We won on Sunday and whilst it is only one game, there are several people at the club who believe that the tide is about to turn. First in line is the Villa captain, Stiliyan Petrov who believes Aston Villa have “moved to the next level” during time at the club despite the current struggle against relegation. Petrov, who has been with the club for five years this summer, has been a consistent part of the former manager’s squad, with an excellent performance in the last game against Newcastle. Petrov said yesterday:
“We haven’t won anything since I came here but I believe we have moved the club to the next level. I also believe we can get back to being a top team. We’re not in the best of positions right now so we need to get out of trouble and then go again next season. We have some very good players but we haven’t lived up to expectations this season so we are looking to put that right.”
So it seems that there is a positive mood coming from at least one of the members of the dressing room which, one would hope, would point to a marked improvement in result which have, up till now, been regarded as massively disappointing.
It isn’t just the captain singing praises
On top of this, goal scorer James Collins has had a lot to say about Brad Friedel, who was certainly proving his merit as a top class keeper given some of the saves that were required in the last 15 minutes against Newcastle. Collins said:
“Since I came to the club, Brad has been unbelievable week in and week out. He is such a good professional in the way he handles himself off the pitch and he is in the gym every day still at nearly 40. He is a credit to himself and his professional and his professionalism is second to none. I think I will retire before him the way he is going and I’m only 27! He is a world-class keeper and can go on playing. When he is called upon, if he has made 100 saves or no saves in a game, you can always rely on him. He has been doing the same thing for years and years in the Premier League.”
Whether Brad can continue to command the number one jersey next year is still something that is to be seen. Many Villa fans (myself included) have seen him as being at fault for sloppy goals, although one could argue that the problems run deeper than just a goalkeeper, with the midfield injury crisis taking a massive toll on the team. It would seem that getting a newer, younger keeper would be a wise choice on the part of the Villa board, and I am sure we will be linked with many players come the summer.
An unbeaten run to finish
Speaking after the Newcastle game, the manager has also contributed his thoughts saying that success for the club is dependent upon team work and not “egos” as he put it. He said:
“I think we deserved it. We showed desire, commitment and fighting, battling qualities, which are a must in this sort of situation. Maybe we weren’t relaxed enough at times but I think that’s down to the pressure. When you have pressure, the team’s fighting spirit plays a big part. You can’t have egos. The team performance comes above everything else. I thought they all worked for each other. The effort of everyone was fantastic. We knew, even before this game, that we had our fate in our own hands. We started a new league of eight games. This is a new league for us. We know what we want to do and there’s commitment.”
With games against Arsenal away and Liverpool at home to close, perhaps I’m not the only one thinking that eight games unbeaten is an optimistic target, especially after seeing Andy Carroll take Manchester City apart on Monday night. I know on our day we can beat any team, but I will be erring on the side of caution as we go. It is great though to have the manager motivating the staff, as well as adopting a “right now” 4-4-2 rather than a “for the future” 4-2-3-1. Gerard has had his faults over the course of his tenure, but I firmly believe if he keeps us up, he will go on to be a good manager. I, like others on here, do think that we will need to review the performance in November next year, as if we are bottom half at that point then it clearly isn’t going to work out as planned. So it was 3 points on Sunday, and it is West Ham away this weekend. Will we get 3 points this time? I would like to think so, but the bookies have us down as the underdog, so if you fancy a flutter, you can click the link below.
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