When the current transfer window opened, talks of Europe and top 8 finishes were commonplace amongst the Villa fan base.
Within what felt like a week Villa moved quickly to sign Coutinho on a permanent, exciting midfield prospect Boubacar Kamara and a new center back in Diego Carlos.
Move forward a few weeks/months, and 3 games into the season it seems like we are on the verge of another wasted season languishing in the bottom half of the league.
One of the biggest worries for many isn’t that Villa haven’t started the season in the best of form, we rarely do and as the saying goes, form is temporary. It’s that where we started the window really well, many of the clubs in and around us last year Newcastle, Leeds, Wolves and Palace have caught up and in some cases over taken us.
Through a mix of smart management and clever purchases, clubs we once thought we were years ahead of are all improving, whereas Villa still without a definitive style, well a working one anyway, seem to be stagnating.
We all know Villa can on occasion do business silently, think Ings or Diego Carlos, but it’s the little tit bits, the rumors in the paper that excites the fans and yes I know it’s fickle but it helps the mood around the place.
Villa need another centre half, another midfielder and depending on Archer another striker/winger, with the current window being a very busy one, multiple talents many thought We should be in for have moved elsewhere.
Worryingly, shouts are already coming out that Villa should be looking at a new manager, comparing Gerrard to the man he was compared to often in his career Frank Lampard. That’s instead of the ‘up and coming’ young manager group such as Viera of Palace or Potter of Brighton.
This might sound panicky, and it may well be but there are many Villa fans feeling the same way, many are looking outside the club at rivals and teams we should be moving ahead of instead of looking inwards at how much our team has improved, however on the pitch, yes injuries and new players gelling is a factor, but I don’t think we’ve improved in the new system?
On Paper Villa have a great team, we get everyone firing and I do see us getting top half, there is plenty of magic in the squad, Buendia, Coutinho, Ramsey, Ings, Bailey and Watkins could go toe to toe with anyone outside the top 4. But, we aren’t firing or even playing well, the only win was against a dismal Everton many back to get relegated this term and the next 3 fixtures don’t make pretty reading..