Tim Sherwood’s Claret And Blue Army

TIM SHERWOOD`S CLARET & BLUE ARMY

It`s probably a bit too soon to be doing a lap of honour and hitting the high-fives, but, notwithstanding the fact that other results seem determined not to fall in our favour, there is no reason now to think we will get relegated.

Although we are still only two points above the dreaded trapdoor, the way we are playing is a joy to behold (if we conveniently overlook the kamikaze defending). There is touch of the Keegan-era Newcastle about us, a kind of “if you score two, we`ll score three” mentality. The point is: we are having a go. Some neat and tidy football, a willingness to get players forward, goals from midfield. IF we go down, we`ll go down fighting.

For this, we have to thank Tim Sherwood. Whatever people think of him, and his ability as a coach/manager, he has the team playing. Playing as a team, playing to their potential, playing to their ability. He certainly talks the talk, but now has our team walking the walk. We were desperately unlucky not to win last week at Man City (or, at the very least, take a point), and the win against Everton was as one-sided a 3-2 as you`re likely to see.

Defensively, we are clinging on for dear life. Injuries have been most unkind to us – just as Ciaran Clark and Jores Okore were looking like the new McGrath-Teale/Southgate-Ehiogu/Laursen-Mellberg, then injury kicked in and snatched Clark in the form of his career.

But going forward, the midfield and Christian Benteke, look reborn. It has taken some time to get over the horrendous injury he suffered late last season, but the magical Belgian is looking the real deal – the best striker in the League currently, and not far behind Messi & Ronaldo Europe-wide. Fabian Delph quite possibly is the best midfielder in the country at the moment, and Tom Cleverley is in imperious form as well. It`s no coincidence that we looked so out-of-sorts at Old Trafford with him missing through the loan rules.

I wonder if Paul Lambert feels about that? I have no ill feeling toward Lambert personally. On the contrary, I so desperately wanted him to be our Alex Ferguson. But midway through last season, it was patently obvious he wasn`t going to be anything like Fergie, and the longer Lerner kept with him, the worse things became. The new contract awarded to Lambert earlier this season was breathtaking, based as it was on three or four decent results at the start. But things rapidly unraveled as we began to almost sleepwalk into relegation.

On a personal note, I am pleased with the way things are shaping up. Plenty of us on the Vital site, and in the Villa community generally, desperately wanted rid of Paul Lambert. The team was dull, lifeless and Championship-bound. Breaking unwanted records on an almost weekly basis, we looked dead in the water. Lambert defenders cried foul, blaming Randy Lerner for everything, denying Lambert the funds to even tread water, while expecting him to turn water into wine.

But I always felt that, while I agree we should have been doing more, spending a bit more, investing more to keep up with our contemporaries (Tottenham, Everton, for instance), Lambert was not getting the most out what he had at his disposal. Almost all of our squad are international players, yet they frequently looked and played like a Sunday league pub team the night after a stag do.

Tim Sherwood has them looking like professional football players, putting in the effort, entertaining the fans and fighting like lions. It would be horrendous if we were to go down now, but ultimately, you get what you deserve – 38 games is plenty of time to gauge where you`re at as a team, and if we don`t survive, we have no one else to blame but ourselves. Except Tim Sherwood. Let`s hope we can do what`s required, and then go on to polish off a truly dire and forgettable period in our history with an 8th FA Cup.

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