After yesterday's mildly embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Derby County, Alex McLeish was interviewed by Sky Sports. Several outlets have seized upon one of his statements as a sign that perhaps Aston Villa's activity in the transfer market aren't at an end. Said the gaffer:
"We need to strengthen," he told Sky Sports News. "We've still got people like Charles to come in as well."
Now, that quote could mean a lot of things. There's nothing in that one line that necessarily implies McLeish expects to be able to make additions to the squad. And though you could take it that way, it's far from a slam dunk. And yet, rumor mill sites have taken that conclusion and ran with it. Here's one example. That's not especially surprising; it's what these sites do. They've created more outlandish speculation from far less than that.
But here's the thing; in its full context, McLeish was pretty clearly (at least in my view) talking about the fitness level of his players, not strengthening the squad. And while the quote above is legitimate, Sky Sports didn't even see fit to include it in their wrap-up post of the interview. Here's what came right after the above:We know at this stage of the season the result, although I don't like losing any game and I let them know that in the dressing room, is not as important as fitness in pre-season.
Now, I'm not saying that Villa are absolutely not going to bring in more players. I would in fact be somewhat surprised if they didn't. But I don't think they're going to be spending any significant money, and I don't expect any signings to be especially exciting. And yet an off-hand remark about fitness has turned into "ASTON VILLA SET TO SPLASH THE CASH." Like I said, it's not surprising and it's not like it bugs me. I just find it interesting to look at how these types of things happen and equally interesting that people buy into it.