First things first: 0-0 draw away to Fulham to open the season. Fine by me. Points are points, and this just ensures we’ll take at least two, and probably four, of the six points on offer against Fulham this season. Given our atrocious away goals-against tally last season, a clean sheet on the road is no small thing.
No, it wasn’t a win. And Heskey and Gabby were starting, as we suspected, leaving us still to see our strongest XI on the pitch to start a game. Due to technical difficulties I couldn’t see the whole game, so I’ll keep my gob shut and just leave it at that.
Well, maybe I won’t. I want a different starting lineup, even if I think I know what McLeish is wanting to do. He’s trying to put the strongest, most experienced XI on the pitch. He’s trying to keep certain players interested and vested. He’s trying to ease the burden on Albrighton and Bannan.
I don’t think the lineup will stay the way we saw it. I think certain players are going to play themselves in or out of the lineup, and as it stands, certain players are playing themselves out of it, to my mind.
I don’t think Heskey and Gabby are going to deliver much joy for us in this formation. But I understand giving them a chance, keeping them engaged and involved. I understand the rotation taking place. And I think giving them a fair crack to start off with isn’t the worst idea in terms of psychology and getting the squad together. It may not be a productive idea, but we can only watch and see what McLeish does over the course of several matches. While a 0-0 draw is not a lot to hang one’s hat on, we could’ve started worse.
The Letter
The thing that’s really getting my goat is the widespread condemnation of Lerner’s letter to season-ticket holders.
The negative reaction is out of order, even if it is popular.
Randy Lerner quite sensibly said Thank You, acknowledged last season’s difficulties, and then said something significant: He wants to make Villa one of Europe’s top-20 revenue producers.
Given the way FFP is structured, this can only be good news. It can only be a sensible ambition. When clubs are limited in their spending relative to their turnover, only a fool would would read anything negative into this stated intention.
It’s a positive statement: Make sure the club is in position to compete, and compete with the elite, under the new rules.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Lerner is not a fool. He knows more about money than the rest of us put together. He hires a manager, and he backs him. Disagree with the choice if you like, but he’s made a decision, and he’s not going to apologize for it. And that’s as it should be. He has nothing to apologize for. It’s his money, his club, his choice.
Many didn’t like the choice. But it’s Lerner’s to make, and he made it. That’s not an insult. He wants the club to be successful, if only for the money he’s sunk into it.
Perhaps you disagree. Me, I think Lerner gave O’Neill enough rope to hang himself, and although we were flirting with the top flight, he could see a poor foundation was being laid. He stepped in having seen enough of O’Neill’s dealings. He’d taken MON at his word, and gave him free rein for long enough to see that MON wasn’t building sensibly or sustainably. MON walked when he was called to account.
You can buy into this idea that Lerner should’ve done something earlier. Me, I think he stepped in at about the right time.
But some are moaning and griping and angry that a billionaire owner didn’t address transfers, or the youth policy, or all kinds of other inane criticisms. What do you think he’s really going to say? He’s never going to address those kinds of specifics. And he shouldn’t. He doesn’t have to, nor should he feel compelled to.
Making sure Villa are able to compete under FFP should be Lerner’s top priority. And the letter very specifically addressed that.
I know what I’ll hear in response. But his statement contained the nugget, missed or deliberately misconstrued by almost everyone, that points you toward what he wants for Vila: A club that brings in enough money to be ranked among Europe’s top-flight clubs, a club that therefore can operate under FFP.
For me, it’s time to get off Lerner’s back. He’s not an idiot. He owns a much more valuable and complex organization in the Browns, and he does the same thing there: Hire people who are supposed to know what they’re doing, and leave the details to them. If they screw up, he fires them.
Villans can’t have it both ways. If you want Lerner to interfere, then say so. People say “He doesn’t know football.” Well, I’m sorry to say, but football isn’t that complicated. Eleven men trying to get the ball in the other net more often than they let it in their net. Lerner understand this, I feel safe in saying. And he’s going to leave the valuation of talent and needs in the hands of the manager he appoints. You might criticize the appointment, and that’s fair.
But it’s his appointment to make, and he stands to lose much more than any of us do.
The Author
