Villa fan Nelson Rahi is in the chair this week, giving us his opinions on Paul Lambert’s side ahead of their visit to Loftus Road on Monday evening.
A terrific start to the season made a mockery of LFW’s pre-season prediction that Villa could be relegated this season, but four straight defeats without scoring coming into this game doesn’t look great. Assess the start of the season for us.
NR: As much as I enjoy and respect LoftforWords, you have us down for relegation every single year. (Touché — ed) Maybe that’s down to how bad we actually are/have been but I don’t think it’s quite so clear cut this time though.
We’ve had one of the most difficult openings to a season you could ask for really. We’ve played all of last season’s top five in consecutive games, and yeah we’ve taken a kicking in them but there were glimmers of hope. We managed to beat Liverpool fairly convincingly (in that they didn’t really look like scoring) and we might have got something against Arsenal but for a virus that struck our camp and five minutes of class from them. Despite the weighty expectations of Villa Park, I think most fans probably saw a run of games against those two, plus Man City, Everton and Chelsea, as daunting to say the least. In a sense, now that they’re out of the way, perhaps we can see what we might be like this season.
We actually had probably our worst game of the season so far against Everton last week. We didn’t turn up and it was an easy, strolling win for them. That’s painfully reminiscent of too much of last season (and the one before that, and the one before that), but there are positives. I think with Roy Keane around we have seen a more sturdy defence and perhaps a little less naivety. Christian Benteke is playing again and Ron Vlaar is still around. So I suppose my answer would be that it has been a mixed start but alarm bells are starting to ring that we are falling back into old ways.
And where do you see Villa going from here? Relegation struggle, mid-table? What’s the likely outcome?
NR: As sad as it sounds for a once great (still great!) club, mid-table would be very welcome. Lower mid-table is probably the likely outcome. That may be pessimism or just apathy after seasons of grinding, dull, hopeless football. If we improve on last season’s fifteenth place finish I’ll be grateful.
We don’t seem to get the most out of our players in my opinion. We have a decent team sheet but we’re too nice and I think we lack a leader on the pitch. It’s criminal how often we just turn up, get beaten and go home. As I said, I’m waiting to see how Villa fare over the next few games as that will be the indication for me, but somewhere in the middle of the league would be lovely.
It’s not even that unrealistic. Is it?
What did you make of Villa’s summer transfer business?
NR: Better. No more punts on lower league players, who have the potential to be good, but might actually just be lower league standard. Mind you, that’s harsh on Ashley Westwood, who, to his credit, is stepping up majorly and had been keeping Carlos Sanchez of Colombia out of the side. We’ve brought in people who’s played at the top level for a long old time and I really think it’s helped.
Philippe Senderos and Vlaar looked great earlier in the season and it seemed to rub off on Nathan Baker too. Having Kieran Richardson and Joe Cole around will be great for everyone and the former has already shown some good contributions. I just mentioned his name but Carlos Sanchez is potentially quite exciting. We’ve missed someone who could break up play and pick a pass since the beginning of time. Hopefully we have that now. A midfield of Delph, Sanchez, Tom Cleverley (another decent bit of business, I think) and Westwood seems pretty decent to me.
Also, Lambert, after cutting them off completely, has brought back people like Alan Hutton, Darren Bent and Charles N’Zogbia. Hutton has been excellent - I have to give him massive credit because I’d want to ‘clear’ the ball through the manager’s face every time I got it, had I been through what he has. N’Zogbia is still the same. Sigh. Didn’t he used to be good once?!
What’s the general opinion of Randy Lerner at the moment and has there been any hint of interest in buying the club since he put it up for sale?
NR: I think the general opinion is healthy dislike. Under his stewardship Villa have seen great days but also fallen away badly, to extents that we Villans maybe aren’t used to.
The main problem is as it always has been — he doesn’t seem to know much about football. Villa lurch from one calamity to another; the hiring of managers, done in the most convoluted way possible, to end up with Alex McLeish and Gerrard Houllier. Painful letters to the season ticket holders proudly proclaiming the club’s hopes to reach the Deloitte rich list, with no mention of winning football games. Lerner seems to put his trust in people and sticks by them — to his credit I suppose — but sometimes to the detriment of the club. We’re just about recovering from O’Neill’s spending and recently Lambert has been given a further four years on his contract. For what!? Those things boggle my mind. We have been run merely to exist for a few season now and that’s hard to take.
