As Aaron noted earlier, some front-runners have started to emerge as possible candidates to the Aston Villa manager's job. This post is meant to describe (and in some cases, defame) potential heirs to the throne, tarnished though it has been over the last season. It contains two parts, first listing managers currently employed by a Premier League club and then some legacy candidates who have managed in the Premier League. The very nature of these things means that it's incomplete, but there is, as always an open invitation to make your very own rash speculations in the comments.

Poachable in the Premiership:

Paul Lambert: On the first day of the League One season in 2009, an unremarkable Colchester United team laid a 7-1 beatdown on the freshly relegated Norwich City at Carrow Road. The man in the Colchester dugout was Paul Lambert, and by the next weekend, the Canaries had plucked him away from their local rivals. That was the start of an incredible run of back-to-back promotions, as Norwich would win League One that year and finish second in the Championship the next. Upon arrival in the Premier League, Lambert made a series of decidedly non-notable additions, such as Steve Morison (Millwall) and Anthony Pilkington (Huddersfield Town.) They finished 12th in the Premier League, level on points with the two teams above them, and over ten points north of the relegation zone. Understandably, their front office is not at all receptive to the suggestion that the man that they inducted into the club's hall of fame two months ago might be plying his trade elsewhere next season. Lambert himself was evasive when asked about the prospect of moving to Aston Villa after beating them on Sunday, and many observers (including at least one writer for this site) seem to think he could be swayed. Personally, I've long admired Lambert with a vigor that borders on lust, but I think actually hiring him would require a significant financial commitment from Lerner, with the implicit understanding that Aston Villa are "a project." Would the promise of Paul Lambert be enough to soothe the itchy trigger finger in the boardroom (and just as importantly, the Holte End?)

Brendan Rodgers: Unlike Lambert, Rodgers is the heir to a system at Swansea City. The Bob Paisley to Roberto Martinez's Bill Shankly, Rodgers has been able to surpass the achievements of his predecessors by becoming the first manager to take a Welsh club into the Premier League. Swansea's elegant style was one of the highlights of the past season, and Rodgers was able to integrate a number of intelligent purchases into a pre-existing system with little trouble. Like Lambert, Rodgers is a young manager with a long and successful career ahead of him. However, Rodgers may have already passed Villa by, as he has already been linked to Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea (where he worked under Jose Mourinho.) Honestly, I think Rodgers is too attached to Swansea to even give Villa a second thought. There's not really anything here for him.

Roberto Martinez: The Wigan magician has been the subject of adulation around these parts since Gerard Houllier took his leave, if not even earlier. However, can we really believe that the events of this season will have convinced Spanish Bob that the Aston Villa job is in any way more desirable than it was when he turned it down last summer? All signs point to no, particularly with the gradual crescendo of murmurs linking him to a potential vacancy at Liverpool. And really, if you're going to drink from a poisoned chalice, why not pick the biggest one on offer?

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When I was a child, I remember wondering why homeless people would wander across busy streets, with little regard for oncoming traffic. It was later explained to me that these people had nothing to lose, and therefore were completely unbound to the norms of rational civilization.

Karl Henry Has Been Suspended For Three Matches is probably best known for injuring or attempting to injure most of your favourite footballers. Karl Henry Has Been Suspended For Three Matches formally retired from playing football two seasons ago, but still shows up every week because he likes to hurt people.

When reached for a quote, Alan Hutton said "I'm thrilled someone else will be coming in to help me shoulder this burden. Injuring footballers is a thankless task, but a man's gotta put food on his table."

