Aston Villa Football Club News

• Nickname:The Villains
• Founded:1874
• Manager:Alex McLeish

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

O'Neill punishes errant Carew

27 Oct 2008 - 07:38:47

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Aston Villa striker John Carew has been fined for being too tired to feature in last week's UEFA Cup victory over Ajax at Villa Park.

The 29-year-old Norway international had been spotted in a nightclub the evening before the game on Thursday and was left out of O'Neill's starting line-up as a consequence.

However, he responded well by finding the net in the 4-0 victory at Wigan Athletic after coming on as a substitute at the JJB Stadium.

O'Neill said after the comprehensive victory: "John's been disciplined because he breached the rules. He thinks there are mitigating circumstances and I'm always prepared to listen.

"I listened to what he said and then I made a decision. He was wrong, but it's not a problem. He's been disciplined, he's been fined and that's the end of the issue.

"It was a large oversight on his part, so consequently he's been fined. Most of the players in the dressing room are saying it should be doubled!

"John assures me it won't happen again, so I'll believe him. He's been fined pretty heavily as it wasn't the brightest thing to do.

"I think he thought that he wouldn't be playing against Ajax, but he hadn't been told beforehand so he shouldn't have been out.

"It's been dealt with and he assures me it won't happen again. Up until next week I will probably believe it."