James Collins Would Like Aston Villa To Give Him More Money Please

Aston Villa defender James Collins has expressed a desire to see his contract with Aston Villa extended past its current expiration date which runs through the 2012-13 season. Collins is far from perfect of course but in his two-plus seasons with Villa he and his disturbing Vick's Vapo-Rub stains have been a regular fixture at center back and on the balance he's been worth the £5 million the club paid to bring him in from West Ham. What's more, Collins is just 28 which is still fairly young for a defender and he certainly seems like Alex McLeish's kind of player.


With that said, I'm not sure I'd be holding my breath were I in James' boots. In case you haven't noticed, Randy Lerner has not exactly been splashing the cash as of late. This is a period of financial retrenchment for Villa, likely as a byproduct of the push for Champions League football under Martin O'Neill and the looming specter of UEFA Financial Fair Play. It's not exactly the kind of situation that leads one to believe contract extensions are going to be forthcoming.

The worry of course is that Villa doesn't get what he's after and uses his displeasure to try and force a move away from Villa Park. Probably not the most likely scenario but far from implausible and fatalism is kind of my thing. Still, it's never a good thing to have important players unhappy. Collins is far from expensive and he's probably going to be sticking around a bit in any case. If there's a way for Villa to get him locked up for a few additional years, I'd be all for it. I'm just not expecting much news on that front any time soon.