The Next Six Fixtures Offer Aston Villa a Chance to Banish any Relegation Battle

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 Next Six Fixtures Offer Chance for Lambert to Win Back the Villa Faithful 

 

Paul Lambert this week declared he felt Villa had been unfairly treated by their critics. “I think there is a misconception of the way we are going at the moment,” he told journalists, after the Liverpool game. “People think we are doing poorly and we are sitting tenth – it’s really, really incredible, the perception of it.”

The truth is despite this apparent okay league position (one that MOMS had predicted Villa would finish at the end of the season), taking heart from the league table is just papering over the cracks. Such was the close proximity of the teams in the bottom half of the league, six points separate Villa in 10th from Cardiff at the bottom. In the games played so far, Villa are also two points down on the equivalent results of last season.

Only five home wins in just over a year is rubber-stamped relegation form. After defeats against the likes of Crystal Palace and Sheffield United at home, as a supporter, you feel there is no such thing as a winnable game anymore and that every team fancied their chances against the Villa.

“We have kicked on in a lot of aspects like our goals record, the way we play…” Lambert added. Really? Villa fans have been tearing their hair out at the way we play. It’s a bit rich saying this just because the team have finally managed one decent performance.

One of the problems under Lambert’s reign so far, has been the ability to build on good results. Remember the expectation and excitement after Villa’s 3-1 win at Anfield last season? It soon turned pretty nasty after that.

Still, while we’d be a fool not to keep one eye looking over our shoulders, the next six games will give Villa a very realistic chance to banish any thought of being involved in a relegation battle. Of course, we already know there is no such thing as a winnable game for Villa on paper, but judging by the calibre of opponent and  if the improved performances at Anfield and the second half of the Arsenal game are replicated, then there’s certainly hope for three points in some of the following fixtures:

 

Aston Villa’s Next Six Fixtures

29th Jan – Aston Villa vs West Brom

1st Feb   – Everton vs Aston Villa

8th Feb – Aston Villa v West Ham

11th Feb – Cardiff v Aston Villa

23rd Feb – Newcastle v Aston Villa

1st Mar – Aston Villa v Norwich

 

If Benteke carries on scoring and the new signings give the team  a shot in the arm, then Villa could soon rack up some points. You’d fancy Villa to have a chance of getting a point or three in any of these games.

The media are already talking up the finish to this season as being the most exciting ever in terms of both ends of the table. Villa aren’t going to challenge for the title, but if they play their cards right in the next six games, the relegation picture won’t concern them either. Three wins out the next six games would leave Villa on 33 points, needing only seven points from the last three months of the season to ensure safety. Even they should achieve that without breaking too much sweat.

Yes, it will be a boring end to the season, but maybe a climax that will help calm the nerves is just what Villa supporters need right now, after the past few years. UTV

 

 

4 COMMENTS

  1. Good article. The mid-table position is so false due to the proximity of teams placed 10th downwards. I even see comments about the goal difference being reason to celebrate – not losing 8-0, 4-0 and 3-0 in a week helped with that, but not doing that is hardly something to be cheerful about. It just shouldn’t have happened.

    I am pleased to see the rectifying of errors (Antonio Luna was signed in the first place, this disturbs me), and we have tightened up a bit at the back, and Lambo FINALLY seems to have realised we lack creativity.

    But rectifying these errors isn’t reason to celebrate, it’s just people actually starting to perform at the absolute minimum level that is expected of them (y’know, like not conceding or nearly conceding from every single corner), including the manager.

    Big six games coming up; me personally, I’d love a bit of boring mid-table mediocrity for the last few weeks.

  2. there is no doubt there has been some vast improvement against Liverpool, I had expected performances like this to be regular this year and last year filled me with hope as our front line
    is very effective on there day
    trouble is they have been so poor for many games this season that who knows what comes next
    I love our fwd line and just want to see them play as they can
    if they do we will be ok
    if they don’t we are in trouble

  3. We’ll be fine unless we really, really screw it up. 3 wins and a few draws means safety. If we can’t win 3 from these 8: West Brom(h), West Ham(h), Cardiff(a), Norwich(h), Stoke(h), Fulham(h), Palace(a), Hull(h) – I don’t think I want to be in this division any more.

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