Setting the Narrative is a weekly look at the coming days in the life of Aston Villa Football Club. Here are your storylines for the week of April 16th:

• We've reached a point in the season where Aston Villa are pretty much but not quite safe. If you're anything like me, you lost faith in Villa's interest/ability to win a football match much earlier in the season. Never mind the general ineptitude and rot that appears to exist on every level at the club, not just the playing staff, and it's no wonder that seeing out the rest of the season is starting to feel like a chore.
• Mind you, the chore of just making sure we're safe is preferable to not being sure at all and seeing all of your players getting injured. I have a lot of sympathy for fans of clubs in danger of relegation, because it feels like sitting in your basement during a tornado, not knowing if your house is about to fall down.
• That said, with our almost-safety assured, and our lack of faith in Alex McLeish affirmed, we're going to have to strike that amoral bargain with ourselves and root against some plucky underdogs. After the jump, reasons to heap scorn on the weak!

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Setting the Narrative is a weekly look at the coming days in the life of Aston Villa Football Club. Here are your storylines for the week of April 8th.

• Villa had two matches this weekend, but you could be forgiven for confusing them. Both started relatively well, with one of Villa's youngsters grabbing the opening goal (Andreas Weimann's stunner against Stoke City on Monday is of particular interest.) Villa would then cling to their precious one-goal lead going into halftime, with supporters hoping that these would be the three points that finally pulled their beloved club out of the morass at the bottom of the table. Inevitably, through some combination of tired legs, youthful inexperience, and managerial incompetence, Villa would concede the equalizer from a set piece late in the second half and languish in the purgatory of "almost safe."
• Setting aside club loyalties for just a moment, it says quite a lot about the quality of the Premier League that a club as aggressively poor as Aston Villa might somehow avoid relegation. Something makes me think this isn't how meritocracies are supposed to work. Has Randy Lerner read Too Big to Fail or something?
• Some notes for statistically inclined readers: Aston Villa have conceded more goals from set pieces than any other team in the Premier League (h/t Kendrick); Villa have only collected 17 points from 16 home games this season, and only Wigan Athletic have scored less at home than Villa.
• Closing on a positive note: the ever-expanding injury list at the club has allowed for an even greater integration of Villa's academy graduates in the first team. According to Opta Sports (h/t Miguel Delaney), Villa-produced players accounted for 39.6% of total minutes played for the club last weekend, which is good for ninth place across the major European leagues. The only English clubs with a better record were Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers. Despite all of the crap Villa fans have had to stomach this season, seeing names like Weimann and Gardner and Bannan in the teamsheet on a regular basis has been a welcome development, and one worth continuing regardless of which league Aston Villa find themselves in next season.

Setting the Narrative is a weekly look at the coming days in the life of Aston Villa Football Club. Here are your storylines for the week of April 2nd:

• The health of Stiliyan Petrov will obviously weigh heavy on the minds and hearts of Aston Villa and the club's supporters. By all accounts, Petrov has a long and difficult road ahead of him. Most of us know someone who has suffered from leukaemia, and too many of us will know people who have succumbed to it. There will come a time when we will be concerned by matters that are more imminent, that will seem more pressing. I'm about to write about them. None of that could possibly be more important than Stiliyan Petrov making a complete recovery. всичко най-хубаво, Stan.
  
• Now for a bit of pessimism. Aston Villa are not at all as safe as the victory over Fulham made us think, particularly given the losses of key players at exactly the wrong time. If Villa's remaining fixtures haven't already been burnt into your mind like a particularly long-winded cattle brand, they are: away at Liverpool, home to Stoke City, away at Manchester United, home to Sunderland and Bolton (thankfully, not at the same time), and a final trip to the Hawthorns to face local rivals West Bromwich Albion.

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The main story for Aston Villa this week, coming off a rather humiliating defeat at the Emirates, will be Charles N'Zogbia's continued travails. The ex-Wigan winger has been receiving treatment in his native France for a knee injury sustained in a training-ground collision with Gary Gardner. There are likely other factors at play here, as McLeish and N'Zogbia have not exactly gotten along all year, and with Aston Villa within striking distance of safety, it's probably best for all concerned that N'Zogbia stays as far away from Birmingham as he can.

