Richard Franks has wrote this piece on his personal blog which he has allowed me to post on here, mainly because I agree with a lot this.
Please visit his blog !
January 22nd 2013. Premier League Aston Villa have just been dumped out of the cup in pathetic style by League 2 Bradford City.
Take nothing away from Bradford – they held their composure and were brilliant across both legs. Don’t get me wrong, they completely deserve their trip to Wembley. But questions simply have to be asked when any Premier League team, let alone Villa, can’t hold their own and beat a League 2 side over two legs.
But this doesn’t come as a shock to most fans. Villa have been on a rapid decline from before Norwich City, Paul Lambert’s last club, even came back in to the Premier League.
Villa have had a number of unsuccessful managerial appointments in the 2000s since the departure of one certain John Gregory. Graham Taylor, David O’Leary, Gerard Houllier, Alex McLeish and now Paul Lambert have all struggled at this club. It’s only Martin O’Neill’s tenure as boss combined with Lerner’s £millions that turned Villa in to something we hadn’t seen for years. But regardless of O’Neill’s time here, there’s one thing all of those managers post-Gregory have in common. They all walked away from this club with very little to shout about, or, to be blunt, no honours.
So why should we be surprised that Villa are achieving, well, er… underachievement? We had a decent three year spell under O’Neill but what about before that? We flirted with relegation a couple of times, had a couple of top-half finishes but mostly underperformed considering the status of the club. It was always going to be a difficult task for any manager at this club to follow on from O’Neill.
NAIVETY
After the controversial appointment of Alex McLeish, anybody that walked in to this club was always going to be welcomed with open arms – be it Paul Lambert or Mr. Blobby. But that doesn’t excuse the club’s naivety on every level. From Lerner’s cost-cutting and wage-trimming (fair enough, it has to be done, but is getting it out of the way as quickly as possible, whilst damaging the club’s reputation and position really the best possible method?) to Lambert’s arguably poor tactics, Aston Villa have turned in to a naïve and stubborn club.
For example, although singled out by many fans last year, the club’s treatment of Stephen Warnock and Alan Hutton has been nothing short of unprofessional. For those who don’t know, Warnock has now returned from his short-term loan spell with Bolton and is back at Villa – training with the kids. He has had no explanation as to why he’s not deemed good enough for the first team and doesn’t even get to talk to the manager, according to his wife, Laura.
Then you take into account the club’s poor treatment of McLeish (who, in my opinion, was quite clearly a stop gap for the club and a manager that would take the blame away from Lerner,) plus the fact that Houllier could have died in this job (surely the club should have extensively checked his health reports before appointing him as manager?) it shows a complete lack of football knowledge right from the top.
Oh and of course there’s the compensation we’ve had to pay to Martin O’Neill, Gerard Houllier, Gary McAllister, Alex McLeish… the list goes on.
The club is currently poorly run by a guy who, from the outside, was happy to splash his cash until the likes of Manchester City came along and now it looks as though he’s almost given up and is trying to balance the books for a quick sale.
And if the latter is true, would you blame him? We’ve already seen the likes of Gareth Barry, Ashley Young, Brad Friedel, Stewart Downing and James Milner let go to try and recoup some of the money poorly invested in the club.
But after such a bright start – the Acorns shirt deal, the Holte Pub refurbishment, the English backbone to the club, the highest attendance and best results the club had seen for years… where did it all go wrong? Why such a rapid decline?
TRANSFERS
Lerner has ploughed substantial wealth in to the club’s transfer efforts, with £140 million of that during O’Neill’s time at the club – which was obviously great for every supporter of this club. But it was the wages and fees which caused some concern and now has a long-lasting effect on our books.
With those such as Habib Beye (£2.5m), Steve Sidwell (£5.5m), Curtis Davies (£10m), Emile Heskey (£3.5m), Zat Knight (£3.5m), Marlon Harewood (£3.5m) on the books and all purchased for, let’s be honest, extortionate fees which surpass their ability… not to mention the fact that their wages ranged between £35,000 a week to £65,000 a week, it’s no surprise that Lerner is being strict. But where is the line in the sand?
The club returned very little for these high fees and wages, despite brilliant opportunities with two trips to Wembley in one season.
