Aston Villa Review

Edgar Davids Joined : 06 Jun 2007 Posts : 3552

Guardian Unlimited writers' prediction: 10th Odds: 600-1

Is Aston Villa's glass half-full or half-empty? The fans clearly believe it is the former, because 24,000 of them, a record number, have snapped up season tickets. The same optimism is evident on the forums and messageboards: for most supporters, qualifying for Europe - either through the league or by reaching a cup final - is a realistic goal.

Off the pitch, Villa certainly sport the look of an ambitious club again. This summer they spent heavily on rebranding the club (although a new badge isn't to everyone's tastes) and renovating Villa Park, but an extravagant investment in the playing staff hasn't been so forthcoming. The question is: is that because Martin O'Neill is growing a crop of talented youngsters and spending Randy Lerner's money thriftily on players he actually desires - £11.5m on the West Ham duo Marlon Harewood and Nigel Reo-Coker - rather than blowing it on panic buys, or because he has been unable to attract top-five calibre players, such as Shaun Wright-Phillips and Jermain Defoe?

O'Neill was given a year's grace last August because he inherited a disjointed and lethargic squad from David O'Leary, and fans were satisfied with the club's mid-table finish. But the honeymoon period ends now. Despite the lack of arrivals this summer, O'Neill has slowly overhauled the squad in the past 12 months, with deadwood disposed of and John Carew, Shaun Maloney and Ashley Young, among others, purchased at a combined checkout price of £35m. It is now O'Neill's team.

These three were bought to spruce up Villa's goal tally, but have managed just six between them in 2007. Indeed, not one Villa player registered double figures last season as they drew a Premiership-high 17 games despite losing as few (10) as Liverpool. A sharper cutting edge is demanded this season, and the onus will be on the 6ft 5in Carew to remain healthy and be the focal point of the attack (with Harewood as his reserve) as two of Gabriel Agbonlahor, Young, Maloney and Luke Moore buzz around him in a rigid 4-3-3 formation. Stilian Petrov, who scored only twice last year while playing a more reserved role than he enjoyed at Celtic under O'Neill, also needs to do more. Reo-Coker will provide strength and dynamism alongside Gareth Barry, and should free up the Bulgarian to support the forwards.

With the (usually) reliable Thomas Sorensen in goal and the astute O'Neill guiding and goading them, a defence that on paper looks more brittle than Steve Bruce's nose but on the pitch conceded only 41 goals last season should again be hard to break down. Olof Mellberg was the only ever-present last year and fans will hope Martin Laursen, who has played just 25 games since arriving from Milan in 2004, can stay fit to form an all-Scandinavian centre-half partnership. Wilfred Bouma is a cult-hero at left-back - mainly because his curvy shape offers well-fed fans hope of a professional football career - but there is still a gaping hole needing to be filled at right-back.

O'Neill is evolving the team rather than revolutionising it, and this season should be an improvement on their last campaign; but the squad is still lacking in guile, imagination and depth, and will probably struggle to finish in the sixth or seventh position needed to satisfy supporters' ambitions. Victory against Birmingham might help ease any disappointment, mind.

In: Nigel Reo-Coker (£7.5m); Marlon Harewood (£4m).

Out: Jlloyd Samuel (free), Gavin McCann (£1m), Aaron Hughes (£1m), Steven Davis (£3m), Lee Hendrie (free).