A steady, yet unspectacular start for Aston Villa in the Championship

7 new signings and a whole host of last year’s failures have been shipped out at Villa Park over the last few months. No doubt about it, Dr Tony Xia, CEO Keith Wyness, Roberto Di Matteo and Co have been very busy. The whole club has a different feel to it than back in April, and Tony Xia being open with fans on Twitter has been one of the stand out PR wins for Aston Villa. A disgruntled fan base that had no relationship with the club and no fan favourites meant that the new owner had to go on a charm offensive. Xia has delivered on what he promised; significant investment in the playing team.

The signings Vila continue to make demonstrate maturity from the board and management. The mistakes of the recruitment from last year are being rectified. The players purchased by Di Matteo and Co over the past two months are extremely low risk apart from Pierligui Gollini, who was relegated from Serie A last year with Hellas Verona. Ross McCormack, Mile Jedinak and Tommy Elphick were all captains of their previous clubs. Whilst Ritchie De Laet and James Chester have Premier League pedigree. The summer transfer window can be summed up as ‘solid and safe’. Normally these words would have negative connotations attached to them, but with where Villa are right now and where the club has been over the past 5 years, Dr Tony Xia can’t afford to take ‘punts’ on players that may or may not become superstars.

The back four have a wealth of experience and ex Crystal Palace captain, Mile Jedinak holding the midfield together brings toughness and determination that has lacked in previous seasons. Ross McMormack is guaranteed to score goals at this level, and in him we finally have a reliable set piece taker. Aston Villa have a proper spine running through the team, which is what lacked last season.

However, Villa are yet to find their feet in the Championship, and with a new owner, manager, backroom staff and players to contend with, it’s not much of a surprise the team aren’t firing on all cylinders. But Villa have only lost 1 game and conceded 2 goals in 4 games. A striker is close to being signed and hopefully we can add another midfielder and winger before the window closes.

Villa are 1 or 2 more signings from being the best team on paper in the League. If Villa complete the signing of the ‘world class’ striker Tony Xia mentioned, Roberto Di Matteo and his team have no reason to be holding a Promotion party in May.