Has The Villa Lion Cleared It’s Throat & Started To Roar?

Well, what has happened?

The last two games, polar opposite to the previous two…have Aston Villa finally broken through the negative tactics curse?

Smiles on the faces of Villa fans walking out of Villa Park. That`s not usual is it?

This is like a breath of fresh air at the moment. The win against Norwich City (amongst the bookies favourites to go up, along with us remember) was a fabulous result. Then last night we again dominated a game. Not only did we dominate but we again saw a glimpse of our future with plenty of young talent being used.

I told Bruce (I sit right by the bench on the front row… I`m kind of waiting for Villa to wake up and move me to the bench really, I`ve applied for the job several times and been rudely overlooked!!!)

“We like this Brucie”

He came over and had a quick chat which was good of him. He said it always feels good when winning but I explained it was more than that, the last two games have been the polar opposite of the Cardiff City and Reading games. I said it`s the forward play, the momentum, the attacking intent, the playing as a team and the fact there is something for us Villa fans to cheer about that is what I`m loving about these two games.

“Still work to be done” he said but agreed on the general happiness expressed by me!

I have to say, the last two games I think prove the point many of us have made over how many years of absolute dirge? Pass the ball around, zip it (technical term!) at pace, don`t take ages over throw ins, go wide yes but also at times go through the middle (something we`ve not done properly for 5 seasons at least in my humble) try some of the younger players – as opposed to buying cheap foreign options as a punt blocking our youth team and also close down the opposition, stop giving them so much time on the ball.

This, my fine fellow Villa supporting folks, is not rocket science is it?

Have we finally moved out of the negative, pass sideways and backwards rubbish we`ve seen over the last… well, I`d say ten seasons?! Good God I hope so. Go forward, go for it, shoot, play with passion and momentum. Win, lose or draw I`d be happy as larry as opposed to the parking the bus and forever trying (not very successfully) to just not lose.

Imagine how the confidence amongst the players is now growing? Keep playing like this and as I`ve said before, Villa really should walk the league. I thought it last season, I still think it.

One of the keys is that Bruce, Steve Round and the rest of the backroom staff are joining the dots between the academy and the first team now. Sounds simple doesn`t it? But it never was before. O`Neill wasn`t that interested, he let Cahill go and broke the hearts of those who had developed him at the academy, I know because I had a good contact there at the time. I also know that Sid Cowan’s tried many times, especially (from my info) during the dour Lambert reign but no one in the first team set up were interested to properly explore.

At least Tim had that idea as well but no doubt was somewhat thwarted by the Fox / O`Reilly set up. That is changing for the better now and we might well see more of our local lads pushing through.

I`m not getting over carried away, it is ‘only` two games, but wow, what a difference to the previous two games?

Watch out Championship, the lion might once again be about to roar.

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