Aston Villa trio will not have contracts renewed

Aston Villa showed a new side of themselves in the final weeks of the season, and now the club is determined to show their commitment to Paul Lambert's project. Part of that project means getting rid of dead weight, whether it's wages or bodies simply taking up space on the bench. On Monday, we learned Richard Dunne's time was up. We also know the club has given permission for Darren Bent to seek greener pastures.

Now we're saying goodbye to three more Villans:

Simon Dawkins

Possibly the best thing involving Simon Dawkins and Aston Villa was Andy Marshall sending a tweet that DORKINS had signed for the club. And then claiming it was autocorrect. Dawkins came to Villa in January from San Jose Earthquakes, where he was on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. Considering he had just four appearances in claret and blue, it's likely Spurs won't be clamoring to take him back.

Andy Marshall

In addition to Andy giving us some of the greatest tweets in the history of the universe, the goalkeeper also must hold some sort of record for having been with Villa since 2009, yet having made no competitive appearances for the club. I only hope he tells us why his phone has "Dorkins" on autocorrect before he goes.

Eric Lichaj

The American signed with Aston Villa in 2008 but, despite showing promise with the reserves, never became a true regular in the first team. Lichaj spent time on loan at Lincon City, Leyton Orient and Leeds United (perhaps a team starting with "L" will sign him on permanently?). He was involved in 14 matches in his final season at Villa, although he came on as a substitute in 9 of those, mostly because one defender or another had split his head open.