The Curious Case of Aston Villa: A Failing Claret and Blueprint?

In the aftermath of Aston Villa’s recent 3-0 demolition by Everton, I pondered over the two divergent paths each club had taken in recent history. While Everton have enjoyed relative success and stability, I noticed that Villa had almost malfunctioned, suffering at the hands of questionable ownership, quelled ambition and an inherent lack of identity.  

Younger readers may even question my comparability of the two sides, yet history does show a shared likeness in terms of stature, history and tradition. Villa’s pinnacle—their 1982 European Cup triumph—is rivalled only by Everton’s 1985 Cup Winners Cup victory, with Howard Kendall’s side beating Rapid Vienna to claim what would now be known as the Europa League.

Conversely, Everton have won nine League titles compared to Villa’s seven and have spent 110 complete seasons in the top flight, compared to Villa’s 104. Aston Villa verses Everton is consequently the most played fixture in the English top-flight.

More recent history for Villa, however, shows a brief stint of success between 2006 and 2010, sandwiched in between large periods of mediocrity up until this present day.

The years when the club "had a go" under Martin O’Neill saw them spend lavishly on the likes of Ashley Young (£9.7 million), Stewart Downing (£10 million), Curtis Davies (£10 million) and James Milner (£12 million).

Their financial ambition, which saw O’Neill spend £120 million in four years, was rewarded by three sixth-place finishes—yet failure to land Champions League football after being seven points ahead of Arsenal in the 2008/09 season after 25 games was a non-fulfillment in the wider context of the club’s transformation.

It is conceivable that such a shortcoming had convinced Villa Chairman Randy Lerner that the barrier between the top-four and the rest of the league was impenetrable, and from thenceforth, limited funds were provided to subsequent managers.

Such an investment warranted more than the mere status of the "nearly men" of English football, so perhaps in those four years, O’Neill had blundered Villa’s last hopes of progression.

The flatness surrounding the appointment of his successor, Gerard Houllier, however, was a drop in the ocean compared to the sheer anger and vitriol aimed at the board for appointing Alex McLeish— a former manager of rivals Birmingham—whom he had relegated not once, but twice.

Jon Super/Associated Press

The fans’ resistance to McLeish appeared to be met with pure contempt by those in charge, yet the fact that he holds the worst win percentage of any Villa manager at 21.4 percent shows that in the footballing world, perhaps populism should be heeded from time to time.

Presently, Paul Lambert is fighting against a tidal wave of discontentment. Financially speaking, his hands are tied, with disinterested chairman Randy Lerner rarely seen at Villa Park these days after recently putting the club up for sale.

Yet, we should not let Lambert off the hook so easily. Financial restrictions were in no way a hindrance when Villa failed to overcome former League Two side Bradford City in the semi-final of the Capital One Cup last year. A final with Swansea awaited the victors and a realistic chance of silverware. To the fans, this failure represents an immovable scar on Paul Lambert’s record as Villa manager.

So after threatening to compete, it appears that both on and off the field, Villa are back to square one, which must be difficult for Randy Lerner to swallow after such vast investment.

So is there a way out of the wreckage for Villa?

I began by lauding the Everton model, which would make any Villa fan green with envy. They have an ambitiously talented manager, exciting youngsters, attractive football and a Chairman who continually reinvests profits into preserving their status.

Bill Kenwright is for the most part steady with his investment, with the exception of Romelu Lukaku, whom he spent £28 million on this summer. Lerner’s approach has proven to be naively extravagant, spending large sums on the likes of Nigel Reo-Coker (£8.5 million), Carlos Cuellar (£7.8 million) and Darren Bent (£24 million).

Kenwright further showed his forward-thinking by persuading Roberto Martinez to join the club, when in 2012 he had given Lerner "a firm 'no,'" per Metro's Andrew Raeburn.

With a potential to be a leading regional club in the second-city, it appears that most of Villa’s flaws have come from board level.

Yet even with the club up for sale, changes of that kind will not be easy. The current Financial Fair Play model is a major stopper to any quick-fix Villains may have had in mind. It is very kind to the top four. It safeguards them from the threat of prospective new owners investing heavily on propelling smaller clubs up the league.

I am fearful that Villa could “do a Leeds” or Sheffield Wednesday and find that they are soon scrapping for promotion rather than trying to avoid relegation.

Aston Villa were once a great club. They may be once again. And if they are to be, it certainly will not come under this presently unambitious model.