Your other talking point for the week, as previously noted here, is the mooted signing of Dutch striker Bas Dost. As far as I can tell, the most notable feature of Dost is his height (6'5"), which seems to be a quality McLeish values, if the 6'7" Nikola Zigic is any indication. Certain tabloids not worth linking to are putting the transfer fee at around £7 million, which could be decent value, especially if Villa continue to offload the higher earners that have been entrenched at the club since the O'Neill days.

If Aston Villa were to sign Bas Dost, they would then have six strikers on the books (Darren Bent, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Nathan Delfouneso, Emile Heskey, Andreas Weimann and Dost.) Since that seems particularly imprudent, particularly given the current financial climate at the club, who would you be willing to lose? While Heskey might be the popular choice, I think Bent would bring in a lot more money, and he's not being used particularly well in McLeish's system.

Have your say on this, and all the issues of the week, in the comments!

If you're a results-oriented fan, Aston Villa's season is effectively over. There is nothing tangible to be achieved here. Aston Villa will not contend for the league title, the FA Cup, or any European qualification worth speaking of. Neither will they be relegated to the Championship. Two weeks ago, Aaron referred to it as "the slog", this anhedonic period that we Villa fans have become all too used to in recent seasons.

Our brothers and sisters at The Short Fuse, however, have a great deal at stake here. They'll expect to be fighting for Champions League qualification, and let's face it, they're going to be counting on three points here. They've been absolutely tearing it up of late, having won their last six(!) games in the league. Any of you that are unlucky enough to still remember our last encounter will recall our galling second-half collapse, as Arsenal came from behind to put us out of the FA Cup. I wouldn't expect much better here.

For the optimists, I'd remind you that we actually won this fixture under similar circumstances last year, an event that I was lucky enough to attend. Furthermore, the Guardian claims that Aston Villa have taken more points at the Emirates than any other club in the Premier League. If Alex McLeish decides to go experimental, it is entirely possible that Aston Villa could take Arsenal by surprise. Charles N'Zogbia is battling a bit of knee trouble at the moment, and that could open up a spot in the side for a Gary Gardner or a Barry Bannan, which I'm sure we'd all love to see. Also, with Richard Dunne's continued absence, Carlos Cuellar is expected to partner with James Collins again at the back. Which, if you're enjoying the Cuellar renaissance as much as I am, is welcome news.

As far as I can tell, Alex McLeish has two options: he could field an unadventurous lineup with the cautious hope of snatching a point, or he could throw caution to the wind and put faith in some of Villa's lesser known quantities. While it could very well lead to a hammering of biblical proportions, that is what I'd like to see. However, I would be a terrible football manager, and I think that Alex McLeish has established his credentials this season as a manager who sees fit to concede, rather than challenge, the relative superiority of a bigger club. If pressed for a prediction, I'd expect Aston Villa to set out looking for a draw and lose 2-0. Put your money on an Emile Heskey cameo.

We here at 7500 to Holte have made our opinions on Alex McLeish pretty clear. We've accused him of throwing players under the bus, laying down for big matches, not having a plan, having a plan that is so terrible that you can feel your soul ebbing away, being megalomaniacal/monomaniacal/just plain maniacal. However, I think we've gone out of our way to be fair to McLeish, whether he deserves it or not. I'm hesitant to speak too authoritatively about what my fellow writers think, but I'm reasonably certain that we all agree that he gets a lot of stick unnecessarily, especially as a former Birmingham City manager. The "Bluenose Out" philosophy doesn't have a lot of credibility here, largely because it's naive tribalism, and while I think we all enjoy indulging in a bit of that from time to time, it's no way to run a club.

All that said, the verdict on McLeish (as espoused most recently by Kirsten) is that he has been a bad hire, and a resounding disappointment. But before you start scrawling "McLeish Out" all over your bedsheet, consider David Conn's recent article on Aston Villa's seismic financial losses*. When we consider the relatively dire financial straits the club have found themselves in, it becomes pretty hard to countenance sacking another manager.