Nevertheless, personally, I like Randy Lerner a lot. I think it’s clear he has a genuine love for Aston Villa FC. If he had the right people, with the right knowledge around him I’m sure we would have done better over this period. He has spent masses of money, so much so that he recently said how he has had his ‘fingers burned’ by English football. He still spent it though. He never mouths off, is always classy and lets people get on with their jobs. Some will say that a calm naivety is not good enough, but I think we could do far, far worse than a man who has the club at heart, respects Villa’s traditions and seems to want what all Villa fans do.
Interestingly (for us!) Lerner has been seen more and more at games, after being a no-show for essentially the whole of last season. A divorce will put life into context for anyone I suppose. But Tom Fox (Villa’s new CEO) was interviewed not long ago and he said how Lerner has a new vigour and energy for the club. In terms of a sale then, one doesn’t look likely to me. I’m not an ITK and I don’t profess to having any inside knowledge but it almost seems like a sale is nowhere near and Lerner has realised/been told that he needs to take care of this club.
How has Paul Lambert done overall at Villa? What did you make of him ostracising players like Bent and Hutton only to bring them back in this season?
NR: Good God man. Think of any awful, embarrassing, long-forgotten record that has stood for decades and Lambert will break it for you. All your ‘rivals’ who haven’t managed a win against your club in decades soon will do. Fancy progressing in a cup competition? Try to win a trophy? What tosh! Expect to be dismissed by lower league opposition whenever you meet them.
I want him to do well so badly at Villa but we’re dire under him. According to Wikipedia (!) he’s won just 32% of the 96 games in charge of my club.
Lambert not long back had to fire his backroom staff who I understand he worked with at his previous clubs. So that shows some loyalty to the club and a desire to do the right thing. (They were fired for bullying apparently). Bringing in Keane as assistant manager was a great call and a humble one I think. I hope it pays off.
Bringing back "The Bomb Squad” just makes me grimace. It has worked out well in Hutton’s case who looks back to somewhere near his best. But the whole episode stunk. The only player who I would have considered doing that to was Steven Ireland who just didn’t want to be at Villa. I suppose it again shows some humility, or perhaps even desperation, to go back and bring them back in but would you want to play for a manager or even a club that did that to you? N’Zogbia is getting chances too but he is a difficult player to watch quite often. If only he passed the ball, or looked up occasionally.
Where is the team strong, where is it weak?
NR: Flippant answer? It is strongest in the stands. I suppose many clubs might say the same.
No, oddly considering recent results our defence has looked decent. If Vlaar and Senderos can get games, with Guzan behind them I don’t think we’ll concede as many as we usually do. Villa seem to have a thing for iconic, injury prone defenders.
We are gradually weaker the further up the field we go. Our midfield should be decent but is shaky and our forward line is just non-existent at the moment. We don’t do shots on goal anymore. It’s a brave new tactic we have discovered. Saying that, again the potential is there for good football. Weimann, Agbonlahor and Benteke are three very decent forwards. Sometimes the problem is trying to accommodate them all, which means sticking Wiemann out on the wing and Gabby on the other side or in behind Benteke. The Beast isn’t match fit yet either, so I think we’ll have better times to come.
Other than Jack Grealish, who looks great, who’s next off the production line from Villa’s very decent academy set up?
NR: I have to confess, I don’t really pay that much attention to the youth side of things. I just think if they come through, they’ll come through, we’ll see them then. However, a good question deserves an attempt at a good answer so the names I always get told to watch out for are; Benjamin Siegrist, Janoi Donacien, Daniel Johnson, Jordan Graham and Graham Burke. Also, for many seasons fans have been talking about Gary Gardner. I think he’s back from injury now and is a potential first team player. So he would be one to keep half an eye on too.
Short, medium and long term aims for the club? I guess if it’s not sold it’s not going to get a lot better any time soon?
NR: It’s not going to get drastically better no, but I don’t think anyone expects that now. It’s probably fair to say we’d be happy to see a plan put down and stuck to and just to build from here. That’s really been the expectation for many, many years.
What should a club like Villa be aiming for long term? Is it enough to merely exist? I don’t think it is. Villa have proudly done all there is to do in the game, so to see us languishing like we are is hard to take. We have to try and win silverware again. We’re not going to win the league because we’ll never be financially able to under our own steam (thanks a lot FFP). Let’s just be the best we can be and add to our already sizeable trophy cabinet, which has not had anything meaningful added to it for far too long.
I think we need to be smarter in the market too. Get players cheaply, bring them on and sell them for big money if possible. Re-invest and build. Maybe all of this was in place but the club being up for sale scuppered much of it, or maybe there just hasn’t been much of a plan at all. Either way we need to get our act together.
Short term the goal surely is to finish as high up the table as we can and start getting our pride back.
The Twitter @NelsonRahi, @loftforwords
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