No one can deny that this has been a poor season all around. The board made a catastrophic blunder in its managerial appointment. The manager has been as bad as could have been expected, and an overwhelming majority of the players underperformed.

I read a column yesterday on “The Decline of Aston Villa,” and honestly it made me want to puke. I linked to it if any of you are curious but I discourage all of you from clicking and giving page views to such garbage. Basically the author feels that Villa are in some sort of irreversible decline and compared our club to Sheffield Wednesday. It’s not impossible I guess but I don’t think even this board is that incompetent to let things get back to that point.

The wage bill is under control so the club doesn’t have to sell off players to balance the books. If anybody is sold it will be because they are surplus or they request a transfer. By all indications there will be funds available this summer. Augment that with whatever the club can get in clearing out a few other players there is no reason this club shouldn’t be back in the top 8 pushing for Europe.

If and this is a big “if,” but if the board hire a shrewd manager who can coach attacking football there is no reason this team should not only win more but actually be fun to watch. I’ll do another squad assessment next week and go far more in depth but all the club really has to do is sign a new left back, holding midfielder, as well as a winger and center back to compete for places. A team with Makoun, Ireland, Bent, and an in form N’Zogbia should be a fun to watch and have no problem scoring goals.

The only thing resembling a positive development this season is that Gardiner, Carruthers, and Weimann broke into the first team while Clark, Albrighton, and Bannan got a fair amount of time on the pitch as well. As young players if they continue to develop they should all contribute even more next season.

The notion that the Villa is the sick man of the Premier League should easily be put to rest if the club can finally get its house in order. Asking the club to do a Newcastle is probably a big ask, bit having them do an Everton (top 8, solid performances against the top sides, with a deep cup run) isn’t. At this point realistic Villa fans would be reasonably satisfied with that.

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