Our series of mid-season reviews continues with a look at an Aston Villa side many observers have already doomed to relegation.
The story so far
Simply put, Aston Villa’s 2015-16 Premier League campaign has been downright awful and an embarrassment to one of England’s most successful clubs. It is a disgrace that the board and owner Randy Lerner have allowed a grand old institution of football to become what it has, a side no longer fighting for relegation but easily succumbing to the trap door from England’s top flight of football.
The Second City’s most successful team lies bottom of the league with a meagre eight points after 20 games, only three away from Derby County’s record low of 11. Having won just once, an opening day victory against a lacklustre Bournemouth side who were fresh to the top division, the Villans face an arguably impossible challenge to stay in the Premier League.
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It is no surprise that Villa has struggled this season, when two of a squad’s best players leave it is always hard to find quick replacements and many club’s struggle to adequately do just that. But the summer transfer window (with hindsight) can now be described as a disaster. Star striker Christian Benteke left for Liverpool after the Belgian international’s release clause was activated, before Fabien ‘Snake’ Delph pledged his allegiance to the club and moved to Manchester City to sit on the bench only days later.
In came relatively unknown Ligue 1 name Jordan Ayew and Championship striker Rudy Gestede, neither were good enough replacements for Benteke. The midfield has also been largely underwhelming, Jordan Veretout and Idrissa Gana, also poached from the top-flight of French football, have shown at best promise. An attempt to copy Stoke City’s successful model of taking unwanted Barcelona players did not worked with the signing of Adama Traore, who at times has shown moments of brilliance but nothing else. The Villans also brought in three defenders, including experienced Premier League players Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott. Both have failed to find consistent form, although promising left-back Jordan Amavi has proved to be a good signing.
A Christmas period where Villa took only two points against Newcastle United, West Ham United, Norwich City, and Sunderland sees the media start to use the ‘it’s not mathematically impossibly’ phrase – a sure sign that they are done for.
The manager
Villa started the season with Tim Sherwood, which was obviously the wrong decision. Worrying results against Southampton and Burnley, plus the embarrassment that was the FA Cup final, left a fraction of the fans sceptical of his abilities.
After getting a measly four points from 10 games, Sherwood was sacked – deemed a too late by some who were still frustrated after Villa failed to beat Sunderland at home, before giving up a 2-0 lead in a defeat to Leicester City. A week later they embarrassingly lost at home to West Bromwich Albion, during a run of six straight defeats.
Instead of bringing in a manger with Premier League experience, or at least one that has the experience to get Aston Villa out of a relegation battle, the men in charge opted to bring in former Arsenal midfielder and former Lyon manager, Rémi Garde. So far the Frenchman has only managed to match his predecessor’s points tally, with four draws in nine games. It is clear Garde is not capable of saving Villa from the drop.
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Star player
When a team is bottom of the league it is hard to establish a star player, but most fans would argue the case of Amavi. The 21-year-old’s prescience has been incredibly missed after suffering a serious ACL injury – he was good going forward, providing two assists so far and is much better defensively than Kieran Richardson.
Second half prediction
The Villans are down, though they will probably just about edge past Derby’s utter dire record-low 11 points. Their only hope now is not to finish rock-bottom, but even now that looks like a dream.
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