Jack Grealish’s impressive display in Aston Villa’s 2 – 1 semi final victory over Liverpool was important for many reasons.
On a personal level it was a break through performance from a 19-year-old starting his third consecutive game for his boyhood club. For the club however the performance reinforced belief that Bodymoor Heath can develop players to play at the highest level.
In recent years there have been doubts.
Barry Bannan, for example, had looked promising in the youth ranks and memorably scored a hat trick against Manchester United in 2010. Bannan’s integration into the first team disappointingly failed under Lambert partly due to Lambert’s odd decision to pair the 5ft 7 playmaker in a defensive midfield pivot with Ashley Westwood. Westwood himself had recently moved to the Premier League from Crewe and the duo struggled against more muscular and experienced midfields like Newcastle and Manchester City.
Bannan’s career as a first team player had begun positively when Gerard Houllier gently nursed the youngster’s development alongside experienced pros like Robert Pires. The Scottish playmaker performed impressively against Blackburn which Villa won 3 -1 and Manchester United which Villa drew 2 – 2. Progression to the first team had become normal under Houllier and in the match against Blackburn, for example, the manager selected Nathan Baker 20, Bannan 21, Clark 21 and Delfouneso 20. Clark and Delfouneso both scored whilst Bannan played magnificently.
Despite injury set backs, Houllier’s time at the club was positive and there was genuine optimism that if the manager had brought in some of his own signings the club would progress even further. Houllier’s summer plans included Yohan Cabaye who would have offered quality support to Villa’s young midfielders Bannan, Gardner and Delph. Tragically, the deal fell through when Houllier became ill. Cabaye later confirmed that he was very close to signing for Aston Villa.
The club would then stall under Houllier’s successors, McLeish and Lambert, and bump around dangerously at the bottom of the league. Both managers gave limited opportunities to youth players and the academy would fall into serious neglect. Lambert appeared to see the academy as a dumping ground for his unwanted senior players. His approach was – out of sight, out of mind.
Lambert had disingenuously promoted his ‘young and hungry’ project to fans like an eager politician with a hastily drafted manifesto. The former Norwich manager attempted to portray himself as a risk taker who would give youth a chance however this, as Tom Fox might say, was a false narrative.
Lambert’s idea was the right one in theory as Martin O’Neill and McLeish had left behind an ageing squad. The caveat was that Lambert’s project wasn’t that young or that hungry. Lambert preferred to buy players who had already played over a hundred senior games which was in keeping with his natural timidity and caution as a manager. Lambert didn’t seem that interested in developing the players himself. The heavy lifting would be done by other coaches and Villa’s own academy players hoping to be promoted to the first team would be left disappointed.
Lambert only promoted one academy player in his first season, left-back Derrick Williams. Williams was selected during an injury crisis but never received further opportunities to play for the club despite performing reasonably well. Williams is now enjoying a successful career at newly promoted Bristol City.
Frustratingly, Lambert would also ignore calls to select players from the Next Gen Series winning team who beat Chelsea in 2013. For Aston Villa to win this competition was a remarkable achievement considering how much Chelsea had spent on their academy. The national press and Lambert allowed the achievement to go largely unnoticed and the manager made no attempt to build on the proud success of the academy. It was not as if Lambert’s first team was stock full of quality either. Lambert signed players such as Alex Tonev, Jordan Bowery and Grant Holt who possessed very little technical ability. The manager was loathe to develop the club’s academy players and he alternatively stock-piled very average or worthless squad players from elsewhere.
Grealish and Robinson saw limited opportunities under Lambert and the manager even condescendingly referred to Grealish as a ‘baby’ when fans demanded to know why he was not being given a chance. Lambert also negatively suggested that starting a match might be too much pressure for Grealish and that he had to ‘earn the right’ to play. This was a team that had broken almost every negative record in the club’s history but Lambert was still finding excuses to avoid playing the academy players. That four talented academy players left the club under Lambert is hardly surprising. Samir Carruthers, Daniel Johnson, Dan Crowley and Jordan Graham might not have done so under another manager.
In February, thankfully, Lambert got what his miserable period as manager deserved – the sack – and the club have replaced him with former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood.
Grealish’s performance at Wembley owed in part to Sherwood’s opposing attitude to the talented player. Where Lambert had cast doubt on Grealish’s ability to handle pressure, Sherwood had no problem throwing him in at the deep end.
Sherwood has given Grealish ‘roots’ and ‘wings’ to succeed.
The ‘roots’ are the organised midfield support of Sanchez, Delph, Westwood and Cleverley whilst the ‘wings’ are Sherwood’s belief that Grealish can beat opponents and create something important for the team. Sherwood’s trust and confidence in Grealish’s ability has allowed the youngster to play with freedom. Grealish isn’t weighed down by the cautious approach of a manager like Lambert who risked little on the pitch and preferred containment rather than excitement.
Sherwood has dragged the club back from the abyss in recent weeks and if he can manage the development of Gary Gardner, Callum Robinson, Lewis Kinsella, Henry Cowans and Andre Green in a similar manner then the academy will hopefully become an important part of the club once more.
