Aston Villa: Bumpy ride, but the Villains stay afloat

Paul Lambert manager of Aston Villa looks on

Defeat at home to Newcastle rounded off a miserable January in the Midlands, which was not helped by inactivity in the January transfer window – for a team craving experience and leaders, Villa brought in a player plying his trade in the French 2nd division and an injury-prone midfielder who had been playing in the USA in the form of Sylla and Dawkins respectively – not really what was needed to improve Villa’s fortunes.

A 3-3 draw at Everton extended Villa’s wait for a League win to 8 games, during which time they had collected just 3 out of 24 points (13% of available points) including 0 out of 12 at Villa Park. Despite probably settling for a point before the game, Villa yet again through away a lead and 2 much needed points after surrendering a 1-3 lead with 20 minutes to play at Goodison Park.

The wait for a win finally came on 10th February at home to West Ham after Benteke scored his 6th goal in his last 6 games and N’Zogbia had one of his better games in a Villa shirt after winning a penalty and scoring direct from a free-kick. Despite a long range goal from Weimann, Villa again conceded a late goal to lose 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium to finish February in 18th place.

March consisted of tough fixtures against Man City and Liverpool, as well as must win games against relegation rivals Reading and QPR. Benteke’s fine goalscoring form continued with his 9th goal in 10 games to help Villa record wins over Reading and QPR, however as probably expected, the Midlands outfit were unable to take points from City or Liverpool.

An impressive performance at Stoke saw Villa pick up a much needed three points with a 1-3 victory with Lowton, in my opinion, scoring the Goal of the Season as he controlled a high ball with his chest before striking a stunning right foot volley into the roof of the net. The victory was followed by a point against Fulham at Villa Park before a trip to Old Trafford. Villa were defeated 3-0 by United with a Van Persie hat-trick, who in the process of winning the game, reclaimed the Premier League title from neighbours City.

The last game in April was dubbed a tight affair with Sunderland, who’s poor form and lack of goalscoring prowess, had seen then steadily fall down the table. On what is regarded by many Villa fans as their moment of the season, Villa emphatically won the game 6-1. Benteke claimed the match ball after his first hat-trick in a Villa shirt made him the highest goalscorer for Villa in a season, whilst a goal by Agbonlahor took his tally of Villa goals to 61 to make him the club’s highest scoring Premier League player.

Villa recorded their 2nd win in a row with a victory over Norwich to move them clear of the relegation zone and reach the ‘safety’ of 40 points. Chelsea beat Villa in the penultimate game of the season, however Villa were assured safety after Wigan lost their game in hand to Arsenal to succumb them to relegation.

What had earlier in the season been seen as a pivotal relegation battle between Wigan and Villa on the final day of the season no longer counted for anything significant. In an entertaining 2-2 draw, Bent scored what is probably his last goal in a Villa shirt, whilst Vlaar scored his second goal of the season with an impressive volley.

A late run of good results coupled with impressive performances from Guzan, Benteke, Weimann, Agbonlahor, Delph, Sylla and the English Pirlo, aka Westwood, saw Villa finish the season in 15th place above Sunderland and Newcastle. Although it was a season of highs and lows, Villa fans will be looking forward to the start of the new season.

The second half of the 12/13 season saw Villa’s young guns come into their own and flourish, with Lamberts youth policy paying dividends. Villa have already been busy early in the transfer market having made 5 promising additions to their squad – Norwegian pair Okore and Helenius, Bulgarian winger Tonev, Dutch midfielder Bacuna and Spanish left back Luna have all moved to Villa Park in the past few weeks.

Okore looks the pick of the bunch after signing from Nordsjaelland where he gained Champions League experience with the Norwegian champions and is reported to have turned down advances from Chelsea in order to move to the Midlands. With talk of overpaid and underworked players such as Bent and Ireland set to follow Dunne out of Villa Park, Lambert’s revolution is well underway.

If Lambert can continue to add quality youngsters from home and abroad whilst blooding in some of the talented youngsters who helped crown Villa the best youth team in Europe by winning the NextGen Series Final, the 2013/14 season looks to be the chance for the club and players to live up to the ‘proud history, bright future’ mantra.