Reasons to be cheerful

[eastie]

A very good article here to feel optimistic about the future-

By Brendan McLoughlin | 20/12/12 

Judging by the Premier League table, very little has changed at Aston Villa these last 12 months.

Wind the clock back a year and the Villans were sat in 14th position after 17 matches - just as they are now, but with an extra point to boot.

But if much of this year has looked like a backwards step for the Midlands club, there is now finally evidence they are taking forward strides.

A 4-1 demolition of Norwich which left them within a round of Wembley - and ruthless rout against Liverpool made last week not only their best of 2012, but since the days of Martin O'Neill.

After doomed spells under Gerard Houllier and Alex McLeish, that is not as big a statement as it may sound.

And still just three points adrift of the drop zone, it is not a time for back-patting. Not that Paul Lambert is that type anyway.

But, having lost just two of their last 12 matches - against the two Manchester clubs - you sense Villa are slowly but surely turning the corner.

 

Worries about Villa's lack of goals have been cast aside in their last two matches and Andreas Weimann's strike at Anfield - a goal of the month contender which rounded off a super-slick passing move culminating in a cunning Christian Benteke backheel - was testament to the attacking ethos Lambert has been keen to cultivate.

It is worth noting the the age of Lambert's team - on Saturday it averaged 23 and only 28-year-olds Brad Guzan and Brett Holman kept it as high as that.

And, at a time when vast sums are being bandied around for young talent despite the onset of Financial Fair Play, the fact they are doing it two with so much homegrown talent makes it all the more impressive.

Six of the side that swept aside Brendan Rodgers' team were academy graduates: Ciaran Clark, Barry Bannan, Andreas Weimann, Nathan Baker (both 21) Eric Lichaj (24) and Chris Herd.

The other three players were aged 23 or under in the shape of summer signings Christian Benteke, Ashley Westwood and Matthew Lowton.

 

It is a high risk strategy from Paul Lambert - relegation is unthinkable for a club of Villa's stature and only weeks ago their lack of experience was a concern.

Yet, like his teams, the Scot's mantra has always been about confronting challenges head on and without fear.

The axing of Darren Bent and Shay Given have already proven this is a manager who is not afraid to make bold and potentially controversial decisions.

He did so at Norwich and we all know what happened there.

And, as judges of player go, Lambert has to be up there with fellow Scots David Moyes and Sir Alex Ferguson as among the best of the Premier League managers right now.

Benteke has fast become one of the Premier League's biggest stars - the challenge for Villa in the long term could be keeping hold of him.

'Mr Consistency' Lowton has been a significant upgrade on Alan Hutton and looks a potential England international of the future.

 

In Dutch defender Ron Vlaar, he has signed an international quality performer and, at £2m, pass master Westwood looks like establishing himself as the next esteemed member of Crewe's alumni.

Lambert deserves credit too for the tactical tweaks he has made through the campaign.

Villa have played a diamond 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1 and now, since skipper Vlaar's injury, a 3-5-2 using the youthful trio of Herd, Baker and Clark.

It has brought balance to Villa's team. Lowton and Lichaj have the legs to get up and down; Holman, in place of Stephen Ireland, offers grit at the same time as goal threat and, in Weimann, Benteke has someone to play alongside.

By this point last term McLeish's Villa had already had their best spell and arguably only their start spared them from relegation.

You sense this time the campaign could be happening in reverse and this is the point where the campaigns cross.

Throw in Wednesday night's dream draw with Bradford in the League Cup - leaving the League Two side standing between them and Wembley - and Villa supporters have much reason to be optimistic for the new year.

[Simon Ward]

Part 3

[eamonn]

What were the bold and controversial moves he made at Norwich?

[eastie]

What were the bold and controversial moves he made at Norwich?

Probably tasted  delia's iced buns .

[Concrete John]

What were the bold and controversial moves he made at Norwich?

I presume they mean the times he left Grant Holt out of the side?

[eastie]

What were the bold and controversial moves he made at Norwich?

I presume they mean the times he left Grant Holt out of the side?

I always though lambert signed grant holt but just checked and it was Bryan gunn who signed holt.

[not3bad]

Lambert signed Bryan Gunn?  But then played Grant Holt?

[Brend'Watkins]

What were the bold and controversial moves he made at Norwich?

Left Delia in charge of the drinks cupboard?

[deasy92]

UTV

[john e]

UTV

This

[Mister E]

What were the bold and controversial moves he made at Norwich?

Probably tasted  delia's iced buns .

Is that when she shouted "Let's be 'aving yer"?

[Mister E]

Probably tasted  delia's iced buns .

Is that when she shouted "Let's be 'aving yer"?

[eastie]

The collectiveness at the heart of the club.


By Brian Doogan

From a stage at the centre of the Holte Suite, having posed for pictures with staff from hospitality, stewarding, security, operations and other departments at the back of the packed room, Paul Lambert made a short address to matchday staff attending their Christmas party.

"All of you here play a vital role at the Club and the games wouldn't happen without the work and dedication you put into it each and every time," the Villa manager enthused. "For everything you do - and I mean this genuinely - a really sincere word of thanks."

Hours later, after the draw had been made for the semi-finals of the Capital One League Cup confirming a two-leg semi-final against Bradford City in the New Year, chief executive Paul Faulkner found himself picking up this theme of collectiveness even while elsewhere pulses quickened and thoughts and dreams of Wembley were dominating the claret-and-blue horizon.

