I know the vast majority of Villa supporters, being responsible and loving people, have made out their lists and done their shopping, and besides the usual obligations to family and friends, will be asking for a new manager at the very least.
I have a feeling they’ll be disappointed, and not just due to the fact Christmas inconveniently precedes the January window.
My guess is that Alex McLeish won’t be going anywhere because I don’t think anyone in a decision-making capacity at Villa Park was going to have expected much different than what we’ve seen, despite whatever silliness escapes Paul Faulkner’s mouth.
That’s not an endorsement, just recognition that I think Randy Lerner likely has always known it was going to be a hard slog this year, the sort of calculated gamble that doesn’t make for good PR. A necessary evil, as it were, that’s been there for us to see all along.
Villa host Arsenal on Wednesday, then Stoke and Chelsea away. The optimists among us might hope for a point or two from the nine on offer. The pessimists, or perhaps realists, will see none.
Then as the January window opens, Villa look at a run of games against Swansea, Everton and Wolves, with the Bristol cup-tie thrown in for good measure. All winnable games. All losable games, too, unfortunately.
But given that Villa likely won’t be in the bottom three come January 2nd when Swansea come to B6, Alex McLeish likely won’t be sacked. Villa will be somewhere mid-table, and given Alex McLeish’s remit in this season of retrenchment, the powers that be won’t be terribly fussed. They won’t see a compelling case to change managers during the window, because he’s largely presided over what was, I think, expected all along in general terms.
They’ll also know that Villa fans aren’t particularly happy, but I think that was likely expected, too. You don’t sell on Ashley Young and Stewart Downing and only bring in Charles N’Zogbia and expect that things are going to be terribly exciting, or that Darren Bent is going to have the same supply he did last season. But since this doesn’t make a good particularly strong case for ticket sales, it’s one of those things better left unsaid. Whether Lerner is a football man or not, it wouldn’t have taken more than five minutes to explain to him how Bent operates, and how the sale of two wingers would affect his output. Lerner’s smart enough to take that on board.
I don’t think that means Lerner is playing us for fools, just that it wouldn’t have taken long for him to get the gist of what the cost-cutting measures implied, and certainly signed off on them regardless. He made the sort of business decision that investors would generally take in stride and supporters don’t. Knowing that hanging on was the goal this year isn’t something you build a marketing campaign on, even if you think it’s in the best financial and long-term interests of the club.
Supporters often point to a lack of a plan for the club. I don’t think it’s quite true. The plan has been to cut the wages, move on whichever players could be sold, hang on until the remaining overpaid/poor-value acquisitions have run out their contracts, and try to spend the available funds more wisely in the way Spurs have done going forward. The other part of the plan, being among the top-20 revenue-producing clubs in Europe, has been spoken of. The two go hand-in-hand.
Many like to think that the Houllier and McLeish appointments show Lerner is out of his depth. But the facts surrounding Houllier’s unplanned and unforeseen appointment have been well documented here. And McLeish…well, he was someone known for getting things done without much to work with. And he was willing to take the job knowing the score. Yes, it could say one thing, but it could also simply point to pragmatism.
So, while the festive season isn’t going to seem terribly festive when it comes to Villa, it should be for a multitude of other reasons that are ultimately much more important. Steel yourself for McLeish to remain, and hope that for some reason someone comes in for some of the players holding us back. Then we could hope that McLeish does better than Hutton if he ends up with money to spend. That’s probably the best we can hope for this Christmas.
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If you’d like to hear what Matt had to say about Villa on Sports Tonight Monday evening, click here. Former Villa player Garry Thompson joins host Mike Parry and Gordon Watson talking Villa with Matt.
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