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After The Guardian reported today that Liverpool has offered Manchester City Andy Carroll in exchange for Carlos Tevez, erstwhile Villa reporter Mat Kendrick noted on Twitter that Aston Villa were planning on adding Andy Carroll before Liverpool snapped him up last January. Obviously, the club ended up with Darren Bent, who has notched nearly three times as many goals for Aston Villa as the misfiring Carroll has since going to Liverpool. However, it's worth noting that while Bent was vastly better suited to the Aston Villa of one year ago than Andy Carroll would have been, we've been through a lot in a year. Could it be that a big man up front like Carroll would give Villa more options than a poacher starved for decent service? After all, Alex McLeish won the Carling Cup last year with Nikola Zigic who—much like Carroll—is a lumbering oaf that isn't all that good at football.

So let your voice be heard! Do you think Aston Villa would be better off with Andy Carroll or Darren Bent?

On a great night for schadenfreude, the crew from 7500 to Holte chuckle at Manchester's misfortunes before digging into Aston Villa's weak performance against United on Saturday. There's also talk of transfers to be had and a discussion of Aston Villa's "best possible eleven." Finally, we preview the upcoming match against Bolton at the Reebok, and at least one of us tries to be positive.

You can either stream or download the podcast below, or you can check out our page on PodOmatic and subscribe to the podcast there. We're working on the iTunes thing, we promise, but until then you can throw the PodOmatic feed into iTunes and that should work just as well.

Holtecast VII

I think we can all admit that Alex McLeish was never in for an easy ride when he took the Aston Villa job. It was a club at a crossroads, having been damaged by Martin O'Neill walking out before the 2010-11 season and Gerard Houllier's tumultuous tenure (not to mention the Frenchman's serious health concerns.) Over the last few seasons, Randy Lerner had been left holding the cheque for an untenably large wage bill incurred in the days when Aston Villa were just one Nigel Reo-Coker away from the Champions League. It was a tough mountain to climb for any manager, let alone one who had just been relegated with crosstown rivals Birmingham City.

The season started with an uneasy detente, despite a smattering of empty seats (presumably due more to protest than general apathy, but who really knows.) Aston Villa were blandly effective. Gabriel Agbonlahor showed flashes of the form that got him on the shortlist for PFA Young Player of the Year a few seasons back. Richard Dunne and James Collins talked about how much better life was under the new gaffer. But the more jaded Villa fans among us remained unconvinced. The test, they said, would come in December. When the club had to face the class of the Premier League, and when the natural wear and tear of the first few months of the season had started to set in.

Well, we're here.

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Podcast! Podcast! Get your new podcast everyone! In this episode, a ragtag collection of 7500 to Holte writers mull over last weekend's trip to Wales, preview the inevitable shellacking against wounded animal Manchester United, and of course discuss MARTIN O'NEILL HEY EVERYONE MARTIN O'NEILL JOB OPENING MARTIN O'NEILL.

You can download or stream the episode here or over at Podomatic. You can also find a feed there to subscribe to all of our podcasts, and have them beamed directly into your computer as soon as they're published.

Holtecast VI

If you ever feel like stumping your friends, ask them who the first British club to win a UEFA club competition was. In all likelihood, they will guess Manchester United. This is likely because your friend only knows one British club. However, let's give your friends a little more credit than that and assume that they're referring to Manchester United's victory over Benfica in the European Cup in 1968. If you have an unusually smug friend, they will say Celtic, because Celtic won the European Cup one year prior to Manchester United. This friend will say Celtic with a single eyebrow arched by the self-superior knowledge that Scottish clubs are also British clubs, and you're not hoodwinking them with your trick questions. But alas, you have, because the correct answer is in fact Tottenham Hotspur. In 1963, Spurs clobbered Atletico Madrid to win the European Cup Winners' Cup, a prize that no longer exists after being assimilated into the Europa League (UEFA's answer to the NIT, the Europa League seems to get longer every year, and is easily the dullest thing to hit Thursday nights since Inside Schwartz.)

