The one thing that the previous owner of Aston Villa finally succeeded in doing was to transform 30,000+ Brummies into being totally miserable while at the same time putting grins on the faces of the fans of the local opposition. And this coinciding with a time of government-sponsored austerity since 2010! Oh, how the Villans were shocked out of any complacency they might have retained since the days of Big Ron, and the smirk of contentment when Doug made his exit.
The previous owner did not succeed, however, in causing the extinction of the football club he claimed to love, but (as Wellington once said) "it was a close run thing."
Enter the Doc. In what is hardly 3 months since his arrival he has totally transformed the mood, though it is noted that a number of fans are still not happy that we are not yet top of the Championship or that we have failed to score 11 goals against any opposition as Villa did in November, 1959, during another sojourn in the second tier. But wait: there's still time!
Yes, Wolves have managed to sign even more players than Villa during 'the window', but the Doc has made it crystal clear that he wants no-one playing for the club who has not the right attitude or the right level of experience to meet the situation the club faces. And the Doc has put his money where his mouth is, without a doubt, as well as removing almost all the demoralised dross that we saw last year.
So, Roberto di Matteo has been provided with what must be regarded as a very tantalising set of fresh ingredients to make a team that can get back into the big time, and also act as a basis for future development. Amidst the amount of experience that the manager now has at his disposal the right framework should exist for the times when injury strikes, or the Africa Nations Cup intervenes, and a youngster or two has to be thrown into the lion's den. It was a bit like that in the 70s, wasn't it, when what we would now regard as great players materialised from the youth ranks to take their rightful place in a mature and capable Villa team: players of the ilk of Little, Gidman, Deehan and Shaw, and others who were not too far behind in stature. It will be fascinating to see if Villa's youngsters of today can emulate those names of yesteryear.
Well, the manager has over a week to try to massage his new brood into some kind of shape that might resemble a team that will challenge for the main prize - promotion. And what better place to unveil his new pride of lions but at Villa Park in what should be a match to savour. We should not have expectations that all will 'click' in one go, but I feel the promise is there.
There has never before been so much emphasis on the "Up" in "Up the Villa"!
The previous owner did not succeed, however, in causing the extinction of the football club he claimed to love, but (as Wellington once said) "it was a close run thing."
Enter the Doc. In what is hardly 3 months since his arrival he has totally transformed the mood, though it is noted that a number of fans are still not happy that we are not yet top of the Championship or that we have failed to score 11 goals against any opposition as Villa did in November, 1959, during another sojourn in the second tier. But wait: there's still time!
Yes, Wolves have managed to sign even more players than Villa during 'the window', but the Doc has made it crystal clear that he wants no-one playing for the club who has not the right attitude or the right level of experience to meet the situation the club faces. And the Doc has put his money where his mouth is, without a doubt, as well as removing almost all the demoralised dross that we saw last year.
So, Roberto di Matteo has been provided with what must be regarded as a very tantalising set of fresh ingredients to make a team that can get back into the big time, and also act as a basis for future development. Amidst the amount of experience that the manager now has at his disposal the right framework should exist for the times when injury strikes, or the Africa Nations Cup intervenes, and a youngster or two has to be thrown into the lion's den. It was a bit like that in the 70s, wasn't it, when what we would now regard as great players materialised from the youth ranks to take their rightful place in a mature and capable Villa team: players of the ilk of Little, Gidman, Deehan and Shaw, and others who were not too far behind in stature. It will be fascinating to see if Villa's youngsters of today can emulate those names of yesteryear.
Well, the manager has over a week to try to massage his new brood into some kind of shape that might resemble a team that will challenge for the main prize - promotion. And what better place to unveil his new pride of lions but at Villa Park in what should be a match to savour. We should not have expectations that all will 'click' in one go, but I feel the promise is there.
There has never before been so much emphasis on the "Up" in "Up the Villa"!
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