The next game against Sunderland represents the first time that Darren Bent returns to Sunderland after his shock transfer last year. Sadly, Darren seems to be in far different form than that which lead us to buy him last season, but it does prove an opportune moment.

It proves to be a suitable time for Bent to find his form. Of course, Darren is by no means the sole reason Villa are doing badly. When serviced properly at least, Darren Bent is prolific. The problem is that, at present at least, Villa are lacking the supply lines to replicate such delivery.

Now I know I have personally lambasted Bent for his lack of work ethic, and seeming indifference in many matches, but I should put some things straight. Darren Bent isn’t suddenly a player who has stopped having a great work rate, he never had one in the first place. So we shouldn’t feel aggrieved that Bent is failing to score without supply, because that is who Darren Bent is. He’s a poacher.

We knew this when we bought him last year. He worked well because his supply line was coming via Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, and Nigel Reo-Coker. The problem, as is patently obvious, is that none of those player still play for Villa. Cut the supply lines for whatever reason and Bent won’t score as much. It isn’t rocket science.

So there is some case for defending our record signing.

Open Surgery at B6

Which leads me back to why this season is proving to be so challenging. Of course, we can easily lay blame at the feet of McLeish for tactical decisions, but the bloke isn’t the sole reason Villa are underachieving at present. The problem is sales, and enforced ones at that.

Last season was, by all accounts, a total nightmare. The fact that we finished 9th was deceiving. Two games before the end of the season it was still possible for us to go down. We obviously didn’t but it was a warning sign.

It was a warning sign to say “The team isn’t good enough at present” and it needed to be heeded. However, rightly or wrongly depending on your rationality, the choices made didn’t allow the team to be improved, rather the reverse.

Selling Ashley Young & Stewart Downing was supposed to help plug a financial blackhole that has accrued through bad financial management. To that end, there was a justified rationality to what was done but, in football terms at least, the choices were suicidal.

Here was a situation where Villa were starting to get their feet back. Having beaten both Arsenal and Liverpool in the final games of the 10/11 season, the corner may have been turned, even after the awful health issues that blighted the managerial position through that year.

Bent was scoring, the wings were supplying, and all was great.

We Saw It Coming

Of course, come the end of the season, it was no secret that both Young & Downing would be off. Both players had, in their differing ways, made noises to suggest their careers were going to move away from B6. Fair enough in that instance as players look after themselves, but the problem was that they weren’t replaced.

Or should I say, one wasn’t replaced. When Charles N’Zogbia was signed, I felt we had (and still do feel we have) a great player. The issue is that Charles can only play in one role at a time, and he is often played out of position under McLeish.

So even if N’Zogbia performs after his poor start to his Villa career, he can only be on one side of the pitch, not both. Randy, to all intents and purposes, figured that last season’s wonderkid Marc Albrighton could clearly fill in for one of the sold players.

That was a rookie mistake. Villa are hardly new to the game of overhyping youngsters. There are a multitude of players who didn’t make it in the past and, with tactics like those displayed at present, this is only set to continue.

Villa, you see, are not operating like a big club at present in terms of developing youth. Rather they are operating like a team out of ideas. Playing kids is great, ask Manchester United, but they don’t just throw in every prospect as soon as they are available. Gerard Houllier was laying the foundations for this kind of development before his health stopped him from working for Villa.

There was a plan. It may not have yielded instant results like many demand, but it was working towards emulating the way United operate. After all, look at the wealth of talent Alex Ferguson has to develop. Welbeck, Cleverley, Pogba. That’s just three of them.

Look at how he has developed Welbeck and Cleverley though. He had the ability to let these players out on loan, to let them get experience, to not have the fans baying for them to play as the next big thing. Yes, Manchester United are a bigger club than Villa, but the premise is the same. It’s not just a financial difference, it’s a difference between patience and desperation.

United have a great first team so players can slowly be improved. Villa seem to, recently at least, have a series of poor performers in the first team that force fans to desperately look for options. When money isn’t available, like now, then the only replacements we have are the kids.

Fans watch the kids and see them doing well in the reserves league and suddenly every player is our saviour. Bannan, Albrighton, Clark. Herd, Hogg, Baker. To a lesser or greater extent they were either the next big thing or the next reserve who had to step up to the plate through necessity rather than choice.

The reserves league isn’t the Premier League, obviously. Performing well at a lower level doesn’t mean you can get better just because you are young. Everyone has their level of ability, and not every player can play in the Premier League.

So the bottom line is this, if the form doesn’t improve in the near future, then Randy needs to subsidise the situation. Saving money in a hiring a cheaper manager and not replacing key players is a dangerous risk. At the present, the gamble isn’t paying off, so come January, I fully expect Randy to do something about it.

But for now, I’d be happy with a win against Sunderland. Three points are needed sooner or later, and not via three different games.

It’s not the end of the road, or anywhere near it just yet, but the sooner McLeish’s side start winning, the better.

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