Window Shopping: As you’re about to find out, January did not see much shopping in Birmingham. American owner Randy Lerner is now well known for his frugal approach to managing Aston Villa, as manager Paul Lambert has a strict budget to work to with his young squad. Some were saying a new defender or difference maker in midfield was needed, but Villa just weren’t that interested in buying anyone in January. Lambert’s project is faltering a little at Villa, as you can’t really say his team have improved that much since last season. Will the Scottish manager be around for the next transfer window in the summer?
Players In: Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea, Loan), Grant Holt, (Wigan, Loan)
Players Out: Stephan Ireland (Stoke, $750,000), Michael Drennan (Carlisle, Loan), Jordan Graham (Bradford City, Loan)
RECAP: All the deals on deadline day
Grade: C
Aston Villa are not big spenders and were never going to buy big in January, that’s not the clubs philosophy. They needed some extra depth in a few positions and Paul Lambert got that with the loan deals for Ryan Bertrand and Grant Holt. Bertrand has been great at left back, while Holt will add something different to the pace of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann up top.
All in all, a very quite window for Villa. Not much to see here. Now the focus, for yet another season, is on Premier League survival.