Halfway to paradise, halfway to …
Halfway to paradise, halfway to …
If the games over the Christmas period can be considered one of the watersheds of the season, then Villa managed to keep themselves precariously on the apex and avoided going anywhere in particular. They managed to repair the damage done earlier in December at Leeds and Norwich by beating QPR and Burton, gained respectability with a home draw against Leeds but then started 2017 with a performance at Cardiff which went beyond bloody awful. So Villa find themselves exactly halfway, nineteen points from the top and twenty-two points off the bottom, with a goal-difference of plus-two.
The result and performance at Cardiff was not the best way to start the year and the goal they conceded was the very definition of scrappy and was the culmination of an afternoon of some desperately poor defending. But needless to say, if the players never did themselves much credit, neither did Villa’s manager, whose choice of a Gardner and Westwood combination in midfield looked unlikely to work from the start. Depriving himself of the services of Rudy Gestede, who at least might have bashed Warnock’s bashers in return, hardly seemed wise, especially as the fee expected from Middlesbrough, did not reflect the inflation which has taken place this season in the Premier League. Presumably if manager Bruce’s claim that he had too many strikers was sincere, then the speculation that Villa are after Middlesbrough’s Jordan Rhodes for £10m, is probably best dismissed as click-bait.
If Villa are to spend that sort of money I think most fans would probably prefer it invested in midfield where the team seems to be the most lacking. Rumours in the press that Villa are tracking several attacking midfielders seem to confirm that general perception. Certainly the rumours about Barnsley’s Conor Hourihane seem to be more about getting the Villa fans salivating than actual fact. He really does have a hell of a left-foot and even if it is unwise to judge any player on a few highlights, his stats confirm the overall very positive impressions. What sort of impression Villa’s new loanee goalie Sam Johnstone has made during his loan periods at six different clubs is hard to say but presumably he must show promise at least. Bruce certainly seems to have doubts about Gollini and everyone has doubts about Bunn, but it still was a bit of a surprise.
As Villa prepare for their trip to Spurs on Sunday teatime in the FA Cup, it definitely looks more of a chance to see the size of the gap between the middle of the Championship and second-place in the Premiership, than anything else. With Spurs enjoying their fifth win in a row against Chelsea on Wednesday, it looks like they are enjoying the sort of form which should have won them the title last season but which as a matter of tradition they bottled. Both clubs will have bigger priorities and presumably both managers will field a depleted team. There will be a lot of Villa fans hoping that both Green and Hepburn-Murphy will get their chance. No one really expects anything other than a Spurs win and it is a mystery why the game was chosen for teatime TV. But no one can doubt it was a great draw for Villa because barring an humiliation, a defeat will be devoid of the implications of last season’s draw at Wycombe Wanderers, which completely destroyed the relationship between the fans and the players. Returning home with their pride intact seems like the best we can hope from this one. Taking a few more steps towards paradise remains the priority.
Keep the faith!
