When Aston Villa and Newcastle square off on Sunday, one of the sides will have their future decided on the pitch; Newcastle desperately need to come away with points from the clash to stave off relegation.
While relegation isn’t a threat, things aren’t all rosy for the other side involved in the clash. After a mid-season run that saw them as favorites for a Champions League spot, Villa have been all but awful in the second half of the season. How awful? Out of the last thirty six points available, the Villans have only managed to take eight.
To make matters worst, Villa have some personnel issues to contend with. First and foremost, the untimely retirement of captain Martin Laursen is a huge blow to the team’s on pitch leadership. On top of that, the Gareth Barry transfer saga is about to kick into high gear, leaving Villa without either of their team’s central figures in the season they’ll be expected to build on their successes this year.
But at least they’ll have money, right?
Not so fast. The once rosy relationship between Randy Lerner and Martin O’Neill is starting to show a few kinks. First off, there are rumors that Lerner’s not that different from dominating former owner Doug Ellis; in fact, some have described him as “Ellis with money”. How much money? That’s a good question; Martin O’Neill’s not really sure yet, and some outlets are speculating that the team may be forced to sell to raise the funds they’ll need to replace their stars. The only thing that seems certain is that the budget will be far less than the £50 million he was given last year.
The entire situation has a “do more with less” feeling; this is an overachieving club already strapped for players that will be expected to overachieve again. With Manchester City and Tottenham chomping at the bit to get back next year, Aston Villa could be in the unenviable position of being in everyone’s crosshairs without the ability to fight back.
