Aston Villa - A Progress Report

The expectations at Aston Villa are high, the chairman has high expectation, “One particular task this season is to dramatically improve our away form…15+away wins!#UTV” - Dr. Tony Xia. The managers expectations are high, Why are we favorites when we finished 13th last season?” he said. “Because we are Aston Villa. It’s in the name and that’s what the club demands. So whether I have FFP or whatever, the demand is that we are there or thereabouts. We have to be. I am under no illusions about that. That’s why I came here.” – Steve Bruce. They are unexpectedly high from many Aston Villa fans due to history and past achievements.

As we a few days away from the second half of a season that most expect Aston Villa to be promoted, we will see if Steve Bruce is achieving the goals set before him and by himself.

Fifteen away wins in the season, may have been tongue in check, but have Aston Villa are a long way from those numbers, even with a improvement this season in the points to game ratio. Last season, Bruce’s team produced four wins in seventeen games, which is a 24% ratio. This season his team is cruising at 33% ratio, with four wins in twelve. To put this perspective, the two team who were automatically promoted last season, Newcastle and Brighton were at 61% and 52% respectively. The lowest percentage for a team that reached the playoffs was Sheffield Wednesday with 39%. At the present rate, Aston Villa will finish at 35% with a maximum of eight wins. We are nowhere near the fifteen wins, and not even at a rate that will take us to the playoffs.

Saying that, points per games ratio have increase dramatically from .78 last season to 1.25 per game this season. One redeeming stat from the present away form is that Aston Villa have played six teams above us away from home. The sad stat is we have only collected two points from a possible eighteen.

The Dr. words “Actually I agree with DYorke said, Championship isn’t that difficult as lots ppl described, more as a good excuse”, may come back to bite him, and Steve Bruce, who said after the Reading defeat earlier in the season “It’s a very, very difficult job.”

Are Aston Villa, “There or there about”, as Steve Bruce had said it was the reason he was here for. If we had asked that question five games ago, the answer would had been a definite “Yes”, five games on, and we are looking at “Maybe.” Three point in the last fifteen, have taken Aston Villa from a possible automatic promotion push, to hanging onto the playoff. With another away game against a team above them in the league and a home game against one of the inform teams, by the turn of the New Year, it could be a disappointing “No.”

Aston Villa have a long history that stems back to 1874, when they were one of the twelve founders of the Football League in 1888. Many trophies and championships soon followed, but in the last 30 years, the club has had to settle with two League Cup Winner trophies. With pickings being rare, and with the club in decline for the last seven years, some may say Aston Villa fans need to a bit more patient with the ownership and the present manager. Throughout the season, the fans at the ground, especially the magnificent travelling supporters have supported Steve Bruce, but after the recent defeat to Brentford, things have started to turn. Supporters chanted “Sacked in the morning”, and “You don’t know what you’re doing”, as Bruce, pondered the future with his eyes firming fixed on the ground beneath him, and not the baying fans.

       The new manager bounce fails just as it may succeed, but for a number of fans it is time to test that theory. When the Chinese year of the Dog starts on February 16^th 2018, would the Dr. have shown his loyalty to Steve Bruce, or would he have felt his bite.