The club has a history of playing entertaining football, exemplified by their motto Audere est Facere, which means "To Dare Is to Do." This philosophy manifests itself in the club's history of featuring mercurial attacking players like Paul Gascoigne and Jurgen Klinsmann, but has also given Spurs a reputation for being a bit of a comedy lightweight in comparison to other top clubs. Putting Heurelho Gomes in goal against Real Madrid probably didn't help. And of course there was that time where they threw away a three goal lead to get knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City, back before the Sky Blues were any good (Eagle-eyed readers will note that that video features American legend Kasey Keller in goal for Spurs and our very own Richard Dunne in his old colours with City.)  

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One summer morning in Norwich, three men sat at the Criterion Café and decided to form a football club. One hundred and nine years later, the café is a budget menswear store and their football club is currently sitting in eighth place in the Premier League. This is the sort of delightfully quaint story that litters the history books of English football, one of the many reasons why the culture and history of football is so enticing, and a healthy reminder that you really should be doing more than just stealing wi-fi and ogling that barista, jerk.  The Canaries are probably best known by people who have a cursory knowledge of football as "Stephen Fry's favourite football club." As it turns out, the beloved entertainer recently took a position on the club's board of directors, and is an avid (if somewhat somnabulant) supporter of the club.

Stephen Fry is an effective representative for a club that, like him, is genuinely likeable. Norwich have a somewhat undistinguished history, marked primarily by a tendency to yo-yo between the top two divisions of English football. Curiously, there was a brief period where they were managed by Martin O'Neill, but old MON decided he didn't like the cut of the chairman's gib and was soon on his way back out the door. 

Like Blackpool before them, the Canaries wear colours that could be considered garish, but are surprisingly aesthetically pleasing (with some notable exceptions.) They are currently owned by celebrity chef/hilarious drunk Delia Smith, who (as seen in the video above) will not hesitate to chasten her own supporters. The expression is overused, but Norwich City pretty much ticks all of the boxes for "everyone's second club" status. But that gentility belies a team that is better than a lot of promoted sides we've seen over the last few years.

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After almost having his transfer usurped by Fulham, the Scottish FA released a statement saying that Alan Hutton was leaving the Tartan Army's camp to discuss terms of a transfer with Aston Villa. As per the Guardian's Scottish football expert Ewan Murray (in their online transfer day liveblog), the statement was later amended to omit the words "Aston Villa" and rephrased it as a "possible transfer," but I imagine that's more diplomacy than an omen of Fulham sneaking Hutton out from under Alex McLeish's nose. 

So, until something else happens, Alan Hutton will probably be an Aston Villa player. Which, I suppose, is better than nothing. He seems to be a good replacement for Luke Young, if not an improvement, but he's hardly worth getting too excited about.

As Aston Villa supporters, we all do our fair share of moaning every time our date with Blackburn comes around in the fixture calendar. It led me to a bit of wondering. Has it always been this way? What is the history of this, Aston Villa's most tiresome fixture? To call it a rivalry seems like a bit much, but I'd imagine Blackburn arises about as much irritation as our more legitimate rivals in the league this year (West Brom and Wolves, just FYI.) So I dove into the archives and constructed this abstract minute-by-minute of every match between Aston Villa and Blackburn. In case you were wondering, it was about as fun as, well, watching Aston Villa vs. Blackburn. Enjoy, after the jump.

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Sent 08-12-2011 at 10:30 pm:

Heyyyyyy guys,

Just thought I'd let you know, I'm going to be spending the week in the Okanagan. Don't worry about it, though! I've got a post all ready to go on everything that happened this weekend!

 

Peace,

-G

Sent 08-13-2011 at 8:00 am:

Uh, Gareth...you know the weekend hasn't actually happened yet, right?

-Aaron

Sent 08-13-2011 at 8:01 am:

Hello Sir or Madam,

This is an automated reply; Mr. Simpson will be out of town on the week of August 14th. He will respond to you as soon as he gets back. 

Cheers!

-Skynet

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Aston Villa

Where will Aston Villa finish in the league?