Fast forward a few years and we’re the complete opposite. Wages are lesser, players are younger and fees are little. 2013’s backbone consists of younger players and a couple of the oldguards (Agbonlahor, Guzan) but it’s just not enough to produce results.
But where do you find the balance?
Lambert’s policy of buying younger players is great for the future – but we need some stability now. I think Lowton, Westwood, Benteke et al. have all been fantastic buys and will really shine for this club for the foreseeable future; but not if we get relegated.
Obviously, the well-documented loss of Petrov has been a massive blow, but as a team we should be able to cope, or at least replace a player that is so detrimental to our play.
Whether it’s Lerner not allowing any funds or Lambert not wanting to sign anyone imminently to try and help this football club, whichever way you look at it, it is incredibly naïve.
With the news that the bottom club in the Premier League will receive at least £60 million (sixty-million) from television rights in the 2013/14 season – that’s more than Manchester City received last season – surely you’d allow yourself to loosen the financial restraints for one season as you would more than recoup it the following year from staying in the Premier League.
And on that note, it baffles me as to why those in charge aren’t doing all they can to secure top-flight status for a club that has been an ever-present since the Premier League began.
STABILITY
While I think this season is crumbling before our eyes, I don’t think sacking Lambert is the answer. I’d like to think we will have enough to stay in this league, but at the same time I’d also like to think the club wouldn’t be stupid enough to sack yet ANOTHER manager, pay yet MORE compensation fees and have an ENTIRE squad the new manager probably won’t rate, therefore paying wages of players we aren’t even going to use (see O’Neill circa Davies, Beye, Sidwell, etc.)
It’s time for those at the top to take real control of this club and focus on Premier League survival, otherwise we will get relegated and I’m not too sure a club in such a mess as this would return straight away. See Leeds, Bradford, Middlesbrough…
However unfortunate this may be, we are not the club we once were. The Aston Villa of old, realistically, are a mid-table team with not a lot of recent success. And that’s the damning truth.
We probably shouldn’t be in the position we are now but I wouldn’t say it’s all Lambert’s fault. He’s inherited a mess and he’s obviously doing his best to make the most of a bad situation. It’s just natural for fans to aim their vitriol at the person in the charge of the team – the manager.
I’m not going to rally cry to the fans to support the team and ‘keep the faith’ – we’ve done that all season. It’s time for the management and players to give something back to those fans who have been there supporting the team all season.
All of these problems outlined in this piece suggest to me that the problem lies much higher than Paul Lambert.
It’s easy to point the finger at the manager, the players, the fans… but in order to really turn this mess around we need a complete rethink of our policies in order to compete. Otherwise, there is only one way we are going, and that is down.
Cut the naivety, cut the stubbornness and forget the cost-cutting activities for the next week.
I’m not saying let’s sign Messi, I’m saying do all you can to ensure the stability of this football club by signing two or three decent players that can help secure our safety. Then we can build on it next season.
But until then, I’m looking at you Mr. Lerner… it’s make or break time.
Lamberts wants Marlon King……………Sorry a mistake…. Lambert wants six defenders.
Why not get in Malouda?? he is still quality, will add flair and experience, and cheap.
Wages, the same reason why nobody will be signed this window. Lerner and Lambert deserve each other as they are the biggest pair of idiots in British football
Nobody can defend lambert for the last month. At any other club or under any other chairman he would have rightfully been sacked.Take a step back and look, in the space of 4-5 weeks we have:
- Had record home and away defeats, culminating in a horrendous GD of -25
- Lost 2 crucial relegation six pointers at home
- Thrown away 4 points against West Brom and Swansea (who should have been 5-0 up after 20 mins)
- Embarrassed by league two opposition over 2 legs.
That series of events is an absolute disgrace for any club let alone one of our stature. Lambert is not capable of turning this round and quite frankly Lerner is a clueless moron for letting him have another match in charge. This club is a farce and a laughing stock and I, for one have had enough.
Hey! It’s just another day at the office. We’ll be fine! Paul and Randy said so…
Problem is we still have fans that will not stop away, Yes its my Team and I will protest my way people before you did the same in the 40s 50s 60s 70s to get things done, you have to vote with your feet, otherwise you will have shite games and humiliation for the rest of this decade, show bottle and speak with your feet. remember you owe it to your club Aston Villa. give that Yank a shock and show him your British.
