Since the day Martin O’Neill resigned, five days before the 2010/2011 Barclays Premier League season began, Villa fans will agree that their side has been in a downward spiral ever since. The appointments of Gerard Houllier and more recently Alex McLeish have seen the side diminish from their days of European contenders, to the life of mid-table obscurity. From being the side everyone mentioned when questioning the possible break in the ‘top four’, Villa are now viewed by many as a ‘selling club’, a club who nurture young, mainly British talent, before, ultimately a ‘bigger’, ‘better’ club comes knocking on the door. Long gone is the Martin O’Neill era, in which the former Celtic manager guided Villa to three successive sixth place finishes and two appearances at Wembley, including a Carling Cup final. This season’s current form has Villa playing the worst football many fans have seen in years, a style of football that is associated by many with Alex McLeish and his former employers, Birmingham City.
From the 2007/2008 season, Villa recorded three 6th place finished, securing European qualification on each occasion, even if in some cases via the Intertoto Cup. With an abundance of pace and British talent, they were viewed by many as the best counter attacking side in the country. English players such as Agbonlahor, Milner, and Ashley Young complimented the brute strength and force of John Carew, and later on Emile Heskey. The 2008/2009 season saw Villa sit in third place after 25 games, 2 points ahead of Chelsea, and 7 ahead of Arsenal. Many fans began dreaming of Champions League football at Villa Park, even though Villa were currently flying high in the Europa League (Uefa Cup). Martin O’Neill chose to prioritise his pursue of Champions League football, fielding a mixture of youth and reserves against a strong CSKA Moscow side, in the last 32. A decision that inevitably saw Villa fail to make the quarter finals, losing 2-0 on the night, 3-1 on aggregate. All hope was not lost, or was it? A slump in form coinciding with consecutive wins for Arsenal and Chelsea saw Martin O’Neill’s side eventually finish the season in sixth place, and fail to qualify for the Champions League.
A new season mustered new hope for the Villa fans, committed to O’Neill’s style of play, the supporters were excited by the attacking displays witnessed at Villa Park week in, week out. The solid defence which was to have the best record of the year during 2009/2010, throughout the Premier League, consisted of Luke Young, Richard Dunne, James Collins and Stephen Warnock. A strictly British back four, starting ahead of experienced American Brad Friedel. The midfield saw Captain Stiliyan Petrov partner James Milner in the centre, flanked by English wingers Ashley Young and Stewart Downing. O’Neill had John Carew, Gabby Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey to field upfront, a perfect balance of pace, power and pure strength. The counter attacking system had been implemented into the Villa faithful successfully. Despite an opening day defeat to Wigan at Villa Park, Villa went on to beat Liverpool, Chelsea, Birmingham City and Manchester United before the year was out. A run which saw them pick up 35 points out of a possible 60. With a solid back four, combated by unbelievable pace upfront, people were once again labelling Villa as the Premier League biggest hope, in breaking the accustomed top four. The season proved not only special in terms of league form, but failure to qualify for the Europa League group stage allowed Villa to focus on domestic cup competitions, a focus that was duly rewarded. Two appearances at Wembley followed a F.A Cup semi-final V Chelsea, and a Carling Cup final against Manchester United. Although both ended in defeat, the majority of Villa fans were delighted, a third consecutive sixth place finish was a call for optimism under Martin O’Neill and Randy Lerner, the future seemed bright.
As I previously said, ‘the majority’. A small section of Villa fans felt the team were under achieving, felt that they’d hit a brick wall under O’Neill, and wanted more. Three consecutive sixth place finishes were obviously not enough for some fickle fans who were seen to boo the team off towards the end of the season. Martin O’Neill, a fiery character, an opinionated guy, a brilliant motivator; All in all, O’Neill was fed up at criticism he was receiving which agreed, was totally unfair and idiotic by the selected Villa supporters. As O’Neill saw the season out, the usual circus that ensues with the opening of the transfer window began. Milner, Young, Downing etc were all linked with moves away; however, it was behind the scenes that Villa were struggling. Feeling as though he didn’t have the full backing of the board, alongside the unfair criticism voiced by certain sections of Villa Park, five days before the start of last season, O’Neill resigned. Coming as a huge shock to almost all the fans, Kevin McDonald was placed in charge on a temporary basis. Rumours surfaced that O’Neill had been given no transfer budget for the upcoming summer window, and although looking back on his tenure at Villa Park, O’Neill did spend a large amount of money, rarely was money wasted.
Last season’s debacle under Gerard Houllier, coinciding with this year’s dreary performances at Villa Park, both promote the cliché ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’. In the case of the Villa faithful, the only way was down after O’Neill’s departure. Despite being linked with Ancelotti, Mark Hughes and Rafa Benitez, Villa found themselves under performing, with a manager that seemed intent on bringing his foreign influences to the club. A predominantly British club, Villa lost James Milner to Manchester City, John Carew fell out of favour and left, Brad Friedel pursued his football elsewhere and the final nails in the coffin saw Luke Young, Ashley Young and Stewart Downing leave this summer. From O’Neill’s era, the most successful in recent times, only a handful of players remain; Players who visibly looked unmotivated last year and uninspired this time around. Having lost the O’Neill factor, Villa have slowly deteriorated, and now find themselves arguing and having to compete against Midland rivals, to prove their Second City dominance still exists. No club wants to become a ‘selling side’ but Villa fans alike can’t help but fear the worst, with McLeish’s appointment seemingly signalling an end of an era at Villa Park, the exciting, attacking ethos, filled with potential, seems to have escaped the Midlands club.
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