After reading Emile Heskey's comments following England’s defeat in Ukraine on Saturday, fans who attend Aston Villa games regularly will have breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Heskey believes he will need to find a new home in January after making just 5 appearances this season, the majority as a substitute.
And from attending every home game this season, I get the impression that the majority of the boo boys at Villa Park would be willing to drive him to his next club.
During last Monday nights game against Manchester City, Heskey's introduction in the second half didn't exactly trigger an increased level of optimism amongst the Villa faithful.
Heskey's most telling contribution during his stay on the pitch was to collide with his own player, when he had the chance to slide through a team mate for a goal scoring opportunity in injury time.
The jeers and disgust seen around the ground said it all.
Since being signed to boost Villa's Champions League aspirations last January by boss Martin O'Neill, Heskey has managed just 2 goals in 19 appearances.
In that time, his only performance of any repute came against Portsmouth in his debut, where he struck the winning goal and showed signs of developing a promising relationship with fellow England hopeful Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Safe to say that hasn't been the case. Even when selected continuously ahead of fan favourite John Carew last season, Heskey failed to develop any relationship with Agbonlahor. When selected along side Carew, he has looked even worse.
Also in that time, his poor finishing which was highlighted in a recent International against Croatia has blighted both his and Villa's progress.
Despite that, England boss Fabio Capello has picked him consistently, sighting his contribution to the teams overall play.
This attitude directly contradicts Capello's overall ideology that he only picks players who are in form for their respective clubs and has seen him turn his nose up at starting Jermaine Defoe and Agbonlahor, and not even giving a place in the squad to Sunderland's Darren Bent, all of whom have been in fine goal scoring form this season.
Heskey is probably right that he may need to move on to secure his England place, but a message to any potential suitors, beware. The player Capello loves does not turn up 90% of the time at club level. The ability to consistently bully defenders and win headers is not present. Goal scoring is anonymous.
What you are left with is a player who spends more time on his backside, usually down injured, than being a threat in the opposing penalty area.
If that’s what you look for in a Premier League striker, then there is an entire fan base who will give any manager a character reference.
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