Norwich 2 – 0 Villa; Is this the end?

I was really hoping to get to see the game today, but we got loaded up with extra work, meaning it was impossible regardless of how sneaky I thought my plans were.

But from what I’ve heard, I’m glad I didn’t see it, as it sounds like we were running the show until Norwich scored, and then collapsed. All thoroughly depressing stuff and I’d probably have been fuming.
And again from what I’ve heard, it was yet again two basic errors from the defence; something that’s probably cost us even more than our lack of cutting edge up front.

So where does that result leave us?
Well, if you can’t beat a struggling bottom end side, you’re in trouble aren’t you?
Although I have to admit that for a few weeks I’ve thought we haven’t had the right to expect to beat any single side in the Premier league, given our performances. I’ve just been trying to keep it quiet.
And I’ll be surprised if we get anything against Sunderland either.
In fact, I can see Wycombe beating us too and it’s only the law of averages that says we might win one or two games in this season.
Things really are that bad.

Let’s face a few facts.
The defence is the worst I can remember in my forty five years of supporting the Villa.
The midfield is as lightweight as any I can think of.
And our attack is as blunt as a really blunt thing, maybe Ayew apart.
All in all, a team devoid of the quality that’s required to succeed in the top flight.

Not that I’m saying anything new. We all know it and it’s only blind optimism and hope that makes any of us think otherwise.

So what then, of the manager?
I like Garde.
He has a very understated way about him, very similar to Arsene Wenger, his supposed mentor.
There’s no doubting that he’s a technical type manager and we have seen improvement in the side since his arrival.
I also feel sorry for him, because he was dealt a dreadful hand to play with, given the dearth of quality and lack of fight in our squad, the odd few apart.
But he strikes me as too pragmatic at the same time, in that he plays the sensible and obvious approach, whereas sometimes you just have to go for it and take a gamble.
The worrying thing is that you normally see the players trying harder in any new manager’s first few games and if we’re seeing that now, where is that going to leave us for the rest of the season?

Not that I think it matters too much.
We’re beyond redemption, regardless of what happens from now.
I’ve called for Randy Lerner to invest in some serious quality if we’re to have any chance of surviving and now there’s even less chance of that happening.
Expect the usual £15, maybe 20 million or so come the window. An utterly pointless gesture, left too little and too late, which will only buy players that are ultimately not good enough for the Prem, but maybe adequate for the championship???

Which brings us onto the hierarchy.
Will we still be playing Moneyball?
I think that policy has proven to be an utter disaster and it’s not only because the players we’ve got in haven’t been good enough for the Prem. It’s more because I firmly believe they will be totally unsuited to the Championship, where graft and stamina, in playing two games a week on rubbish pitches, are the bigger requirements.

Given the way Remi Garde isn’t standing for players that aren’t willing to fight, I suspect the Moneyball thing might go out the window, personally.

Which brings us round to Randy Lerner himself.
Do you know the thing I find more worrying about our situation overall?
It’s the question I’ve been asking myself for a long time.

Why are the Villa fans just putting up with this, with no complaint?
I’m minded to think that now the reality is setting in, things might change and the fans might start protesting at the current state of the club, but the truth is I just don’t see it happening.

Twenty five or thirty years or so ago, when I was a lot more rebellious, I might have tried to instigate some type of campaign.
But the truth is I’m past that sort of thing these days. I don’t have the energy and certainly not the time either.

Is there no-one who can at least show Lerner that we aren’t happy, even though we’re resigned to the inevitable?

There’s only one song that I feel is relevant today;