Blame Liverpool: Southampton eyeing move for Villa’s Vlaar

Liverpool are the absolute worst, let's just get that out of the way. And while we Villa fans may be about to hate them, just imagine what it's like to be a Southampton fan. Last season you were one of the surprises of the year. Your team was better than you could've imagined, and it seemed built to have a long, bright future ahead of it. Since then, Liverpool have swooped in and nabbed Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana.

Now they're looking to take yet another bite out of the Saints with their new Luis Suarez money. Brendan Rodgers is not content with the ransacking he's already done in Southampton and now has his eyes on centreal defender Dejan Lovren.

What does this have to do with Villa, you wonder? Well, Southampton's new skipper, Ronald Koeman, has said that should Lovren disappear he may look into grabbing Ron Vlaar from Aston Villa. Now, I'm not really all that worried about Vlaar leaving for Southampton, but given the precarious state of the club any rumour concerning our captain–who played the tournament of his life in Brazil–will make me a bit twitchy. Vlaar would certainly help Soton if they were to lose Lovren, but to be honest he could help nearly any team in the Premier League.

It's not the actuality of this rumour that I'm worried about, but rather the implications. If there's any truth to the idea–even if it never goes through–it means that Aston Villa are now officially below Southampton on the "get screwed over by bigger clubs" totem pole, which is as sure of a sign as any of just how messed up this summer has been for the club.

And the only way this happens is if Liverpool continue treating Southampton as their feeder club. Screw you, Reds. You were almost vaguely likable last year.