New contract to seal Nigel Reo-Coker's change of fortunes at Aston Villa

Reo-Coker has also been made stand-in captain in the absence of the injured Stiliyan Petrov. Petrov, the club captain, suffered a partial tear to his medial ligament during the first half of Villa's 1-0 loss to Sunderland on Saturday and, depending on how his appointment with the specialist in London goes tomorrow, could face surgery.
Houllier admitted that the damage has been classified grade three, the worst-case scenario. One man’s loss is another man’s gain, though, and Petrov’s absence will give Reo-Coker an opportunity to solidify his position in the centre of the Villa midfield. It is a situation that would have been unthinkable this time last year, after Reo-Coker had sported his fives in a training ground contretemps with Martin O’Neill.
O'Neill informed the 26-year-old and his agent at a meeting in the summer that he was free to approach other clubs, but his opportunities at the club have been revived by the arrival of Houllier. Reo-Coker's performances this season have been superb, as recognised by 10,000 supporters who spent their half-term Monday morning watching their team in an open training session at Villa Park.
More important to Reo-Coker than picking up the captaincy, however, will be that, after some to-ing and fro-ing, the club has signalled its intention to extend his contract, which expires in the summer.
“Yes, I hope he will stay with us,” Houllier said. “It’s too early to say but [chief executive] Paul Faulkner has started to have talks with his agent. But he knows I want to keep him.” Houllier has been hugely impressed with Reo-Coker’s attitude since arriving at Villa Park, but he said that it is important for the player to continue to work hard and prove that picking up a new contract was not the end goal.
The Frenchman said: “You have to be careful when you give good contracts to players. I know that will be a story tomorrow. But you don’t want a player, once he has a contract, to get back into a sort of comfort zone, put a bit of weight on sometimes and not work as much. You have to make sure the contract is not the end in itself. It must the start of a fighting experience to win things for the club. If you give a contract to a player it means you trust him for the future. I just want fighters.”
yyySteve Sidwell, who like Reo-Coker was sidelined under O’Neill, will be given his chance tomorrow night against Burnley in the fourth round of the Carling Cup. “He will play,” Houllier said. “It is a chance. I know what he is capable of. He had a bit of a niggle with his achilles tendon but that seems to be okay.”
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