Frustration. Again.

It seems, does it not, as though we take a step or two forward and then take one back for apparently no reason other than some kind of cussedness on the part of the manager.

And then we – as long-suffering fans – not only get upset with the performance but use the latest result and experience to bolster our views on what is necessary to happen in the interests of Aston Villa. We want satisfaction – but (un-)fortunately the days of duelling are long gone. No longer can we swipe a glove across the offender’s face and hope to have the matter sorted out (to the death) on some heathland.

But who, exactly, is the offender? Or is there more than one offender?

First, the owner of Aston Villa – Mr. Randolph Lerner. Some say that he should sell up, but it would appear that no-one’s interested in purchasing. His supporters say that he does what is expected; he continues to put funds in to purchase players as needed. The purchases, we are led to believe, result from recommendations by the manager, and the manager has inferred that more money is available should he need to use it.

What do we otherwise want the owner to do? Spurs spent close on £100m this year and yet how close are they to the title and the Champions League? Aston Villa is nowhere near the same financial league as either of the Manchester clubs nor Chelsea, and one or two others besides. But we wonder, understandably, why we’re not up there with Everton. Surely, though, there is no magic formula, and no owner (including Sheikh Mansour) can wave a magic wand to take us back to the achievements of 1981 and 1982.

So let’s concentrate on the manager, putting aside the CEO as his place is tied in with Mr. Lerner’s presence. Paul Faulkner isn’t going to go anywhere as long as Randy remains.

The manager is the only one who’s ever likely to go as things stand. But should he? I would say that the opinion is fairly split on Paul Lambert as manager. Some clearly think he needs to go, while others state we should give him a further chance – until the summer at least, to see what players are recruited. Let’s face it, Lambert was welcomed by a good number of fans when he arrived, so he has to be given a chance I suggest, and as he appears to be signing a new contract something will have to go very wrong indeed for him to be shown the door this year.

Taking into account the fact that he has had to work within an unambitious blueprint set by his boss, has Lambert in fact done much wrong? Firstly, we can’t blame him for our suffering between 2010 and 2012.

Let’s look at the peaks and troughs in the time since 2012.

Summer 2012 to January 2013 – A period of great foreboding, including the conceding of 15 goals in three successive matches in December. But that was after a remarkable win at Anfield, by 3-1. And it was clear that when Vlaar was out of the team that there was a great shortage in defensive skills. This period ended with the bitter and understandable disappointment of being dumped out of the League Cup when it seemed a matter of course that we would get to Wembley.

February 2013 to end of season – With the return of Vlaar and increase in performance from Gabby and CB, the last few months of the season were almost a joy-ride, especially the 6-1 beating of Sunderland. We thought Lambert would be able to build on that. I don’t think there were too many unhappy fans at this point.

Summer 2013 to January 2014 – The manager could clearly see that the centre-back positions were a cause of concern and he bought Okore to remedy that. It was very unfortunate that the promising player has been injured for nearly all the matches so far this season, combined with Vlaar being susceptible to injury. Kozac also became seriously injured after doing well to score 4 goals (at one stage equalling the number scored by CB this season), as well as injury to CB and Gabby. The other signings from the summer and last January have largely failed, but at least the left-back position now looks more secure.

Results-wise, it has been a topsy-turvy season. We have often done remarkably well against the top teams (Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, and even at Chelsea we gave them a difficult game), but those matches have been interspersed with some strange team selections and hoof-football. But in January, after being slung out of the FA Cup by a low-status side, the matches against Liverpool and Albion did bring back a good deal of morale.

We are currently 10th. And we could well maintain that position for the rest of the season.

The players situation is that Vlaar and Gabby have proved to be the real mainstay of the team, with good contributions from Delph and CB (now). Villa’s performances have seriously fallen off when any of those players have not been available.

Yes, we could ask various questions about how Lambert goes about things and the team selections have sometimes been worrying, but, overall and if we were to try to forget the worst experiences, can’t we admit there has been some progress? Furthermore, perhaps Lambert just might sign one or two more in the summer that might answer our criticisms. And Okore will soon be back, as well as Kozac by the summer.

It could be that this time next year we may be feeling quite cheerful, especially if the injuries and yellow cards are kept at bay.

Maybe – just maybe – we expected too much when Randy Lerner arrived.

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