Villa chief plots fresh changes

Paul Lambert is set to overhaul the scouting network at Aston Villa as he looks to earmark some future signings.

Lambert, who was drafted in as Alex McLeish's successor at Villa Park this summer has already sanctioned the departure of head of scouting Paul Montgomery and senior talent-spotters Glenn Roeder and Artur Numan.
And, while the Scot has his own immediate transfer targets, he is also looking to appoint his own trusted scouts into the Villa backroom team in the near future.
Lambert's main target is to bring in Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa, who were his assistant and head of football operations respectively at Norwich.
However, the Canaries have insisted that both men remain part of their plans at Carrow Road under new boss Chris Hughton, so Lambert might have to look for alternative options unless Villa chairman Randy Lerner and chief executive Paul Faulkner can come to an agreement with the Norfolk outfit.