Aston Villa address issues at last – but is it too late?

Club CEO eager to deliver message of unity and make clear steps are being taken to stop slide – but Fox also says plans are in place should the worst happen

Ciaran Clark, Charles N’Zogbia and Jordan Veretout after Aston Villa’s 4-0 Premier League defeat at the hands of Everton (Getty)

A poll on the Birmingham Mail website this week asked readers how many points Aston Villa would earn in the forthcoming festive period. The most popular option, with 24.6 per cent of the vote, was no points at all. If there is a mood of pessimism, it is understandable: this is a team without a league win since the opening day and six points adrift at the foot of the Premier League table, with just six points. The last side with that meagre total after 16 games were Derby County in December 2007 – and they were relegated by the end of March.

If Villa are to avoid the same fate, it seems fair to say they need a good Christmas: starting at St James’ Park this evening, they visit three of the bottom six – Newcastle United, Norwich City and Sunderland – as well as hosting West Ham United on Boxing Day. “The next four games will be crucial,” was manager Rémi Garde’s straightforward assessment on Thursday though, contrary to outside perceptions, it is not all doom and gloom for the Frenchman, who takes his team to Tyneside having secured just two points from five games since replacing Tim Sherwood.

When Garde met Randy Lerner, the club’s owner, in New York on Monday, he received welcome words of support from the American – and, crucially, the promise of funds for reinforcements in January. “What I wanted to feel was the support of the owner in what I want to do,” said Garde. “I had that once again, six weeks after arriving. I felt a strong support for my work.”

Garde, who yesterday recalled left-back Aly Cissokho from a season-long loan to Porto, is expected to move for at least a striker next month – Villa, still missing Christian Benteke’s goals, have been linked with Ghent’s Laurent Depoitre – and as he spoke of Lerner’s backing, he helped dismiss the notion of Villa as a rudderless ship. Villa plan to appoint a new chairman in the new year to replace Lerner, who tried in vain to sell the club last summer, yet the manager stressed that the owner’s commitment was not wavering amid the threat of relegation. “I just can tell you I see a man who suffers in this situation. He is totally committed to the football club.”

Garde was not alone in delivering a message of unity ahead of this key run of fixtures. Tom Fox, the Villa CEO, is adamant that, in the 49-year-old Garde, he has the right man to turn the club around. The former Lyons coach is an impressively composed, articulate figure and he has created an “incredible atmosphere” at Villa’s training ground, according to Fox. “He is figuring out daily what he has as a squad, not only in terms of quality and style of play but also the character of the men,” says Fox. “He believes the business we did last summer was positive and, like me he believes in the squad he has.”

That said, one player Garde has swiftly lost belief in is Charles N’Zogbia, who has disappointed, not for the first time, with his attitude in training. N’Zogbia is expected to be shown the door in January and may be joined by the long-serving club captain, Gabby Agbonlahor.

“I am confident we have a manager who will be with this club for a long, long time,” adds Fox, who considers that, in this season of shredded scripts, there remains hope that Villa could become the first side to survive such a wretched start. “I haven’t given up, the manager hasn’t and the players haven’t. I understand why people are frustrated [but] there is plenty of the season left. In the more recent past, people look at Leicester as a source of possibility and potential.

“People who have already given up should have a bit more faith,” he adds. “What we are trying to do is difficult and is a project that will put their club back in a better position than it has been in for quite some time.”

Fox, formerly chief commercial officer at Arsenal, has sought to improve Villa’s commercial and player recruitment arms since taking over as chief executive in August last year. In fact, Villa had no scouting department at all then. That, together with Lerner’s waning interest, meant mistakes were made. Home-grown winger Marc Albrighton is now shining for Leicester City after the club let run his contract run down, while Villa, according to one club source, are paying more than £10m annually on wages for players making zero impact on the pitch.

Yet Fox claims Villa now have a proper framework in place, with a head of recruitment in Paddy Riley and sporting director in Hendrik Almstadt. Indeed, the CEO suggests that if Villa were relegated, they “have taken significant steps to ensure we can cope financially”. Fox who has already delivered, for instance, an improved shirt sponsorship deal, added: “Aston Villa does not go away if we are relegated. We play football next August and we, hopefully, do it with an organisation that is prepared to succeed and to come right back up.”

Dave Woodhall, editor of the Heroes and Villains fanzine, offers his own view of why Villa, Premier League ever-presents, are struggling. “Villa have spent the last five years with no long-term strategy. This season they have finally put in place something but the only problem is they’ve not noticed what is happening under their nose.”

By this he means the threat of relegation for a team he considers worryingly similar to the last Villa side relegated in 1987, featuring, as it did, talented but inexperienced youngsters including Martin Keown, Tony Dorigo and Tony Daley, all 21 or under. “You look at the individual players in ’87 and think they were good but their peak years were either three or four years in the past or in the future.”

Gary Shaw, a member of the club’s 1982 European Cup-winning team, is encouraged by the potential of midfielder Jordan Veretout and forward Jordan Ayew, two of last summer’s recruits from Ligue 1, yet adds that “they have to have a platform to perform” – which this fragile side cannot provide. “If they can stop the flow at the other end they might have a chance,” he adds .

Of course, what Villa need above all is the injection of belief that a Christmas win would bring. Garde has identified his players’ lack of confidence as the biggest hurdle, particularly at Villa Park, where they have won just three of 18 league games in 2015. “Some players seem to be not as comfortable as they should be when playing at home,” Garde says. Whether it is a blessing that they face Newcastle, Norwich and Sunderland all away remains to be seen; the answer will reverberate for the rest of their season.