This evening, Villa take a trip to London hoping to do what Alex McLeish couldn’t do last time he made the trip to White Hart Lane – win.
After suffering the ignonimy of a last day execution which put McLeish’s then Birmingham side through the trapdoor into the Championship, it will be high on McLeish’s agenda to put together a performance that can glean sufficiently more than zero points.
The quandary, however, is whether McLeish will defend or attack. As many of us would suggest, man for man, Spurs are a better squad than us at present. That isn’t meant to be a derisory stab at the current squad, merely suggesting that where Spurs’ investment proved fruitful under Redknapp, the same expenditure didn’t work out as well for Villa.
So given that Spurs do have more quality in the squad, the choice is either attempting to defend deep and go for a point, or throw caution to the wind and go for all three. I would imagine the two wins this season might provide a compelling argument for the former option in terms of what McLeish will do. Surprise me Alex.
Tough Decisions
The main problem with such choices for any manager is that if their preferred tactic fails to win, then they will be lambasted. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, as their tactics are their choices, but it does provide something of an easy option for those with sharpened knives.
Those who are retiscent to give McLeish breathing space at present will argue, perhaps justifiably, that the tactics aren’t working after being in eighth position after a fairly pedestrian start to the season, with points dropped during many games.
Those who are supportive of McLeish, even if it is a begrudging manner, will suggest that results do not always go to plan, and this season is becoming a continuation of the last, not in terms of Aston Villa specifically, but in the sense that games are far more competitive on the day in recent times.
Arsenal have lost to Blackburn this year. Manchester United have been thumped harder at home than Villa were at Eastlands. Liverpool beat Villas-Boas’ Chelsea on Sunday. It’s no longer predictable. Which is, arguably, more interesting in terms of competitive football.
Doesn’t Competition Make Things A Little More Interesting
So does Blackburn’s triumph over Arsenal make Steve Kean an astute tactician? Is Sir Alex Ferguson in danger of being sacked? Have Chelsea got things wrong choosing who they have as manager?
The answer to all three questions are, of course, no. As the saying goes, “one swallow doesn’t make a summer”, and things have to be judged in context.
As fans, we have to realise that football is like life. It’s not going to be perfect 100% of the time, and a lot of your experiences are going to be governed by your viewpoint. Consider your life to be a travesty, and it will become that. Consider it to be better and it will, in perception terms, appear more tolerable.
Life itself throws up many obstacles for us on regular occasion. Whether our “bad” perceptions have come from health issues, job losses, marriage breakups, or any other perceived “bad” experience, the fact remains that we can make the most of it.
I’m not for one second suggesting that we all join hands and start singing “Kum Ba Yah” round the campfire and then go on a hugfest whilst wearing tie-dyed clothing. What I am going for is something a little more balanced.
There’s a reason why we perceive that Aston Villa’s plight as to be magnified – it belongs to us. As fans, we see things that are happening, and we treat them like personal slights on our own lives.
“How dare Randy stay quiet!”, “How dare he drop the prices of tickets now I bought mine in advance!”, or “How dare he appoint McLeish!” are just three of the statements that personify how we, as fans, have felt aggrieved that things have not worked out well for us.
I’ve personally felt frustrated and angry because at least some of those sayings have caused me to get that way but, underneath it all, I know that it is just feeling that way because I perceive Aston Villa as “my” club. I’m a human being, not an automaton, so I get irked just like everyone else.
However,do you think, even for a second, that fans of other clubs are constantly excited and happy every week because they are always winning? Even Manchester City fans complain, it just happens to be about different things.
Which is essentially what we need to move forwards – context. Don’t accept mediocrity and pack everything in because things aren’t going well in the Premier League for us in recent years. It’s amazing how a lot of football in this country is perceived under a Premier League-centric view, just like many of our lives are judged under our own relative parameters.
Yes, we finished 9th last season and, for some at least, it was viewed as underperforming. Is it really though? What tells us that it is?
Do you not think there are clubs that have had proud histories that are further down the table than that? Further down the leagues than that? Of course there are, and that is what we have to realise – just because something bad happens to “us”, it doesn’t make it personal.
Appointing McLeish may not have been what we perceive as the best option, but it was done because Randy Lerner and Paul Faulkner thought he was the right man to take Villa forwards. Contrary to how some think, it wasn’t done deliberately to irritate fans and alienate them. It may appear that way but appearances can be deceptive. Randy did was he thought was right, even if it turns out to be wrong.
That isn’t to say Randy was right or wrong though. Far from it, but such decisions are subjective and, just like every other subjective opinion based belief, they will provoke arguments and debate. Is it “right” to appoint McLeish? Only results will prove that over an extended period and, to that extent, time will tell.
If McLeish does badly, then Randy will have to be a man and hold his hands up and say he got it wrong. He admitted in his interview this weekend that he could communicate better, so he isn’t an arrogant fool who knows nothing.
However, if McLeish does do well in the end, as unlikely as that might seem for many of us now, we need to be man enough to admit we were wrong too.
The future’s not been written yet so lets hope we see a few surprises and it gets better.
The Author
