It was a fresh start for Aston Villa after the mediocrity of a season under Alex McLeish who was sacked and replaced with Paul Lambert ahead of the 2012/13 campaign.

To banish the days of mid-table purgatory, the former Norwich City boss was entrusted by chairman Randy Lerner to lead the Midlands club forward.

To do that he had to spend, and add players to a squad that looked stale.

And players arrived in the summer, with one coming right on the cusp of the transfer window closing.

On August 31, 2012, the Villans had a new striker in their ranks.

After a successful spell at League One Chesterfield, Jordan Bowery was snapped up by Lambert on a three-year deal.

The fee involved was believed to be around £500,000for the then 21-year-old’s services.

And upon signing the little-known striker, plenty of Villa fans took to social media to comment on his arrival.

There was somewhat of a mixed response with some feeling the attacker had the potential to be a star while others were not so sure that Bowery was the answer to the mounting problems at Villa Park.

Having completed a deal for the striker, Lambert said to the media afterwards: "He's a good player. The hunger will be there for him; he could surprise a few people.”

After playing four times for former side Chesterfield, scoring once before the move, Bowery would soon be thrust into life as a Premier League footballer.

And his time there went as many might have thought – not very well.

He played 12 times for Villa during his debut season, ten appearances being in the Premier League and the rest in cup competitions, he failed to score that year as they finished 15th.

Another season would come and go without him scoring during the 2013/14 campaign which included a one-month loan to Championship side Doncaster where he would play three games and fail to be on the winning side.

Villa once again finished 15th with the striker making ten more appearances for the club.

Two mediocre seasons where Bowery failed to establish himself would come to an end as Lambert seemingly lost patience with the striker who was sold to Rotherham in the summer of 2014.

After making just 19 appearances over two seasons, the mixed response at the start proved right in favour of the naysayers who were unsure of who the striker even was, and have probably since forgotten him after an unfavourable time at Villa Park.