In the midst of this amazing Premier League season, which has seen Leicester top the table and Chelsea scraping to qualify for Europe, there is one club whose belief, pride and honour are slowly beginning to reach a nadir.
The club who have been champions of England and Europe before, the club which is based in the second city of England, Birmingham, the club whose name is Aston Villa.
Aston Villa have a wonderful history. The club has been champions of England seven times, which is the same number as their FA Cup wins. Their League Cup cabinet includes five trophies and they have a UEFA Super Cup too to their name.
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In addition to that, Villa are one of five English clubs to have won the UEFA Champions League, which back in the day when they won in the 1981-82 campaign was known as the European Cup.
Glorious history undone by a dismal season
‘Prepared’ is their motto but that more seems like ‘Prepared’ for the drop now. A shocking season, it has been, where they have 16 points from 32 games, with only three wins in the process.
Out of the remaining 29 games, they have 7 draws and a staggering 22 defeats. The club have lost their last seven Premier League fixtures which had never happened before. Since that win over Norwich City in early February, some agonising defeats have been borne by the club and that too in their own backyard of Villa Park.
Tim Sherwood left, Remi Garde came in. Sherwood oversaw 8 defeats in the first 10 league games and left the club in a very precarious state. Adding insult to injury, the club bowed out of the Capital One Cup.
Garde was left with a Herculean task of steadying the ship. But despite his best efforts, he was left with nothing and now has the distinction of being the Villa manager with the worst win percentage of 13% with only two wins in the league and one in the FA Cup. He lasted just 147 days as Villa boss.
Problems galore with a feeling of meek submission
What has not gone wrong for Villa this season? From then club captain Fabian Delph joining Manchester City in a shocking turn of events after he had turned down City’s offer to prolific scorer Christian Benteke leaving the club, from Andreas Weimann leaving after being a faithful player for eight years to the disciplinary problems of the players in the initial stages, the problems continued to pile on.
The players seem resigned to relegation. The fight is not there and the current crop looks lethargic and lost. The defence is all over the place, the midfield not in cohesion and the attacking also not firing.
The dismal form of the players is evident when it is seen that Villa are the worst defensive side in the top division having shipped in 62 goals with only five clean sheets to their name.
In the attacking front too, they are in abysmal form having scored only 22 goals in the Premier League. Their top scorers are Rudy Gestede and Scott Sinclair and both have six goals each.
The lack of attacking play has hurt the club a lot. The midfield has not done its job enough of providing the required support to Gestede considering his aerial ability. Jordan Ayew has also not been as prolific as his brother Andre, either.
Fans’ deserved protest and sharing the anguish
These are difficult times for the fans too, who are the Villains, and always passionately support the club. The Holte End has been the centre of one of the most vociferous support for the club and it has become associated with club folklore.
But sadly, now the empty seats around the stadium speak volumes about the sadness and the dissatisfaction of the fans with the players and the club hierarchy.
The club’s latest fixture was a league game against Chelsea, another club who has not lived up to its lofty standards. Villa got thrashed 4-0 and it was again a defeat with caretaker manager Eric Black hardly able to change anything.
But there was one niggling thing throughout the game, and that was the atmosphere around the stadium. It was so toxic and it was so disheartening for the onlookers. Boos and sarcastic cheers and jeers directed at the home players by the frustrated fans put the place in such disrepute.
It was deserved too because the players were not playing for the shirt, they were not going for the ball, there was no life, no vigour and it seemed like they had given up the fight.
The protest of the fans was so dispiriting and considering that this club had such a glorious history, it is really painful to see them in this sorry state. Credit to the Chelsea fans who kept their songs and chants to a minimum.
One protest banner read ‘Lerner out’, referring to club owner Randy Lerner. After he took over in 2006, the club had a rosy period under manager Martin O’Neill who was instrumental in bringing some wholesale changes to the club.
But once O’Neill left, Villa have, season after season, been finishing in the bottom half of the table, and only just escaping relegation. Their worst fears may come true by next week when relegation is confirmed.
Is the future bleak? Maybe not
The way forward now is to appoint a new manager and bounce back to the Premier League from the Championship at the first time of asking. The appointment of former FA officials like Brian Little will seek to bring about positive changes after all the negativity in the last few months.
Some players need to be offloaded and some promising talents need to be brought in to avoid another debacle. The whole philosophy needs to change to seek a new direction and instil new belief among the supporters.
The task at hand is huge, but a man of Little’s experience, it is expected to bring positive results. Also, the new manager will be key to bringing about the change in the tactics, the formations and the approach to the game overall.
In this respect, Lerner’s appointments have been well-worked, and it remains to be seen whether he can pacify the fans who have seen too much and have suffered a lot.
Villa have endured a season to forget. Amidst all the deserved praise for Leicester City, this club considering the history it has deserves some thought at least. After their last game, it is even more important to think of addressing the situation not because they are losing but the manner in which they are losing, which is staggering.
This is not a good sign and hopefully, things will be better in the future for the Villains.
