Well, we knew it was coming, but Aston Villa have officially parted ways with Richard Dunne, Eric Lichaj, Jean II Makoun, Andy Marshall, and Simon Dawkins. We've known this was coming for a while, but the announcement makes it official. Dunne, Lichaj, and Marshall had all seen their contracts with the club expire, and it's not hard to see why the club chose not to renew them. Dunne hasn't played competitively for Villa since May 2012, Lichaj was an abomination this year, and despite being a folk hero, Andy Marshall is someone who never saw the pitch.
Dawkins is leaving due to the term of his loan being up and there being no interest from Villa in keeping him around. The one that stinks still is Makoun, who is being bought by the French club Rennes. The Ligue 1 side has decided to exercise their option to keep the Cameroon midfielder around for a bit longer. I still think Villa could have made something of Makoun, but I guess we'll never know. Thanks for wasting that one, McLeish. And really, a bit of blame to Lambert, too, for not giving him a try.
But, luckily none of these players figured into anyone's plans for Aston Villa next season. Let's just hope there's an announcement soon that the club have locked up Christian Benteke and Andreas Weimann for years and years.