What next for Aston Villa?

As the dust settles on Villa’s defeat to Fulham in the playoff final at Wembley, attention has quickly turned to the future of the club.

Firstly, Fulham were better than us on the day, and have been for the large majority of the season. They are the one club I didn’t want to face in the playoffs. They are fast, play a high press game and have individual talent. Nevertheless, there is no excuse for Villa’s first half performance let alone not mustering a single shot on target when Fulham had 10 men for the last 20 minutes. Villa set up in the same way all season, looking to keep it tight and rely upon a piece of individual brilliance to win us the game. Villa don’t have an ‘identity’ or style of play, which is fine, if you win.

Steve Bruce has done a great job at steadying the ship, putting pride back into the club and carrying on with the job with such dignity. He has made some very shrewd signings, and has used his connections well to persuade players like John Terry, Glenn Whelan and Robert Snodgrass to join the club. Should he stay? Unfortunately, I don’t think he should stay on next season. With the players and budget that has been available, Villa should have been promoted automatically, let alone through the playoffs. I think we need a fresh approach, and with our financial situation being dire, we need a manager that can work on limited resources with a focus on youth, which brings me on to the players.

The 5 loaner players won’t be returning, and it’s highly unlikely John Terry will stay. Dr Tony Xia has worked on a promotion plan over 2 years, not 3. Our parachute payments are now next to nothing and we have a large squad on big wages, something has to give. Cutbacks will be large, and i expect at least two high profile names to leave with Jack Grealish, James Chester and Jonathan Kodjia heading up that list. Other high earners like Mile Jedinak and Glenn Whelan will also be targeted. Our crazy spending on the likes of Ross McCormack and Scott Hogan (total cost £25m) has now come back to bite us.

We must promote youth with Callum O’Hare, Keinan Davis, Rushian Hepburn Murphy and James Bree all being regulars. I expect Jed Steer to be our number 1 goalkeeper. They are talented, young and are our next generation.

The focus now is not on the Premier League, but being able to stay in the Championship, and build a sustainable squad with resale value that can fund the club.

The future of Aston Villa football club is extremely worrying, and I am sure a lot of Leeds fans are seeing similarities in downfall. Make no mistakes about it, Aston Villa are in serious trouble, with not a lot of light at the end of the tunnel. The decisions Keith Wyness and Dr Tony Xia make over the next 6 weeks, are the biggest the club has ever had to face.