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      OPPOSITION VIEW - ASTON VILLA Q&A


Ahead of Saturday's big derby game at The Hawthorns, we caught up once more with Villa fan David, from My Old Man Said. He gives his views on Villa's season so far, Paul Lambert, Roy Keane, the Baggies
and more. You can also find My Old Man Said on Twitter @oldmansaid

IT'S BEEN SOMETHING OF AN UP AND DOWN SEASON FOR VILLA. YOU HAD A GOOD START FOLLOWED BY AN AWFUL RUN, BEFORE FINDING SOME DECENT FORM AGAIN DURING THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. HOW ARE VILLA FANS VIEWING THE SEASON SO FAR?

Beginning the season with three wins and a draw in the first four fixtures, it was beginning to feel that the Lambert roadshow was finally up and running after two seasons of abject failure. However, as we’ve experienced several times under Lambert already, turning points seem to head straight into a cul-de-sac of doom and gloom.

The punishment for Villans daring to have positive thoughts? A six game losing streak.  With the team reaching nine games without a win, Lambert was potentially one game away from serious ‘enough is enough’ fan uproar. But the win against Palace, followed by beating Leicester at Villa Park and that nine winless run suddenly flipped to five games unbeaten and effectively kept Lambert in a job until the end of the season and beyond.

With a pretty extensive injury list, Keane’s coming and going, the uncertainty of Delph and Vlaar not signing new contracts, there’s still a feeling that the season hasn’t really started yet.

PAUL LAMBERT, HOW DO THE MAJORITY OF FANS CURRENTLY FEEL ABOUT HIM?

The knives are very much out. In my book, any manager who only rattles up 38 points in a season for a club like Villa should go, especially after a record 10 home defeats (and only 41 points the season before). Based on his record alone he should have gone. How he managed to get a new four-year contract still amazes most supporters. The board had been wanting to renew his contract since the beginning of the year, but poor results meant it would have only caused uproar. They then timed it hours after Villa had beaten Liverpool to go four unbeaten. After Lambert signed it, Villa didn’t win again for nine matches.

If the board are happy with Lambert’s performance so far it simply indicates that there has been a serious downgrading of ambition at the club. Most of Lambert’s signings have failed and have consequently been sold on or loaned out. At the moment the only strain of respect he holds is landing Christian Benteke who is world class. Unfortunately, due to the lack of quality around him and strategy in place, the Belgian’s only role has been helping Villa avoid relegation when he should be the extra dimension that helps us compete for a Top Six spot and be a danger in the cups.

Still, the manager merry-a-round in the rest of the Premier League is a joke, but Lambert needs to reward the supporter’s patience (and suffering) with clear evidence that he is the man for the job.

TO MOST PEOPLE IT WAS A STRANGE MOVE, YOUR TAKE ON ROY KEANE'S TIME AT VILLA PARK?

To me, it made perfect sense at the time. The club was up for sale, so it was like an interim appointment. If a new owner came in and wanted a new management team, then that’s where the logic of appointing Keane as a stop-gap came in (it’s also why Lambert was given grace after picking up just 38 points the season before!)

Keane was entertaining at the start with his beard and book, and it lifted Villa’s profile a little bit from this stagnant bore they had become in the eyes of the national media. It also distracted the attention away from Lambert. As results turned bad, Keane’s increasing press coverage timed with every international break seemed to be self-serving and Villa fans began to tire of this.

When he took the Villa job, Keane had previously declared that if Ireland lost ‘three or four on the bounce’, he would leave Villa. However, there was no such provision from him for Villa losing ‘SIX on the bounce’…

Unfortunately, as it turned out there was no new owner in place, so the club sank deeper into limbo. The new CEO came in and seemed to suggest in an interview that Randy Lerner was reinvigorated in his interest of Villa. Typically, Villa supporters have heard jack from the horse’s mouth. As a result, Keane was number two to Lambert, with no end in sight, when perhaps he’d only seen it as a temporary deal. It’s hard to imagine him wanting to play second fiddle to Lambert for too long.

There are reports that Keane fell out with some players and that was the catalyst for him leaving. Regardless, since Keane has left the club Villa have been unbeaten. So now his time at the club is seen as nothing more than an amusing interlude.

CHRISTIAN BENTEKE IS CLEARLY A HUGE PLAYER FOR VILLA, JUST HOW GOOD IS HE AND DO YOU FEEL HE'LL STILL BE A VILLA PLAYER THIS TIME NEXT YEAR?

