From the Guardian:
Premier League fans’ half-term reports, part one:
Aston Villa
August to late October featured the worst 10 or so games for many years – not just for pure footballing reasons but also for the lack of any fan-friendly kick-off times. What use is Southampton at home on a Friday night to anyone? TV’s influence has gone from irritating to crippling for the average fan, and must be stopped (it won’t be, of course). On the park, Gerrard clearly lost the dressing room over the summer and was a dead man walking for weeks. That Southampton game was among the worst games I’ve ever seen but, thankfully, that now feels a distant memory. The arrival of Emery is a massive plus: his influence has already been immense in terms of attacking flair, tactical awareness and motivation, and a top-half finish is a distinct possibility – incredible given we were nearly bottom after five games.
We will finish: 9th
What we need in the window: I’d break the bank for a world class striker. We probably need to upgrade our reserve cats too.
Our best-ever signing was: It’s a shame that vast swathes of our fan base never saw Paul McGrath, David Platt or Dwight Yorke in claret and blue – all of them signed for peanuts by the late, great Graham Taylor. McGrath tops the list.
And the worst … Sasa Curcic’s debut was incredible – as was what came next, but not in a good way. Can’t look past Bosko Balaban for the worst ever, though: signed for £5.8m on a five-year deal by John Gregory in 2001: no league starts and no goals in two years.
Jonathan Pritchard