Im sure lambert thinks he’s untouchable,shite result after shite result same old comments after games yet his position is still safe even if he drags our beloved club down its fucking criminal & its time fans to stop chanting your support towards him stopping now,you by what i mean all this claret & blue army stuff about time he got it double barrel fuck ponce.
What is funny is that we have had such a shit season and were still not in the relegation zone!! quite incredible really! I still think there is a good chance we will stay up.. The annoying thing is we would quite easily stay up with just maybe two new signings, yet looks like were going to find out the hard way! Lerner OUT
Does Richard Franks really get paid for continually reproducing stuff that we already know..if so, can I have his job please?……we need solutions NOT the same old lip service that we are given….we all know the cause, we need answers and solutions and results on the pitch…over to you Randy and Lambert…
Adam staying up & losing to a div2 team after 2 bites of the cherry teams around us bringing new faces in dont add up mate.
But the fact there are still 3 or more teams just as bad as us gives some sort of hope!
Graham my lad just rang to say he been to Villa Park and its like a ghost town not a sole around. Im wondering why he’s at Villa park now.
Hopefully he’s waiting to manage the team when lamberks been sacked !!
It’s an interesting state of affairs when the usually quiet Birmingham Mail writes an open letter to Lerner. .. With VV turning as well, the owner and board has few friends left.
Im not so sure adam you state teams worse than us please mate me tell me its a whindup.
Im not saying worse Giddy, just as bad. So in essence im saying there are 5 clubs in a definite relegation fight and you could pick any 3 of them to go down it’s that close.
Soz adam i didnt get the jist of that post as im working & not concentrating on what im reading anyway to teams around us are showing improvement we ain’t again soz mate.
Yeah i agree with you there mate were not showing improvement at the moment, but it’s not too late yet. Something just needs to happen, be it a good win (millwall wouldn’t count) or a player in or Lambert out, Lerner out, we need a change somewhere!
Totally agree mate fuck the fa cup premiership survival?
Nothing will change with players or Managers Giddy, Lerner is not even in the UK until February he has given up caring…. the only think that will change is we get shitter and relegated….
Beating Man Utd in ’71 when in 3rd Div WAS magic…..think then went down shorrtly afterwards…sounds familiar.
Keith
This is an excellently written piece, but at the end of the day, it only tells us what we already know, namely, that the club is a disintegrating mess from Lerner, Faulkner and the board down. Given that the key figures at the club seem clueless and paralysed, unprepared to either back their manager in the market or sack him, I’d say our fate is sealed.
Just bought myself a claret and blue sledge, never gone downhill so fast in my life…Woohoo!!
my biggest concern is i cant see it getting better no matter what i’ve looked at our fixtures and (this is not scientific btw) being very generous with results i get us to 37pts come the end of season, being a little more realistic im getting us to 32pts and both of those figures start with 3pts against newcastle, not zero, not one but 3!
like i say it isnt scientific by any means but can anyone else see us doing better than that? have a look see what you think.
great article btw
I just went through quickly and added together 15 points from now, so giving us a total of 35 worrying!
this situation has been coming make no mistake about it . 2 seasons ago we looked better than we was when we finished well . last year was a disaster but we was all to blame for that as the fans didnt give big eck a chance . he was told to cut the wage bill and if he had stayed he had to do it again this year . so what else do you expect from a club that rincing the life out of the team . lamberk is nieve at best but the trouble is up top …time to get the bed sheets out again and get on the holte end steps and start protesting enough is enough in my book
also the problem i feel, (well one of them anyways we have too many to list) the immediate problem is confidence, the team and manger have already proved that they can compete against the likes of arsenal, man utd, man city and liverpool and dispatch teams like reading and norwich, they can play, we’ve seen them do it but the confidence on the pitch is non existant, apply pressure and watch them crumble into a mess.(and that includes lambert)
week in week out failing confidence is a cancer to a team and im sure already there are some players who when the team sheet goes up are actually pleased to see their name ISN’T on it.
this type of thing is where senior players and the manager really need to step up and it is quite startlingly clear this is not happening in anyway shape or form.
ah! some concrete transfer news at last!
apparently we are putting in a bid for the swansea ball ball boy as it turns out he can hold onto a ball longer than barry bannon
Lol