Steve Round sums up reasons behind our Aston Villa Love-In
By Jack Nason
It’s fair to say that Aston Villa has got Valentine’s day right this year:
- Frequent admiration for the other half (the fans)
- Gifts just because…(7 wins on the bounce)
- A Derby Day win against the jealous onlooker (Blues)
And I bet the manager would even sort us out a romantic takeaway! The club released a interview with Director of Football Steve Round this morning and the reasons behind our cheerfulness our really encouraging:
The Interview
Uploaded on to the club website Wednesday morning, Steve Round’s interview delves into the intricacies of Villa’s playing staff and its development. Great emphasis is placed on the amount of work that was needed following our last disastrous regime. It is not lost on the fans that the calamity of mistakes made in the boardroom trickled down into the dressing room. A hoard of bad attitudes displaced any talent within the group.
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Primarily, it appears that Round and the coaching staff have eradicated any bad feeling. The sense of togetherness is incredibly refreshing to see. Although our Director of Football refused to name anyone, skipper John Terry has been incremental in getting rid of Villa’s ‘legacy of failure’. This is a feeling that transcended the entire club. Towards the end of our relegation season especially, the numbness of each defeat was shocking. We expected it. Now, Round continues, ‘the club has reestablished its core values’.
The ‘Villa Engine’
The concept of the ‘Villa Engine’ will not be new for the supporters. However, its precise methodology had failed to really extend itself to the pitch until recently. Round clarifies the importance of ‘mirroring the industrious mentality of old’. In short, the club will aim for ‘aggressive, forward-thinking’ football’ from the academies upwards – with newly-installed Head of Academy Coaching Brian Eastick aiming to deliver this caliber of players right through to the First Team. Perhaps the engine is beginning to roar: the consistent aggressive pressure of Hogan in the opponent’s half juxtaposed with Grealish’s new-found work rate encapsulate a hard-working team. And for any machine to work, all of the parts must play their part.
Moreover, it appears that the days of poor recruiting are behind us. A two-part system of data analysis and boots-on-the-ground scouting suggests the Recruitment Team has all the bases covered to compete in modern football. Vital for recruitment is a player’s compliance in relation to giving their all for the shirt. The extent to which this current group does that is exemplary – nobody more so than the Scottish Cafu. However, the application of this system is healthy, too. Although a number of groups are responsible for sourcing players, Bruce retains the ultimate say over who will be working under him.
Results-based Game
It is this ‘healthy relationship’ which Round reports in the interview. The internal workings of the ‘Villa Engine’ appear to be oiled nicely of late. Ultimately, promotion will resemble a real sense of progress. However, a senior member of Aston Villa F.C. has once again given an assured interview. This further underlines the crop of footballing expertise across the club at present. Long may that continue!