Don't feel too bad for us, we knew he was away as our business model now is to try and buy young and sell for a profit to reinvest in the team, he was out of contract next summer so we really need to sell this summer and i think nearly all Hibs fans will be delighted he's got a good move to you guys instead of going along the road to Celtic.
In terms of the player you will be getting, i think the Hibs fan a few posts above covered it quite well however i will chuck my tuppence worth in as well.
He's one of the last of a dying breed of genuine box to box midfielders, midfielders now tend to be pigeon hold into defensive or attacking, I think you'd be hard pushed to tie him down to one role within the midfield although as he moves up levels that discipline may be something he needs to work on. He could do with working on getting more goals from midfield, there have been indications that may be coming but if i had one criticism of him that would probably be it. In our recent European game we were two down at half time, had it not been for John we would have lost that game comfortably IMO. Within the first few minutes of the second half he'd clattered one of there players, won the ball and was a driving force in a match i don't think i'd ever seen before from a Hibs player. He really set the tempo for that second half performance and that's the kind of player he is, he's capable of grabbing a game by the scruff of the neck and driving his team mates forward with him.
Something that maybe hasn't been covered too much is what he can bring to your club off the park. He joined us at a pretty low time in the clubs history but he has been a key figure in improving relations between the players and the fans. He's just a real likeable character that always does a lot to represent the club in a good light. Anyone that has kids will probably find he'll be there favourite player within a few months as he really tries to engage with the club and the younger fans will really take to him, i've no doubt about that.
One last thing i'd comment on is that there is bound to be some scepticism coming from Scotland, IMO our league is on the up and there is a hell of a lot of good players coming from the so called provincial clubs now. Within the last week we've put out a Greek side in Europe, Aberdeen ran Burnley very close, Rangers (who finished 3rd last season) put out there Croatian equivalent and Celtic beat a Norwegian side. I doubt many would grudge spending the money you will be on a Greek, Croatian, English premier league player or a Norwegian so there shouldn't really be too many concerns about where he's coming from.
Anyway, starting to waffle now so I'll leave it at that, All the best for the new season, there's no doubt i and many other Hibs fans will be adopting Villa as our English side for the coming season so hopefully you get back in the Premier League.
