Substance over style as Aston Villa hit top half

A perhaps unexpected 3-2 win on the south coast leaves Aston Villa in the top half of the table. As a result, Matt Turvey asks if there really should be an air of negativity surrounding B6.

moreAfter a week spent reading about the virtues of having a foreign manager, Aston Villa snatched a 3-2 victory at St. Mary's, home of Southampton Football Club.

For the Saints, much has been made of their season to date, mainly because of their occupation of a higher-than-expected position in the league, led forward by an attractive and well suited Argentinian man.

One thing I must say I find endearing about Mauricio Pochettino is that he is rumoured to be perfectly capable of speaking English, but simply chooses not to in interviews. For some, such a move would seem insulting, as though the man couldn't be bothered to converse in the language of the country in which he is employed, but I think it is a masterstroke.

After all, haven't we seen, time and time again, the national media take apart managers for their views, scrutinising every single word as though it was written by a spin doctor or speech writing specialist. The reality? Managers speak from the heart, and often find themselves affected by emotion - it's only normal.

Pochettino has been fortunate to not be under too much scrutiny, at least in the negative sense given Southampton's lofty achievements, at least in terms of games played so far.

Quite the opposite could be said for Paul Lambert. Villa, a team who have been at the wrong end of the table for several seasons, seem to be a diametric opposite to their rivals on Wednesday night, presumbly expecting to be far better off than they really are.

The question that must be asked, against the backdrop of two teams supposedly heading in opposite directions - at least if you are to believe the chatter on social media - as to whether there really is much difference.

Sure, Villa are a historically big club but, as with any situation or set of circumstances, history rarely gets you anything besides a pat on the back. What matters for many, if not all of us, is how we are doing today.

Judged on those criteria, Villa are actually doing well. Sure, they aren't trailblazing past all and sundry, but they are closer to mid-table, a position they haven't honestly deserved to be in since the exit of Martin O'Neill.

Sticklers for detail and pedants may well point out the 9th placed finish under Gerard Houllier, but that season was a bastard hybrid of an O'Neill legacy - in the form of Ashley Young and Stewart Downing - and luck, given that Villa surprised many to go from mathematically capable of relegation to the top half in two games.

Under Lambert, the progress appears to be being built on a far steadier platform. Whilst Villa's chairman, the oft silent Randy Lerner, has made many, many mistakes during his course of ownership he has, by luck or judgement, stumbled upon a manager who may not only move the club forwards, but do so in an economically sustainable manner.

Of course, financial arguments rarely are relevant to many fans and, if we are honest, sometime the style of play leaves much to be desired for Villa, especially at Villa Park. However, if we are similarly honest, shouldn't a club like Villa be more focused on getting the basics right - winning games - before things such as style are considered?

Didn't Roberto Martinez - a man who despite his current successes at Everton, managed to relegate Wigan Athletic by playing pretty, yet ineffective football. Should a team like Villa, honestly, be complaining simply because the style of football isn't to their taste, less than 18 months before the hated-by-the-fans Alex McLeish was sacked?

An old saying said that Rome wasn't built in a day, and similarly football clubs are rarely built from the ground up in less than about five years. Villa's rivals on Wednesday have, despite their loss, been in a process of rebuilding since the time of Alan Pardew, and subsequently Nigel Adkins.

At least Villa don't have to make that same, steep climb from League One as the Saints did but, if Lambert can continue to find players who are better value than he pays for them, there must certainly be strong signs of progress at a club where just two and a half years ago, many were reaching for the bedsheets.

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.