I've always liked Jack and thought more of him than other players because he was a local lad and Aston Villa was his Club. And if you took Emi Martínez out of our side, he'd have been the player of the season for me last time out, despite the time out injured.
And I was really looking forward to seeing Jack develop even further this season with some very good players coming in. But it's now confirmed that this wont be happening. Jack could have become something special for us but he's decided to leave us and ply his trade for Manchester City.
It's not going to pretty because Jack has decided to leave us to win plasticware, less than a year after making us believe something else. I shouldn't have written that part about plasticware and I could have deleted it but my point is that Manchester City will win it without Jack and while I understand his desire to win silverware, he's not really winning it or contributing .. it was always going to happen.
But good luck Jack, I mean it. It couldn't have been an easy decision and it's sad that you'll not become the player you could have become at Aston Villa and in football, but this is what you want to do and you've got it. I hope it works out for you and that in ten or twenty years you don't feel like you made a mistake.
I don't think he will, because this is the new game and in this new game, there are different rules. And while I'm not sure it's the game I signed up for and I've been saying this for years, it is clear that the goal posts are always moving.
And this new game is broken and we don't have the right people in it trying to fix it. It's basically no longer a game, it's a business that just happens to be a sport and we are no longer the supporters, we're just customers. We have no say and we mean very little, if anything.
It also confirms for me, without doubt that you cant believe anything that a football player says and by association the Club.
But this is now done and it is something that surprised me, because I thought Jack was different. I wont be surprised again.
But I want to end this post on a positive and it's this; football is a team game and right now we have a very exciting team coming together and owners that appear up for it. Jack would have made this side stronger on paper, but it's also about what happens as a team. Jack is no doubt special, but as a team, we can be better.
I'm looking forward to this season and I'm looking forward to people stepping up. The future is bright for Aston Villa, it really is and Jack, well Jack is now a blue. How things change.