Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
Sit back and enjoy the ride at Villa
Friday 5th August 2011, 9:09AM BST.
Aston Villa blogger Matthew Turvey reflects on a turbulent summer at the club by urging fellow fans to sit back and enjoy the ride under the Alex McLeish regime.
It’s the end of the world as we know it. Or so some Aston Villa fans would have you believe. It has been quite a close season of upheaval behind the gates of Villa Park.
With the last manager leaving, the loss of arguably two of the best players in the squad and a lack of evidence suggesting we have any more money to spend, it’s understandable why a group of our fans are worried.
The appointment of a former Birmingham boss in Alex McLeish also clearly irked – and still irks – some of the fans.
Fans are entitled to be worried though, as this year has been a somewhat significant deviation from the unofficial plan of action for the team.
We have kind of got used to the idea that we sell our best players to finance progress, such as Gareth Barry and James Milner, but we have not previously been exposed to selling players and seeing the money disappear, seemingly, into nowhere.
Of course, the reality is that said money will probably be invested in the expansion of the North Stand, but it still leaves our squad in a precarious position.
Anyway, enough of all that. If I had wanted to indulge myself in a moment of melancholy pondering, I would be listening to the Smiths.
So let’s be positive for a second. We have, in Shay Given and Charles N’Zogbia, signed two excellent players who will improve the squad.
In my opinion at least, Given is a better goalkeeper than Friedel, and N’Zogbia is a better winger than Ashley Young.
Whether you agree or disagree with those statements is ultimately your opinion. The aforementioned statement is my view rather than what is reality. Whatever reality is.
The main problem in the minds of fans is that we have far more holes in the team than can be filled by two players.
Given and N’Zogbia are excellent additions for sure but N’Zogbia, even though his dribbling stats are second in Europe only to Messi, can’t fill the boots of both Young and Downing.
Of course, young Marc Albrighton will, through choice or a forced hand, be involved with most games this season.
Stephen Ireland, on his day, is arguably a more than suitable replacement for one of the wingers who has already left, so all isn’t lost just yet. Things could get better but, on the other hand, they may get worse.
My thoughts don’t gravitate toward either positivity or negativity in this instance and thus it is one of those situations where “wait and see” really is the best option.
Best not to count chickens before they are hatched, or any other suitable adage that might be applicable in this instance.
Not great for those fans who have yet to learn patience or prudence but, frankly, it is our only real way forwards as a club.
You can’t splurge £140million on getting somewhere, not get there, and still expect to spend more and keep pursuing it.
In keeping with the use of old adages, it evokes something my own father used to say to me as a kid.
“I’m not made of money, Matthew!” Indeed he wasn’t. I would have heard some kind of rustling or, at the very least, jangling, if he was.
The same can be said of Randy Lerner, albeit on a much larger scale. Our owner has a finite amount of money available to spend and has to ensure the club complies with incoming Financial Fair Play legislation.
Even if he didn’t have to comply with the latter, what chance does Randy have against the likes of Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour?
Very little, if it’s a stand up competition on who can throw the most money at it. Villa can’t compete on money alone, so we have to be a little more creative, a little more cunning.
After all, if we had wanted a manager to just splash cash on players, there would have been far more suitable candidates than McLeish.
That isn’t to say that I don’t think McLeish was a good choice, but I do think he was a divisive one. However, he is a good selection given the circumstances being what they are.
A combination of prudence, overachievement with teams, and instilling a team spirit is what our new manager is about.
Add to that the brass balls he must have to move over from the other side of Birmingham and you can’t fault his mental toughness, at the very least.
Anyway, now is not the time for looking backwards and feeling sad. It is time to focus on the future, and what we will see the team do over the coming season.
Villa will plot a course that could be as high as sixth and as low as 16th. Where we will ultimately finish though is yet to be written.
So sit back, relax, and be grateful that the football season is almost here.
You can also follow Villa blogger Matthew Turvey at his own site, http://www.astonvillalife.com.
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McLeish is not a divisive appointment, all Villa fans despise him. Its not because he’s Scottish, ginger or the ex Blouse manager, its because he is a truely woeful manager. He plays a dreadful brand of football and this shows with a win ratio around 30%. The sooner he leaves the better.
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Sit back and enjoy the rollercoaster ride that was your blog post!!
A very good post however. I believe you share many of my views on the mighty Villa.