Gareth: Eighth. This is me being optimistic.
Kirsten: 11th, to take the average of everyone else
Aaron: Somewhere between 8th and 14th.
Robert: It's either going to shock us (6th) or be sub-mediocre (14th). I don't see the team hitting the middle.

How will Aston Villa perform in the FA Cup?

Gareth: Quarterfinals. Maybe semifinals, if the draw goes our way.
Kirsten: Quarterfinals -- and we won't play Blackburn
Aaron: I think the cups are both going to be a priority for Villa, so anything short of the quarterfinals would surprise me, assuming we don't have to play Manchester City early on or something like that.
Robert: Quarterfinals, and then a loss to Blackburn. Or maybe surprise entrant Rapid Vienna.

How will Aston Villa perform in the League Cup?

Gareth: Finalists. If McLeish knows anything, it's how to win B-minus trophies. If this squad knows anything, it's how to choke away a good opportunity.
Kirsten: Semi-finals. McLeish will try his hardest to win the trophy two seasons in a row, but we'll manage to pull an Arsenal
Aaron: Same as with the FA Cup, but I think Villa have to be considered one of the favorites in this one.
Robert: I've gotta go with Gareth here, I think we make the finals. But I can see them actually winning it. I assume this is out best chance of European play in 2012-13.

Who will be Aston Villa's player of the year?

Gareth: Darren Bent, crushing my personal favourite Jean Makoun under the sheer weight of his goals.
Kirsten: Barry Bannan!
Aaron: Officially? Darren Bent. Realistically? Makoun, if everything goes how I think it will.
Robert: Darren Bent, after he scores 22 goals.

Which new player will be more important? Shay Given or Charles N'Zogbia?

Gareth: I love Charlie Insomnia, but if last season was any indication, we rely on good goalkeeping. As does McLeish.
Kirsten: Blazing Roaches. Given is needed, certainly, but without good wingers this team is not going to score. Which would make it difficult to win.
Aaron: N'Zogbia, simply because wing play is going to be so important to this team. Given is a great signing, but keepers are just have far less of an impact on the game.
Robert: Given. N'Zogbia could be the difference between being a great team and a mediocre team, but without someone of Given's quality, this could be a relegation-level team.

Who (or what) will be Aston Villa's biggest disappointment this year?

Gareth: I don't want to say Stephen Warnock, because I like him. For some reason. It'll be Stephen Ireland.
Kirsten: The problem with "biggest disappointment" is having the high expectations in the first place. I don't have high expectations for many of these players. Petrov has declined, I seriously doubt Ireland will have that one good season again, Warnock just needs to be sufficient for him to meet my expectations. Therefore (and please don't hurt me), I'd say Marc Albrighton, because I have high hopes of him continuing to improve.
Aaron: To me or to the club? Stephen Warnock is bad and my expectations are so low that I don't see how he could possibly disappoint me. But McLeish seems to expect him to perform well, so that's going to be unpleasant for him. I'll go with Petrov because I think his decline is apparent, but since that means more Bannan I am kind of okay with that.
Robert: Our wingback play. I can see Warnock and Young bombing forward too often and leaving gaping holes in what will be an otherwise improved defense.

Will Alex McLeish still be manager by the end of the season?

Gareth: Yeah. Say what you want about Randy Lerner, but when he sticks out his neck like this, he'll stand by his man. In the (crosses fingers) unlikely event of relegation (uncrosses fingers), all bets are off.
Kirsten: Who else is there?!? I don't even want to think about it.
Aaron: Assuming we don't go down, yeah. And I have a really, really hard time seeing that happen.
Robert: If he can sail through the first ten matches or so, I think he'll stick. If Villa start spiraling downward out of the gate, I can see the calls for his head being too much for Lerner to ignore.

Are Aston Villa really done buying players, or will they pick up someone by the end of the transfer window?

