A dire 2015-16 campaign left Aston Villa fans with little to shout about, with confirmation of relegation from the Premier League a grim inevitability after woeful domestic form.
However, with the Randy Lerner era now over and a new manager and owner in place, there should be optimism at the Midlands club and a feeling that the future can be decidedly brighter.
Chinese entrepreneur Jiantong Xia has bought the club and revealed lofty ambitions for the future, but the most immediate challenge is getting out of what is a notoriously competitive Championship.
Many teams have dropped from the top tier and been tipped by bookmakers such as My Betting Bonus to bounce straight back, although big clubs like Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and countless others have found the task extremely difficult.
The appointment of Roberto Di Matteo should be treated as an overwhelmingly positive piece of recruitment, with the former Chelsea boss having a lot to prove in the game but the pedigree to succeed.
An incredible achievement of winning the Champions League in 2012 with the Blues has been followed by an acrimonious sacking at Stamford Bridge and a lukewarm time at Schalke, but the former Italy midfielder could well be an inspired choice.
Jiantong’s wealth means that Villa have been able to recruit so far this summer, which will give Di Matteo the potential tools to get the club back to the big time.
As yet there have not been many departures from the squad that toiled last term and a priority for the new manager should surely be to carve the dead wood and the associated inflated wages from a group that has massively underachieved.
Holding on to some of the better players, such as Jordan Amavi, Micah Richards and Jordan Ayew, would give Villa a solid spine that could lead to success – but some of these players could well be tempted away if Premier League suitors come knocking.
The crux of the issue is that the fans want to have a team that they can be proud of again.
Although last season was an abomination, the Villans have not played progressive or enterprising football for a number of campaigns and there has been little to shout about as a result.
Improved team spirit is something that Di Matteo will look to forge and this could well bring pride and supporters back on board.
There is no reason to suggest that the Villans cannot bounce straight back and return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, but there is little doubt that securing promotion will be far from straightforward in 2016-17.
1 Comment
Sorry Anne but I have absolutely no faith in Villa being able to bounce straight back.
I hope we’ll be able to pick up some players to help us but at the moment we’re still lacking so much. we’re really short of strikers, Ayew is the only one with any real potential IMO. we have no effective wide players, and I can’t see where any goals are going to come from in midfield. We have a leader now in defence and partnered with Clark we may have effective CB’s.
I disagree about Richards, the guy is a liability, he came to Villa as a CB with a great opportunity to make the England squad for the Euros given the shortage of good English CB’s and he completely blew it. He was terrible all season except for those few games he played at RB when he was ok.