Inspired by Iain Macintosh’s journey with Everton on CM01/02, I’ve decided to boot up Football Manager 2017 and take Aston Villa back to the glory days of the 1980s.
Previous episodes: Episode One, Episode Two, Episode Three, Episode Four, Episode Five, Episode Six, Episode Seven, Episode Eight, Episode Nine, Episode Ten, Episode 11, Episode 12, Epsiode 13, Episode 14
One of my biggest fears was being forced to sell more of my key players before the transfer window closed. This time last year, we were a newly-relegated club and we still carried some clout. But now we’re in danger of just being another Championship side, and the best players don’t want to play for just another Championship side. Thankfully I managed to keep hold of the squad that’s started the season so strongly, but it’s a warning that promotion this season is a must.
I also chose against signing another striker and have instead decided to keep my faith in Richairo Zivkovic, who up to now appears to have struggled to adapt to life in England. We know from last season that promotion isn’t an easy task, but we certainly could do with a break.
Thankfully we’re granted one of the international variety, which is the perfect time to try and sort out our lack of goals while also ensuring our defence remains as solid as it has been so far. One goal conceded in our opening seven games in all competitions is an encouraging start but we can’t get complacent.
September starts with Rob Holding being named Championship Player of the Month and I come third in the manager awards. No time for accolades though, there’s a job to be done: judge me at the end of the season, not after one month.
Friday Night Football. We’re not in the Premier League so there’ll be no Rachel Riley calling us bottle jobs if we fail to beat the visiting Sheffield Wednesday, though I was looking forward to kicking back in the dugout sporting the casual Jeff Stelling look, an open collared shirt and a demeanour which seems to ask the question, ‘drinks after work?’
But casual is perhaps the wrong vibe to send to the players, so I’ve named an unchanged XI and expect three points here.
But casual was indeed the word, and a few other words spring to mind, too. Sheffield Wednesday were superb and played us at our own game, their finishing in front of goal just a little better than ours. Vaclav Cerny scored his first goal for the club but I couldn’t care less about that – we were awful!
Our impeccable defensive record is out of the window and so is our impressive unbeaten run. Now it’s back to the drawing board, Zivkovic will be dropped for the Leeds clash on Tuesday night as well.
Neil Taylor picked up his fifth yellow card of the season already, so Zeki Fryers comes in to replace him at left-back while Jonathan Kodjia comes in for Zivkovic, who has been truly shocking since signing for us.
Leeds are third, we’re sixth, so a win here will keep us up with the chasing pack early doors. Lose and I’m sure bad memories of last season will come flooding back very quickly. I know we’ve only just lost our first game of the season but the way we performed against Sheffield Wednesday was worrying.
Better! We were outstanding from start to finish. Everything about this performance is what I’ve demanded from the team ever since I arrived at this club. Such a rampant victory away at Leeds sends a real statement to the rest of the league. That defeat to Sheffield Wednesday was just a blip and we’re going to be the team to beat in the Championship.
Jonathan Kodjia justified being recalled to the starting XI by finding the net in the second half but it was Conor Hourihane’s goal to put us 2-0 up in the first half that will take some beating for goal of the season…
via GIPHY
Next up is a trip to 14th placed Fulham. If our away performance at Leeds is anything to go by I expect another solid and convincing performance with lots of goals and another clean sheet. Funny what a win can do to your confidence levels, isn’t it?
The only change I’m making for this one is the return of Taylor for Fryers. Other than that, it’s the same tactics with the same players.
That was a devastating performance, positively devastating. A lapse in concentration at the back had given Fulham the lead but we were level from within 15 seconds of the restart as my players refused to let it effect them.
From there we were ruthless as both Kodjia and Ince continued their fantastic goal scoring form. Carlos Gil wrapped it all up in stoppage time to lift us in to second spot and just two points off league leaders Derby.
Nine goals in two games is the sort of attacking prowess I was searching for at the beginning of the season. I think I’ve cracked this managerial lark. Took me long enough.
