The great Aston Villa slump
Saturday, 13 January 07, 02:36 PM · Comments (13)
Aston Villa are well and truly in a slump. We knew it was coming, Martin O'Neill even told us it was coming, so let's not worry as it'll soon over.
I'm possibly over confident about Aston Villa at the moment but I have reason to be. I've spoken to a lot of people, some in football, and they all say the same thing about Martin O'Neill. They all have the utmost respect for him and they all believe he will turn it around at Aston Villa.
But for those a little worried, let's not forget that Martin O'Neill has only managed to bring in four players. One of those one has already left, one other was never meant to play every game, another needs a little time to adjust but we've seen good things so far and the last hasn't even played for us yet and isn't even our player.
Add to the above that he's got to deal with players brought in by the previous incumbent, who couldn't pick a team of decent players if he was given £100mn., we should all appreciate that we've got a little way to go.
Every team has a slump in every season. It's the successful teams that get out of that slump quickly and that comes down to the character of the players, how the manager deals with those players and time.
Martin O'Neill hasn't got his players in and he also hasn't had enough time with the players he has; it will come with new players and when the ones he decides to keep get to know him better. Soon enough our slumps will be a game or two and soon enough this current slump will be over.
This season and quite probably next are transitional seasons. Let's not expect miracles straight away and let's be happy with what we've seen as there are a lot of positives to take from the season so far.
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13 Comments · Add yours
A boom is always preceded by a slump, so a boom is on the way people, and Martin O'Neill is the man to unslump Villa.I predict we will now go on an unbeaten run for,,,,errrr,,,,,four games, maybe five, Arsenal might be in a slump themselves by then.
We've had some difficult games, and some we should've won, but we've played all the big teams away and the big two at home sowe should be able to pick up a few points.
The game on Saturday is make or break for the players' mentality. We've just lost twice to the team top of the league and if we beat Watford everybody at the club will assume things are ok. If we lose or draw I'll be mighty worried.
In our slump we've drawn with Chelsea and nearly drawn with Man Utd and it was an error that cost us the draw. That shows that we've got the character. From what I gather today it was an error by Cahill for the first goal (he'll learn) and a mistake for the third. Against most teams we wouldn't be punished but that's what Man Utd do best- capitalise on mistakes.
I'm beginning to think we were a little unfair on O'leary after seeing MON do little more with the same squad. So let's compare the two manager's: O'leary took on Djemba x2 and we all hate him for that... But MON took on Agathe - he had trouble running the width of the pitch in his first appearance from the bench. MON took on, Sutton - 1 goal in 9! ( I can hear you saying how he holds up the ball but he is here to score goals!) Petrov hasn't excelled yet and we have an under 21 from MANU who is not wanted there. O'leary wanted Keane, Defoe, Distin, King but Doug did not back him and he got dissolusioned and in the final season got fed up. This is my theory but I haven't decided if it's an opinion yet... let's look to what MON does over the next few weeks.
Baros was our main inspiration against a side streets a head of the Villa, if we sell him who will unlock the defences.
When we play Angel he is always up front on his own,not his game. We should play Baros and Angel together. We never seem to be able to boss the midfield, even though we win plenty of the ball, we just fizzle out when we reach the box.With Bardsley coming in at right back try Melberg in midfield to work with Macann.
O'neill has stated he is only looking at proven Premiership targets, he should take a look at what other managers have bought in from abroad, and a lot cheaper, ie Park, he destroyed us yesterday, he started abroad.
In summary I hope we keep Baros if only until we are safe this season.
The reason why we all got hard on David O'Leary was because the team was playing poorly and not getting results. The difference was that he also spent £1.35million on Dj x 2 when he had decent holding midfielders in McCann and Berson. Ultimately this cuminated in displays where Villa capitulated under pressure non-stop. Granted we have not won in 12 games now, but at least this team fights harder for it's results, and the only reason for our lowly points total is due to the amount of draws we got. Games against Sheff Utd, Reading and Wigan would have all be lost under the previous incumbent. O'Neill signed Agathe for free and threw the gauntlet down to him to earn his contract, he didn't and now he's history, we didn't lose from that and now we are looking for players that will improve the team. What I hate is the mentality of fans that get on the board and managers back when players they want to buy aren't available, and when they cast their sights lower, they complain even more, but still want the club to make signings.
We just haven got the quality of player to live up to our expectations,and i predict come the end of january we still wont have.I hear were in for harewood wtf is that about he useless.Another disapointing season where the only thing we will be fighting for is our place in the top flight.
oleary was not wrong,mon is saying exactly the same things just no one is fed up with it,villa do not have a forward line, top goalscorer barry says it all, to be successful you must have a capablity to score goals.when was the last time villa had a goalscorer apart from angels flash in the pan season disheartened vila fan.
the previous incumbent was completely wrong with pretty much everything he did at the club. you mus remember it's not difficult to say the right things.
we've seen what martin o'neill can do as manager in the past few months and that is only going to get better.
the previous incumbent was a muppet.
I'm sorry, but o'leary did better when he first took on villa than MON has done.. yes unbeaten for a long time but not ever winning games easily. Doug destroyed O'leary. MON will succeed if he is backed but maybe O'leary would too given the same money. MON isnt exactly lighting up the transfer market or attracting the names.
looks like villa have missed out on ashley young as west ham have had 10 mil bid for him accepted.the article said villa might also bid making it an auction but wouldnt hold my breath
i can only assume ernie is oleary in disguise. mon is not using the size of the squad as an excuse if he heard any of his interviews he says "im not going to use that as an excuse" o neill will get us out of the slump the season can only get better. but i've all but given up on new signings anyone were linked with spurs or west ham seem to put in a bid for them aswell in the summer will be the time for new faces.
I have no doubt MON is working tirelessly to bring in new faces, but, won't succumb to ' panic buying '. He is being ambitious in the market and setting his sights high...but who wants to come to Villa when they still haven't proved themselves to even be contenders for the inter tomato cup, let alone future title contenders? We have suffered massively with injuries and a threadbear squad, yet produced some fighting displays, bereft under David O' Lousy. We've had some tough games recently and acquitted ourselves as well as can be expected. Fortunes will change, starting with a pummeling of Watford on Saturday. It stood hairs on the back of my neck when we outclassed United on the vocals from the stands. Although our league position is similar to last season I sense a real belief in the manager, players and most of all the fans.
Please dont get me wrong... I am not negative against MON and believe he will do a good job. I am just questioning whether or not O'leary was as bad as people make out. He got fed up of Doug and lost interest. Would MON have come to Villa if he knew Doug was going to stay? No, as he would have had similar fortunes to that of O'leary.
Up the Villa!