Direktrapport från Holte End
Villaredaktionens krönikör i Birmingham kommenterar den senaste tidens händelser kring Aston Villa.
Vår man på Holte End, Michael Hurley, lämnar sin syn på spelare, matcher och supportrar. De senaste veckorna har verkligen ingivit hopp hos Villafansen och de kommande matcherna är oerhört viktiga för Villa för att kunna fortsätta sin uppåtgående trend.
Have we turned the corner ?
5 or 6 matches ago, things were looking bleak down at Villa Park and the few that turned up to watch the debacle against Southampton couldn’t really see how or when things were going to improve.
The atmosphere was getting worse each game. The crowds were getting smaller and a few hundred carrot crunchers, sitting in the North Stand, were outshouting the Holte End, who were too busy moaning about Ellis, Taylor and most of the players. The defence were pretty tight, not conceding many goals, but the midfield were non-existent and the forwards where (as Dublin admitted) bloody rubbish. There were mutterings of a relegation battle. It was clear that something had to change quickly or Taylor would have lost the remaining support that he had among the fans
Our poor form and the reasonable results that the toe-rags from Small Heath were having, meant that it was no fun being a Villa Fan. It’s a sure sign that things are not going well, when the bluenoses can take the piss.
Recently though, the team have suddenly started to play much better and the results are reflecting that. Taking into account that we have had 3 or 4 difficult away games and only a couple of home games, Villa have certainly improved. Away draws at Man Utd, Blackburn and the Baggies (West Brom), an away win at Oxford and home wins against Fulham and West Ham seem to show that it’s getting better.
Villa were certainly louder than the Man U fans at Old Trafford and whilst they had to hang on at the end, Villa deserved to get a point and were a little unlucky not to win. A game at Old Trafford provides a good reminder of why everyone hates Man Utd and also shows that their fans seem to hate us ! Utd fans are a bunch of arrogant twats.
Blackburn were in the middle of a good run and although the game was pretty poor, to get a draw there is a good result. Villa only took about 800 there, which is one of the lowest for an away trip this season.
League Cup early rounds never seem to generate much interest so it was a bit of a surprise that Oxford away, sold out (around 14,000). For some reason, Villa took a large following and there was probably 3,500-4,000 Villa there. Strangely there was also some trouble involving the Villa fans, at one stage the mounted Police became involved behind the stand when Villa fans broke down a dividing wall. To the game itself, Oxford are a poor side and Villa were only a little bit better. It was an easy win, handed to us by the Oxford defending which was comical. Generally Villa don’t cause trouble and have a pretty good reputation among other fans
Against West Brom, another good display and as the game went on, Villa were far more likely to score. Despite Dublin missing a penalty, most fans were fairly happy to draw. A good atmosphere inside the ground between the fans, though there were some running battles with the Police outside (It was difficult to see if they were Villa or Albion fans involved)
The win at home against Fulham was another reasonable performance but was a pretty close game, with Villa taking control in the second half to secure the win. Included was a well taken goal by Allback to seal the win. The demolition of West Ham was the best performance of the season with 4 excellent goals and some real quality play. West Ham try to play good open football but unfortunately for them, their defence is crap, which gave Villa the opportunity to play. Some of Villa attacking play was superb and for the first time this season, the Holte had something to shout about. James got a good reception from the fans.
During the last few weeks a number of the players have performed really well. Enckelman has been simply tremendous. Mellberg is consistently calm and reliable; he is a popular choice for team captain. Dublin, though his best days are behind him has been impressive in leading the forward line. Hendrie and Barry in particular have been outstanding, as has Hitz now he has returned from injury. When Hendrie is in form, he has the ability to be a very good creative playmaker and should be the cornerstone of the team. Hopefully Taylor has been able to kick his arse and get him to concentrate on playing football, rather than going on the piss with his mates.
Enckelman is very highly thought of by the fans who are happy that he has signed a long term contract. He has been playing very well and always makes a point of coming to applaud the Holte End at the end of each game. He is the best keeper at Villa since Bosnich at his best. (Before Bosnich turned into a washed up old junkie – It must be hard to sit on your arse, earn 42,000 pounds a week and go out with a Super Model, no wonder he is depressed).
Rumours are that there will be a big clear out when the transfer window opens in January. So some of the fringe players will go (If anybody wants them). We have a lot of mediocre players on big money, doing sod all, so it makes good sense to get rid of the dead wood. Taylor appears to be developing a decent young side, which is hopefully starting performing to their capabilities. There has been a dramatic change in last six weeks and Villa fans are hoping that we are going to continue to improve. There are certain improvements that are still needed. Surely we can do better than Leonhardson and Kinsella in our midfield. The forward line still is not ideal and we need a centre forward who will score 20 goals a season. At the moment it is difficult to see any of our forwards hitting that number and it is not clear which is Taylor’s first choice forward line. Recently, the midfielders are getting goals, but Villa wont be a top six team until the forwards are sorted out
The next three games should be a good indicator of how the season will progress and a few good results could set us up for a promising second half to the season. A few bad results and it’ll be doom and gloom again.
