Vital Reading Season Preview – Aston Villa
Club: Aston Villa
Founded: 1874
Nickname: The Villans
Ground: Villa Park (Capacity: 42,788)
When we face off: Tues 27th November (A), Sat 9th March (H)
Last season finish: 16th – Premier League
Manager: Paul Lambert – The young Scotsman earned many plaudits for his outstanding management tenure at Norwich and now has the chance to shine at a slightly bigger club, with notable financial backing.
Key player: Darren Bent – The England international on his day, can be one of the most clinical finishers in the Premier League. Villa missed him hugely in the final months of last season, but if he gets the supply this campaign, he is bound to score goals.
Season Preview: Last season was very much a blip for Villa, who in recent years have been a regular in the top half of the Premier League and challenging for European spots.
I’m sure that under the leadership of Paul Lambert and financial backing in the transfer market from Randy Lerner, Villa are on course for a top half finish. However, with extra inspiration from a good squad (on paper), the European places are not beyond them.
Aston Villa will finish in 12th.
I’m not sure where Villa will finish, but one thing I can GUARANTEE is that we will play far more attractive football this season. I am going to be an optimist and go for 8th. Reading? My guess would be about 15th.
15th is fair for us. I’d take 17th at this stage to be honest. As long as we can survive this year, it’s all about building for the next, which we didn’t do back in the 2007/08 season and it cost us.