We find ourselves at a tipping point. A point which could determine our destiny and it starts with the most important game in our recent history.
Our future is teetering on the edge of a crevasse and in the next couple of weeks we will either sneak past it or disappear into its dark & deep sides.
There is a very real and sobering chance we’ll get torn apart by an impressive looking Southampton side, and be potentially humbled when we visit what used to be our inferior neighbours. All this after the lower league Bradford City schooled us in the art of winning.
Make no doubt about it, things could go horribly wrong and have devastating effects on the club we all love. A few short weeks ago, we left work for Christmas happy & optimistic, only to return from the holiday season humiliated & angry – with form this dreadful we’ve every reason to expect the next fortnight to be just as sickening as the one we’ve just endured.
So if we do have more defeats, and the goals that go with them, this could be the end, too much to come back from, sending us over the edge into oblivion.
After all of that talk of gloom though, hope isn’t totally lost. There is a real possibility that the Southampton game may well play out in a different manner, with the team getting back up off the floor and getting back to winning ways. Paul Lambert has proved he has a winning mentality and those who know him best like Craig Burley & Matt Bloomfield say he ready to rise to the challenge and I, for one, believe them. After all, you don’t win the European Cup as a player, or get back-to-back promotions without being able to pull things out of the hat.
If Lambert can strengthen and continue to unlock the potential of the players that we witnessed against Manchester clubs United and City as well as Arsenal and Liverpool, then we can pull out of the tailspin. With a bit of luck – and God knows we need some – we may even sneak in a trip to Wembley as last night’s game illustrated that we may even avoid Chelsea if we can win. Surely such a result would push us on because we can’t do a Birmingham City, can we?
Considering the challenges that the club face this season, survival and a trip to Wembley could be considered nothing than a great achievement. Sure, it isn’t the heady heights of sixth this time around, but times have moved on and expectations have to follow short term.
Thankfully I can’t see Lambert getting sacked, not even if we do suffer the unthinkable, so any doubts or faith held now will have the full course of time to be proved right or wrong.
Getting back to more pressing and definite matters, I can shout for us to sign a defensive midfielder. I could slate Barry Bannan and Fabian Delph for being hot-headed heavy-footed light-weights, only to defend them in the next breath pointing out that even the best players have bad patches. If Gareth Bale, Gary Cahill, or even Cristiano Ronaldo can have a bad patch, then so can any of our lot.
Finally, I can call for the manager’s head if I want to. Given the anger, I wouldn’t be alone. However, just like any other statement I make, it’s not going to change the thoughts or trajectory of the club – only the manager and board can help us now.
Never before have we had so much hinge on so few games. The next two weeks will show us whether we are headed for years of pain or the start of a bright future – the club lies in the hands of men who have to make the choices that matter and, whether we like the owner, CEO, or manager, we have no choice but to see what unfolds through the result of their decisions.
However, we aren’t invisible, and we can take a massive role in the outcome of what happens in terms of our support. If you can get to the games, you can make yourself heard, stand up and be counted. By that, I mean in terms of cheering on the team and getting Villa Park back to its loudest, proudest best – cheers, not boos, may well be the only thing that can help us stay off the floor in terms of the choices we can make.
Who knows, our help may well be the difference between oblivion and salvation.
The Author
