And you thought Bendtner to Villa rumors were bad?

Yesterday, the big Aston Villa news was that Nicklas Bendtner was definitely, certainly on his way to the club. While that gave people plenty to mock, going in for Nicky B actually wasn't the worst idea in the world. But plenty of sources have now said no, Villa are not interested, so there goes that.

Today's rumor features the news that Kieran Richardson is on his way to the Villa. Yes, another over-the-hill, never-quite-made-it, proven-Premier-League-experience player.

It's as though the club took stock of its "Pursue young players, give them a chance, and think outside the box" strategy, decided that it didn't work within two years, and threw it right out the window. Instead, they're showing us a parade of players we might have been excited about in 2008. Should Richardson arrive, he'd join Joe Cole and Philippe Senderos, the latter of which was absolutely terrifying when playing for Switzerland just a couple weeks ago. And not in a good way. And I'm not entirely sure of the last time Jole Cole terrified anyone.

As for Richardson, well, he's coming to us from Fulham. He never managed to hack it at Manchester United, spent the majority of his career at Sunderland then landed in London. He's technically won a Premier League title. The biggest compliment he receives is that he's versatile.

There's an argument to be made for having players with experience to balance out the lack thereof, which many thought was one of the reasons Villa struggled last season. But really, we all know what this is: Randy Lerner won't allow any money spent beyond what comes in from sales. That means Villa are reduced to negotiating for loans and free transfers.

At least there's no possible way these veterans are getting the sort of cash Martin O'Neill would've handed out. Nor will they be chauffeured from London to Birmingham each day for training a la Robert Pires.

Small comfort, that.