Aston Villa play away this afternoon against a Wolves team far closer to the bottom of the table than they were when meeting at Villa Park.
The home version of the fixture was the first game I took the Mrs to and it gave her the (mis)fortune of witnessing a fairly dull match, and one that Villa really should have won. I must admit that when you’re showing someone you love something else you love then it’s fairly sad when they reply “I’ve seen better atmospheres at a friendly at Celtic Park.” She’s a Celtic fan in case you hadn’t guessed, although I’ve cultivated her love for Villa, even if my father-in-law is a massive Nottingham Forest supporter.
That day, the point that Wolves took in the draw meant they went top of the league, albeit briefly, whilst Villa would have been top had they won. As it currently stands, the league placements are considerably different, some might suggest more realistic, with Villa sitting in 13th, six points and six places ahead of Mick McCarthy’s Wolves who lie in 16th.
Form wise, the teams don’t have much between them. Villa have one more loss than Wolves in the past six games, but have also won one game. Wolves have won none, drawn four, and lost two, Villa, by comparison have won one, drawn two, and lost three. So there’s not much in it, a point in fact in terms of those won from the past six, so it may well be, shock horror, another draw.
The reason it might be a draw is neither Villa or Wolves are bristling with confidence in recent times. Combined with this, Villa also seem regularly unable to keep a clean sheet, so 1-1 might well be a fair result. The only thing that makes me think we may be a bit more capable is the fantastic away support we take to matches, although tomorrow’s performance will require far better performances, especially from those in the wide areas of defence, if Villa are to take anything at all from Molineux.
A Return To Home Or Fools’ Gold?
The game will also be a return to Molyneux for Robbie Keane, a player who burst on to the scene as a youngster back in the 90s. Whether Keane will play or not is in doubt, between a combination of reported lack of match fitness and a tight lipped Alex McLeish. All I can hope is that, if he does play, he gives Villa fans something to smile about.
Keane’s short term loan has come under close scrutiny in recent times, and understandably so, as a player who is only with Aston Villa until the end of February has little time to make any kind of impact at all. In an ideal situation, if one can call it that, Villa fans will be disappointed to see Keane go, hoping that he could have stayed longer and scored more. Should he not find form and fitness though, and it will be another nail in the McLeish coffin, suggesting his transfer dealings may well be more luck than judgement.
Some, although I imagine not many, may think that such a judgement of McLeish’s Villa transfer dealing is somewhat harsh. The reality, however, is that of his six players he has bought or loaned, two have been good, two are still in the balance, and two have performed less than expected.
In Keane’s case, and following on from Robbie’s former team mate Jermaine Jenas, it would point to signs that whatever research is going into loan deals is suitably insufficient. To sign one now injured player, noted for injury proneness, and who will still be being paid by Villa till the end of the season, is unlucky. To sign an apparently unfit Robbie Keane, and I have to say “apparently” as he has been training with Spurs before he came to us and thus shouldn’t be unfit, is yet another oversight. I sometimes think McLeish gets a hard time from fans but, in this instance, it is difficult to defend such short sighted behaviour.
Short Term Thinking Equals A Lack Of Direction
The main “problem”, and I put in quotation marks simply because it is far from clear, is that Aston Villa appear to be operating very much on the short term. Of course, Villa have long term plans to reduce the wage bill, increase turnover, and other such sensible business plans, but their interim management, shall we say the day-to-day, openly leaves much to be desired.
On the face of it, such financial plans are sensible, and needed in the wake of Martin O’Neill’s time at the club, but there have been as many questionable decisions since then that illustrate the attitude on how money is saved is somewhat mixed, skewed between cost saving and apparently unrestrained expenditure in other ways.
For example, the reason many players were either let go or sold in the close season was attributed to the need to save money, something that many may have questioned, but have ultimately had to take as necessary, even if it hasn’t cultivated an interesting environment in the interim. What makes this look strange though are a series of issues – giving Darren Bent a massive lump sum up front unconnected to loyalty was fairly foolish, giving Shay Given a five year contract was somewhat risky, and the signings of two players – Jenas and Hutton – who, at present at least, currently look unfit for purpose – make the club conflicted.
Arguably, such an approach may well bear the hallmarks of an organisation still lacking a “football man” at board level. Whilst there are innumerable points regarding the suitability of a director of football, or other such suitably titled employee, especially in the English game, there might well be argument for one at Villa. In the absence of that, and perhaps more realistically, the scouting process should be far more critical, but also far more expansive in terms of catchment.
Make no mistake about it – buying players isn’t a simple exercise. It isn’t similar to Football Manager, even the latest edition, in that it is often a drawn out process, most of the time without any defined values for things such as transfer fees, or wages that the player might want or be willing to take. It’s not unheard of for transfers to take weeks, sometimes months, of back and forth between clubs, agents, and the player themselves.
Financial aspects aside for a moment though, and the real focus of what would make Villa’s purchases more prudent is a combination of increasing medical analyses, and increased analysis of the targeted players. Medical analysis is a somewhat simple, albeit fairly expensive, well in a visible cost sense, way of ensuring that blips aren’t missed. I struggle to think of many doctors who would look at Jermaine Jenas, for example, and declare him a low risk option. Of course, said judgement was swiftly validated given his injury and subsequent non-playing.
The second aspect of what would make acquisitions better is the development of the scouting talent. Scouts are, in reality, an area you do not want to be scrimping on. Some might suggest that managers can take the role of a scout in some ways, as they often have their own views on who they may or may not want in the team. However, managers will not have the ability to perform the in-depth analysis of a player that a scout may be able to uncover.
That isn’t to say that managers can’t be trusted, simply that scouts have a specific focus, i.e. all they have to do is judge players. Managers, on the other hand, have to do far more – picking the team, managing coaching, and everything else we know. Thus to scrimp on people who pick the talent to come in is ridiculous. Of course, the academy will provide a talent pool of a certain standard, but this is neither exhaustive, nor necessarily of a good enough standard.
A good scout should be able to trail a player for several games, and should have the technical brain to know the difference between a young player who looks great in a League One game, and a young player who will be able to raise his game to that which Villa need him to perform at. Buying a player who great at playing at a League One standard is great if you’re managing in League One. It’s not so great if you manage a Premier League team. Tracking a player is, and should be, a full time job for that particular person, and so to sustain a club of Villa’s proportions, they should also have numerous employees in the department.
Some will suggest that the scouts are not going to be needed all the time, what with transfer windows being limited, or that expenditure may be restricted. However, scouts need not just look at external players, as they should have an eye to help develop the academy players by spotting ability or a lack thereof, as well as being able to perform other tasks, such as scouting opponents, much like Andre Villas-Boas did under Mourinho at Chelsea.
The fact remains though is an effective scouting network may well provide the difference between Aston Villa owning a player who may come back to haunt their former charges, rather than vindicating the sale of any past asset. I hope Robbie Keane can be the former, and kick off his short career with Aston Villa with a goal or two.
The Author
