A draw. Sad as it is to say, did we expect anything more? In fact, many of us expected much less.

Such a belief, or should I say a lack thereof, illustrates how much things have changed at Aston Villa in recent times. Back in the halcyon days where we expected to give most clubs a game, teams like West Bromwich Albion were seen as easy picking. You knew the drill – turn up, play better, take the three points.

Where Villa are nowadays is far from such a situation. Time and time again, we have seen the team slip up. Losses against bigger teams, whilst disappointing all the same, have been far less disappointing than losing point to supposedly lesser teams.

When Villa succumbed to a loss against Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday, many spoke of the beginning of the end, as though this was a team that was on the edge of the abyss, a shadow of the club we used to know.

As it happens, that was partially true. The squad, heavily affected by the sales of key players in recent years, coupled with the chopping and changing of managerial personnel, are more reminiscent of a good Championship team than even a top half Premier League team.

Fortunately, although one shouldn’t tempt fate, a good Championship team may be what Villa need to be next year with relegation still a mathematical possibility. Whilst nobody would want to see our beloved club succumb to such a series of unfortunate results, the path back to the old times is longer than it has been in a long while.

We all know that Alex McLeish must take part of the blame for the mess of what has occurred this season, but he didn’t sell the players that have left our team decimated. Yes, player sales are part of the modern game, but an inability to replace leavers with quality or, in recent times, to replace their numbers at all, means one thing – decline.

Thus, whilst it breaks my heart to see Villa in our current predicament, I am far from surprised by the situation. Randy Lerner, looking on in horror with Paul Faulkner as the Bolton game turned on its head in less than two minutes, has been caught ball watching.

Ideas of making swift financial cuts to get ahead of the game have looked far from sensible in the current era. Getting one’s shop in order is a good thing, but trying to do so in a competitive league whilst other teams continue to progress is a recipe for a backwards slide. Put succinctly – we’ve brought it on ourselves as a club.

Villa may, fortunately, dodge the bullet this season, although such a situation may be more to do with the gross ineptitude of teams that languish below them than a masterplan afoot at Villa Park.

Still, if there is one thing that may prove decisive at the end of the season, it is Villa’s goal difference. Though much have criticised McLeish’s defensive attitude, a far superior goal difference may well be the thread that Villa’s survival hangs from come the end of this campaign.

Many will say that, under a more successful manager, things such as goal differences may not have been relevant, as Villa would be far higher up the league. However, looking at the squad in its current state, I am far from convinced that such a change would be as dramatic as some proclaim.

Next season must bring rebuilding. Whether the club manage to avoid relegation, or sadly succumb to it as Villa malinger in the wrong end of the Premier League table, much needs to be changed.

The manager, seemingly drained of any remaining confidence in him, is a shell. The squad, once filled with talent, is a shadow of its former self.

If Lerner is to get Villa back to former glories, it will cost, and cost heavily. One can only hope that, in the planning phase of the next steps of the club’s development, things are done properly.

Because, forgive me, I can’t endure this kind of situation for eternity as my beloved club twists in the wind, absent of passion or talent.

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