Aston Villa Is A ‘Classic Car` Football Club

What a pleasure it was to enjoy a game at Villa Park on Sunday. Bournemouth (Reserves) certainly played their part, bringing 6,000 fans and enjoying the occasion. They edged the first half and showed some lovely build up play.

However in the second half Villa came out in a far more attacking mode and went close almost straight away through Carles Gil who hit the side netting.. Would a goal ever come? It did and wow what a goal! A sublime run and 25 yard strike from Gil. Without doubt a new Holte End Hero was born!

Our second goal, without being as spectacular was every bit as pleasing as was a lovely team goal- A sublime pass from Bacuna to pick out a great run by Hutton who pulled the ball back where Weimann obliged with an excellent first time finish.

The Holte End celebrated with glee, as well they might, having only seen 3 goals prior to these for Villa at their end since April 5th!

Bournemouth never gave up and sent their fans home with at least a consolation goal and a taste of what its like to play at one of the most iconic stadiums in World football.

It had been a rare good day and one that had been made far more so, by the news Fabian Delph had signed a new 4 and a half year contract which alleviated any fears he would be leaving shortly on a free transfer. What a boost for the club so owner, CEO, Manager and Delph himself deserve credit for retrieving what looked like a lost situation.

After the game I looked around the grand old venue and again marvelled at what a beautiful place it is.

It got me thinking that Aston Villa is the equivalent of a beautiful classic car in need of restoration.

Get the restoration right and the value will soar. To do it though all the parts must be right and genuine and the most important part is the engine. In our case that is the team and most importantly the manager. When that is right, the fans provide the fuel as does all the other income streams that come onboard in conjunction and we have lift off. However without the right engine the classic car simply remains in the garage as a project that was never properly restored.

It has the character, history and charm of a classic Ferrari or as we are in the Midlands let`s say E Type Jaguar and those characteristics only come through class and heritage so are priceless. Clubs that have bought their way to the top table simply will never be able to match that. However the game is played in the present tense and it`s time for the restoration to take full swing.

Despite Sunday, Paul Lambert has it all to do to prove he is the right man to take this club forward on the pitch.The new CEO Tom Fox has given the whole club a lift off the pitch and is implementing much structure that had been missing, which will lead to far more revenue and improved commercial arrangements.

However it`s a football club and so its clear the football is what should always be the primary focus. Lambert has been here for over 100 games and the progression we had all been hoping for just has not evolved. I won`t bore you with his career stats here as we`ve all seen them and they make very depressing reading. The current season is what matters and our league form is simply atrocious with just 2 wins in 18 games, scoring 7 league goals and amassing 12 points. That`s almost half a season of fixtures. We also recently played WBA, Palace, Sunderland and Leicester and didn`t even score a goal. This will have to improve markedly in the last 16 games if we are to avoid being in serious danger of losing our Premiership status.

There is no chance Lambert will be replaced mid term so we all have to hope he now has more confidence with the addition of Gil and hopefully another before Monday, to allow the team to play with more freedom and less rigidity which will lead to some much needed goals being scored. He has assembled some good players and deserves credit for that. Now he has to ditch the containment football and allow his team to go forward with fluidity and purpose.

There are 16 massive league games left plus hopefully 4 FA cup ties. These are huge for Aston Villa but also for Paul Lambert to show whether or not once and for all, he should be a big part of restoring the engine, in the classic that is Aston Villa Football Club.

If we see improvement he can be, but if it`s a repeat of limping over the line with tepid displays or even worse, going down, then he must be replaced after three years and allow the club a fresh start on the pitch as well as off it. I would hope even his biggest fans (Randy Lerner included) would recognise that to be fair and in the best interests of Aston Villa.

UTV