And fast. Alex McLeish was brought on board this summer in one of the more baffling personnel changes in the Premier League. He has brought with him a pragmatic, dull approach to the game, and a cynical one too – his player have often been those involved in some of the ‘tastier’ challenges to put it mildly.
At Birmingham, his football was poor. A pragmatic, organised defence was the cornerstone on which it was built, but they bored themselves to sleep on their way to relegation last season. They made Stoke look exciting.
For Villa now, they are stuck in the middle of nowhere. In no danger of relegation currently, but equally nowhere near Europe or anything approaching what could be called success for a club of their stature. Villa is a big team traditionally, with huge potential. McLeish though, cannot get the best out of them and it is difficult to see where they go. Continuing under the Scot risks a shock relegation in an increasingly competitive Premier League, but it gives them little chance of success.
Randy Lerner boxed himself into a corner with his appointment. The fans were not behind him to start and poor form will be the excuse they need to try and hound him out. It feels as though he is on borrowed time already.
Villa are a big club though and with plenty to offer. Players like Alan Hutton and Darren Bent though, will take a team nowhere. Average players for an average team, with an average manager. That is what Aston Villa have become, but Lerner will know they can be so much more. It seems he has made a mistake with McLeish’s appointment. Surely it won’t be long until he lets him go soon, and it would not be a surprise to see him bring in a manager of greater repute, such as a Carlo Ancelotti. This team need a complete overhaul. But they have continued the profligate spending of the Martin O’Neill years. Having not promised him any more money for player, they have squandered millions on the likes of Bent and Hutton. This seems entirely nonsensical. Villa have financial issues, and have racked up huge deficits over the years, and have a poor credit rating.
Villa are deep in a rut and need a radical solution. A sleeping giant and Lerner knows it, but they are going nowhere fast and need something different. For all the talk of sackings, McLeish is possibly the man who has most to fear. Often firing a coach is an over the top reaction; doing so to the Scot though could be a prudent move for a club running out of options.
