A few weeks ago I wrote that our future was teetering on the edge of a crevasse. That salvation would be ours if we managed to sneak past it. We didn’t, we fell. We now find ourselves staring oblivion in the face.
We have witnessed what must be the worst run of form in living memory. We’ve conceded 15 goals from set pieces so far. 25 last season, the worst in the league, with 27 the season before. What a miserable statistic. Instead of being stopped, if anything this rot has spread under Lambert’s reign.
We’ve now dropped to 19th with some very tough fixtures against Everton (a 3-3 draw), Arsenal, and City. What’s more the teams around us are playing well and getting results with many of them strengthening in the window. Even the most optimistic amongst us has to accept we are looking like 20th is the most likely outcome for us.
Danny Shittu sums up our problems beautifully: “vulnerable”, “their guys were small’, and “they gave us time to play”. We are truly woeful without possession. We can attack and are almost acceptable when in possession, but without the ball the opposition have a field day. We make it easy for them. This has to stop. How the players and manager haven’t responded to this by actively changing things so we can make it hard for teams to keep the ball is very surprising. It’s almost like they haven’t realised what is obvious to everyone else.
Which brings me to our once beloved Sugar Daddy. The man that seems to be happy to see us left for dead. To date I’ve defended Lerner. After all, at first he could do no wrong. After he bagged his trophy wife, Mrs O’Neill, and was still in the first throes of love he lavished her with gifts, he trusted her. He even got a tattoo on his ankle to prove his love. But when her spending got out of hand and he starting finding expensive boxes of shoes hidden away that weren’t even being worn, he did what any sensible man would do; he understandably cut up the credit cards and asked her for prudence. But much to his dismay she threw a tantrum and walked out, left him in a terrible situation and broke his heart in the process.
Ever since, his love affair with Villa has been strained and tainted. He has made mistake after mistake. His £200m+ investment is evidence of his commitment and I genuinely believe was well intentioned. But nonetheless, he has proved himself to be a fool. Failing to invest in talented young players now, investments that will only increase in value, makes no sense whatsoever. When the parasites finally move onto new host bodies, we’ll need the young and hungry players of Lambert’s ilk to replace them. Why wait and risk relegation when they can instead be given time to gel and save us from the Championship?
Blame doesn’t help but if we are going to throw it around, most of it belongs in his camp. He was a fool to trust Mrs O’Neill and he’s been a fool ever since. His only saving grace is the support he’s shown Lambert, keeping us on the only path available to us, even if that path does lead us, for a while at least, into the Championship
I’m comforted by the knowledge that there is a point at which alcoholics and addicts can sink no lower. It’s when they hit rock bottom. This can shock them into recovery. I’m not sure if we’ve hit rock bottom yet; we could still have much further to fall, and with just 14 games left time is running out for us. At the moment hope seems lost. We are weak and fragile. But life is full of incredible survival stories.
Anyone that has watched or read “Touching the Void” will remember the incredible story of Joe Simpson. Whilst climbing in remote Peruvian Andes he slipped and broke at the summit. Despite heroic efforts to save him he was cut loose and fell over 150 ft into a crevasse, left for dead. But somehow against all the odds he survived the fall picked himself up only to find a side wards route out. After three days and nights of dragging his tired and broken body across five miles of treacherous glacier without food, water, or company, he eventually found safety.
The crevasse we find ourselves in is without a doubt very deep and dark. But it’s not insurmountable, there is a route out. If we can find just a fraction of the determination and desire that Joe Simpson demonstrated then survival is still very possible. It’s not much, but if hope is all we have, then hope is what I’m going to cling to. The hope that we’ll hit rock bottom before it’s too late and begin our own crawl to safety.
The Author
