Last weekend we finally saw the Aston Villa we were expecting to see: the Aston Villa Paul Lambert has been trying to build. Last week I said Rome wasn’t built in a day. Hopefully, though, the first stones have been laid. Both the 1-1 result and the performance at Sports Direct Arena at St. James’ Park were what we have been waiting for in the first couple of weeks of the season.
The irony that the Paul Lambert Era began in earnest in the same place where, for all intents and purposes, the Martin O’Neil Era ended two years ago to the month was not lost on me. The 6-0 shellacking under Kevin MacDonald was followed by an embarrassing home defeat at home to Rapid Vienna to see Villa crash out of Europe. From there, an Intermediate Period ensued which there is no need to rehash here.
None of the club’s deadline acquisitions played in the Newcastle game. Perhaps the existing players felt the pressure of added competition for places. Lambert may also be instilling a sense of confidence in the players as well as his footballing philosophy. A case in point would be Ciaran Clark. He was the worst player on the pitch against Everton and was sent off. Conversely, Nathan Baker played quite well when he was moved inside after the red card, as well as in the Carling Cup win.
It would have been easy to play the more in-form Baker and relegate Clark to the bench after only two games. I assumed Clark would be benched, and benched him on my fantasy team. By giving Clark the start as soon as his suspension was over, the manager showed his belief in the player. Clark responded by scoring a goal, 11 fantasy points, and putting in a strong performance overall. It is a long season and the club will almost certainly need both Clark and Baker to make contributions at center back. Instead of burying Clark, Lambert has two in-form CBs to choose from.
After four competitive games the manager has done an excellent job utilizing the entire squad. The only senior players who haven’t seen the pitch are the regrettably still-on-the-books Alan Hutton and Steven Warnock. If Miller or Coors Brewing wished to do a bit of ambush marketing of the FA Cup, they could follow Budweiser’s lead and sponsor a lower league side. Instead of luring retired players they could take Premier League misfits like Hutton, Warnock, and Jermaine Jenas on loan and go on their own cup run.
Everything I have heard about the deadline deals seems positive. Christian Benteke gives Villa the physical striker the club hasn’t had since the last time John Carew was fit. Joe Bennett figures to have an inside track to be the club’s starting left back. Ashley Westwood sounds like he could partner with Karim El-Ahmadi or take over his playmaking duties if El-Ahmadi is not available. Jordan Bowery sounds a bit like Nathan Delfouneso to me in that they’re both big and athletic strikers. Whereas Delfouneso has plateaued and was loaned out, I have no problem whatsoever with the club taking a £500,000 punt that Bowery can continue to develop.
With a thin squad it made little sense to spend the entire transfer kitty on just a couple “established stars.” We already have players on the books that are supposed to be stars anyway. The real test will be if these new players can provide Darren Bent with service, make the intelligent runs to receive passes from Steven Ireland, or combine with Charles N’Zogbia so he isn’t constantly dribbling into cu-de-sacs. That’s not to absolve those three, who are among the highest earners at the club, but having better players around them has to help.
In a sense it is disappointing that there is a tedious international break as we would all like to see the club build on the Newcastle performance. With the majority of the team not being called up by their national teams, it does give the new players time to train with the team. As a fan, next week can’t come soon enough.
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