Sat Nov 26, 2016 1:46 pm
Opposition View: Aston Villa
By Callum Ellis
Saturday 26th November 2016
We spoke to life-long Aston Villa supporters Rob Steele and Chad Billy Wrenn ahead of the clash with Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon.
Cardiff City travel to Villa Park having defeated high-flying Huddersfield Town last time out. The Bluebirds need to show the same attacking flare if they have any chance of taking three points back to South Wales this weekend.
Aston Villa head in to this game having found a run of form since the arrival of manager Steve Bruce last month, picking up 11 points from their last five games.
However the supporters have learned how the Championship is, ‘no bed of roses’ as they currently occupy 16th in the table, five points off the play-offs. Nevertheless, they will be feeling confident going in to this weekend’s clash having picked up an away point against Brighton & Hove Albion last Friday night.
Rob and Chad talked us through how life in the Championship has gone so far as they look to bounce back into the top-flight:
You haven’t had the greatest start to the season but where do you see Villa finishing this season?
ROB: Yeah our start to the season wasn’t great, winning one game in 11 under Di Matteo simply wasn’t good enough; not when you’ve spent over 50 million pound on a new squad.
I see us finishing anywhere between 6th and 12th this season, I think if we are to get a play-off place it will be that 6th spot as we have left ourselves a fair bit of catching up to do.
CHAD: If we keep up the momentum I definitely see us having a shout at a play-off spot. Many of the Brighton fans were blown away by our performance on Friday night and Bruce is getting the best out of the players. Plus we’ve still got January to add to our squad, most importantly to our midfield.
Talk us through Steve Bruce and why previous appointments haven’t worked out
ROB: The arrival of Bruce has been a breath of fresh air, he’s come in and he’s been straight to the point, he wants results and at the moment that’s what he’s getting. I like how he’s given every player a clean slate and has given them all an opportunity to prove why they should be playing week in week out.
There is a real sense that the club is finally going in the right direction after six years of going backwards. I feel that if we are to get in the top-six then Bruce represents our best chance of getting there.
He’s getting the best out of players who were previously under performing, Mile Jedinak is a prime example of this, it will be tough but I don’t put it totally beyond us to finish in the top-six.
CHAD: I feel like Remi Garde would never have had a chance of turning us around as we were already sinking to relegation.
However, what Bruce has done differently to Di Matteo is sure up the defence and play a balanced starting eleven. Di Matteo tended to play 4 or 5 attackers and he made it easy for teams to dominate our midfield. On top of that, he’s established a group of players who play most weeks together and not chopping and changing so much.
Tell us about former Cardiff boys McCormack and Gestede, and how important are Chester and Kodija?
ROB: Rudy is a player I really like, he knows where the back of the net is but he needs to be played with a little man next to him who can run onto the flick-ons and he needs service; if we don’t play with wingers who cross then Rudy may as well not be on the pitch.
He’s been on the bench after a few poor performances but I’m sure he’ll prove vital in January when we lose Ayew and Kodjia to the African Cup of Nations.
CHAD: Kodjia has been fantastic ever since he’s come in, he’s hit the ground running and has been our main goal threat in recent weeks.
We are lucky in that department, we have a very good selection of attackers so we can always rotate if things aren’t working, they’ve all been decent so far but Kodjia has been by far our best striker. I just hope he continues this form for the rest of the season as his goals will prove vital.
Gestede looked bright to start with and it’s always good to have someone like him in and around the squad. He’s brilliant for away games when we need to hold up the ball and is proven in this division. However, I would like to see him score more goals and give Bruce a selection headache.
As for McCormack, he’s been brilliant so far but he could go on to be even better. I believe him to be our most technically gifted player and despite him playing deeper than usual he’s still pulling the strings and effecting games. Bruce likes to use him almost as a super sub who injects a bit of creativity into our play when it’s still 0-0.
Chester probably our most consistent player, Nathan Baker recently said he’s an 8/10 every week and I completely agree with that statement. He’s recently been beating Tommy Elphick to a starting place and he’s been given the captains armband which I think is deserved.
It’s brilliant to finally see a half decent centre-half in the Villa back-line and even though he’s not the tallest defender, he’s still very composed on the ball.
You’re unbeaten in your last six, how do you see this game panning out?
ROB: Unbeaten in six, our longest run for nearly seven years, how depressing is that!
I’ve been very impressed with Cardiff under Warnock so far, he seems to have really sorted the side out and the additions of players like Hoilett will only benefit the squad.
My heart is saying to go for a Villa win but my head is still pessimistic, I’m going to say 1-1 with Bruce extending his unbeaten run to seven games.
CHAD: After our performance against Brighton I am fully expecting us to beat you comfortably, around 2-0. However, I fully understand that a Neil Warnock side won’t just lie down so I expect Cardiff to hold some sort of bite to their game.
Especially after they made some impressive signings from the free agent market. My overall prediction would be 2-0 to Villa, with Kodjia to grab a goal.