"Everyone at the Club works hard - all of the staff at Villa Park and at Bodymoor - and we have a very motivated group of people who take pride in who we are and what we represent and it's that spirit of collectiveness that is at the heart of this Club," he declared. "Building something together, with everybody having their part to play, that's the essence of Villa because football is all about people coming together - that's the heart and soul of the game."

For years, too, the Academy has been the heart and soul of the Club. From 1998, the year that the Premier League's Academy system was established, through to the 2010-11 season, some 145 players have come through Villa's Academy. Of these, 51.7% have played in the Premier League, the Football League, a top league overseas or remained in the Academy.

In the same period 15 Academy graduates have become full internationals while many more have played in international games at underage level.

Just weeks ago Villa secured Category One status for our Academy following an independent audit of the Club's youth development programmes, which forms part of the Barclays Premier League Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP). In addition to achieving the highest status of the EPPP, the Aston Villa Academy emerged as the No.1 ranked Academy in the country, testament to the investment the Club has made to the development of young players.

When Chairman Randy Lerner and the Villa board embarked upon the process of identifying and appointing a new manager this past summer the criteria was clear. Young, bright, hungry and ambitious - these were the sought-after qualities. Lambert had demonstrated these qualities in his successful tenure as manager of Norwich City where he secured the League One title in 2009-10 and led the Canaries to a second-place finish behind Queens Park Rangers in 2010-11 to gain automatic promotion to the Barclays Premier League. But it was in terms of vision, too, that the manager's and Villa's aligned.

With significant investment, a total of nine players - including the returning Brad Guzan - were brought to the Club during the summer, yet on Saturday at Anfield, six Academy graduates - Ciaran Clark, who captained the team, Nathan Baker, Chris Herd, Eric Lichaj, Barry Bannan and Andy Weimann - all featured in the starting XI. Two more players who arrived in the summer are 22 years old - Ashley Westwood and Christian Benteke - and Matt Lowton is 23. Goalkeeper Guzan and attacking midfield player Brett Holman also started and they have typified the essential characteristics of the hard-working, motivated, zestful and ambitious side that Lambert has brought together. A clear, definitive, collective spirit and approach runs all the way through the Club.

"Collectively, we are trying to build something that will be strong and lasting and those efforts are hopefully starting to bear fruit which is pleasing for everybody associated with the Club," Faulkner emphasised. "There's a long way to go and no one is getting ahead of themselves but encouragement is a vital ingredient in order to sustain everyone's effort along the way and what we're starting to see this season is really encouraging.

"One of the key points that Paul made from the outset when he arrived in the summer was how important and influential the fans would be. Home and away, we've seen tremendous examples of the fans producing a rocking, thunderous atmosphere and that symbiotic relationship between the fans and the team is key. We have a young, hungry, ambitious manager and we have a young, hungry, ambitious team whose average age on Saturday was just over 23, the youngest Villa team ever in the Premier League.

"For a long number of years, our Academy has been a powerful symbol and a really definitive example of what we're about as a Club, with the work performed by people such as Bryan Jones, the Academy Director, and Gordon Cowans, who coaches the development squad, underpinning this. Our manager is a big advocate of promoting young players who are good enough to succeed in the Premier League. He is tremendously enthused and takes an active interest in NextGen Series games and the Professional Development League.

"Naturally, we are all delighted to have secured Category One status for our Academy, something we view as fundamental to our strategy moving forward. The infrastructure of the Club is rock-solid and our Academy provides tangible proof of this. The Chairman has strongly supported our Academy from the outset and over the past six-and-a-half years the investment in developing young players, in terms of the facilities at Bodymoor right through to our efforts in recruitment and providing for the young players who come through, has been substantial. This also dovetails very naturally with the ethos of the manager and so what we have is a very clearly-defined approach and togetherness.

"That our fans can now also look forward to the semi-final and an opportunity to compete again at Wembley for a trophy for what would be the second time in four seasons is really great. Villa Park will be jam-packed with the hopes and aspirations of the entire Villa fanbase on Tuesday, January 22. The tie against Bradford City is one we are all looking forward to and I'm sure it will be hard-fought. The flags will be out in force again and memories of European nights against the likes of CSKA Moscow will be evoked and, of course, that unforgettable night against Blackburn Rovers when the game finished 6-4 and there wasn't anyone with a voice left in the stadium by the final whistle!

"But we can look forward to it all as this evolves because it's going to be exciting. Paul and the team are working hard to achieve the kind of progression the manager wants to oversee and that work ethic is mirrored throughout the Club. Ian Culverhouse, Paul's assistant manager, and Gary Karsa, head of football operations, are an essential part of what Paul has brought to Villa, as is Michael Henke, our head of European scouting, all of whom have been fantastic to get to know and work alongside over the past six months. The best things take time to build but Paul has been great from day one. He grasped immediately what Villa is about, the history and heritage of the Club and also the fans and the impact they have on everything. By continuing to grow together, we will hold steadfast to the values and standards we, as a Club, strive always to maintain."

[The Left Side]

Up the Villa

[rob_bridge]

We are Aston Villa and there are signs of life again after 2 years in a coma