From buoyancy to despondency: The opening day Premier League victory over West Ham is a distant memory
West Ham United were brushed aside, Randy Lerner was up on his feet applauding and the Aston Villa players were queuing up to talk about how enjoyable it was to play under Kevin MacDonald. That was only a fortnight ago but the buoyant mood that accompanied the first day of the Premier League season at Villa Park has started to feel like a trick of the mind. Dumped out of Europe, without a manager and reeling from a 6-0 defeat to Newcastle United, Villa are a club in crisis.
It is little wonder Lerner looked so concerned as he surveyed the wreckage of Thursday night’s chastening home defeat to Rapid Vienna in the Europa League play-off round. The Villa chairman had just seen 10 months and 38 matches worth of effort to finish sixth in the Premier League go to waste in the blink of an eye, while the man he was pinning his hopes on to succeed Martin O’Neill stood powerless in the dugout as embarrassing defensive mistakes unfolded in front of him.
Yesterday MacDonald still refused to rule himself in or out but it is almost inconceivable now that Lerner will turn to the reserve-team manager. Stilian Petrov was leading the calls for the caretaker to be appointed after the West Ham game but the Villa captain chose his words more carefully in the wake of the Rapid Vienna debacle. “We would like to know who is going to take charge, who is going to be involved,” Petrov said. “I hope he can be announced before the window closes so he can get some players in.”
If only it was that simple. The decision to give MacDonald an extended spell in charge was as much a reflection of the club’s faith in a man, who is hugely respected for his work behind the scenes at the club for the past 15 years, as it was an indictment of the list of candidates Villa have to choose from. Trawling through the names on the betting market, it is tempting to wonder whether there has ever been a more uninspiring field for one of English football’s most prestigious jobs.
That would not have been the case had O’Neill left at the end of last season, when his relationship with Lerner was already unravelling, but his decision to quit five days before the start of the new campaign has left Villa high and dry.
Villa would have fancied their chances of tempting Martin Jol from Ajax, and Mark Hughes would have jumped at the opportunity to take over, but both those doors were closed by the time O’Neill packed his bags, leaving nothing but cast-offs to sift through.
Bob Bradley, the USA coach, and Sven-Goran Eriksson, the former England manager, have expressed interest in the position, although much more important than that is the fact that Villa have no interest in them. It is understood Lerner had not approached anyone else about the job before the Rapid Vienna second leg.
That stance, however, will have to change quickly or the owner risks seeing the solid foundations he has put in place during the past four years, and the progress Villa have made on the pitch over that period, go to ruin.
This was always going to be a tough campaign for Villa because of the changing dynamics at the top of the Premier League, where Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur have emerged as serious players over the past 12 months, but the inherent danger at the moment is that the Midlands club end up drifting down to mid-table and beyond. That may seem a little over the top, but any team that lose 6-0 to a club who were promoted from the Championship require more than a little tinkering to put things right.
Although MacDonald was at the helm for that match at St James’ Park and has taken his share of the blame for the defeat, admitting he was a little naive with his team selection and tactics, he is entitled to feel badly let down by the players. After all, with the exception of the departure of James Milner and the arrival of Stephen Ireland, MacDonald has been picking from broadly the same squad that finished sixth last season and got to the Carling Cup final and FA Cup semi-finals.
O’Neill became frustrated that Villa supporters were not satisfied with that level of achievement, although not too many fans would be complaining if they were offered that outcome for the season ahead now. The challenge for Lerner, who has been unable to do any wrong in the eyes of the Villa fans up until this point, is to find someone capable of delivering that level of success. It is an unenviable task and one he needs a solution to quickly.
Aston VillaStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk
