Andy Walker on the moment Villa's season went off the rails
Mar 24 2009 by Andy Walker, Birmingham Post
As soon as Martin O’Neill changed his tune, Aston Villa’s season was doomed.
The intellectual Ulsterman was quick to dismiss talk of a top-four place during the first half of this season.
Villa’s exciting crop of young English talent were over-achieving and daring to challenge the Premier League’s all-conquering elite.
However the chances of hearing O’Neill publicly express a belief that Villa could genuinely finish the campaign in a coveted Champions League plan were slim.
That was until the claret and blue wave went beyond the Iron Curtain at the end of the February.
From the moment O’Neill unveiled his weak starting XI to face CSKA Moscow during last month’s second-leg round of 32 Uefa Cup tie, Villa were officially gunning for a top-four place.
Whereas, before, they were something of an unknown quantity who were storming forward on all fronts with tremendous moment, Villa had suddenly become the ones to watch.
Teams were now even more on their guard when the top flight’s visitors from Birmingham arrived in town and as CSKA Moscow manager Zico alluded, Villa’s opponents were starting to figure out a way of dealing with their one-dimensional style.
A bold move it may have been for O’Neill, but it is one that has disastrously back-fired into the face of the former Celtic manager.
A season that promised so much hit a new low on Sunday afternoon with the 5-0 thumping at Anfield and colleagues have told me that O’Neill looked a broken man after that defeat to in-form Liverpool.
While it was always going to be obvious that O’Neill was harbouring hopes of cracking the top four, the decision to publicly announce those intentions piled extra pressure on to his squad.
It is a group of players that still aren’t experienced enough to go toe-to-toe with the giants of world football and that has been clear for all to see over recent weeks.
From the moment O’Neill theoretically waved the white flag in Russia, his side’s momentum dramatically halted and confidence was dented both on and off the field.
Since that unpopular decision at the Luzhniki Stadium, Villa have surrendered a two-goal lead to a team haunted by relegation, lost three consecutive fixtures and witnessed one of their stars booed by his own.
It is interesting to note that, as of yesterday evening, the link to the match report from that second-leg defeat in Moscow on the club’s official website was faulty. Perhaps the memories are too painful to be reminded of.
There is no doubt that O’Neill has made huge, in fact gigantic, strides since first stepping through the door at Villa Park in August 2006.
However a season that looked set to go beyond Villa fans’ wildest dreams has suddenly become overshadowed by that miserable moment in Moscow.
In hindsight, O’Neill may now wish that his ambitious aspirations had remained behind closed doors.
