Paul Lambert Must Right the Aston Villa Ship or Risk Losing the Fans Forever

How quickly one's fortunes change in the Barclay's Premier League.

Aston Villa’s 2-0 loss to Queen's Park Rangers marked the Villans' fifth straight defeat and continued Villa's goalless streak that has lasted the length of almost six complete matches. With the team’s bright start to the season a distant memory among the Holte Enders, the pressure on manager Paul Lambert may be greater than it has ever been.

Lambert’s time in charge at Villa Park has been full of sporadic highs and gut-wrenching lows, but Villa’s current run of poor form has arguably caused greater discontent with the team and its manager than has been seen since the Scotsman arrived from Norwich City in the summer of 2012.

Clive Rose/Getty Images

Villa were embarrassingly beaten by QPR, the league’s worst team heading into the contest. While Villa dominated possession for the first time this season and they had the advantage in shots, the quality of Villa's play generated few real threats for the QPR defence to deal with.

In contrast, although QPR had little of the ball and often lacked quality on it, they took their chances ruthlessly well to deservedly win the three points. The performance of Harry Redknapp’s team must look familiar to the Villa faithful, who have seen their team win many matches in a similar fashion.

As the fans’ unrest grows and the confidence of the players wanes, imminent improvement is mandatory if Villa wish to extend their stay as founding members of the Premier League and if Lambert has any hopes of retaining credibility in the west Midlands.

Diagnosing the causes for Villa’s plummet down the table reveals that numerous factors have resulted in Villa’s shockingly poor play of late. Some of these issues are short-term problems while others stem from deeply rooted flaws at the club that have never been corrected.

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

For one, Villa’s central defence has completely lacked continuity through the first nine games. Injuries have meant that Ron Vlaar, Philippe Senderos, Nathan Baker and Ciaran Clark have all made multiple appearances. Jores Okore, once thought of as Villa’s centre-back of the future,  has yet to feature this season.

In addition, left-back Aly Cissokho’s form has taken a nosedive. After starting the season confidently, Cissokho has consistently been the weak link at the back and Villa are now once again without a dependable left-back.

Injuries elsewhere have also taken a toll. Christian Benteke has only just returned from an extended period out while rising star Fabian Delph is facing a prolonged spell on the sidelines after suffering a shoulder injury. According to SkySports, Delph is unlikely to return until January, leaving Villa depleted for a significant portion of the season. 

However, although these problems are hardly insignificant, they are symptomatic of larger troubles rather than systemic faults. The most important underlying issues preventing Villa from succeeding have remained the same for the past three seasons running.

Villa's longstanding, unresolved problems are that Lambert has not been given a sufficient budget to compete in today’s Premier League, he has made predominantly poor purchases in the transfer market and, most crucially of all, Villa are still completely predictable and limited in attack.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

The meager funds Lambert has had to work with has been one factor outside of his control that has hampered his chances to succeed. Disillusioned owner Randy Lerner has been trying to sell the team for months and even the newly promoted teams have outspent Villa in recent years.

Still, Lambert’s decisions when spending have only marginally improved the team and are equally to blame. Lambert’s signings have predominantly brought in unproven players for lower fees with the hope of realizing hidden potential.

Signings such as Christian Benteke, Ron Vlaar and Ashley Westwood have proved worthwhile. However, the likes of Antonio Luna, Joe Bennett, Aleksandar Tonev, Yacouba Sylla and Jordan Bowery were quickly identified as not good enough to play in the Premier League.

Pursuing younger, hungrier and lesser-known names is a reasonable strategy when you cannot spend tens of millions. Nonetheless, the specific players Lambert has targeted show that his scouting and evaluation of talent leave much to be desired.

Finally, there is the seemingly omnipresent issue of Villa’s toothless offence that has not evolved or adapted over the past three seasons. The team is still without a creative presence, remains impatient in possession and continues to look clueless when forced to score against an organized defence.

Opposing teams have figured out Villa’s counterattacking preferences. What was already a flawed approach to attack—getting men behind the ball and hitting opponents on the break—has now been significantly neutered as teams, such as QPR on Monday, willingly invite Villa to break them down.

With Lambert having recently signed a contract extension and Villa’s ownership situation still undetermined, it is difficult to predict how bad the results would have to be for a managerial change to be made by the end of the year.

What is easy to foresee, however, is that if Villa do not demonstrably improve in their next couple of games, then there is no hope for a reconciliation between Lambert and the fans. Villa Park may soon fully turn on Lambert and he must act quickly to save his diminishing reputation and right Aston Villa's sinking ship.