I think we must be realistic as Villa supporters and remember that, although we aren’t a rich club, we do have a stable financial situation, and I seriously doubt McLeish and Lerner will let the club slip to a finish lower than last seasons ninth.
I think it would be a little optomistic to look at a European finish, but once this team starts to mature, give Albrighton another season, hopefully Ireland and Gabby will hit top form again, I think we will have a really decent team.
The thing I want to see from Villa is a great team spirit, always fighting to win and stay in games. Positive news from the training ground, rather than last seasons fall outs between players and staff. McLeish is the man to do that, after all he grew up with one of my best mates in Scotland, and apparently he still owes my mate a fiver! So he is used to running with a profit, which will suit Mr Lerner.
N’Zogbia and Given are great signings, but maybe one more for us Mr McLeish!!
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I’m sorry, but your quote on McLeish;
“A combination of prudence, overachievement with teams, and instilling a team spirit is what our new manager is about.”
What a complete load of rubbish. Getting relegated twice in 3 seasons is not overachieving! Carling Cup? They got lucky in that final, let’s face it. And instilling team spirit? Didn’t see any of that down small heath at the end of last season.
A good article just lost all credibility which such a ridiculous statement.
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You might of bestowed upon yourself the title of King but that doesn’t allow you to speak on my behalf. I don’t despise Alex McLesih and will judge him in the same way I have every other manager we’ve had in my 45 years as Villa supporter i.e. how he performs for us. I don’t give a stuff where he has been or what he done elsewhere, if he does a good job at VP that will ge fantastic and he doesn’t……
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Depends on how you look at it. McLeish got Blues to 9th the season before and only went down due to a striking crisis combined with defensive injuries.
People may say he went down twice with Blues but be objective for a second. Blues are a yo-yo club no matter who the manager is, and thus going down with Blues is not indicative of being a poor manager. For example, Redknapp has been relegated before with a poor team but has done well with Spurs. Thus, one has to take into account the team managed as well as the position they manage.
McLeish signed Arteta for Rangers from Barcelona, signed Zarate, Hleb, and Martins for Blues, all of which are/were relative coups.
He also won a Carling Cup with Blues. Yes, it may have involved luck but most wins do. The reality is we have won nothing at all since 1996, so we are hardly able to speak from a position of supreme ability.
It will be a challenging season I am sure, but if Villa fans jump on the manager’s immediately the only loser will be the club.
We need to support the team – players and manager, or it really will be dark days ahead. The fact is we employed McLeish, and the chairman won’t sack him based on fan opinion so the sooner we get used to it, the better.
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He also had a 70% win with Scotland, beating France during his tenure.
If people want to be objective regarding his career, look further than the fact that he managed Small Heath…
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PS Beating us in the Carling Cup was an overachievement, no? Their team spirit was far superior to ours at the time…
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Beating us in the cup, considering the team we had at the time, was not really that much of an overachievement, considering they were at home, and we really should have won that game on the chances they had. Plus their winner just bounced off Zigic. Luck of the ball’s bounce, not skill of the manager that one.
And saying their spirit was superior to ours is like saying Williams are superior to Virgin Racing in F1 – being better than a low benchmark doesn’t make it any good.
As soon as things started turning sour, McLeish could do nothing about it where other managers might well have turned it around.
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I think the attendnaces will show what the Villa fans think of Randy’s new way forward. I have my season ticket because I love going. Why would other fans want to risk going in to debt to watch games when the club is unwilling to speculate. Given is better than Friedel, Young far better than N’Zogbia for me, Ferguson had his choice and I’d stick by his choices more than a blogger I’m afraid, although he does get it wrong at times, Young in PFA Team of the year twice …. I will accept a team that gives there ALL … I don’t expect trophies just entertainment .. up to our Alex to give us that?
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To be fair Matt I think you’d be hard pushed to find a team spirit that was worse than ours at the time!
Not sure I agree about Given/Friedel, Zog/Young comparisons, but it is important that we have replaced those 2 key players effectively. 2 proven premier league players either capable of playing in the champions league. Who said we can’t attract top players to Villa anymore? We just have to go about it the right way.
I’m in a funny position, neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the coming season. I think we need a couple more players and I think the tactics and performances from pre-season must improve sharpish. But then I find myself thinking – we’re gunning for 8th position. Not 4th position any more. Maybe what we have in place right now is good enough for 8th-10th for the coming season, whilst we blood the youth some more and build a proper team? Wait and see I guess.
