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Blog: Villa need stable structure to be sustainable

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Aston Villa were once top dogs in the Midlands, but things aren't as clear cut nowadays. Matt Turvey looks at whether the key to success may well have been right under the club's noses.

Whilst Aston Villa don't have a game this weekend per se, next Monday will be one of the most important of the club's season so far. Why? For local bragging rights, of course.

In the not too distant past, the question of who was the top team in the Midlands would have been unquestionable, with Villa clearly top dogs and West Bromwich Albion, at best, in second place.

Nowadays, things are a little different. In Villa's defence, their circumstances are, at least in the eyes of fans, seen as a temporary blip, a few stumbles on the way back to where the club were. Sure, Villa may struggle to get to Europe in the near future, never mind win a trophy there, but many fans will expect to be back on top soon.

Win on Monday, and Villa will be above the Baggies, a first step to superiority, even if such a step seems like nothing - progress comes from small steps after all.

In fact, it may not be too foolish to adopt some of the methods that have been engaged in by Jeremy Peace, Albion's chairman. Despite Villa spending more money - and getting into higher league positions - the value of Peace's mentality feels an awful like the target of how Villa Park might be built into a fortress again.

The challenge, however, is that Villa are somewhat late to the game of building without resources. When Randy Lerner arrived with his bucket of cash, there was widespread praise, with the chairman's name sung out on the terraces as often as the manager's. In the eyes of many, that method of progressing - large expenditure - seemed the way forwards.

In late 2013, things are a little different. Whilst few can doubt that money plays a part in the progress of teams, real sustainability - the kind that means a team can progress autonomously rather than chained to a billionaire - has become a viable, and sensible target for many clubs.

We've seen this season that Southampton have been performing above expectations this season, and whilst few will be suggesting they will be in the Champions League slots come the end of the current campaign, their academy and structure are solid.

After all, this is an academy that has not only produced the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain,Theo Walcott, and Wayne Bridge, but also Gareth Bale - a man now lauded as the most expensive player on the planet.

With that in mind, perhaps building foundations much like other clubs have started on - Swansea being another notable example - is the way towards Villa's restoration as kings of the Midlands. Maybe Villa fans, and their owner, can learn a lot from the Albion, something that might stick in the craw of many, but has more than a hint of truth to it.

Time will tell, but it may well be interesting, perhaps even embarrassing for some Villa fans, if the way back to success post-big money spending is found close to home, in the methods of the club's biggest rivals.

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