Does Roberto Di Matteo have any time left at Aston Villa?

In what was another big week for Roberto Di Matteo and Aston Villa, the manager has unfortunately come up very short. An away defeat to Preston, with the fans turning against Di Matteo might be the last straw for Dr Tony Xia. Villa are currently showing relegation form with 5 points from their last 6 games and having spent nearly £60m in the summer, the club is one big joke in the Championship.

Undoubtedly, Di Matteo has had a big job on his hands as he has moulding a completely brand new team and in a new division. However, 1 win in 11 games simply demonstrates no sign of progress, and from watching the games the players look devoid of a game plan or confidence. Whilst many Villa fans (including me) were hoping the club would be close to the top of the table by now, the majority would have accepted somewhere between 6-10th as Di Matteo moulds his team for a big finish. Currently, Villa have won the same amount of games as bottom club Rotherham, and the run doesn’t seem close to ending. If something doesn’t change soon, Villa will be in another relegation battle as the players certainly aren’t playing for the manager, or the fans.

As 5,600 Villa fans traveled to Deepdale, Di Matteo picked a bizarre starting line up at Preston with out of favour Ashley Westwood partnering Mile Jedinak in a two man midfield, which was always going to be overrun as neither of them are the most mobile. His half time subs essentially left Jedinak alone in midfield as he played 5 wingers/strikers, this reminded me of when things got desperate under Paul Lambert. Villa were outplayed by Preston, with two ex Villa players in Daniel Johnson and Callum Robinson both having solid games. Preston were well organised, and as soon as they got the early breakthrough, could have added 2-3 more by the break. On paper, Preston are no match for Villa, but today Villa were lucky to only lose by 2.

Tony Xia has a big call to make as we head into the International break; does he stick with the man he appointed, in the hope at some point he will turn it around, and if so how long does he give him? Or, does he roll the dice now as things are already looking very grim? It’s a tough call, but 1 win in 11 with arguably the most talented squad in the Championship simply isn’t good enough, and Villa should be looking for a new manager.