Aston Villa 0 Wigan Athletic 0: EXPECTATIONS HAVE been raised at Aston Villa and for some supporters, in particular those with short memories, fourth in the Premier League is no longer good enough.
Martin O’Neill would not have expected his players to leave the field to a standing ovation after a game Wigan Athletic side denied Villa second place, but nor did he foresee booing at the final whistle.
The discontent was far from widespread but it was loud enough to be heard above the sound of upturning seats, and it did not escape O’Neill’s attention as the Villa manager turned to face the protagonists and threw his arms in the air in disbelief.
His reaction was understandable. The home side could hardly have done any more to force a breakthrough and, looking at the bigger picture, since when did a stalemate that leaves Villa five points ahead of Arsenal qualify as a reason for discontent?
The answer to that question had been delivered to O’Neill earlier in the afternoon when, incredibly, his ambition was questioned at a time when he was playing with three up front and the goal was under siege.
“Some fella behind me shouted, ‘Do you really want this?’ This was during the course of the game, about two-and-a-half minutes after we had 14 minutes of relentless pressure. I said to him: ‘Are you watching the game? We should be seven up’.”
That was a slight exaggeration, but there is no denying Villa should have been comfortably ahead as they bombarded a stretched but resilient Wigan defence.
Zat Knight headed against an upright, Maynor Figueroa denied Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey with superb clearances and Paul Scharner twice cleared off the line to thwart John Carew and Luke Young. Against that backdrop, the unrest that emanated from a small section of fans was difficult to understand.
“I don’t mind when we have deserved to be booed off,” said O’Neill, who seemed bemused rather than upset. “It happened once against Everton. And that was absolutely right. But it was very difficult to boo the team after that. You couldn’t say that one of them didn’t give every ounce of effort that they had. I don’t know whether it is a case of putting points on the board before we play games. We aren’t good enough to do that. The players know that, which is great.”
O’Neill and his players are victims of their success, something Steve Bruce alluded to when he urged Villa fans to retain a sense of perspective. “Expectation has gone through the roof and they should remember where they were a few years ago,” said Bruce. “I remember Sunderland coming here – if Villa hadn’t beaten them they might have got relegated. Now they are pushing the big boys and I think they have got a real chance.”
The Wigan manager admitted his side had been blessed with good fortune, yet so committed was the visitors’ defending that it was difficult to begrudge Bruce and his players a second point in four days against top-four opponents.
Indeed the reward might have been greater had Brad Friedel not been at his best in the first half, making fine saves to repel Daniel de Ridder’s effort and tip over Figueroa’s header.
Not that Wigan had reason to be disappointed. This, after all, was a side missing the injured Amr Zaki and Antonio Valencia as well as the departed Heskey and Wilson Palacios. Those absences might have been expected to expose weaknesses but, in front of the watching Charles N’Zogbia, who has signed from Newcastle for €6.7 million, Titus Bramble and Figueroa were outstanding in defence and Michael Brown never stopped in midfield.
O’Neill’s players were just as committed, but no longer will effort alone satisfy every Villa fan.
“I did hear (a few boos) and obviously that’s disappointing,” said Gareth Barry, the captain. “We’re grateful it’s only a few but, overall, I think the majority of fans realise we’ve given it our all. I think those couple of fans who booed, when they go home and look at the table, and see the five-point gap (over Arsenal), they’ll realise what Villa have achieved so far this season has been remarkable.”
Guardian Service