I think Benteke is up there and could potentially be one of the top five strikers in the world, he just doesn’t have a team around him at the moment. Also there is a question about him being injury-prone, but maybe he just gets knackered carrying the team on his shoulders!

The biggest shame for him personally was being injured for the World Cup, he could have seriously made his reputation there and earnt Villa a good few million along the way. It’s unlikely he would have stuck around, if he had set the tournament alight.

Due to the limitations of Villa’s midfield, Benteke either has to create chances himself (ala his winning goal against Palace, where he picked the ball up from the half-way line) or is used as a target man. It’s a bit of a waste as the Belgian has a decent first touch and is clever when the ball is played into his feet.

It would be interesting to see him play with a brighter football brain in attacking-midfield behind him, ala Joe Cole or Jack Grealish, who haven’t had a proper run when Benteke has played. It could totally change Villa as an attacking force.

ONE OF THE GOAL SCORERS FROM LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING FIXTURE, ASHLEY WESTWOOD, WILL MISS THE HAWTHORNS' CLASH DUE TO INJURY. HOW MUCH OF A BLOW IS HIS ABSENCE?

Westwood as the cliché goes is one of Villa’s unsung heroes, but seems to be a 7/10 type of midfielder. He’s never going to control the midfield for Villa or take the game by the scruff of the neck. He’s tidy and would benefit from more of a presence alongside him, but at the moment it’s not the end of the world if he’s out. If Jack Grealish plays instead most Villans would be happy with that. In all likelihood though, it’ll probably be Kieran Richardson who fills his boots.

PLAYER OF THE SEASON SO FAR?

It’s hard to look past Alan Hutton. A few Villa players have been written off only to come good, but I’ve never seen such a ‘zero to hero’ rise like his.

He was the subject of a lot of flak from supporters in his first season when Alex McLeish brought him in - his tackling was rash and he offered little going forward.  When Lambert discarded him to the bomb squad (he didn’t play once last season for Villa), there were few who contested the decision, although in hindsight it seems a ridiculous one.

Still, there was a growing sympathy for Hutton during his exile as results were going against Villa. Especially, as Villa were bleeding £30,000-ish a week on his wages. It’s now seen as a black mark against Lambert, as his hardline stance backfired when this pre-season he recalled all the players he’d exiled. While Darren Bent understandly still wasn’t happy with his treatment, Hutton kept his head down and just got on with it.  He started pre-season as our third choice right-back, now we’d wince if there was any other name on the teamsheet at the right-back position but him.

It is incredible that Hutton recently signed a new contract after how he was treated, but he seems like a different player and it was a nice moment for him against Leicester last weekend scoring his first goal for Villa in front of the Holte.

ANYONE BEEN PARTICULARLY DISAPPOINTING?

Ron Vlaar being prone to injury is particularly disappointing, especially since he always goes missing for the busy Christmas period. His injury record was the main reason he didn’t end up at a ‘big club’ earlier in his career.

While I’d prefer to have Vlaar in the Villa squad, with Jores Okore stepping up in recent games, if Villa can get a few million for Vlaar, I for one wouldn’t lose much sleep.

PREDICTION FOR VILLA'S SEASON?

I have no idea. A lot depends on the January window. One or two decent players could make a real difference and finally fire us back into the top-half. But if Delph and Vlaar go and our injury curse continues or if anything happens to Benteke, then we could be slumming it in the lower regions once again.

Lambert needs to take the FA Cup seriously this season simply to lift supporter’s spirits. His track record in it so far is not acceptable.

PREDICTION FOR ALBION'S SEASON?

I haven’t really watched Albion this season, so it’s hard to make any clear cut  assumptions. I’ll obviously have a better idea after this weekend’s game. I don’t think any team has had an easy game against you guys this season and that suggests you’re a more solid team than certainly the promoted teams.

PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPS?

Chelsea - if they have a good Christmas. Manchester City continuing in the Champions League will help them and keep it an even playing field.

RELEGATED?

I would say it's between the current bottom five including your good selves. With last year's promoted teams the favourites.

PREDICTION AND THOUGHTS ON SATURDAY'S GAME?

I think it’ll be a decent litmus test to how Villa will do this season. So far our losing run was largely against teams you’d expect to beat us and our recent ok form is against teams we should beat on paper. Baggies away is a game where a point is acceptable and a win is a decent result.

If Lambert conjures up wins against the Baggies and Manchester United, we might have to wipe the slate clean this season with him.


 

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