Source: Daily_Mail
THE MIDLANDER: Emile Heskey - a scapegoat or the real Villan
While travelling out to Austria for Aston Villa's Europa Cup play-off game recently, the punters on board broke the monotony by handing around a quiz.
After thumping the in-flight opposition (thanks to the help of legendary Villa supporter Dave Bridgewater) they then passed around a spoof questionnaire on the subject of Emile Heskey.
I shall transcribe one of the teasers that left few who read it in any doubt as to the author's feelings on the said subject.
1. You are supposed to be Emile Heskey. You walk down the street one day when a bird drops something unpleasant on your head. How do you react?
a) Smile and see the funny side of it.
b) Wipe it off gingerly and look to the skies in disgust.
c) Fall over on the spot like you have just been shot. Then roll over and demand the bird be sent off.
The 'Quiz' carries on in similar vein. Very amusing. Unless you are Emile Heskey.
Getting stuck in: Aston Villa centre forward Emile Heskey (right) holds off West Ham United's James Collins at Villa Park
One glance at the statistics on England's goalscoring record when the forward in question partners Wayne Rooney confirms the theory that the nation carries far more of a goal threat when Heskey plays.
Before the events of Wednesday night, England had scored 18 goals in 501 minutes. That ratio rocketed after Croatia's defeat.
Yet Martin O'Neill cannot seem to bring the best out of Villa when England's No 9 is in the team.
Let's face facts. Since Heskey joined Villa, their form has pretty much nose-dived.
Those who have watched on a regular basis know that the club's best results have come with the team using a lone frontman, usually Gabriel Agbonlahor with Ashley Young and James Milner either side of him.
Certainly, that was the case at Anfield and against Fulham in the last fixture.
This formation helps Villa because it affords Stiliyan Petrov a degree of protection.
The Bulgarian can pass but he's unsuited to the holding midfield role and he needs that extra cover around him in the shape of Steve Sidwell and Nigel Reo-Coker who can charge around filling in the gaps.
When Villa have reverted to a traditional 4-4-2 with Heskey up front, it simply hasn't worked as well.
In fairness, the same could be said when John Carew is thrust up there. However, Carew has the happy knack of scoring goals. One of the reasons why he has been such a cult hero. It's why strikers are invariably loved.
Perhaps the main difference as to why Villa can not bring out the same ratio of success in front of goal lies with others' deficiencies, not just those of Heskey.
Gabby Agbonlahor's record in the past six months has been shocking. His goal against Fulham was only his third in 18 appearances. Milner has netted three times in 34 starts since his £12m move. And Ashley Young has celebrated three times since last Christmas.
The less said about the not-so-prolific Sidwell, Petrov and Reo-Coker, the better.
With England, Heskey has players around him who have been scoring for fun. Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard - not to mention Jermain Defoe - have all profited.
The question for O'Neill is whether he can trust to make Heskey the focus of his attack?
If he accepts that 4-4-2 doesn't work (learning the lessons from the club's last visit to Anfield when Villa were just over-run in midfield) then does he have the players to complement the former Leicester striker? Heskey brought out the best in Michael Owen during his time at Liverpool. His value is continually underlined when he is with England.
Is he genuinely at fault with Villa, or does the blame lie elsewhere. Can others improve their goalscoring ratios? Are Villa supporters wrong? There's no doubt he's a convenient scapegoat for a lot of them.
If he scores the winner at St Andrew's on Sunday, perhaps they will cut him a bit of slack. And perhaps the failure of others to score may also be credited as a contributory factor if Villa stumble.
It may not be all Emile Heskey's fault.
