Friday Feedback: Just One Wish

Are you excited for some soccer tomorrow? Because I think I can speak for everyone here at 7500 when I say "Oh for the love of god, PLEASE give us some Aston Villa." The past two weeks would have been bad enough on their own: fourteen days without Villa makes Robert something something. But the fact that they came so close on the heels of the transfer window and the fun of new players made them seem interminable.

It's a bit like Christmas. Do you remember getting the one toy you really wanted as a kid? Perhaps that new Playstation, or a new set of Legos. You were ecstatic, right? But then, a little bit after opening it, you had to hop in the car and head over to Grandma's house. Has there ever been a trip to anywhere that seemed longer than that initial separation from your new toy? I know it happened to me a few times. These two weeks have been the trip to Grandmas on Christmas day for Villa fans. But fear not! There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Between now and March 5, we'll get to see 3 matches, including a chance to make the 6th round of the FA cup. And we are, no doubt about it, in the home-stretch of the 2010-11 season. So that inspired this week's question: What one thing (within the realm of the realistic, and pertaining to soccer) would you like to see happen in the remaining Aston Villa season?

Aaron: I want to see real and legitimate progress in terms of results and on-field play. I've defended Gerard Houllier and don't regret doing so, but he's been given the money to acquire quality players and they've had time to integrate themselves into the squad. Now is the time that we need see the investment pay off. I'm not naive enough to think that pushing for Europe is at all likely, but with the way the table is shaping up there's no reason Villa shouldn't finish somewhere close to the top half. This is a very manageable run of games and Villa need to start winning them.

I don't love everything Gerard Houllier does from a tactical standpoint, but I think his overall approach is a very solid one and that for the most part he has the club moving in the right direction. I'm not the one that he has to convince, however, and when you look at the direction a lot of clubs have moved towards after sacking managers that played a more Continental than English style it's a bit scary. I think Randy Lerner is smarter than that, but I can also foresee a situation where the club barely scrapes by the rest of the way and the fans start calling for Sam Allardyce. And that possibility scares the bejeezus out of me.

Gareth: Really, the only thing I care about this season is avoiding relegation. I don't care about graduating young players from the academy. I don't care about who starts in the centre of defence. I don't care whether or not Ashley Young plays behind the striker, and I don't care if Gabriel Agbonlahor is completely out of position as a winger. Until we are absolutely, mathematically, completely safe from relegation to the Championship, nothing else really matters to me.

Yeah, I know we're probably not going to go down, and like I said last week, there are more than three teams that deserve to get relegated more than we do, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. For the better part of the last year, Aston Villa has been full of surprises, and most of them haven't been good. If I was to characterise our form this season, I would call us an inconsistent team that doesn't score a lot of goals, and they can't be trusted with a lead. And guess what? Those are the kind of teams that end up in relegation battles. Based on the way that Villa played (read: struggled) against Blackpool, Fulham, and Manchester United, we know that while Makoun and Bent make us better, they can't completely cure this team's weaknesses (read: Richard Dunne). So, I just don't want us to collapse and get relegated. As soon as I'm sure of that, I'll come up with a better answer for this question.

Kirsten: I want to see Barry Bannan play again and, from that, I want to realize how Gerard Houllier wants to utilize him in the future. Because if he's not going to be of service to Aston Villa, Baz deserves to get to find a place elsewhere.

Beyond that, I want to see Aston Villa beat Blackburn Rovers and somehow get a free pass to not play them again for the next five years. And yes, to me that's realistic. Anytime a club plays another club twelve times in two seasons, they should be allowed to "pass" when matches with that club pop up again. (The only problem with this quickly thrown together theory is that the pass would likely be worked out via an average of the points earned in the league over the past two years and then Rovers would take all the points from those fixtures. However, I might be ok with this if it means not having to watch them for an extended period of time).

Robert: I'd like to see Stewart Downing score a few more goals. It's not much to ask, but he's been on an extended drought and I don't care for it. And goals will serve to make this team more entertaining to watch, anyhow. God knows we could use that.

Downing's developing way better than I ever expected him to on the right side, and I'd like to see something come of the progress. Despite my earlier call for him to go, if he is good for the team, I obviously want him here. And it doesn't hurt that he's my favorite player, either. So please, Stewie, find the net. Do it for you biggest fan in Northwest Washington, DC.