With the win against Fulham, Aston Villa moved a step closer to safety. With the table being so tight, whilst Villa are only eight points clear of the bottom five, they are also 11 points off six, coincidentally the same amount of points as we are from sixth.
Now before anyone says “We’re not going to finish sixth”, don’t worry – I know. I’m sure many of you would suggest such an improvement would be nigh on impossible, coming as it does with only ten games to play. That said though, in order for Villa to succumb to relegation, a fate mentioned regularly by many fans, an altogether more unlikely event would have to occur – for three of the teams below us to all take 11 points more than us by the end of the season and I would say that was little short of impossible.
There has been lots of panic this season so, in that sense, it’s not been far off last year’s effort. Many fans have said we are doomed, that we would invariably fall out of the league, possibly bankrupt, without so much as a whimper, as though Villa’s timid efforts were little in the face of such strong competition from those around behemoths in the league. Yes, you know the footballing colossuses I speak of – Wolverhampton Wanderers, QPR, Blackburn, Wigan, and Bolton. I’m shaking, I’m shaking.
The reality of Villa’s “plight” is slightly different though. Whilst it has been all too easy for the media to stir the troubles at the club – after all, a good story sells, even if it’s a lie, right? – Villa are probably no worse off than they were last season in real terms, with the difference being they haven’t had to spend £30m in January to stay up.
Alex McLeish – Actually Better Than Gerard Houllier
So, to that end, Alex McLeish has done, and is doing a better job than Gerard Houllier was. This often perpetuate fallacy that Houllier’s football was somehow better is really little short of nonsense. Supporters of Houllier suggested that his ethos was different, promoting as it did a passing games.
Well lads, passing game or not, last season was stressful enough to nearly kill our former manager, and the dressing room was a hell of a mess too. Before McLeish had even been looked at as manager, no end of players came forwards to say just how awful the past regime had been, with players stating that should the Frenchman have stayed on as manager, they had no intention of doing so. So would he have played the youth, especially since McLeish actually has more evidence of playing youngsters more often?
Supporters of Houllier’s stance would argue that the players he had fallen out with were ones who had no real long term future at the club, as though such an attitude validates treating individuals in a manner than makes team morale implode. Sure, many can say that the antics of Richard Dunne and James Collins were poor form, but it wasn’t just that pair suggesting the period was poor. Even our star fan/player Gabby Agbonlahor said he was fed up under the regime and would have moved on – that’s the kind of soundbite that makes any real fan’s ears perk up.
By comparison, for all the woes on the pitch, the team are still behind the current manager. In fact, even saying “the woes on the pitch” sounds slightly disingenuous given the fact that Villa are just six points behind high spending Liverpool, although the team from the North West do have a game in hand.
Play The Kids – They’re The Future, Right?
Anyway, to get to my actual point, many are suggesting that once we are “safe” – and that seems likely to be well before the usual “magic” number of 40 points – we should start playing the kids. After all, many of the senior team need to be replaced, so why not?
Such an argument is a tad simplistic if nothing else. Yes, there is a solid argument to suggest that players such as Gary Gardner and Barry Bannan have more future Villa games to look forward to compared to Stiliyan Petrov, but that is largely due to their ages than anything else. If Petrov was six years younger, and Bannan was the age and ability he is at present, the young Scot wouldn’t even cross my mind as a pick.
I’ll agree that in certain positions, there are advantages to letting the youth take places in the first team. The injury problems up front would be readily sorted if Andreas Weimann’s selection meant Agbonlahor having some time to shake off his niggling injury issues, and the selection of Gardner could, in theory, provide a more long term view than Petrov or Heskey might offer in midfield.
The reality though is that little change is needed. Yes, Villa could decide to essentially switch out the “old guard” in favour of young talent, but is there much significant advantage? Yes, the likes of Bannan and Clark could get more games as a result, but where’s the ambition there? After all, for many who suggested McLeish was being too laid back by supposedly playing for draws, don’t you think there is a benefit to just picking the best team out there to get as high up the league as possible? Strange concept, I know.
When You Can Sink Or Swim, You Must Realise Sinking Is A Possibility
That isn’t to say that selecting some of the players in roles isn’t going to happen, rather that I think fans underestimate the issues that might arise from just throwing the youth in. What happens if such wholesale changes mean a long series of heavy defeats? Is that going to inspire confidence in the youngsters, or merely paint out in black and white that they may well not be good enough? Why risk their development just to prove some naive point that the youth are our future when, most of the time, success comes from more than just academy products.
Some of the crop of youngsters will invariably make their mark and have a long term future at the club, but I would imagine at least half won’t. As sentimental as it might be to imagine a fully academy produced XI competing in the Premier League, the reality is that all the players aren’t that good. Some have the potential to be, and some may well become the good players we hope, but many won’t – that isn’t bias or negativity, it is just basic probability.
So whilst many might think wholesale changes to the team to play the youth might be wise, I would still recommend caution. Supporters might suggest any new manager would obviously prefer our youngsters to the current senior team, but who’s to say that any new manager would want to play the youth, especially if the manager changes and the expected spending begins come August 2012.
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