If you head to the avfc.co.uk at the moment, you'll be greeted by an image of John Carew wearing mittens and a neckwarmer in a pose that suggests a J. Crew photo shoot in zero gravity. The headline of the article is "Senior trio could make return against Arsenal" and the initial paragraph is encouraging; John Carew, James Collins and Habib Beye should be fit heading into the Arsenal clash this weekend. Excellent stuff, right?
Keep reading. Because four paragraphs in, we receive news that Jonathan Hogg has a twisted ankle and is doubtful for Saturday. With this, Villa have two fully fit ( we hope!) central mids in Barry Bannan and Robert Pires. There's Ciaran Clark who can slot in to the position in a pinch, but even then the situation is pretty dire. And of course there's always Stephen Ireland, but well, you know.
There aren't even adjectives or flowcharts for how the most appropriate adjectives have shifted over time to describe this. This is just a thing that happens to Villa now. It's barely even new at this point. Apparently one of you guys pissed off someone very important. Thanks a lot, jerk.