Yes, we lost against a good-looking Wolves attack on Saturday, without a doubt. And we may well have been looking at the eventual champions. But, to look at it from another angle, it was Villa's first defeat in nine starts, and nine starts in which we have scored four goals in two of the matches and three in another. If we can continue having runs like that with just the intermittent defeat then the Doc's target of promotion will be achieved, especially that such undefeated runs should see us finish in second place at least. There are 34 matches to go, so assuming four defeats and 22 wins from those, we would finish with 93 points, the same as Brighton last season.
Optimistic? Yes, perhaps, but I do not see too many teams in the Championship able to beat us. Would such a season and the current approach help us to provide a basis for life in the Premiership? Probably not as things are; but I do see things getting better, not worse.
And for those who wonder why smaller clubs appear (on the surface) to have had their problems sorted relatively quickly - including Wolves - let's not forget that Villa is one heck of a club to get right. In my view, Villa's historical background demands that the Club be looked at with a special pair of glasses, with a view to bringing the Club back to where it really belongs, at or near the very top.
These are the main historical issues I am referring to:
1. The fact that Villa led the world into the modern game in the 1893-1915 period and created records at that time that took other clubs decades to catch up with. Even in 1981 Villa had won more domestic trophies than any other club.
2. The fact that Villa won the European Cup in 1982, followed by the Supercup against Barcelona later that year.
3. The fact that until recently Villa had provided more players to the England team than any other club.
4. The fact that Villa still resides in 4th or 5th place (depending on how you look at the numbers) in a league of domestic trophy winners.
The Club is also the main representative of the UK's second city. Yet Aston Villa, with that history, now (sadly) sits in the Championship. And we expect quick fixes after the Club had been run down over five years and had become a laughing stock? I grimace when I think back to those matches of 2015-16.
Back in 1959, when the Club had been relegated for only the second time in its history, there was shock that it had happened. But, as in Villa's recent history, it could be said that "it was coming". Villa at that time had played it close too often and Lady Luck finally went through the door.
In the second tier in 1959-60, and after a promising 8-game start (just losing one and drawing one including a 5-2 home win against Portsmouth), the following results transpired:
A Huddersfield 1-0
H Leyton Orient 1-0
A Stoke 3-3
A Lincoln 0-0
A Sheffield U 1-1
H Middlesbrough 1-0
A Derby 2-2
H Plymouth 2-0
Four not-too-convincing wins and four draws. Then Villa went to Liverpool - themselves strong promotion contenders at that time and playing the kind of football that Wolves displayed on Saturday - and lost 2-1. Manager Joe Mercer was angry even though it was only Villa's second defeat of the season. He told his strikers: "Get scoring or I'll bring in the reserves", and there were some good youngsters waiting their chance.
That was the attitude then. "Hey, we've actually been beaten, let's get up off our rears and do something about it!" But what followed was not expected by anyone:
H Charlton 11-1
A Bristol C 5-0
H Scunthorpe 5-0
Twenty-one goals in three matches, with Gerry Hitchens scoring 10 of them. The 11-1 result was slightly flattered by the fact that their keeper broke his hand in trying to keep out the sixth two-thirds of the way through the match and was replaced in goal by an outfielder in the days of no subs. But any thought of the big result being a fluke was cast aside after those two following results.
But this article is not so much about those three results in retaliation to the Liverpool defeat; it is about the next match after that: a 2-1 defeat at lowly Rotherham! "How" - we asked - "could a football team be so devastating over three matches and then lose this one?". But Villa then won a fantastic match against fellow promotion candidates Cardiff, and proceeded to get promotion that season despite all the misgivings.
In fact, back in 1898 something similar happened when Villa won four home games in succession, 6-1, 7-1, 5-0 and 9-0 (27 goals in 4). The next week along came the Albion and everyone said they would be treated in similar fashion, especially as they had been beaten 7-1 in their previous encounter. Albion instead won 2-0!
And in 1961-62 when Villa won their Easter home games 8-3 and 5-1, yet lost their next two.
The moral of the story is that football is still not a predictable game; it is not a precise science either. The result of a game is a lot to do with how the players of both sides face up to the match. Anything can happen, and, yes, I can be wrong in my prediction of Villa getting promotion. And with regard to the Wolves result just gone, it was not entirely unexpected, but it's how the Villa will respond in the next match that should reveal the better side of the team's character.
It's great being a Villa fan, isn't it?!
UTV!
P.S.
