So the news came through earlier this season that Aston Villa owner, Randy Lerner, is set to seal a new 3 year deal with manager, Paul Lambert. When questioned Lambert made little of the situation, but we can assume that it will probably get done just before the summer. However, it was interesting the few comments Lambert did make beyond the question of a contract;
“He (Lerner) is backing my vision of Aston Villa” and “We’re all singing off the same hymn sheet”
All we can assume is that the job at Villa was far greater than sorting out the first team and that the parameters of what is seen as “success” are being met across the board by Lambert.
Now I’m not here to tell you what is right and what is wrong – opinion is just that and everyone needs to respect it so no one is right or wrong in this situation. I understand the “Lerner just wants his money back” theory just as much as I understand the “stripping back to go again” theory.
Personally I think it’s somewhere in the middle. The man threw an awful lot of money at the club and unfortunately entrusted the wrong man with it. In that sense, of course, he’d like to recoup some of it. Do I think the man has zero ambition for Aston Villa though? No, and I think that’s an absurd idea because whatever the sentiment regarding whether Lerner is a fan or not, the guy is a business man and Aston Villa are an asset – an asset with huge scope for growth.
In that sense, I tend to think that he has chosen a route of smarter, sustainable investment. As for the exact plan though, I haven’t got the foggiest and, truth be told, none of us really do.
This is a major part of the problem for me. The club tell us they’re all unified in their approach, they all know where they’re going, they all seem to see the tangible notes of success and achievements within the club. However, what they seem to be forgetting is that we – the fans – have the right to know about this direction, about this plan, about this supposedly “Bright Future”.
After all, if we can buy in to a “project” surely that means that as a set of fans we are more likely to be supportive? As it is we’re left open ended, judging success by parameters we individually set, do we judge points on the board, on clean sheets, on goals scored, style, tactics, selections, squads, transfer policy? The list goes on.
Let’s face it, whilst the points on the board statistic is better, the style on the pitch is rare and fleeting. Therefore whilst on paper we’re doing better, to watch it is painful most of the time. Yet the most frustrating thing is we’ve shown we can do more than defend deep and counter – for 25 minutes against Arsenal we were the better team, pressing high, passing the ball on the deck, looking like a football team. We did that again against Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion, only to then fall over again, not only being beaten by a strong Everton team, but being out-thought by Sam Allardyce.
If Aston Villa want to go a long way to easing the unrest, the most important thing they can do is open a proper line of communication with the fans. The Aston Villa PR machine is a pointless beast – we see through their thinly veiled attempts to divert our attentions. All we want is honesty. Now, sure, some of us won’t like it, but then at the very least we debate can be about fact not conjecture.
Until we get an idea of this grand scheme I will continue to be somewhere in the middle with regard to my views. Lambert to me is a 6.5/10 manager. He’s done a decent job in probably one of hardest job in the Premier league when you consider the expectation of the fans, the recent unrest in the club with a revolving door for managers and the constraints on finances. Yet he has done himself no favours at times with odd ball tactics and decisions in addition to the inconsistency of the teams performances.
Again with Lerner, I am down the middle, He certainly isn’t the worst owner we could have, but he isn’t the best either.
Some need to see the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence. At this point in time I don’t want to jump the fence just yet, although I’m tempted to now sit on it and wonder – what comes next?
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