Villa return to action after a week off, travelling up to face bottom of the table Wigan Athletic.  Aston Villa blogger Matthew Turvey asks what is needed to salvage Villa’s season to date, and looks at how the next four games will be critical for Alex McLeish’s men.

After a week off from the trials and tribulation of supporting Aston Villa, the boys in claret and blue return in what is likely to be Robbie Keane’s final game for the club.  Well, until a permanent deal is able to be brokered in the summer at least.

Villa’s season has been, by all accounts, disappointing.  Languishing in 15th place at present, Villa are protected from a relegation scrap by a buffer of 7 points so, for the club, the next four games are of critical importance.

For Villa, less than 7 out of the 12 points available must surely be seen as failure – failure in the sense of poor performances in those games, but also failure in the season overall.  Throw away too many points – especially considering the opposition in those games – and Villa may well find themselves drawn into an unwanted relegation battle.

Few would have suggested Alex McLeish’s tenure at Villa was likely to be covered in successes, and it has pretty much borne out the way it was expected.  Following the sales of key players Ashley Young and Stewart Downing, Villa went into a new season after a somewhat misleading 9th placed finish.  

Whilst Villa had, in the terms of the history books, finished 9th, they were also mathematically capable of relegation with three games left of the season.  The gap between top and bottom last season was the tightest of any Premier League campaign.  

Perhaps the main difference between McLeish’s current club and the one he managed last season was the Villa had the luxury of spending themself out of trouble in January.  Birmingham, by the same token, instead suffered an injury crisis that left them relegated by one point and one goal behind Wolverhampton Wanderers.

So McLeish’s job in resurrecting a broken and threadbare side was always going to be a challenge.  For many fans, it was assumed it was a challenge too far, as though the red haired Glaswegian had no chance of pulling the miracle out of the bag that Villa needed to improve.

Fast forwards to the present, and Villa’s game against Wigan, whilst not literally a relegation dogfight just yet, is a real six pointer.  If Villa can’t pick up points from the next four games; Wigan, Blackburn, Fulham, and Bolton, then the rest of the season makes for grim reading.

With Villa currently on 28 points, a run of four wins, albeit unlikely, may be just enough for the club to survive.  40 points has, for the most part, been the watershed of a team that survived relegation – it was the magic number that kept Wolves up whilst Blues went down with 39 – but the real figure for safety may well be lower, depending of course on how the current bottom five play off against each other.

With regard to the club, what we really need to see is a display of unity in the face of some tough times ahead.  It is very easy to point the finger at any number of personnel, perhaps with fair reasoning behind it, but disharmony may well be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.  Villa, for all of their historic successes and proud heritage, are not immune to the spectre of relegation and, whilst Villa have been an ever-present in the Premier League, lack of application could easily see that record finished.

As for the match itself, fans will have bitter-sweet feelings seeing Robbie Keane play his last game of the season.  Much maligned by sections of the support before he even kicked a ball, Keane has been almost the antithesis of McLeish’s reign, largely because he came pre-judged, just as McLeish was, but has let his football do the talking.  McLeish, on the other hand, has not been as fortunate.

Keane has expressed this week that he would not be against a permanent move to Villa Park next season, and I imagine few fans would fail to welcome him after his recent performances.  However, the main question is whether Villa will be in a position to take the Irishman on next year, depending as it does on where the club finally finish this season.

Should Villa suffer relegation, and I have to say I still think they won’t, Keane may well find Villa a far less appealing place than it is at present.  However, should Villa manage to struggle through a very testing campaign, and maintain their Premier League status, then Keane will no doubt be a shoe-in.

The only thing left to wonder beyond that is just who will be in charge of the club next season, especially if Villa finish well below mid-table.

You can follow Matt Turvey’s regular opinions at his own site, Aston Villa Life via http://www.astonvillalife.com or via his Twitter account @astonvillalife.