Nigel Reo-Coker: I’m happy here at Villa
VILLA midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker has pledged his immediate future to the club despite suggestions he will look for a move back to London next summer.
Weekend reports claimed Reo-Coker, who only signed for Martin O’Neill last year from West Ham, was ready to turn down a new contract and seek a move to the capital at the end of the season.
But the 24-year-old insists he has not been offered a new deal yet as he still has three years left on his current contract.
And he added he was happy in the Midlands, knowing that London was only 90 minutes away.
As well as that, he made it clear he wanted to be part of an improving Villa side even if that meant re-inventing his role in the team as a utility player rather than solely a central midfielder.
Reo-Coker also admitted he was concerned the reports came in the build-up to Sunday’s game with Chelsea.
“I’m happy, I’m enjoying myself, I’m playing football week in, week out,” Reo-Coker told the Birmingham Mail at the launch of the Heart of Birmingham Teaching Primary Care Trust Children’s Community Food Academy at Villa Park.
“I’m hitting form and that’s all there is to say. If I wasn’t happy I wouldn’t be playing the way I have.
“I owe a lot to the fans since I’ve been here. I’m so grateful for that but I know what they could read into this now.
“Of all the times it could have appeared, it was right before the Chelsea game to disrupt Villa and to disrupt me.
“London is an hour-and-a-half from the Midlands. From a young age, I knew what it took to become a professional footballer.
‘‘You have to live with it, going up and down the country. It is something you have to be open to do. If I didn’t want to leave I wouldn’t have left West Ham. I’m not stupid.”
Reo-Coker admitted he would welcome talks over a new contract, with several of his team-mates agreeing fresh deals.
But he also added that it was up to O’Neill whether he was offered anything.
“I’m not throwing this away, I believe we can achieve something so this has been frustrating when we‘ve been in the top four,” said Reo-Coker.
“I’ve got three years left, so there’s no reason for the manager to give me a new contract. Other players have signed but that’s down to them, some of them only have two years left.
“It’s up to the manager if he wants to offer me a new deal, we haven’t spoken about a contract. It’s something I would welcome and it would be a big compliment, but I’m happy.”
But Reo-Coker revealed he had received little sympathy over the weekend from the jokers among the Villa backroom staff who launched into a Punk Rock classic by The Clash when they read the reports of the player’s supposed desire to head back south.
“The coaches were taking the Mick out of me. They were singing ‘London Calling’ when they saw me,’’ he said.
“I asked them what they were talking about. They told me it was in the papers that I was missing London and burst into song.”
“But they were light-hearted and giving me banter, that shows they don’t take seriously what was said.
“Something’s been made out of nothing. I’m not playing in my central midfield position, but I’m still working hard and putting in a shift.”
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