Rangers looking to steal away Villa star... again

Remember last summer? Those idyllic days when Paul Lambert actually had money and didn't do too much with it. The halcyon moments when Randy Lerner seems ambivalent about the club rather than actively wanting out. The salad days of our youth when we all thought that Aston Villa might be able to reach the dizzying heights of mid-table mediocrity.

If so, then you also surely remember the "Tottenham Hotspur want Christian Benteke" story that dominated our minds. Well, good news! We can bring back at least one of those memories for you, because it's time to begin the transfer rumour that never ends. Queens Park Rangers are apparently again interested in bringing Ron Vlaar to their newly-promoted side.

We've heard this before already this summer. QPR were interested. And then they weren't. And now I guess they are again. Sigh. It's a story that I'm sure won't go away because we Villa fans aren't allowed to have nice things I guess.

Vlaar, in case you're forgetting, had one of the very best World Cups of any player in the tournament. Take away his shootout miss (and the question still remains: why was he taking that shot?) and it was a nearly flawless run of matches. Concrete Ron showed the poise and leadership for the Netherlands that he did all last season with Aston Villa.

But now 'Arry wants him, and that annoys me. It annoys me because there is a good chance that there isn't much to the rumour (why would Vlaar leave Villa for QPR? Manchester United, sure. QPR, that doesn't make much sense). It annoys me because we wouldn't have to be hearing this dreck if he had just been given a contract extension. And it annoys me for the aforementioned problem that it seems as if Villa are never allowed to have nice things.

Vlaar is away from Villa for another couple of weeks as he rests up from the World Cup, but it would be great to see this put to bed somehow. Extending him would be the best option, but if that's not going to happen and a sale occurs (which Paul Lambert has said won't happen, but hey he's been wrong before) let it be quick so Villa can prepare without him.

If we had to have one parallel to last summer, why did it have to be this one?