It has been another frustrating season as a Villa fan. Early expectations morphing into hope before being replaced by anger and finally something approaching apathy. There is time left, however. The history of the Championship is littered with examples of teams making late runs from apparent obscurity into the playoffs. If that is to happen, it needs to start now. Let us look at the next 5 games and see just how likely it is.
Birmingham Away
A repeat of the scoreline from November would be an ideal way to kick things off. The home fixture was during a 5-day period which saw 16 goals feature in two matches. That, in a nutshell, has been Villa’s season. The problem has not so much been finding the back of the oppositions’ net but preventing the opposition finding ours. Repeatedly. Whereas that may make for good entertainment if you are a neutral, and handy when looking for a banker every week for your both teams to score acca, it does not make for a solid promotion challenge.
Birmingham are in a similar position to Villa, needing to accelerate into the home stretch to make it into the top six. They are showing a better ability of late to achieving that, but a derby could be just the place to derail one’s form and kickstart another’s.
Forest Away
Likewise Forest. They brought in O’Neill at a time that would give him enough games to make an impression. The jury is still out in the East Midlands if he has managed that, but signs of at least slight improvement are there. Their recent win against Derby – sorry, Frank Lampard’s Derby – could be the shot in the arm that Villa fans hope will be administered at St Andrew’s. A win will be hard, but as in the previous game, Villa must prevent the opposition from taking all three points, so an away draw would not be a disaster.
Middlesbrough Home
Middlesbrough have flirted with the top 2 all season, but never been able to put a run together that would put them in the box seat for automatic. They are a good, solid side, but their fans will fear that though that is a good combination for securing a playoff spot unless you can create something special against the top teams it won’t be enough to get promotion. The question is are Villa a top team? The answer at the moment is definitely not, but if they can gain some momentum from the previous two games, and the news regarding Tuanzebe is correct, then 3 points are a distinct possibility.
Blackburn Home
The first game on the list that on paper we really should win. Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn are on a poor run after securing enough points for safety. Last September it took a last gasp Hourihane effort to rescue a point. If Villa don’t get all 3 points this time around, then there really is no hope of achieving anything else in the remainder of the season.
Sheffield Wednesday Away
Another side in the same position as Villa, desperately trying to avoid their season spluttering out before Easter. Their form has picked up, but they just aren’t scoring enough goals to put any sort of run together. Whether Villa’s somewhat porous defence will put pay to that we will have to see. Going to Hillsborough will be tricky, but once again 3 points is a must.
All 5 fixtures are against teams in and around Villa. There will be the same discussions on the terraces, pubs, changing rooms and board rooms as are happening with the Villa. All the clubs, with perhaps the exception of Middlesbrough, know that one more slip up and their season is as good as over. It is which team, which players and manager can turn a situation like that into a positive one. It will be the first real test of Dean Smith’s tenure.
