The Villa Rant: Black Days at Villa After Two More Losses on and off the Pitch

After another two losses for caretaker boss Eric Black, Aston Villa have officially and mathematically qualified for next season’s Championship.

Black Days on The Pitch

As with most things from the club this term it’s been shambolic and no real attempt has been made to bring any entertainment to the fans. With the team already doomed, the fans rightfully sick of the squad’s prima donnas and craving some entertainment before the club we all love begins life in the second tier, Aston Villa and it’s management once again disappointed.

Eric Black, as with previous caretakers, has done nothing tangible to try and improve things or to give the fans what they want. Instead he stuck with tried and failed players and approaches in the previous two games. Against Bournemouth, a team that even Villa beat earlier this season, Villa set up negatively and reaped the reward with another loss. Seeing Bacuna and Richardson in the starting eleven in recent weeks just highlights the lack of drive and imagination in the dug out.

Shockingly Villa only shipped a solitary goal against Louis van Gaal’s sleepwalking United but the inevitable was finally written in stone. In a truly miserable season it seems typical that Man United, who have poured so much misery on us over the years (with a few notable exceptions) were the ones who got to push the final nail into the claret and blue coffin. Gestede’s introduction was too late and as a sole substitution stunk of more inaction from the sideline, as usual.

More PR Gold….

Rather than learn his lesson and keep his mouth shut Joleon Lescott once again raised the ire of Villa fans everywhere by describing official relegation as ‘a weight off the shoulders’ and claiming that maybe now they could play in a more entertaining manner. The only weight that needs lifting from the squad is the dead weight that is the vast majority of the senior squad, starting with Lescott.

Lescott has become the embodiment of the disconnect between players and fans this season and was among the targets of some much deserved criticism this week. Stan Collymore had some strong words in calling out of Lescott. Outspoken Collymore isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but he clearly cares about the club. Public statements of intent or opinion from the former striker are nothing new but it was another ex-pro’s words that were much more telling and reflective of Villa’s disgraced first teamers.

The Word of God

Paul McGrath, ‘God’ to many of us and an all round humble gent to boot, was unable to hold his tongue at Lescott and Villa’s persistent unprofessionalism tweeting that “Lescott came to Villa for money and nothing more, he got what he wanted and laughed it off, you are a slime bag son. Ur a disgrace!” McGrath is not one for throwing mud or picking fights but his emotional outburst shows how bad things have gotten at Villa Park.

Lescott, along with Micah Richards, are senior players who are experienced Premier League winners. Both have let the fans down on numerous occasions, as have so many more that should have known better. I don’t even have the stomach to talk about Gabby this season. Another ‘boyhood Villan’ who now needs to be given his marching orders.

Thankfully the player of the year awards were cancelled. The more that is done to hammer home to the entitled, overpaid, losers at the club that Aston Villa won’t tolerate disinterest and petulance the better. With the big ‘R’ joining us at the foot of the table I would again call for academy players to make up the majority of our squad for the remaining games.

As well as giving some hope and entertainment to the loyal and long-suffering fans, it would be another message to the old guard that they’re free to go and have not future at our club.

New Dawn or Black Hole?

Sh*t appears to be going down at Aston Villa, and for once I’m not referring to the playing squad. A new board seemed to suggest some change but early resignations by Mervyn King and David Bernstein have thrown the club into further chaos and insecurity. The new board was supposed to signal Lerner handing over control but recent events would suggest that Randy is still making a nuisance of himself.

Lerner, who has completely given up on this club, seem determined not to give up on ruining it as much as possible and expecting a big sale price. A logical person would have thought that firing Garde before the end of the season would have made little sense unless another manager was lined up, but logic has long abandoned the clown with the keys to the club and what manager would go near us until this mess is sorted? (Maybe Dwight Yorke? *shudder*)

At this stage I think I’d rather be bought by a soulless Chinese billionaire and rebranded as The Villa Gorillas than to allow Randy Lerner to rot the core of the club anymore with his contempt, stubbornness, and ineptitude. The fans are here to stay and will do all we can to drag this club back to where it belongs, we need that on the pitch and in the board room too or this really could be a long goodbye for Aston Villa.

UTV

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