I know you will enjoy my latest book, "The Villa Way - 1874-1944". Please look in to my bookshop (click here) and purchase a copy. And you will also find that the blind John Flanner's highly enjoyable book about his time as a Villa fan, "Beautiful Game, Beautiful Memories", is also available at the same bookshop.
Optimistic? Yes, perhaps, but I do not see too many teams in the Championship able to beat us. Would such a season and the current approach help us to provide a basis for life in the Premiership? Probably not as things are; but I do see things getting better, not worse.
And for those who wonder why smaller clubs appear (on the surface) to have had their problems sorted relatively quickly - including Wolves - let's not forget that Villa is one heck of a club to get right. In my view, Villa's historical background demands that the Club be looked at with a special pair of glasses, with a view to bringing the Club back to where it really belongs, at or near the very top.
These are the main historical issues I am referring to:
1. The fact that Villa led the world into the modern game in the 1893-1915 period and created records at that time that took other clubs decades to catch up with. Even in 1981 Villa had won more domestic trophies than any other club.
2. The fact that Villa won the European Cup in 1982, followed by the Supercup against Barcelona later that year.
3. The fact that until recently Villa had provided more players to the England team than any other club.
4. The fact that Villa still resides in 4th or 5th place (depending on how you look at the numbers) in a league of domestic trophy winners.
The Club is also the main representative of the UK's second city. Yet Aston Villa, with that history, now (sadly) sits in the Championship. And we expect quick fixes after the Club had been run down over five years and had become a laughing stock? I grimace when I think back to those matches of 2015-16.
Back in 1959, when the Club had been relegated for only the second time in its history, there was shock that it had happened. But, as in Villa's recent history, it could be said that "it was coming". Villa at that time had played it close too often and Lady Luck finally went through the door.
In the second tier in 1959-60, and after a promising 8-game start (just losing one and drawing one including a 5-2 home win against Portsmouth), the following results transpired:
A Huddersfield 1-0
H Leyton Orient 1-0
A Stoke 3-3
A Lincoln 0-0
A Sheffield U 1-1
H Middlesbrough 1-0
A Derby 2-2
H Plymouth 2-0
Four not-too-convincing wins and four draws. Then Villa went to Liverpool - themselves strong promotion contenders at that time and playing the kind of football that Wolves displayed on Saturday - and lost 2-1. Manager Joe Mercer was angry even though it was only Villa's second defeat of the season. He told his strikers: "Get scoring or I'll bring in the reserves", and there were some good youngsters waiting their chance.
That was the attitude then. "Hey, we've actually been beaten, let's get up off our rears and do something about it!" But what followed was not expected by anyone:
H Charlton 11-1
A Bristol C 5-0
H Scunthorpe 5-0
Twenty-one goals in three matches, with Gerry Hitchens scoring 10 of them. The 11-1 result was slightly flattered by the fact that their keeper broke his hand in trying to keep out the sixth two-thirds of the way through the match and was replaced in goal by an outfielder in the days of no subs. But any thought of the big result being a fluke was cast aside after those two following results.
But this article is not so much about those three results in retaliation to the Liverpool defeat; it is about the next match after that: a 2-1 defeat at lowly Rotherham! "How" - we asked - "could a football team be so devastating over three matches and then lose this one?". But Villa then won a fantastic match against fellow promotion candidates Cardiff, and proceeded to get promotion that season despite all the misgivings.
In fact, back in 1898 something similar happened when Villa won four home games in succession, 6-1, 7-1, 5-0 and 9-0 (27 goals in 4). The next week along came the Albion and everyone said they would be treated in similar fashion, especially as they had been beaten 7-1 in their previous encounter. Albion instead won 2-0!
And in 1961-62 when Villa won their Easter home games 8-3 and 5-1, yet lost their next two.
The moral of the story is that football is still not a predictable game; it is not a precise science either. The result of a game is a lot to do with how the players of both sides face up to the match. Anything can happen, and, yes, I can be wrong in my prediction of Villa getting promotion. And with regard to the Wolves result just gone, it was not entirely unexpected, but it's how the Villa will respond in the next match that should reveal the better side of the team's character.
It's great being a Villa fan, isn't it?!
UTV!
P.S.
I know you will enjoy my latest book, "The Villa Way - 1874-1944". Please look in to my bookshop (click here) and purchase a copy. And you will also find that the blind John Flanner's highly enjoyable book about his time as a Villa fan, "Beautiful Game, Beautiful Memories", is also available at the same bookshop.
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