Aston Villa have had many “must win” matches this season, and it was nice to see the team win one for a change.  Now that the club is out of the relegation zone, the media is already jumping back on the bandwagon and expects Villa to survive.

The one change I really liked was playing Nathan Baker at left back.  Lambert likely did this to deal with West Ham’s aerial threat, and Baker turned in the steadiest display we have seen at the position in a long time.  I don’t know if I would want him marking a speedy winger like Aaron Lennon, but I do have more faith in him, at the moment, than Joe Bennett.  I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him play there more often.  Baker’s general play this season warrants more time on the pitch, while Bennett’s and Eric Lichaj’s do not.

Hearing Sam Allardyce describe how his team dominated after the match was the most absurd thing a manager has said in a long time.  His club showed the least impetus to attack the worst defense in the league I have seen all season – with the possible exception of Stoke.  Other than ten minutes to open the second half, and a flurry at the end of the game, West Ham did eff-all.  That is what happens when you have a manager trying to win over fans, and who will never warm to his pragmatic brand of football while covering his own ass after losing.

This week provided me a rare opportunity to watch live Champions League action, which airs at 3 PM on the East Coast of the US.  Watching Celtic go toe-to-toe with Juventus was like watching how Paul Lambert wants Villa to play.  Before the match, Neil Lennon bristled at the notion that Celtic was a stereotypical British, long-ball team.  While they were direct at times, they did keep possession, reversed the ball when nothing was there, and pressed the entire game.  With another summer to put his stamp on the team, Lambert should have us playing like that more often.  Unfortunately, the first and third goals Celtic conceded were too reminiscent of the current Villa team.

One of the players who is all but gone at this point is Steven Ireland.  Given his play this season, as well as his contract winding down, this is hardly a surprise; the fact that he is banished to the reserves shows how far he has fallen in the manager’s eyes.  If Yacouba Sylla and Simon Dawkins have more to offer, and have taken the spot of a player who is on his way out, there is no reason to have him around.  Even if he has been fine in training up to this point, Ireland’s attitude isn’t likely to improve being left off the team week after week.

Ireland has been given every chance to succeed by three different managers.  He won the club’s Player of the Year award by default, because everybody else was injured (Petrov, Bent, Dunne, Gabby) or terrible (everybody else).  I try not to read too much into body language.  If Ireland was playing well, he would be stoic; since he hasn’t, that means he doesn’t care.  The one thing I will say is that he is not a player who responds to adversity.  How many times have we seen Ireland have a decent first half, Villa concede a goal, and then Ireland disappears?  He is not the type of player you go to war with in a relegation battle.

I hope you all enjoy the weekend off, which has given us extra time to savor a rare Villa victory.

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