As a Villa fan I am no longer upset by the results on the pitch. With due respect to Bradford, after this team cheated all of us out of a Wembley final by choking like dogs over two legs, I have come to expect the worst and treat relegation as an inevitability. Going out of the FA Cup against Millwall was laughable, and losing at home to Spurs was predictable.
With no help on the horizon there was no reason to expect anything to change. One of my favorite quotes is from Albert Einstein:
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
My expectation was the Villa were going to stick with the manager. Admittedly, I did agree with that. Kevin Hughes on ESPN did a great job explaining why Lambert should stay. My stance all along is that while subjectively Lambert may deserve to be sacked, doing so would not be wise. My fear was the same manager, running out the same players would yield the same results.
After spending the entire month dampening expectations, the club finally made a couple of moves. Both additions are modest in nature, but honestly after expecting zero I was pleasantly surprised. Yacouba Sylla brings size and steel to the Villa midfield the club hasn’t had since Nigel Reo-Coker left in search of Champions League football. After being out-bid by Newcastle for Moussa Sissoko, it does feel Sylla is Plan B or Plan C. A cheaper version of what Lambert really wanted, and one who would be willing to take a relegation clause in his contract. That does not mean the player can’t hit the ground running and help us. To climb up from 19th in the table he’ll have to.
The other Deadline Day move was Simon Dawkins from San Jose Earthquakes. Being a casual MLS observer living on the other side of the country I knew nothing about the player. When the club sent this tweet, I was hoping it would be a move for the young LA Galaxy and US International CB Omar Gonzalez. Doing a bit of research he sounds like he could help us. If Lambert wants to be pragmatic and have the fullbacks sit back, we need a player like Dawkins who can create width from the midfield. His career had been derailed with Tottenham by injuries before going to San Jose. At 25 he could be a late bloomer.
Those of you who hoped the club was crying poverty to lower prices and that bigger moves were in the works will probably be disappointed. The club did wait too long, and piss away too many points this month before doing something. If we go down on the last day of the season like Small Heath we will all be pointing to this month and the team’s slowness in the market as a contributing cause. The leaks were apparent in late December. That it took this long to do anything can’t be excused.
Luckily it is not too late for the team to get it together. They did show something in the second half against Newcastle. It is the closest they have come to responding to adversity all season. Looking ahead there is no shortage of adversity in their future. If we can manage to stay up the club have lots of wages coming off the books, more players will move on, and hopefully then Lambert can continue his plan to rebuild the squad.
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