Big time club, small time thinking?

In an interesting post on the Forum, main man The Fear questioned the ambition of the club (and indeed the fans) with our perceived obsession with small-time thinking and an ongoing refusal to acknowledge and take advantage of our highly decorated history and our place among the greats of English and European football.

A social media post illustrated how Aston Villa have accumulated the fifth-highest points total in the history of the English top-flight:

https://noobnorm.com/all-time-football-league-table/

and The Fear lamented why we seem happy to settle for mediocrity, particularly in terms of our managerial appointments. “This is a great illustration why I get so angry when people talk Aston Villa down. Even on here it happens. Comparing us to Burnley, or Bournemouth, even Leicester. 

We continually, and have for decades, brought in middle of the road managers. Even now, why with so much money did we not get a manager with a top pedigree, if the ambition is to get us back to the top? Instead, we have another (Villa fan and top bloke aside) learning on the job. That isn’t ambition. Neither is buying young players who will have a sell-on value really.

We’ve seldom acted like we should be, as a big club. Big club, massive potential, nowhere near acting like it though and that is, as said, for decades and was the reason for the Ellis protests all those years back. Since then, we’ve had massive money, just not the right decisions.”

It’s hard to disagree with the general thrust of that – we ARE a big club, as the titles, cups and consistently large attendances will testify. The fact remains that we have failed to capitalise on our rich history and standing within the game, through a succession of owners and managers who have failed to ensure that we remain among the elite.

Relegation in 2016 was disastrous for the club and over the past two decades, small-time thinking and false economy has seen us overtaken and left for dead by erstwhile contemporaries (which might actually be stretching the definition) such as Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City.

Of course, multi-million-pound spending by the likes of Chelsea and City gave them a huge advantage, before their new-found success and position of influence was protected by the farcical introduction of FFP, a measure designed to pull up the drawbridge behind the big European clubs, rather than the ostensible reason of protecting clubs from owners with delusions of grandeur who might drop their plaything in the blink of an eye and leave clubs up the proverbial creek and potentially send once-great institutions into oblivion.

So in terms of our ability to think and spend big to underscore what a huge club we really are, our hands are tied by financial regulations and the fact that a number of years out of the top tier (and even longer away from milking the cash cow of European football) has left us light years behind our rivals and struggling to play catch up, however wealthy our owners and however much they are willing to throw at the club in the pursuit of titles, international exposure and the desire to ‘Make Villa Great Again!’

Few fans doubt our position in the pantheon of English football, but Overlooked Villan thinks we need to learn to walk again before we can run:

“We are a massive club, but results and performances in the past 7 years or so have not shown it. That’s ultimately what you’re judged on.

Let’s not kid ourselves though, it’s a different league than we left and the quality is extremely high, and before we really start throwing our weight around, we need to be finishing higher up the table so that we don’t risk the long-term future of this grand old club.”

Thomas Holte fully agrees that Villa need to think and act big time, and the ball is in NSWE’s court to elevate us to our former glories, rather than just hanging about to make up the numbers. “What a massive and grand old club we actually are. I sincerely hope the new owners see it that way as well and think big time and not just plod on.”

The rebuild is in progress and will take time, according to Mike Field. “We’re rebuilding at almost every level, if the owners and Purslow get it right – the answer is in your face. Man City laid out the blueprint.” But ‘Merd’ issues a note of caution:

“The only reference we have is the Milwaukee Bucks. Investment in youth… check. Ruthless with head coach… check. Not afraid to spend big on star players… check. In it for the long term… maybe. Achieved success… check. The portents point towards owners who are taking a long-term view.”

Sustainability is the key to long-term stability and success. CDX argues that we need patience and that to follow the example of others in buying the best young talent and selling on to the genuine European heavyweights is a path we should seek out.

“I believe in patience – I think if you are patient and we find ourselves still in this league you’ll see us acting more like a big club.

I want us to act like Dortmund and not City – I want a solid and sensible policy in effect. That means attempting to bring in the best young talent in the world and selling them to the likes of Madrid. We’re not going to be a force for many, many years and we have to acknowledge the game has moved on and we must earn back some status.”

A range of views all point to one thing – we are big and we are on the way back. The pace of change is glacial for some, but we need to be mindful of a gung-ho approach which could set us back even further if we get it wrong.

What are your thoughts? Comment below or join in the forum discussion.

Previous Article by JPA – Make or break for Villa this January as opportunity knocks

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