The current brand being pushed on the Aston Villa website, social media sites and in all the pre-match build up is ♯fightlikelions.
This season, I have rarely seen lions take the field. Despite the animal emblazoned on our shirts, the majority of performances this season have been mouse-like.
Many of you will think I am being harsh so I will qualify my statement slightly and acknowledge that the Rotherham United game was great and should not be included in my criticisms.
When we are drawing or losing, the team seems to to show a semblance of endeavour and the energy required to get something from the game. However, whenever we take the lead the players retreat back into themselves like frightened animals.
Four times this season we have conceded goals in the last ten minutes of matches. The nine points we have dropped as a result of those capitulations would have put us joint top.
The worst thing about the last two results was the inevitability of the heartbreaking goal concession. It just never seemed in doubt that we would screw up again and this is a feeling that has been dominant for the last five or six years.
In both games, we were the better team and going ahead were totally fair ways for the games to have developed.
However, on both occasions, the drive to continue attacking and get another goal seems to immediately dissolve.
The team sits back and tries to defend the lead – a lead we all know cannot be held if the current mood around the club continues.
It is a vicious cycle. The more leads we throw away, the more anxious and frustrated the fans get, which means the more nervy the players get. This in turn makes it more likely that any lead we get will be thrown away.
As best we can, as fans, we have to stay positive but it is so much easier said than done when every game is a mortifying disappointment.
The players need to believe the slightly cringeworthy mantra of the club. They need to fight like lions. If they go a goal up, they need to get another. They need to stay calm and stop being petrified every time they get the ball.
They should not sit back and invite pressure because they have proven time and time again that they cannot cope with it. They need to control the pace of the game so it suits them, not just constantly hand possession back to the opposition to give them another chance to score. As we have seen this season, they always do.
The good thing about the Championship is that the games come thick and fast. The Villans take on Ipswich Town next. They have to win for no other reason than to gain confidence. There’s also the worrying fact that Di Matteo’s men are being cut adrift at an alarming rate.
We dropped down a division so we could start winning again. That hasn’t happened. Things need to change soon.
