill during his tenure as manager.
This has been reflected in their transfer policy, with left-back Enda Stevens arriving for around £250,000 and Robbie Keane joining on a short-term loan.
However, Mcleish said he was fully informed of the situation when he took the job.
“I’m not frustrated at all because I knew what the parameters were,” he said.
“If you know in advance, and you’re working with your board and they’re honest, then if they say no then at least you’re getting that answer.
“It’s not, ‘maybe we will, maybe we won’t’, and that’s what leaves you frustrated.
Kidding
“We know the course we’re steering and we’ve got to keep on that road.”
Villa striker Darren Bent is currently on 99 Premier League goals, and Mcleish is backing his marksman to grab his 100th against QPR tonight.
“It would be great to see him do that,” he said.
“He’s been in good form and was tremendous on Sunday.”
However, despite Bent’s prowess in front of goal, he is not even the top scorer amongst the current Villa squad.
“The boys were kidding him on, saying Robbie Keane’s ahead of him,” Mcleish said.
“So maybe he’s got to chase Robbie and make that his first target.”
Rumours about Bent’s future had been gathering pace earlier in the transfer window, but Mcleish was adamant that his striker was not agitating for a move.
“I’ve never seen any bad attitude in him at all,” he said.
“There were a couple of games where he was frustrated because he felt he could have scored more goals, but it’s great when strikers feel like that.
“He’s certainly back on the scoring trail at the moment.”