Aston Villa midfielder Gary Gardner has revealed older brother Craig would prefer a move back to the midlands from Sunderland.
Nineteen-year-old Gary is in constant touch with 25-year-old Craig, who has been linked with a transfer window move to West Brom or Wolves.
He believes former Villa and Birmingham player Craig has found it a wrench to leave the Birmingham area.
Gary Gardner, who made his Premier League debut in the win over Wolves, said: "We still speak every day and we're really close. He came back over last weekend.
"I would love for him to come back to the midlands with Aston Villa and play alongside him but who knows? There are six brothers altogether and we're a close family. We all see each other almost every day. I didn't think Craig realised how hard it would be to pull away from that.
"I think he does find it hard, but he is the type of lad to get his head down and just keep fighting. I am sure he would want to come back to the midlands but he is a Sunderland player at the moment and I'd imagine the fans would want to keep him there."
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I really dont believe Craig is going to be too happy with his little brother making this comment to the media. they love to make something out of nothing which is exactly what this is. Players younger than him are making the best of working away from families and loved ones. I am sure they too are homesick but you dont hear them moaning about it in public, its a job, a well paid job and he should feel blessed he is in this priveledged position. Shut the moaning and get on with it..............
he wont go because he has seen what happend to D Bent !! D bent said he laft safc for a bigger club ???? silly lad got it wrong again didnt he !! got greedy just like he did at spurs and had he stayed he could have been an icon. Gardiner will stay with us and further his career with the biggest club in the n/east SAFC rules
DavidD- there maybe mixed reactions from Villa fans about O'Neill but at this moment in time he's turned around a squad of players who just a few weeks back looked certain relegation material-into a strong top 10 team-I know it's still early days but he's obviously one hell of a motivator. The headline in the above report is rather mis-leading because reading his brother's quotes,at no point does he say he's 'keen' to leave SAFC-just stating the obvious that anyone who's worked/lived away from home can relate to.
Call it a sideways move all you like, Julian, but if he leaves Sunderland in a hurry, you can take that as a comment on Martin O'Neill as well. He knows him of old - and far better than the Villa fans who still think O'Neill was the messiah and want him back.
,.................i spent 10 years travelling with the firm i worked for,... i to was homesick until i started working along sde somebody i new well,,...he had a good working relationship with zigic heading balls back to him for craig to wallop perhaps zigic is sunderlands answer now hes fully fit ,............buster,....gut
I'm not reading too much into this story- a grown bloke on 'x' amount of thousands a week, 2 1/2 hours drive from 'home' ,scoring and playing regular 1st team football under a great manager ! Sounds like some conversation has been taken out of context . No disrespect intended to Villa,but for Gardner to move there from Sunderland would be a sideways move-hardly advancing his career.
Its not Gardner we want its his manager, and you can,t forget some of the comments he made
i was always impressed with the number of goals he scored for blues.
he scored a great goal the other day.
whether he is a top six man i dont know.
He's hardly "great", if hes that homesick let him pi$$ off back, shouldnt have come in the 1st place !!
Good player, but I don't like the way he expressed his hatred for Villa when he was plying his trade over in the slums.
hope this is true. he is such a great player. having both gardners in our midfield and we will cause some problems for a lot of clubs.
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