Where to now?

The feelings of the typical Villa fan are currently probably akin to the feelings of the bride spurned at the alter. She thought that her future was laid out, but she was cruelly cheated.

1982 was a year that resonated strongly in the Villa camp and has done ever since. It has been the constant reminder of what can be achieved given the right ingredients, but, significantly, the manager that effectively took Villa to their climax was also lampooned at one stage during his team re-building. Despite his achievements to 1979, he found that the Villa fans expectation was high (and totally expectant) despite the fact that only 5 years before the club was stuck in the lower division. But he (and Tony Barton) won out in the end.

Since then, Villa’s fortunes have waxed and waned, and, because a new owner emerged in tandem with a manager that somehow was seen as having charisma a-plenty, Villa’s following thought that a repeat of the 1982 success was just around the corner. In the three years culminating in 2010, expectations were maintained, only to be dashed when their hero manager walked away – and at a deadly moment.

In stepped a former Liverpool champion. He was virtually the only manager available with any significant pedigree, and was given the job of turning around what may well have been something resembling a debacle. I presume the highly-qualified M. Houllier has seen something drastically awry at Villa Park, including the scouting system, the players’ reward structure, the fitness regime, the attitude of some senior players and the style of play. In a brave move, he has chosen to try to attack all the deficiencies from the outset and during this process encountered one player injury after another. Furthermore, he has still not had the chance of buying-in new talent.

AVFC have already used 27 players this season, and there have been hardly two matches in sequence when the same team has walked out onto the pitch. Nevertheless, I feel that M. Houllier knows what is needed and is trying to build on rock rather than the sand that characterised the previous manager’s period in office. In January he has the opportunity to sign a couple of players with the iron in the soul necessary to keep Villa afloat this season.

Yes, we all know that Aston Villa should not be where they are in the League, and all Villa fans want the matter sorted. There have been troubles before at this great club, the most serious of which occurred years before the current younger generation of supporters. There was a way through those former troubles, and there is a way through them now. However, no knee-jerk reaction is going to get it ‘sorted’; the manager has a very difficult job and, really, the only way of fans helping the club is to acknowledge that promise has been shown (take the Manchester United match as an illustration) and to vociferously back that promise and M. Houllier’s work in moulding a basis for a better push next season.

The solution to the current situation is partly in the hand of the Villa supporters. Encouragement is what is needed right now, nothing else. Let's get through January (and the transfer window) and see what has happened before judging.