'Play well and you might get picked.'
Paul Lambert's message may have been aimed at his two
men in reserve, Libor Kozak and Nicklas Helenius, heading into his side's game
against Cardiff on Saturday, but it speaks to all who have, might, or hope to
wear the claret and blue of Aston Villa this season, and sums up a manager's
attitude who doesn't think any player takes priority over either the club or
himself.
The former Norwich manager has, along with the advice of
the club's board, changed the shape of an Aston Villa squad that was once
breaking club records in the transfer market.
Since the departure of Alex McLeish, a season and a
quarter ago, the off the field plan of Villa has been fairly straight forward in
theory, reduce the budget and avoid relegation. Since then the club has rid
itself of the services of Richard Dunne, Darren Bent, Stephen Ireland, Barry
Bannan, Emile Heskey, James Collins and Carlos Cuéllar, all of which were
regular starters under the previous Scottish manager, and all of which seemed to
be happy to put in lacklustre performances for a club that once called itself
the champions of Europe.
Lambert has been a manager, for Villa, that has expected
100% from anyone in his starting 11 and this season is no exception.
Last year, if it hadn't been for his predecessor's
inability to manage a struggling side - and the outcry that came from appointing
a manager who had just relegated the clubs biggest rivals Birmingham City -
Lambert could easily have been dismissed after he dragged Villa dangerously
close to the bottom three, embroiling them in a relegation battle that finished
on the second to last day of the season. The relief, however, that Lambert
wasn't McLeish meant the fans stuck with the Irishman, but his methods baffled
many who watched the club on a regular basis. Bent, Ireland, and others were all
considered to be potential game changers by the fans and critics yet they
suddenly found themselves cast adrift as Lambert looked to fill his side with
players who possessed the right attitude and work ethic. It upset many fans at
the time and baffled a number of the players involved, but the inexperienced
Ashley Westwood, Nathan Baker and others, managed to fight their way to Premier
League survival and the club is now reaping the benefits of a side, no
comfortable with top flight football.
Lambert has been happy to 'take no prisoners' and
disrupt the system in order to turn Villa into a hard working, gutsy football
team and, as their young players brought in continue to improve with game time
and experience, the club looks like it will continue to grow from the humbling
place it found itself two years ago. It may not have been a popular way of going
about his business during his first year at the club, but Lambert hasn't come to
make friends, he's come to bring success to the football club in the best way he
knows how.
The future of Christian Benteke is obviously a key
factor as to just how far the Midlanders go as the club moves forward, but with
an uncompromising manager - whose attitude reminds many of Sir Alex Ferguson,
unwilling to let a player become bigger than the club - at the helm, the future
looks stable for those on the Holte End.
Source: DSG
