No major theme to address today, but a handful of stories that are worth touching on briefly.

Firstly, young Nathan Baker, who is currently out on loan at Lincoln, has suffered the embarrassment of being caught trying to sell his allocation of Carling Cup Final tickets on Facebook.  He didn’t actually have the tickets in his hands and not only will he now not be getting them, he won’t be going to Wembley himself either.  He’s also had to issue an apology:-

I have been informed by the club that I will no longer be receiving any tickets for the Carling Cup final and, while I will be sorry not to be able to cheer Aston Villa on at Wembley, I understand and appreciate that it would be inappropriate for me to have these tickets given my actions.

I guess you can chalk this up to a little naivety if you like, but it’s frankly pretty dumb. On the other hand, this isn’t something that could have been an issue for a decade so there’s something slightly refreshing about it. Or maybe that’s just me.

While I’m on the subject of slight transgressions among our more junior players; I think it’s been remiss of me not to provide an update on Isaiah Osbourne, who was arrested at Bodymoor back in October. It irritates me when accusations make the press, but when it proves to be nothing, the follow up is weak. So to practice what I preach; I’m very pleased to say that Osbourne was eventually cleared of any wrong doing.

Sticking with Isaiah for just a moment, he’s actually coming back to the club after a few months on loan at Middlesbrough where Gordon Strachan did seek to extend the loan, but MON apparently wanted him back at Villa. With Gardner gone and Reo-Coker injured, that makes sense.

Stephen Warnock‘s injury seems a little worse than first thought and he’ll be out for at least the next couple of weeks, but could also be a doubt for the Carling Cup Final at the end of the month.  The good news, from that same piece, is that John Carew may be available for the Tottenham game this weekend after suffering a knee injury.

And finally, normally this sort of news round up would be handled by Sali-Salifou, but I’m not sure it’s appropriate to pick that sporadic series back up just yet.  Salifou has been speaking directly to the press for the first time and it’s clearly something that’s deeply affecting him and will stick around for some time.  Understandably so.  The banning of Togo from the ACN is also something he finds repugnant and, again, that’s perfectly understandable.  It must be an incredibly upsetting and confusing time for him.  However, he does appreciate the support he’s received from the club and the fans, so hopefully he’ll be playing again soon.