We are in a relegation scrap again this season, have no doubt about it. Recent form, results, injuries and lack of transfer activity have led a lot of people to suggest that we a ‘dead certs’ to go down and that Aston Villa are operating on borrowed time. This isn’t just the back and forth banter between fans of our nearest rivals; it seems to be the feeling amongst a majority of teams. So with 15 games of this season remaining, with us hovering one point above the drop zone, can Aston Villa avoid the drop? I say yes, we can.
Since the turn of the new year we have seen an improvement, if only a slight one, on the defeats to Chelsea, Spurs and Wigan. We did well to fight our way back into the game at Swansea as it looked at one point as though we were in for another drubbing.
I felt well and truly robbed in the home loss to Southampton, had it not been for a very dubious penalty decision and a little more composure in front of goal, we could have and should have won there—but as the saying goes, you have to take your chances.
Then came the weekend’s clash with West Brom, another two-goal lead given away and a prime example of a game of two halves. We started brightly and gave a good account of ourselves in the first half, only for the baggies to make changes to their approach play and in all fairness dominate the second half. I think most Villa fans would have taken a draw before kick-off so in hindsight, it is not the worst of results. But the fact remains, two points out of a possible nine in 2013 simply is not good enough. But on the flip side, I have seen something in these three games to give me hope.
Football is a results business: you can battle, make it difficult for teams and have a fantastic work ethic, but if you don’t put points on the board, then you are in trouble.
But as I just said, in the games against Swansea, Southampton and West Brom I have begun to see some confidence being reinstated, form improving, if only slightly, and some key players returning from injury.
It is no secret that our defence has been leaky to say the least, the young pairing of Baker and Clark have struggled of late and we have shipped goals as a consequence. The return of Ron Vlaar from injury will give our defence and the team a massive boost. I think it is no coincidence that Vlaar has been a noticeable absentee during our recent bad patch.
Charles N’Zogbia seems to have been given a ‘free role’, he has a creative spark, great dribbling ability and a sweet left foot. He has been accused of being greedy on the ball before and I have seen him try to take on the world and his dog many times, ultimately leading to him conceding possession but this new role seems tailor made for Charlie. I think he can give the team and our strikers the ammunition needed to score the goals to fire us to safety because in Benteke, Agbonlahor, Weimann and Bent we have four strikers who are more than capable and given the right supply, will score goals. The return of these two players can be key to us turning things around. I think players like Delph and Westwood will be happier to sit back and guard the back four with a player like N’Zogbia in front of them and knowing that they have a leader of men in the mould of Ron Vlaar behind them will give them added security.
We are also three-quarters of a way through a seemingly quiet, for Aston Villa, transfer window. Many fans have begun to worry that this is a sure sign that we are not going to bring any new blood in. I don’t think this is the case.
Aston Villa are notorious in the press for being very cagey with dealings, there are some exceptions to this rule, the Ron Vlaar transfer was no secret, but that was only because of a leaked picture from a fan on Twitter and the long drawn-out N’Zogbia transfer from last summer.
Other than that, our dealings seem to come out of the blue. Karim el Ahmadi, Matthew Lowton, Jordan Bowery all signed with little speculation from the press linking them with us. Paul Lambert is not like ‘Arry Redknapp who will publicly say ‘yeah we are after so and so, he’s a good boy.’ Lambert is the complete opposite: I think he has his targets, he knows how much he has to spend and is working to bring in the right player, not just any player. In short, I expect new arrivals to come in very soon, be it one, two, three, four—it will give our team a much needed boost and an even more needed shake up.
We may have missed out on Wembley last night, but beat Milwall and we are in the fifth round, and a result against a struggling Newcastle will be vital if we are to avoid the drop. These games are all winnable and I am sure Lambert has highlighted their importance to our team. They will be more than up for each one and with 15 games to go in the league we as fans have a massive role to play: The lads need us to shout, scream and cheer them to glory, safety and victory. We cannot give up on them because if they lose hope then we really are in trouble.
So can Aston Villa avoid the drop? Of course we can…
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