Gareth: I wouldn't be surprised if McLeish picked up a defender out of the bargain bin that is the Championship. Maybe even from his old club.
Kirsten: Well, it seems Hitzlsperger is still on the table, which will make many squeal in glee.
Aaron: I would be kind of surprised if there's not another signing or two, probably another defender and hopefully a holding midfielder. They won't be sexy though, unless we can trick City into loaning us Milner.
Robert: There will be another signing, but I don't think it will be anything of major significance.

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Matthew Le Tissier, in case you didn't know, was a prodigiously talented midfielder who played exclusively for Southampton from 1986-2002. He was the first midfielder to score 100 goals in the Premier League and has an astonishing record from the penalty spot. And during his whole career, Southampton never finished higher than 7th in the Premier League. He spent his career keeping Southampton out of the relegation zone, rather than competing for titles (making a point of turning down moves to bigger clubs such as Tottenham and Chelsea.) 

Why am I telling you about him, you ask? Because the PFA Player of the Year Award will be announced tomorrow and there's a very good chance that it will be won by another midfielder trying desperately to carry his club out of the relegation zone. So, if we're rewarding the most valuable players on bad clubs, why not go all the way? After the jump, I'll list the most valuable players for all of the clubs in and around the relegation zone.

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We've all seen the banners, and we've all heard the arguments. He's out of touch, he doesn't care about the club, and he's thrown away the faith of the supporters. Gerard Houllier has been vilified since the moment he took the job, and Aston Villa's floundering form has increased the weight on his shoulders exponentially. It could well be that this season will prove to be Houllier's last, but I'm willing to say that he can still have a future at Villa Park.

Looking back now, it's clear to see that the job Houllier ended up with a poisoned chalice. The situation was such where whoever took the job was set up to fail. The season was about to start when Martin O'Neill took his ball and went home, and the club had just sold their most important player (getting a notable headcase in return.) The club stalled on hiring a new manager until after the transfer window had slammed shut, with Kevin MacDonald having clearly proven that he was unfit to handle the job (I refer you to the 6-0 against Newcastle United, where K-Mac looked completely out of his depth.) If it wasn't for the out-and-out crisis happening at Liverpool at the same time, I think people would have noticed how the managerial situation at Villa was fraught with peril.

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Gabriel Agbonlahor was quoted today as saying that he has "not heard the word relegation mentioned once" in the Aston Villa clubhouse. Obviously, he wasn't about to say that everyone was worried about it, because then he's just playing into the hands of fearmongering hacks like Stuart James. However, is there any Villa supporter out there who isn't talking about it? I worry about it every day, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Gerard Houllier referenced it when attempting to justify the team selection against Manchester City in the FA Cup, but aside from that, I haven't heard anyone from the club talking about it like it's a genuine concern. So should they be talking about it? Or will that absolutely destroy the confidence of what has seemed to be a mentally fragile squad (As OptaJoe has reminded us throughout the season, Villa has dropped more points from a winning position than any other Premiership club.)

My question is somewhat rhetorical, because we'll never really know what gets talked about in the Villa clubhouse, but I get the feeling that some clubs that are aware of their chances of relegation have managed to unite as a team and perform to the best of their abilities. One notable example would be Wolverhampton Wanderers, who don't have any particularly exceptional players, but are able to fight their way through clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea with a kind of grit and determination that we haven't really seen at Villa all season.

A lot of that has to do with the manager and the personalities on the team. West Ham United have turned to Scott Parker to lead them out of the relegation zone that they seemed condemned to ever since the start of the season, and the journeyman midfielder is now being considered as a possibility for the Player of the Season award if he keeps them up. With the aforementioned Wolves, a lot of people point to Mick McCarthy's character and determination as the driving force behind that team's great performances, as they had been doing with Ian Holloway and Blackpool at the start of the season.

You might remember that at the start of the season, Blackpool were considered a certainty for relegation. It still may happen, considering how they've lost the plot as the season's worn on, but that "nobody believes in us" mentality has proved to be a successful motivational tool in every sport since the beginning of time. Perhaps Villa would be well served to confront their fate so that they can have a stake in deciding it, rather than testing again the often-fallible mantra of "too good to go down."