Good opinion piece on Villa departing prematurely here:
http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/10/23/melbourne-cit...
Other articles and forum posts I've read suggest Melbourne City knew Villa was leaving early some time ago but didn't make it public to con fans into buying season tickets and merchandise.
Dishonest - and City Football Group who own Melbourne City and New York City are treating Melbourne City and the A-League with contempt.
Reports suggest it's unlikely Villa will return at all in December now as previously speculated.
From the above link:
Melbourne City should have been upfront about David Villa
Columnist
By Vince Rugari, 23 Oct 2014
"While loan deals are cancelled prematurely as a matter of course in football, this is not your ordinary loan. For one, Melbourne and New York share 80 per cent of the same corporate DNA. And it’s not like Villa is going back to his parent club to play games, or even train – pre-season doesn’t start until late January, and NYC won’t play their first game until March. That’s why the full quota of games were expected from him – what else was he going to do with himself until then? The calendars matched up perfectly in a rare win-win...
...That any ‘promotional’ work in New York is considered more important to the City Football Group than building a fan-base in Melbourne feels a little disrespectful. There is more money to be made in New York, but there is more work to do in Melbourne. The stench of the Heart still lingers with every game City dominates and fails to win. Everyone wants this reborn club to stick the landing, and having Villa on deck until Christmas would go a long way to ensuring that.
Just four games? Not enough. Villa is entitled to go back and check on his family, if that’s what he wants to do – and man, it must be tough settling into a place like New York on a World Cup winner’s wage. However, if the Melbourne arm of the sky blue empire knew all along that he would go back this early, even if it’s only temporary, they should have been clear and let their fans know it was on the cards.
Honesty is always the best policy, and in this instance, it would have placed an even greater importance upon each of his appearances. By holding this information back, by speaking in maybes and possibilities, the club has used up some of its goodwill, and many fans have been left with a bad taste in their mouths."
