How satisfying is it to be an Aston Villa fan at the moment?


How satisfying is it to be an Aston Villa fan at the moment? A week ago, there were murmurings that the majority of supporters would have taken a point at Arsenal. Now, after two away games, we’ve managed two victories; one literal, one moral. Of the two, it’s arguable the Chelsea defeat and the kudos gained from it have set the tone for how Villa are going to be regarded from now on.

That regard would be high, because even if Branislav Ivanovic had been sent off for his restless elbow on Christian Benteke, or referee Kevin Friend had remembered John Terry does not moonlight as a rush-back goalie, Villa might still have lost, but they’d have lost in a way that was appreciable to the eye. Make no mistake, Chelsea were pushed back on their own patch by a collective of hard tacklers and even harder workers.

Now articles have started to flood in assuring Villa fans that the days of struggle are past. The team has displayed enough purpose and grit in two games to show we’ll be well clear of the relegation troubles that have dogged the last three years. Well, I agree...to an extent, at least.

What the Arsenal win and the Chelsea loss have displayed as much as anything is that with a fit team, and a unit in form, Aston Villa are a match for any team in this league, on their day. The challenge is to ensure that we see more of those kinds of days than not. As pleasing as the form we’ve shown at the latter end of pre-season and the start of the Premier League is, early form means nothing if you’re the wrong side of any kind of dotted line in May 2014.

You may think I’m rushing to put out a small fire by diverting a river, but I’m offering realism. I enjoy seeing Villa succeed as much as any fan, but one only has to glance a couple of miles down the road to the borough of Smethwick to see how transient good form can be. West Bromwich Albion started last season like the proverbial train, and ended with relegation form.

A sprinkling of caution on this food for thought concerns playing at home. Villa have just played devil-may-care, fired-up football in places they’re traditionally soaking up pressure and playing on the break. At home, the expectation is for Villa to take the game to opponents, but if they’re set up to counter as well, what’s the plan?

Paul Lambert has rightly been credited with a different Aston Villa for 2013-14, but in a way, Jose Mourinho was right about him. He is ten years behind the Portuguese, in terms of coaching experience, and now the ‘nothing to lose’ ties are over, his next challenge is making his young side as difficult to play at home as they are when they’re visiting teams. Saturday’s fixture against Liverpool could be the real start of the season.

Chris Stanley

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