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I AGREE WE HAVE GOT TO BE REALISTIC THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IS TO STAY SOLVENT AS A CLUB AND IF THAT MEANS SELLING OUR BEST PLAYERS SO BE IT, ON ALEC MCLEISH GIVE THE GUY A CHANCE IF YOU TAKE YOUR CLARET AND BLUE GLASSES OFF AND LOOK AT THE WHOLE PICTURE S H A WERE BETTER AS A TEAM THE THREE TIMES WE PLAYED THEM LAST YEAR AND MCLEISH GOT THEM PLAYING AS A TEAM WITH FAR FEWER RESOURCES THAN THE FRENCH GEEZER HAD, I AM GLAD YOUNG HAS GONE THE AMOUNT OF TIMES HE FELL OVER WHEN BEING CHALLENGED WAS BECOMING EMBARASSING AND ONE GOOD FREE KICK IN FIFTY WAS SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENEOGH, WE WILL DEFINATELY MISS DOWNINGS CROSSES I BELIEVE THAT GIVEN THE CHANCE BARRY BANNAN COULD FILL THAT ROLE I ABSOLUTELY BELIEVE IN HIS ABILITY A LONG RUN IN THE TEAM WOULD BOOST HIS CONFIDENCE A PLACE IN THE TEAM HAS TO BE FOUND FOR KIERAN CLARK OTHERWISE HE WILL BE OFF JUST LIKE CAHILL AND ANOTHER CLUB WILL GET THE BARGAIN OF A LIFETIME. I THINK IF WE FINISH IN THE TOP TEN THIS YEAR WE WILL HAVE DONE OK IS THAT DEFEATIST MAYBE BUT IT IS ALSO REALISTIC, THE TROUBLE IS WE ARE NEVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO PAY THE WAGES THAT THE LIKES OF MAN CITY AND AT THE END OF THE DAY THE PLAYERS WILL WANT TO SELL THEIR TALENT FOR AS MUCH MONEY AS THEY CAN GET AND WHO CAN BLAME THEM A SALERY CAP IS THE ONLY SANE WAY WE ARE GOING TO SUSTAIN THE PREMIER LEAGUE IN ITS CURRENT FORM, I HAVE TO SAY THE SIGNING OF GIVEN & NZOGBIA ARE INSPIRATIONAL JUST A QUALITY HOLDING MIDFIELDER NEEDED NOW, TO FINISH I WOULD LIKE TO ADD I THINK MARTIN O’NEIL DID OUR CLUB FAR MORE DAMAGE THAN GOOD AND WHATEVER MCNEIL DOES I DOUBT IF HE WILL RUN AWAY A WEEK BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS HAVING SPENT ALL THE MONEY ON MEDIOCRITY WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE OR TWO PLAYERS
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Dixie Dean,
Ferguson does get things wrong you know. Massimo Taibi, along with an abundance of keepers after Schmeichel left. Juan Sebastian Verón being a particularly expensive mess up.
If you look at Ashley’s stats, they went down continuously after his nomination as PFA Young Player of the Year and I, like many Villa fans, saw a distinct lack of effort to dribble as time went on.
By comparison, last season Charles N’Zogbia was the second best dribbler in Europe according to official stats, second only to Lionel Messi. Not a bad achievement by any stretch.
Of course, we are all entitled to our own opinions and the important thing is this – we all support the club and want us to be successful.
Thank you to everyone who has commented, whether you agree or disagree with the article. It is an honour to get a chance to write regarding our beloved club, and I always enjoy hearing what other fans have to say.
Wishing you all a great weekend.
Matt
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I echo what John Carlton has said too. If we can get Scott Parker in as a defensive midfielder, I would feel far more secure about the first team. He plays with his heart on his sleeve, and would offer an excellent combatitive influence in the middle.
His addition would also allow Jean II Makoun the space to move forward, much like he did with Jeremy Toulalán at Lyon. I think with the right experienced lynchpin in the middle, Makoun will turn out to be excellent this season, whereas if he has to play the defensive midfield role, I think he is prone to giving away free kicks when tracking back via late tackling.
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I agree with a lot of what has been said, but a couple of points to note:
1) Given is in a different class to Friedel and will earn us at least 10 extra points this year
2) Gardner is ready
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