Blog: Aston Villa need to wake up to their predicament

"Barely surviving" is probably as apt a description as one could apply to Aston Villa at present, but is it enough? Matt Turvey thinks something has to change or fans will walk away for good.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Well that is unless you're Aston Villa, in which case you'll probably just lose 4-1 again.

Joking aside, Villa do need to start picking up points following losses to Fulham, Manchester United and Stoke City. With Crystal Palace Villa's next opponents, there's hope that the Villans can secure something - anything - in order to get back on track.

Whilst the 34 points currently secured may be enough to see Villa safe come the end of the season, there's no doubt that a few more wins would ease some of the stress of being at the wrong end of the table yet again. The issue? When Villa have had the double done over them by Fulham, a team with a horrendous goal difference and an almost certain future in the Championship, points are far from guaranteed.

On paper, Villa should be able to snatch at least a point. Between the club's better-away-than-home record, and the fact that the players will be desperate to turn things round, there's a rationale to say that Villa can get something, even if the bookies still end up seeing Palace as the favourites.

Of course, Villa's problems come mainly from the fact that they are wholly inconsistent. Here's a team who has beaten Manchester City and Chelsea at home whilst suffering defeat to supposedly lesser opposition. That Villa are clearly capable of winning is what makes it even more frustrating, leaving fans questioning exactly what needs to change in order to progress.

Some think that the manager needs to go, and Villa's far from great points total would certainly add some credence to such a view. Whether Paul Lambert will actually go though is far from certain.

Why? Villa are being run in a particular manner - one that has been based on tightly controlled wage budgets - that few managers would want to be working under such conditions.

That isn't to say that Lambert hasn't had some money to spend - he clearly has - though he has also had the double whammy of needing to buy players and pay them less than the league average in wages. Looking through that lens, it is fairly easy to see why some of the manager's purchases have been average - limitations affect how much can be spent.

Take for example Christian Benteke. Whilst he is being paid a reported £50k a week - a solid wage - he is likely to be the club's top earner once the remainder of the club's "Bomb Squad" are sold.

That Villa will then be in a position where £50k a week is the top of the line, with many of the team on far less than that, shows the level of restrictions in place, not even taking into account that Benteke could easily earn £70-100k elsewhere.

All this leaves the club in a situation where they've gone from financial over-indulgence to fiscal starvation. What was once a club filled with overpaid aging players, is now filled with cheap, young men. Whilst financially there's a strong sensibility to the moves made, it would be very easy to argue that the underfunding a club can be just as dangerous as overfunding one.

Regardless of the result at the weekend, Villa are likely to be safe. However, there comes a time where fans decide enough is enough. Sure, the accounts may be far healthier but, as a paying customer, after witnessing a record number of losses at home, there's only so much a person can take.

I've renewed already for next season, but I know plenty who won't be doing so, responding angrily to season ticket sales calls chasing holders to shell out for another season.

Where does that leave things? Villa need to wake up to their predicament. Luck has kept them in the Premier League so far, and the ability to rebuild and survive is something that should be applauded, but this can't continue.

If Villa fans are to regain any semblance of excitement, there has to be some loosening of wage budgets. If not, and players coming in are taking a mere fraction home of what they used to, it won't be a case of if Villa get relegated in future, it will be a case of when - and that is a day I hope never comes.

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