After a long-term injury the kept him out for over a year, Tyrone Mings’ stock has dropped in recent seasons, since the former Ipswich defender signed for Bournemouth for a circa £8m fee.
The 25-year-old has only played 19 times in four full seasons with the Cherries, featuring principally as a centre-back, after beginning his career more in the left-back position.
The long-term knee injury he picked up on 29 August 2015, didn’t see him return to first team action for Bournemouth until 7 January 2017.
Since, the six foot five Mings is probably best know as the man that got banned for five games by the FA for stamping on Zlatan Ibrahimović’s head.
Time to bring back this video of Tyrone Mings hitting Zlatan Ibrahimovic with the Seth Rollins curb stomp
— Ryan¹⁰ ???? (@Ryxn_AVFC) January 31, 2019
The sort of bastard we need in that defence ???? pic.twitter.com/vCm2ulDeTC
Trend of Past Glory Gamble?
The player seems to follow the trend of Villa’s recent loan signings, where the club have gambled on a player’s past promise, despite them recently being largely inactive in terms of first team football, due to injury lay-offs and not being selected.
Yannick Bolasie was such a loan signing and so was Smith’s recent defensive loan-signing Kortney Hause.
Like Hause, Villa have a clause to give them the option of signing the Cherries defender on a permanent deal at the end of the season – if they match the value of the highest offer from another club.
At least that means that Bodymoor Heath won’t continue acting as a rehabilitation centre for other club’s players.
Match Ready?
The big question, after recent disappointments with Bolasie and Hause in terms of their ‘out of the box’ lack of match fitness, is if Tings is ready to play straight away?
After only two starts and three substitute appearances for Bournemouth this season, you’d potentially expect the kind of rust that Hause demonstrated on his Villa debut.
With games fast running out, it would be good for the player to have a positive impact on strengthening the defence from the off, rather than been drip fed into the team.
When it comes to the defence, Villa certainly need players to strengthen the starting eleven as a whole team unit.
Will Tings do that?
Potential
Well, for starters, along with Haus, Smith now certainly has proper options in all positions, in terms of fielding a balanced backline.
How quickly the Villa Head Coach can bed down an effective backline remains to be seen though.
Certainly if Tings becomes a starter he will add a much needed physicality to Villa’s back four with his height. He should be a threat at set pieces at the other end too.
Ultimately though, it’s the hard evidence of what he can do on the pitch that will count, but at least Smith today suggested he’ll be straight into the squad for the trip to Reading.
UTV
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Well he looked decent today. Shame about the rest. 3 defenders one not till next year, one has not been on pitch yet plus injury prone mings. Hopefully one will work out. But our signings for the last 4 seasons have been unbelievable disasters. Only Abraham snodgrass Terry and McGinn have been any good. That leaves another 40 who have been dreadful. Injuries, No form, con men who just pick up silly wages, they come here and turn to shite. Maybe we are due a good un or 2. But if the laonees come good they will be gone elsewhere. With the playoffs looking more remote every game its not been a good policy has it. We have wasted 100m in transfers and 3 times that in wages in the last few years and we can’t beat Reading!
We should have just played kids now the seasons dead. Developed our own for a change.