Well, Villa certainly like to be unpredictable. Or should that be predictable? If people were to ask what Villa’s points tally might have been from the Swansea and Chelsea matches, pragmatists would have said three points, but few would have guessed the three points would have come away at Chelsea.
The fact remains though that sensibility would have dictated three out of six so, to that end, it isn’t far from what I imagined. We know the story – the season is a challenging one but, even with that knowledge, I would have hoped for more from Villa after the Chelsea game. Perhaps that’s the nature of Villa’s bitter-sweet relationship with us fans – we never keep it going in one direction for too long. Never a dull moment, at least.
So Now What?
With a team that was very similar to the one that faced Chelsea, questions really have to be asked as to what was different today. Albrighton didn’t make the team, with Gabby returning to a wide position with Bent up front. The problem I can see is that tinkering with a winning formula had an impact. Well, partially at least. That and Warnock making a calamitous early error, which meant Villa were on the back foot from, well, the beginning.
As I’ve stipulated before, I actually think the support at home is worse for the team than the away support. It also explains why we seem to do better away from home – free from frustration, and with supporters who will get behind a team whether they are up, down, or anywhere in the middle.
Of course, this isn’t much different to most teams. Every time an away team visits us at Villa Park, I can hear their voices over ours. Ok, part of that might be due to my seating position in the upper part of the (Sir) Doug Ellis Stand, but we haven’t exactly been raising the roof. I imagine some will, perhaps rightly, argue that Villa haven’t given us much to cheer about this season. I can’t really argue with that.
Against Swansea though, McLeish did resist the temptation to slot old favourites back in the team, which I imagine, was greeted with positivity from supporters. We all know Hutton has had some poor form issues recently, so Cuellar playing there was at least a popular fan view.
The fact remains though that football management isn’t, on any level, about appeasing fans with selections as much as we might want to think it is. It’s about winning. Frankly, I don’t care if we play with 11 Emile Heskeys, if we win. I’m easy to satisfy in that sense – win, and I’m happy with it. I don’t need fancy football, just winning football.
Now before anyone suggests that isn’t even the case, trust me, I know. As I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions, there have been periods where Villa’s performances have just been unforgivable, but McLeish is only part of those poor performances. Tottenham away was a great case in point. Bolton in the cup wasn’t much better either. Both involved players not being up for it on any level.
On the face of it, I’m still not overly concerned by Villa’s existing plight. I know it’s not great, and it certainly isn’t on a par with Martin O’Neill’s latter seasons in the heady areas of sixth, but it isn’t fair to compare either – the fact Villa have less money and less players will make the current situation hard, no matter who is in charge.
It’s About What I Expect – Middle Of The Road
So three points out of Chelsea and Swansea isn’t bad. It’s not great either, but it’s about what I’d expect from a Villa team of recent years. I’d obviously preferred to have won today, especially after the positive signs at Chelsea, but it isn’t the end of the world. No, that isn’t sitting here with acceptance, as though I am somehow content with losing games. I’m never happy about losing, but it’s contextual. We did better than I expected in one game, worse than I expected in another. Kind of like a karmic balance – Villa end up where I generally would expect, that is bobbing around in the middle.
So, no, I won’t be using this defeat as a bat to beat the team and the manager with. That would be far too easy, and ultimately pointless. I know what the reaction from many will be – the Chelsea win was a blip, it was down to dumb luck rather than ability, McLeish doesn’t know what he’s doing, and all the rest of it. I totally respect the fact that some want to have that view, but when we come away with three points out of six, when I expected three from six, I can’t really sit here with a straight face and suggest it is awful. I can just say it was what I was expecting. Disappointing on today’s side of things, sure, but it isn’t “relegation material” or any of that jazz.
Will McLeish spend whatever money is available well? The honest answer is I don’t know. Given has been a good buy, as has N’Zogbia. Hutton’s not set the world alight, and Jenas got injured. So that’s 50/50. However, with the numbers of players being so low, it’s impossible to judge that as 50% success rate. Even the best managers get it wrong – look at Veron and Taibi at United to name but a few.
Getting back to the current transfer window whirlwind, the journalistic links connecting a variety of players to a move to B6 are dull, tedious, and (mostly) without any evidence. In fact, there’s not a single link that I can even see as feasible. It’s just the same tired, old links with the predictable players, largely because many journalists a) don’t know what is happening, b) enjoy stirring the pot about any big club in trouble, and c) have to write something for their editors. Robbie Keane has even made it into the list of targets. That must be at least 12 years in a row now that we’ve been linked to, then subsequently done nothing about, a transfer for the Irishman. If someone wanted me to make a stance on it, I’d simply say don’t hold your breath.
When the likes of Boumsong, Davis, Craig Gardner, and the like are linked, I honestly just yawn. Not because I believe they are poor, although I think they mostly are, I yawn because these picks are just pure laziness on the part of football writers.
Why would these things happen? Just because McLeish bought Hutton, another former player he had managed, so he’ll go and buy anyone who fits the blanks? Villa need a midfielder, thus they’ll just take the first obvious choices that pop up – ex-McLeish or ex-Villa. Never mind that there’s no grounding for it, never mind the fact that Villa rarely play their cards on the table. No – it’ll just be every ex-Rangers player that some hacks can Google that fit some supposed criteria. It makes as much sense as the people who spread nonsense about a Qatari takeover because of recent letters going out to old shareholders. Two plus two equals fifty-six. Or not, as the case may be.
That’s largely why I don’t even bother talking about the links that are made by papers, blogs, or “ITKs”. After all, when you realise that most of these deals never come off, what’s the point in getting all wound up about, quite literally, nothing. Or it is just searching for ammunition to fuel an anger fans feel they should be feeling?
If so, I’d leave it alone for your blood pressure’s sake, and I say that as a fellow human being, not as someone trying to “win” any kind of argument. After all, everyone is perfectly capable of making their own minds up without my input, but I can’t see the attraction of letting it get to you that much. Villa will be middle of the road this year – nothing more, nothing less. For the millionth time, it’s not accepting mediocrity – it’s accepting reality.
Once you accept that is the situation this season, and I stress I mean “this season” not “forever more”, then you can just let each weekend take you along for the ride. Sure, some games won’t give us points that we expected to, but we’ll take points that we didn’t expect as well. Like I said – karmic balance. Things work themselves out in the end. For those who haven’t gone to the games this year, at least you haven’t wasted your money on the games as I imagine you might perceive it. So, to that end, that’s a positive for you personally, even if it isn’t for Villa.
So Villa lost. No, I’m not happy. No, I don’t expect anyone else to either be happy, or to accept this as the standard going forwards. All I am asking is a bit of balance, a little pragmatism, and a few deep breaths.
It ain’t gonna be pretty, and there will be wins, draws, and losses in the future, but it’ll be ok. Then, come the summer, we can really start to build again, whoever is in charge.
Faith is hard to imbue in others in times of trouble, but sometimes it is needed. Without it, then Villa really will fall apart, not because of a poor manager, but because of mutiny amongst the ranks. If any more “protests” pop up, then I’ll be ashamed if I am honest, but each to their own. I just hope, if the protests to come about, that they find someone a little more coherent and structured to front it as otherwise we’ll look like we do to many other Premier League fans – like a rabble who won’t accept financial cutbacks.
We’re not Blackburn, and we’re not Portsmouth, but if we hadn’t remedied the finances, we’d have gone that way. I’m sure you’ll agree that mid-table is far better than going down like several other clubs have done. Not great but, for the moment, it is where we are pitching our tents as a club.
Of course, if there are any billionaires out there, feel free to get in contact with the club. I’d love to see what might be done differently.
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