By Dave Woodhall.
There’s no getting away from it – the crowd on Saturday was poor. 30,776 is disappointing for any league game, let alone one against Wolves.
There were many reasons for such a low turnout – some more plausible than others. The kick-off time, being on TV, prices, the manager, the board, the recession. All of them play a part, and it’s noticeable that it wasn’t just Villa supporters who were noticeable by their absence – Wolves were top of the league (albeit such a position so early in the season is a bit pointless) and boasting a 100% record but came nowhere near selling out their ticket allocation for a game ten miles away. On Sunday Newcastle were 10,000 Greatest Fans in the World short of capacity for their match with Fulham while Albion v Stoke drew an attendance of less than 23,000. These are difficult economic times and when run of the mill players are earning upwards of £40,000 a week it’s easy to see why forking out to help pay their wages is becoming less attractive.
Perhaps, at long last, the game is beginning to eat itself. Perhaps it’s finally reached its prog rock stage, with the Manchester clubs and Chelsea the footballing equivalents of that Unholy Trinity Genesis, Pink Floyd and ELP. We can but hope.
The Wolves game made for grim viewing whether you were inside Villa Park or watching on TV. For twenty minutes in the second half we looked like we were going to get a result, but once more there was a lack of cutting edge and as the game wore on both sides seemed happy with a point. It wasn’t pretty, but the straw I’m clutching at is that Alex is sorting the defence out before moving on to the rest of the side.
Talking of sorting the side out, Luke Young has signed for QPR. He’s had a strange career at Villa, not least because he was sold for £2.5 million the summer before we paid £6 million for him. He then announced he didn’t want to be considered for the England squad, had what appeared to be an inordinate amount of time away after his brother’s death and was another player who found himself mystifyingly out of contention under Martin O’Neill, while also turning down a move to Liverpool last summer. For all that, though, Luke was a decent full-back who never let us down. He was reported to have wanted to move back to London, Alex didn’t stand in his way and the thought of another forty-odd grand a week off the wage bill obviously seemed attractive to the powers that be.
It appears that Jean Makoun might be going to Greek side Olympiakos on loan as well. That’s another strange one – he always looks like he’s going to become a good player, but not yet. It’s also, of course, another hefty chunk off the wage bill. Habib Beye’s still here………
That should surely leave enough room on the balance sheet for a couple of signings. A right back and a midfield general are required (An aside – why does only the midfield have a general? Defence and attack are just as important, yet they don’t get so much as a second lieutenant) even if only on loan.
Finally, it came as a shock to hear on Sunday afternoon about the death of former left-back Bernie Gallagher at the age of 44. Bernie played for Villa during one of the bleakest periods in the club’s history; despite coming in for criticism, much of it unfairly, he was a regular in the 1987-88 promotion season and never gave less than his all.
