Cascarino slams Villa signings.

FORMER claret and blue flop Tony Cascarino has hit out at Villa's summer transfer business by branding Martin O'Neill "The king of signing Mr Average."

Cascarino, who endured an unsuccessful spell at Villa Park in the early 1990s, is underwhelmed by the signings his old club have made during the window.

"Martin O'Neill seems to be the king of signing Mr Average in the transfer market," said Cascarino.

"The fans showed their disgruntlement in the opening-day defeat to Wigan and I think a lot of that stems from the general quality of player O'Neill has been bringing to the club.

"Players like James Collins are hardly going to give the fans a lift. In fact, I'm sure they'd want a bit more than this level of player for the reported pounds 5 million they paid.

"After all, the big centre-half was not even first choice for West Ham, a club I'm sure Villa fans would consider a lower level to themselves.

"The Welshman is another O'Neill recruit signed to literally do a job in the side but Villa fans will wonder why their manager is signing players like this when he has a billionaire owner at his disposal ready to bankroll new additions to the squad."

Cascarino feels Manchester City and Tottenham will steal a march on Villa in the battle for the top four because of O'Neill's uninspiring acquisitions.

"It doesn't send out the right signals to the fans that the club is ambitious to build on last season's sixth position," added Cascarino. "Villa fans are similar to Tottenham fans in the fact they've had great success in the past and are desperate for a return to the glory years of the 1980s. However, with the additions O'Neill has made compared to the giant leap forward made by Spurs and Man City, there can't be too many Villa fans who expect their club to finish any higher than they did last season."