So Aston Villa won yet again at the weekend against Chicago Fire. With all this winning, it almost seems like some kind of strange dream or, at the very least, an alternative reality when we compare it to how last season unfolded.
Still, despite the wins, and I know I have been vociferous in my statements that pre-season results mean nothing, there’s a certain degree of predictable fan pessimism creeping in amongst some sections of the support.
In times like these, and focusing on the reasons why the fans have this niggling sense of negative reactions, I pose the question – just what is it that some people want? More so, what is it that people expect?
We’ve seen that some transfer deals haven’t come off, though the ones that have come off have largely come out of nowhere before being completed quickly. Those of a pessimistic disposition may well consider the supposed collapse of the Ron Vlaar deal as some kind of harbinger of the apocalypse.
Is it really though? I mean, take a step back from the transfer madness that has many people foaming at the mouth. If a deal collapses, especially when viewed in the context of three positive deals being completed so far, does that really mean the end of the world?
In a word – no. Deals will invariably come up that we do not take on for one reason or another. Remember when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was touted as the next Villa manager? At the time people were caught up in excitement, only to plunge into misery when the deal was called off, with many fans being vocal in their criticism of the board and their pursuit of the next Villa boss.
Fast forward to the time where Paul Lambert was eventually appointed, and things have all gone swimmingly in both the pursuit of our now current manager and in the games Villa have played. Four games, four wins, a reinvigorated squad, and all should be positive, despite it being pre-season.
Just as I’m practicing my usual pragmatism in recommending we don’t get drawn into hyperactivity because we have won games, so it works the same way in terms of not plunging into the depths of despair when things (potentially) go wrong.
On that side of things, is a transfer collapse an indicator of things going wrong? We’ve been linked with Ivan Ramis and that hasn’t happened, and then we’ve been linked with Ron Vlaar for that seemingly to go off the boil.
So what though? I imagine large portions of fans wouldn’t have even known the names of the players we have been linked with before they were bought, let alone being ardent students of their respective careers.
So what if a transfer doesn’t come off – there will be other transfers that do. Lambert won’t get every target he wants so people need to remember he is human and shouldn’t be magnified in stature simply because he is so different to the last man in charge. Lambert isn’t awful if a transfer deal doesn’t come off – he is just a man doing his best, and one whose best seems far better than his predecessor.
I understand the anxiety about not having a particularly solid central defensive partnership, especially in light of the poor performances in the past two seasons, but a) it is not the start of the season yet and b) this rebuilding process we are engaging in will take time.
We must not start engaging in bi-polar realities where one minute all is well and the next we are doomed. If we do, it will only make us miserable when we see missed opportunities as the sole way we choose to analyse our club’s performances – look at the whole picture.
I may well sound like a broken record with my statement that this is a long term project, but the work being undertaken by Paul Lambert and his team is very much set with a long term trajectory. Sure, we can be happy that our new signings all appear to be gelling quickly when they have joined, but our rise back to anything above recent mediocrity will take time – don’t take our games so far as any kind of indicator.
People know this, and they understand it too, which is why is confounds me when the see-saw of emotions seems to have that power to turn some people – and I stress it is a limited number at present – from ecstacy to agony in the space of a few days.
Few can obviously doubt the impact that football can have on our lives as fans, especially those of us who still live in or near Birmingham as we all know how it can feel to arrive at work after a win or a loss, especially against local rivals, and have to deal with the responses from opposition fans.
However, not a single competitive minute of football has happened so far. So we’ve had good wins, good signings, and some transfers that have collapsed. At the worst case of looking at it, that’s more positives than negatives already though fans shouldn’t get carried away either way.
I know it can be challenging when things don’t go perfectly right for the club, especially when magnified emotions are based on transfers of players that don’t occur but, if we are honest with things, it is no reason to be reaching for alcohol in which to drown our sorrows.
Life will be like that, just as it is for each and everyone of us in our personal lives. There is no short term panacea that fixes all our problems that we have in our day-to-day lives, but then Villa have already had more than enough of a tonic to make us feel at least relatively better compared to last season.
Before fans are quick to think the sky is falling down again, consider this from a pragmatic position:
Would you rather be where we are now, even without the central defenders we may well need, or would you rather be flashed back 12 months ago under Alex McLeish?
For any sane fan, the answer will be short and sharp so, with that in mind, though things may not be a utopia at Villa Park just yet, the positive signs and comparable differences to last season should be more than enough to keep all of us on a high.
It may well not be a dream come true just yet but, given the support of the fans – in particular at times of need during the season – this campaign will be far brighter than last year.
Or, amidst some of the need for perspective about the dissent, anxiety, and upset, would you prefer to have McLeish back? I would suggest not. Things could be far worse than a few (potentially) missed chances on transfers.
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