While some Villa fans are happy with 12th in the Premier League, for others it just doesn’t cover the cracks. Currently Paul Lambert’s Aston Villa continue to fail to inspire. They’ve scored eleven goals in twenty league games, boasting an average of just 2.8 shots on-target per game along the way. Sunday’s win against Blackpool was their first win in six games.
Blackpool a team crippled this season in the Championship and waiting for Villa to put them out of their misery, yet Lambert’s team couldn’t even muster a first-half shot on target.
Anyway, despite the increasing feeling of ennui around Villa Park, here’s five reasons to be cheerful as Aston Villa fans….
1. 2015’s Our Year.
2015 and Villa are still undefeated and haven’t conceded. How long can they keep this quite amazing run going?
2. Exciting 4th Round Draw
We play all the Premier League teams twice in the season anyway, so it’s always go to get something different. We were a ball number away from getting the Blues away, which would have livened up Birmingham for the next fortnight and beyond. After that, for my money the most interesting tie to get was a date with Bournemouth and a chance for a up-close-and-personal look at Eddie Howe’s exciting chargers.
The Cherries were the top-scorers in 2014 with 91 league goals. You may remember they fired eight past the Blues at St. Andrews (they deserve an eighth-minute applause for that) and they buried five past Rotherham in the 3rd round. That’s more goals in two games than Villa have managed all season.
If this was an NFL game it would be a classic match-up of strong offense vs strong defense.
Howe is the current bright young manager, tipped to be a future England boss and already on Newcastle’s short-list. He’s got a good head on his shoulders and is in no rush, so expect him to send the Geordies packing with their request.
It’ll be tough game for Villa. Very tough, but at least it should be a proper game at Villa Park.
3. Westwood Returns
It surprised most Villa fans to see Ashley Westwood lining up as captain and making a full return from injury. With Delph’s suspension, the timing couldn’t be better. Can he add anything more progressive to Villa’s return to a possession-based style? We’ll have to wait and see, but he was certainly one of Villa’s best performers this season before his injury.
4. Jack Grealish Started
Grealish doesn’t become a Villa hero by just sitting on the bench and having great hair, he needs game-time. if you viewed the BBC’s two minutes highlights you’d have been impressed by his contribution, or at least got why he has potential. If you watched the whole game, you may have been less enamoured. The player himself called his own performance ‘cr**’. It’s perhaps not too wise to go down that self-deprivation path too much though. Remember Curtis Davis comparing his performance to a ‘pub player’? The tag stuck.
It took Grealish a few games to get going when he was on loan at Notts County and he’s too young to judge after a handful of games. Villa fans are notably quick to get on the back of their players. This boy deserves encouragement and with it, he should get there and be the player we want him to be.
5. Silly Season
It’s the time of year (January transfer window) where certain fans start talking the same old sh** they talk about every year on forums and Facebook pages. The main example? Jermain Defoe coming to Villa in January. Yes, that old chestnut. Such rumours are funny and can lead to many laughs, but they’re also depressing. And no, Villa wouldn’t let Delph go to Spurs for £3 million. Use your brain people, before you click on those fabricated transfer links!
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I’d rather have Defoe as manager than Lambert.