Cahill and Ridgewell would be great, says McLeish

Jan 21 2008 By Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

GARY Cahill and Liam Ridgewell would make a perfect pair, Alex McLeish has admitted.

The Blues boss was today hoping to arrange talks with the £4 million-rated Villa centre-half with a view to a signing, either on loan or permanently.

"We would like to bring Gary here if we can, whether it's on a loan or long-term," said McLeish.

"I saw him and Ridgewell together in their Villa days and I thought they had a good young partnership.

"They had that wee bit of hunger about them as well.

"I've seen that in Ridgewell since he's come here. I see a very good centre-half in Ridgewell and I believe Cahill is of similar qualities. That pairing together I think would be a good force."

McLeish revealed that he has spoken with Cahill's agent.

"I can speak to the player and I will advance that this week. I'll try and talk to Gary and his agent and we will see if we can progress it and what they really want to do.

"The bottom line is it's not in their hands or my hands. It is in Martin O'Neill's hands because Martin has indicated a sale would suit him but he also has a few injuries and he has got to look at his squad first and foremost.

"We will respect everything Martin does in this instance and we are still looking at other options.

"If we can get Cahill fine. I can juggle two or three balls in the air but I am also conscious I can bring someone in and then Cahill might suddenly say he is going to come so it's a Catch 22 situation for me."