It’s Stoke City up next in the EFL Cup third round. This will be a true test of where we’re at. A win here won’t just send a message to the Championship but to the rest of the country. Aston Villa are on their way back to greatness. Only a win over Stoke City can confirm that. Obviously.
The pre-match report I get about Stoke City tells me they lost their last outing 2-0 at home to West Ham. Simone Zaza scored both goals to help justify the Hammers making his loan move permanent in a £14m deal during the summer. I thought this game was supposed to be realistic?
I have no choice but to name an unchanged XI here. A Premier League club are in town and we’re on fire. Mark Hughes better be ready for this.
Sometimes you need luck to go your way in this game and my word was it on my side here.
We deserved to win, there’s no doubting that, but the way in which Stoke City gifted it to us was comical. Jonathan Kodjia put us in the lead just before the hour mark but Stoke’s Imbula looked to have forced extra time with an 85th equaliser.
And then this happened…
via GIPHY
Can I claim that Aston Villa are indeed on their way back to greatness as a result of being gifted a win like that? I don’t care. We’re in the fourth round and playing extremely well. We can beat anybody. Apart from Sheffield Wednesday, obviously.
We draw Crystal Palace away in the fourth round and I’m confident we can do them and reach the fifth. Perhaps we can even win it? Don’t rule us out.
We now host 11th placed Nottingham Forest at Villa Park and can go top with a win, we just need Derby to drop points at home to rock bottom Charlton.
Once again, an unchanged XI.
Well, Derby played their part by losing at home to Charlton, but we also dropped points. Kodjia was having a bad game but Tom Ince continued his great start to the campaign by putting us in to the lead with a wonderful solo effort. Cerny gave away the penalty that led to their equaliser and after that we really struggled to find a winner.
We have to be better than that and I know we’re capable of it. Two games remain in September and we can’t afford to drop any points from them. Can we do it? Just Barnsley and Ipswich stand in our way from ending this month in some great form.
Barnsley are 20th so shouldn’t cause us any problems. We need to respond well after than disappointing draw with Forest. Yet again it’s an unchanged XI.
Results like that could cost us come the end of the season. Not scoring from 19 attempts on goal just isn’t acceptable. Kodjia had another shocker in front of goal, which is worrying. He was on fire only a few games ago, now he’s struggling to kick a ball straight. I’m really worried about him.
The final game of the month sees us travel to Ipswich. They’re 19th but I won’t go in to this one expecting three points like I did against Barnsley. Let’s just see what happens. If Kodjia fails to score again then Zivkovic can have another go up top.
Both Veretout and McCormack picked up knocks against Barnsley so they’ll sit this one out, Westwood and Gil come in…
Yes! Zivkovic is off the mark and I couldn’t be happier for him. Kodjia was forced off shortly after half-time due to a dead leg and Zivkovic opened his Villa account with the goal to send us to the top of the Championship! They say real winners know how to grind out results and we did just that here.
And a shout out to Pierluigi Gollini – seven clean sheets from our opening 11 games and on course for the golden glove so far…
This time least year we were languishing in the bottom six and I was fearing my job. Now we head in to October as league leaders and real force to be reckoned with.
This month has been a bit of a game changer. It started poorly with that home defeat to Wednesday but, since then, we’ve been very good. Rob Holding, Conor Hourihane, Thiago Illori, Tom Ince and, to an extent, Jonathan Kodjia have all impressed me and I’m feeling very confident that we’ll go up this season now.
Here’s a reminder of our September results…
And the league table before the next international break. Aston Villa top of the pile – what a beautiful sight…
October is a going to be a difficult month. Games against recently relegated Middlesbrough and Swansea will truly show us where we’re at while a trip to Selhurst Park to take on Premier League Crystal Palace won’t be easy, even if I had earlier claimed we weren’t scared of them.
I’m off for a celebratory beer. We’re top of the league!
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