Dan Bardell blasts ‘bizarre’ Garth Crooks comments about Aston Villa ‘fantasy’
We’re delighted to welcome Sky Sports journalist Dan Bardell as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
Dan Bardell has dismissed the comments by Garth Crooks about the chances of Aston Villa winning the Premier League this season.
Writing on the BBC Sport website on Sunday (10 December), the pundit said talk of Villa claiming the title is “sheer fantasy” as there’s more chance of Prince William taking charge of the club’s remaining fixtures than them being top of the league come May.
Those comments came after the Villans moved up to third in the table after recording back-to-back 1-0 victories over Manchester City and Arsenal at Villa Park.
Bardell admitted that he doesn’t tend to listen to the “bizarre” things Crooks has to say, suggesting it would be more of a “fairytale” than a fantasy if Unai Emery’s side were to win the Premier League this season.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bardell said: “If it’s fantasy for Villa to win the league, then it’s probably fantasy for Man City to win the league who are a place behind them at the moment.
“I don’t tend to listen too much to what Garth Crooks says, it isn’t an opinion I don’t think a lot of, he comes out and says some bizarre things, so I wouldn’t worry too much about what he’s saying.
“I would say it would be a fairytale if Villa were to win the league, but it’s certainly not fantasy at the moment because, if you look at the body of work since Unai Emery’s come into the club and, in 2023, no club has taken more points than Villa other than Man City. That’s a full season’s work.
“I think there’s quite a lot to back up that Villa are a very good team and there’s every chance that they could stay up around the upper echelons of the Premier League.”
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