A Sign Of Sunshine Arriving

The weather forecast seems to indicate a raising of the temperature fairly soon, and with that news comes the information from Villa Park that “Ian Taylor and Brian Little have held a meeting with chief executive Keith Wyness to discuss how to bring the good times back to the club”.

Now, tell me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this what the fans were asking the previous regime to do for so long? But no, the old guard knew better, exemplified by an occasion when, following my suggestion to the club to take up Charlie Aitken’s offer of valuable memorabilia to utilise in the supposed museum, General Krulak replied with the words “what would players know about what goes into a museum?” (or words to that effect). But I knew that after talking to Charlie for just 30 minutes he knew exactly what he was talking about. Well, what would an American general know about footballers – especially those that have played for the Villa, and one that holds a club record after 17 years of fine service.

But the old guard is well gone, the club has already got the air of a spring-clean about it, and a lot of right noises have been made. And we even have a new player who has said that signing for Villa is a “no brainer”.

Wow, it’s possible the real Aston Villa still exists after all!

There is clearly still much to be done: another couple of players are needed, and some dead wood needs to be cleared. But at least there is a sense of renewed optimism. And with the stalwart Stan Petrov around to give a particular kind of inspiration after his personal battles, the players should have a better feeling generated by him about reality rather than the uninspirational situation that previously existed for 4 years or more. Even ‘our Jack’ seems to have gained a re-newed sense of urgency, and at least he’s not refusing to play in the Championship. Well done Jack.

In May I very much had my doubts that Villa could get back to the top tier within a couple of years, but the change of ownership and the pleasant buzz that has been generated this last month or two has automatically raised my own level of optimism.

Let’s go, Villa! Back to the top!

The Media Isn’t What It Was

I don't like to remind about the old Villa motto: "Prepared". Over recent years the word was adulterated by the way in which the club was being steered, off and on the pitch.

Well, we are now presented with not one but three "P" words: "Passion, Pride, Purpose." These are the words now emblazoned on the club's re-vamped Villa Park shop, formerly called "Villa Village", but now called "Villa Store".

But, just like the old motto, there's not much point in having this emotive vocabulary unless there's some substance behind it, is there? We all too well remember that slogan "Proud History, Bright Future", don't we?

Are we in for yet another media-driven ride?

Well, until we start seeing some solid movement in the transfer market, followed by relevant performances on the pitch, we won't know what to think, I suggest. So far we are being fuelled by positive signals from the new owner, and that is good, but until that and the "three P's" are translated into action, they unfortunately don't mean more than an intention.

But as we've so recently been made to experience the horrors of yet another England damp squib in international competition, Aston Villa's horror story of last season seems to ebb into history with a realisation that football problems don't just exist at Villa Park. Too many English footballers clearly over-rate themselves, aided by a hyper-active media. As the wonderful lady Hannah Hawkswell has observed: "The media isn’t what it was". (Click here)

And if it wasn't for the recent passion and achievement of Leicester City to offer as an example, I would wonder if football any longer had anything of integrity to offer.

As Leicester and Iceland have reminded us, there is hope provided the spirit and work-ethic is there, 3 "P's" or no "3 P's".

C'mon the Villa!

When The Grass Was Perhaps Greener

Waiting for Doctor Xia as the king-elect of Villa Park (er, Lotus Park) to be crowned is a little stressful, as is the appointment of a new team manager, but surely the stress of the last 6 years has been greater!

Perhaps, therefore, it may relieve some of that stress by recalling and comparing better times within the memories of most supporters with former times, asking the question whether the years before Randy were that bad.

I would agree that if we were to think back and remember the six years of the 2000 to 2006 period, you could see then that the club was on a downward trend, but it was perhaps a better time than endured in the last six years! However, after recently looking at a video of the proceedings of the 2000-01 season, the inevitable question is “Did it all start to go wrong at that specific point?”; and particularly did it all really start to go pear-shaped when Luc Nilis incurred that horrifying injury.

At the start of that season we acquired Nilis to join the likes of Merson, Joachim and Hendrie in a formation that looked as though it had the ability to produce the unexpected, and Nilis’s performance against Chelsea (and a superb goal), combined with Merson’s resurgence, seemed to confirm that promise. To add to that, Alpay had joined in the summer of 2000. He came across as a lovely man in that video I saw and he soon had the fans behind him. His combination with Southgate, added to the midfield talent and work-rate of Ian Taylor and George Boeteng, lively backs in the form of Stone and Wright, and a growing Gareth Barry, meant it seemed that Gregory was re-building nicely after losing players like Ehiogu.

But then, having lost Nilis in such a dreadful way, we also lost Southgate and Boeteng (both wanting to better themselves at Middlesbrough of all places, with Ehiogu) and we moved into the era of Bosco Balaban and the settling-in problems of Juan Pablo Angel. And Alpay’s newly-developed ego after the 2002 World Cup. Those were the issues that stood out for me at that time, added to a chairman who was ailing and probably becoming more disfunctional. He was at his weakest through severely bad health issues, and when that happens the hyenas sense their opportunity and pounce.

But that was the 2000-2006 period. In contrast, the opening eight seasons of the Premier League period had not been at all bad, with Messrs. Atkinson, Atkinson and Saunders achieving a runner-up finish in the PL’s first season after giving Man U a run for their money. And then a wonderful display at Wembley against that same lot in the 1994 League Cup Final – a final to be replayed over and over. Then came Brian Little who organised successive finishes of fourth and fifth and the 1996 League Cup win. Some suspect his success was a lot due to his assistant John Gregory who had departed, but he returned in 1998 and raised the fans’ expectations with a 12-match unbeaten start to the 1998-99 season that saw Villa at the top of the league for quite some time. And that after losing Dwight Yorke at the start of the season. But Coventry (and George Boeteng) came down and put continued hopes of a Champions League place completely on its backside.

But Gregory was tenacious. Getting to Wembley ended as a bit of a huff-and-puff affair, but in 2001-02 he got Villa back to the top of the PL for a spell … and then left, clearly disenchanted with the lack of ambition from the chairman.

But, to put the 1992-2006 14-year period in perspective, it largely replicated the 14-year era of Billy Walker and 1919-33. Statistically the two periods are remarkably similar, and even ended in a similar way. 1933-time saw the demise of the senior and valuable members of the Villa board (the legends Devey and Spencer) through age and infirmity and the club recruited a football manager for the first time (in 1934). And so, in 2006, the ageing and unwell Villa chairman (only legendary for his bicycle-kick!) also had to stand down.

So – I submit – we should possibly be a tad more grateful for what we received in the 1990s. Oh, and Doug will accept your apologies if you had any bad thoughts about him!