Paul Lambert’s first games as Aston Villa manager have been blighted by inconsistency in both performance and results. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, however, considering that he’s new to the job and because the amount of changes he’s made to the playing squad during that time. Heading into Sunday’s match against West Brom at Villa Park, the home support will be hoping that they see a performance similar to the one they produced in their last home match against Swansea as opposed to their most recent league game – where they capitulated in the second half against Southampton. Lambert and the supporters will be buoyed by the fact that they bounced back from that loss with a morale boosting victory over Man City in the League Cup. The 3-2 extra time success highlighted more of a resilience and far greater determination which will stand Villa in good stead as they approach what will be a busy period for them. Sunday’s derby against West Brom will be their first of six games in four weeks.
West Brom obliged for the column last weekend with victory over Reading which means they now sit in fourth spot after five matches. Their consistency when playing at the Hawthorns this season has been excellent and they have yet to concede a league goal at home, managing six of their own. There are signs, however, that they are not quite as impressive as they were earlier on in the season. I touched on their defeat to Fulham a fortnight ago where their attitude and discipline was questionable. They also lost out to a very young Liverpool side in the League Cup at hoe despite fielding a strong side. It’s now two defeats in three for Steve Clarke’s men and the tests become more challenging as well as more frequent. Their only other away match in the league came at White Hart Lane where they managed a draw after going behind – it’s a performance which will hearten the Baggies before making the trip across the Midlands on Sunday as it shows that they can recreate their performances at home on the road.
Before losing to Southampton at St Mary’s last Saturday Villa had went three games unbeaten so there are definite signs of improvement under Lambert, especially in an attacking sense. They looked toothless a lot of the time under both Alex McLeish and Gerard Houllier but Lambert has set about changing that and they are beginning to create a lot more tempo in their play, resulting in putting teams under pressure for longer spells. The 2-0 success over Swansea was the best performance of the season and a repeat of that will see them with an excellent chance of recording back to back victories for the first time under their new manager.
Clarke is learning all the time as a manager despite having been involved in the Premier League for over a decade. He will be delighted with the start he has made but it is just that, a start, there is a long way to go. There were more nervous moments last week in their match against Reading than there had been in their first two home games against Liverpool and Everton so there is a suggestion that the players are finding it a little more difficult to deal with the pressure that goes hand in hand with a good start. It will be up to the more experienced players in the squad to shoulder most of that expectation and allow the younger players to continue playing with little fear.
It will be both managers’ first experience of a Midland’s derby at their respective clubs and both have reason to be optimistic. West Brom proudly sit in fourth placed whilst Villa were impressive during their last home match. I seen enough in Villa’s win over Swansea to side with them on this occasion however – home win.
Aston Villa 6/4 @ William Hill
