‘Proud History, Bright Future.’ This has been the message from Villa Park for a number of years.
With an erratic season thus far, Aston Villa now face a crucial stage in the season. Paul Lambert has come in, not taking regard of reputation in a club which has been in the wilderness for two years. The message has been clear, ‘I don’t care what wages you earn or what you have done in the past, if you are good enough, you will play.’ This has been clear in the ruthless dropping of stalwarts Shay Given and Darren Bent. However, putting your faith in youth can only bring you so far, and Randy Lerner must provide financial backing to his man this January if Villa are to stave off relegation.
No goals scored and fifteen conceded in the last three games is not good enough. In those games, they resembled a team en route to relegation. But a preceding run of five unbeaten matches including a 3-1 victory in Anfield means that the Villans hover just above the bottom three on 18 points. Put that with a semi-final date with Bradford in the Capital Insurance Cup and all is not lost for Lamberts charges facing into 2013.
One positive since Lambert took over has been the arrival of ‘Belgian Beast’ Christian Benteke [pictured]. The 21 year-old has gone from strength to strength since joining from Genk for a reported £7 million in the summer. The manager is certainly not regretting his decision to bring the Belgian international to Villa Park either; “You run out of things to say about the guy, how well he’s performing and how young he is.” Along with Andreas Weimann, they have formed an impressive new-look Villa frontline, which tore Liverpool to shreds and is a beacon of hope for the New Year.
Credit must be given to Paul Lambert in the way he has dealt with limited resources. He has come in with an attacking style, with a plan for the future. The chaos of the McLeish era is gone, where the team went from game to game with no plan, simply papering over all cracks, which saw them through the season. Lerner must listen to the Holte End and put faith in the Scotsman to lead the Claret and Blues out of the doldrums over the next few seasons. There is a school of thought that had Lambert been the immediate successor to Martin O’Neil two years ago, this mess would not have happened and Villa would still be competing with their contemporaries of the time, Tottenham and Everton. But that was then and this is now, and they must face up to reality; unless they start putting some results together, they are in serious threat of relegation.
Therefore this is a key month for Villa, both on and off the pitch. First of all, they seek to offload Darren Bent and try recuperate some of the absurd £24 million they forked out for him two years ago. Liverpool and QPR are both said to be interested. Stephen Warnock is also said to be attracting attention from Bolton; the fullback was a firm favourite at Villa Park, with a reputation as one of the best in the league, but has gone off the boil since the departure of O’Neill. Lambert should seek more stability in midfield, with suggestions that there will be moves for the Senegalese Modou Sougou, Ghana international Derek Boeteng who plies his trade in the Ukranian Premier League, or Newcastle’s Dan Gosling. There is also rumours that Robbie Keane will have a similar stint in Birmingham to last year, but the Republic of Ireland captain has denied interest in a loan move away from LA Galaxy, and Villa seem to be stable up front, with Agbonlahor another viable option behind Benteke. The unattached Craig Gordon could be brought in to take over from Brad Guzan, which could mean that there is no longer room for Shay Given. While Richard Dunne’s return in spring will steady the defence, we could yet see a move for another defender to help steady the ship.
2013 is a key year for Aston Villa, and Lerner must recognise this. The Villans are going through a turbulent season, but neither the manager nor the players are at fault. He looks defend Villa's amazing record of being a constant in the English top flight. Villa’s slogan, ‘Proud History, Bright Future’, rings around Villa Park, but it will not happen itself, and investment is needed. Over to you, Mr Lerner.