If you sat near me in the lower Trinity for the last two seasons you would know that I am not a big John Carew fan. I am actually one of the few who prefer to see Emile Heskey play over Carew - but maybe I was a little too quick to discard Carew.
Carew was in one of his moods against Walsall on Tuesday night and okay, it was only Walsall, but nobody could get near him. The ball stuck to his foot like chewing gum to a shoe.
He looked the complete striker; full of tricks and he even showed some pace. So is John Carew the answer to the Villa striking dilemma and is it worth giving him another season to prove that he really is a top class striker?
I am not sure he is the 'main man' and still have doubts that he can play the lone striker role; a role that Gabby plays so well. But if Gabby and Carew both played thirty plus games, I am pretty sure Carew would score the more goals.
The Fonz
One thing I do know is that Martin O'Neill must give Nathan Delfouneso a lot more time on the pitch this season.
The comments coming from France during the U19's tournament all seem to suggest that England’s only real star was Delfouneso. At least two 'football experts' said he was the only England player who would get into the Spanish team. We have a potential star in Nathan and we now need to start to let him blossom.
Actually, the more I think about it the more I start to think that we have the ideal combination of strikers in the four we have. Two target men in Carew and Heskey, exceptional pace in Gabby and the silky skills of Nathan. These four give us so many combinations; it could be lone striker or a pair and we also have lots of ways we can change it from the bench.
So, yes, I think Carew deserves another chance and I would be happy to see no changes to the Aston Villa strike force for this season coming.