No royal seal of approval for Aston Villa - Match analysis
So this is what Villa look like with a Prince but minus their king. The heir to the throne's presence at Villa Park for the first time since he picked the club's name out of a hat during his university days was suitably low key for the drab goalless draw he witnessed.
More worrying for Villa was the greater anonymity of the man who ascended to Villa Park royalty last season via his inspirational – some might say single-handed – role in keeping the club in the Premier League.
Christian Benteke was out on the pitch against Sunderland – but nowhere to be seen.
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The rampaging Belgium international could not be expected to keep up the phenomenal success rate which made him one of the most successful major league goalscorers in this calendar year.
His 20 goals in 24 appearances in 2013 spread his name across Europe and sent his market value soaring towards £30m.
But it all came to a grinding halt seven games ago and the Benteke Villa fans saw on Saturday bore little resemblance to the one-man wrecking ball which had been demolishing defences for 10 months of the year.
It's a problem for manager Paul Lambert because the powerful striker IS Villa – the one player capable of converting a sometimes busted currency into the gold of points and a 'feelgood' factor at a stadium where it has been short in supply.
But when the Villa manager put the ailing Benteke out of his misery with five minutes remaining, bringing on Libor Kozak in his place, there was no dissent and even a few ironic cheers from supporters. It would have been an act of heresy by Lambert not so long ago.
Benteke has many mitigating factors to explain his form loss. His youth, second-season syndrome and the sneaking suspicion that, perhaps, club and country have hurried him back a little early from injury because of his significance to their respective plans.
And there is an 'up-side' for Villa too. In this form, neither Arsene Wenger nor AVB – the two north London managers endlessly linked to acquiring Benteke's services – will be able to get their respective boards at Arsenal and Spurs to sign off a January deal at the fee Villa demand.
For the welfare of his team, and perhaps this campaign, however, Lambert needs his main man to overcome his slump and quickly rediscover the mood and form of previous months in order for Villa to be re-energised.
That Sunderland would be the visitors who would witness this strangely listless and ineffective version of a striker who scored a 17-minute hat-trick against them at the end of last season drove home the disparity.
That performance put Paolo Di Canio's team to the sword in a 6-1 result which sent Villa bounding towards safety and gave supporters a real lift as Lambert's troubling first campaign closed.
The manager contended before this game that this season's Villa were an even better team and the 'stats' prove it – more points, less goals conceded.
"We are playing well," he claimed which left Prince William and the rest of a thinning attendance wondering what on earth Villa are like when they are playing badly.
That Villa have established a much greater defensive security is undeniable, but that it has come at the cost of football quality is equally certain. They have not conceded in games against Norwich, Hull, West Ham, Cardiff and Sunderland, but the games have been absolute stinkers.
Sunderland could have made the experience an awful lot worse. Just before the break Seb Larsson and Steven Fletcher combined to set up one of those chances that seem unmissable but Emanuele Giaccherini lofted the ball over the bar from barely a couple of metres out.
The game's other only meaningful attempt brought another reprieve for Villa as Fabio Borini's header beat Brad Guzan but bounced away off the bar.
Full marks to Gabby Agbonlahor who carried the fight to Sunderland and looked capable of unsettling a team bearing none of the flakiness of Di Canio's version.
But still the doubts persist over Villa's quality on the ball through midfield where Ashley Westwood, Karim El Ahmadi and a returning Fabian Delph provide an energetic but one-dimensional combination which is aggravated by the Andreas Weimann's continued struggle, like Benteke, to add a cutting thrust ahead of them.
Villa look strong enough to get through this winter without the alarms of last season and that for some supporters seems to be enough. But there is a split of opinion developing about whether Lambert's design has a through-line to prosperity – and not even the presence of the nation's future King could disguise the impoverished football.
By Martin Swain
