On the balance of it, a point was a fair result. Some may think otherwise, but when Niklas Bendtner had the ball in the back of the net, my heart was in my mouth.
Sure, I’ve been saying regularly that Aston Villa will be safe from relegation, and I still think they will be, but it doesn’t stop our collective hearts racing when the ball ends up in the back of our net.
Fortunately for us, Wigan Athletic managed to lose today. I don’t know how I feel about that statement – not so much about whether Wigan won, drew, or lost, but more that we are having to rely on such situations to ensure we survive.
Just like many Villa fans, I’m sure everyone out there feels it is a case of “how the mighty have fallen”. Despite the fact that the club have failed to win anything at all in recent times (for “recent times” read “16 years”), competing at the wrong end of the table doesn’t seem like it suits a club like Villa.
Perhaps our thoughts are delusions of grandeur, as though we are believing of the fact that we deserve more than we currently get. Perhaps they are the result of circumstances and situations around the club for years on end.
At this point, who knows what is wrong, and how to fix it? Sure, the resonating calls for Alex McLeish to fall on his sword may provide some sort of lift should that occur, but it is highly unlikely to be some sort of panacea to our problems – Villa’s issues run far deeper than just this season.
After all, doesn’t this season feel much like last season? Still unsafe from relegation at this point in time, it took two unlikely wins for Villa to pull clear, with a tight table masking issues as the club rose to 9th in the league in only a couple of games.
This season, barring a miraculous win against all of our remaining opponents, it seems Villa will sit 15th or below. There is more of a buffer in terms of points between the clubs above Villa than the ones below them so, to that end, it seems more likely Villa will finish 15th or, potentially, lower.
Such a placing is invariably a disappointment for any fans, and my own predictions of 9th to 12th now seem wildly optimistic. I don’t think this is because I was delusional at the time of making such suggestions, merely that the team has underperformed.
Some of the fault of the team’s underperformance must sit on the manager’s shoulders. McLeish, often quick to seem to want to shift the blame to someone else, must be seen as a failure. Whether the board consider his “failure” significant enough to get rid of the often maligned Glaswegian will depend on his final league placing. Unless I hear otherwise, I would imagine survival would mean his continuation, whilst relegation would mean his sacking. That’s just my opinion though.
Beyond the manager though, the players must accept responsibility for their involvment in a very disappointing campaign. Whilst it would be easy for some to use the manager as their scapegoat, much like several did under Gerard Houllier, one would hope for more from grown men. If McLeish is to be landed with the “Teflon Alex” moniker, surely many players must also take on similar names.
One positive out of the mess that Villa have found themselves in amidst injury crises is the emergence of young talent. However, such an emergence should not be considered adequate reasoning for the club to not spend money, as though the youth can provide a long term answer to problems.
Of course, from the group, there will be players who have longer term futures at the club. Austrian Andreas Weimann seems likely to cement a place in the team, although much will depend on how Darren Bent is after he returns from injury. After all, the emergence of the young Austrian in the Villa squad has relied on Bent’s absence, and his return will illustrate whether an exciting start to Weimann’s senior career will be sufficient to retain a starting place.
The youth will provide much needed bulk to the team because, as with any club that has an effective academy setup, youth play a role in keeping wage costs down, something Randy Lerner has made much fuss over in recent seasons.
Youth are not the sole answer though, despite how proclamations regarding the team may appear from some fans, as even the golden generation at Manchester United were supplemented with experience in order to make things work.
Getting back to the Sunderland game, it was good to see more attacking, especially with a more solid 4-4-2 setup in place. Ball retention was still poor, but the added attacking edge supplied by the players involved in the team made up for it, with Villa looking more threatening in attacking areas than in many other games prior to this one.
There is, of course, much work still to be done at the club, as the current setup – managerially as well as in players teams – is far from perfect. Ideally, the club could do with a total restructure from top to bottom, with a new setup, ethos, and manager to ensure the changes happen. However, such a project is not without risk and could mean another difficult period for Villa next season.
The important question is, should Villa make the change to managing and playing staff in the near future, will the new men get time to build a future for the club, especially if a third simultaneous Premier League finish may beckon? Time will tell.
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