Aston Villa: Potential without ambition.

BEFORE I START THIS If you don't have an interest in football (or if you insist on being American (hard not to if you are American, I know) and calling it soccer), then LOOK AWAY NOW. Or, carry on reading and be utterly confused by the situation.

STATISTICS TO START OFF WITH.

Martin O'Neill in his four seasons as Aston Villa manager managed to pick up 52% (roughly) of points.
Kevin MacDonald in his 7 games as Aston Villa caretaker manager managed to pick up 38% of points.
Gerard Houllier in his 17 games so far in charge has picked up 37% of points.
Putting it simply, O'Neill managed 1.56 points per game, MacDonald managed 1.14 points per game and Houllier's managing  1.11 points per game.

Houllier has only had 17 games, and hasn't had a transfer window yet in which to mould his team, although he has managed to get french winger Robert Pires. O'Neill was given about 8 transfer windows to form his team, spending around £120 million on playing staff. This was rewarded with 11th place in his first season on charge, followed by 3 consecutive 6th place finishes, and 2 trips to Wembley in his final season in charge (Once for the League Cup final, once for the F.A. Cup semi-final). Anybody will tell you, to finish 6th in the premier league and to come close to winning two cups in one season takes a lot of skill. Seen as though the Premier League is widely regarded as the best league in the world, that's almost like being classed amongst the best in world football, evidently Martin O'Neill took us (us being Villa) to almost stardom.

However, the financial backing stopped coming, possibly when we needed it most, to give us that final push into the Champions League. Chairman Randy Lerner introduced a sell to buy policy, where the manager had to sell off players in order to get funds to buy new ones. For a club that's always building, it's obvious that isn't sustainable. If you sell a mediocre player for £2 million, how are you meant to buy the man that could make the difference in your team for £20 million?

It is widely believed that this is the reason that O'Neill decided the job wasn't for him. The timing of his decision to leave left us in a right state, meaning that Kevin MacDonald was left as the man to steady the ship shortly before the new season started. he went some way to steadying the ship; The players were fully backing him to get the managers position, and it is believed that O'Neill had lost the faith of his players towards the end of his reign as manager. MacDonald also gave some of the younger players a chance, for example Marc Albrighton, Ciaran Clark, Barry Bannan, Andreas Weimann, Eric Lichaj. Although these players had a turbulent first few games, with them not hitting any particular pattern of winning nor losing, they've all proven, along with others (Delfouneso, Hogg) that they can do the business at the highest level. Eric Lichaj in the recent game against Tottenham was superb at keeping Gareth Bale quiet for most of the game, Albrighton's been compared to David Beckham by some and Hogg and Bannan featured in a 2-2 draw against the 'mighty' Manchester United.

These players have shown that they will perform under any manager, be it MacDonald or Houllier. However, the senior players faith obviously lies with MacDonald, as I'll explain.

When Houllier was appointed, the younger players still carried on performing, however the senior players became somewhat redundant. Friedel, Collins, Dunne, Agbonlahor, to an extent Ashley and Luke Young, and maybe even recently Stewart Downing. These have all been off form lately. This leaves the job to our younger players, who as good as they are, aren't ready to carry a team on their own in the premier league. They need the senior players supporting them, and the support doesn't seem to be there. There have been rumours of training ground bust ups between the new management team and players, and it's never the younger players that are involved, only the senior ones.

Now, for my opinion.

Houllier had lost the team the moment he was appointed. As long as a team don't want to play for a manager, they'll never put 100% in. Houllier's decision making during matches has been poor, bringing on Robert Pires who is in the twilight of his career isn't going to have a postivie impact on the match, especially when you have the bundle of energy that is Barry Bannan on the bench.

However, I think the true issue lies with the chairman. He showed ambition in the first few seasons, investing his time and money into the club and making us very successful. However, that ambition is dwindling. He's not giving any more funds, and if we want to even retain 6th we need 2/3 good players bought in to make the difference, players that could only be bought if the chairman invests. It is fine for him to expect return on what he's put in, and if he believes that we've underperformed for the £120 million then he's every right to stop investing.

Action that should be taken.

Lerner should sell the club. To a young, ambitious chairman who is willing to put time and effort into making this club as successful as we possibly can be. Houllier needs to go, and to be replaced by an ambitious manager who is also willing to give the younger players a go. Some of the older players need to be axed too, they're slowing down our play and these young players bring a spark to us.

We have one of the best young teams in the league, yet it isn't being utilised correctly. I think that with a manager who connects with the players, a chairman who connects with the club, there is no reason why we can't do what Manchester United did with the Nevilles, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. They won the title.

Who do I think should step in? Kevin MacDonald. His record wasn't brilliant, but considering they were his first 7 games in charge of a Premier League side they showed promise, because most men in his position would've crumbled. And he obviously connects with the players.

To summarise my points:

1. New chairman who wants to lead a club to glory, rather than make a quick buck.

2. Kevin MacDonald to be offered the managers job, and to connect with the players and utilize them how he knows best.

3. Get rid of players in the twilight of their careers. They may have served us well in previous seasons, but they aren't serving us well now.

4. Basically, I'm talking revolution, not evolution.

If this happens, I expect us to become one of the most exciting sides the Premier League, in fact, world football has ever seen. The potential is there to be a world class team, but the ambition at the moment is not. And I really do believe now is the time to fly or fall. We're falling now, but there's no reason why we can't get some wings, it's not too late.

Whatever happens, I'm Villa till I die.