What a mind blowing 2010/2011 season it was for Aston Villa supporters. Club favourite, Martin O'Neill first left in the summer having failed to get the backing he wanted from the board. Then when the players learned that his replacement would be Gerard Houllier, they revolted. Following this, Houllier offered to resign and his resignation was accepted. The club was left in limbo until Mick Clince, a young manager with a great reputation from his short time in the Championship in charge of Cardiff, threw his name into the hat.
Clince had coached under Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford and been highly recommended by him. The Villa board decided to go for the young man, seeing him as quite the opposite to Houllier. Houllier had been taken out of retirement by the club, but here they were giving a manager a shot, who had just come into his own, 2 years into his management career.
It was presumed after his appointment, that Clince would be given a few years to put together a team that would get to know each other well, as well as himself. Clince moved quickly to disperse these murmurs however, hinting that he was hoping to emulate the success of O'Neill at an early stage.
Over the summer, Clince spent and brought in a lot of money through transfers. It became clear that the Villa board had retracted their position on the finances they were prepared to put into the club. The new manager had obviously made quite an impression on them, or were they just hoping to hold off a backlash from supporters? Either way Clince ended up with a squad full of recognised talent.
The Villa Squad Following The Summer Transfer Window
Goalkeepers
Brad Friedel
Fabian Carini
Defenders
Luke Young
Stephen Warnock
Steve Finnan
Michael Ball
Richard Dunne
James Collins
Curtis Davies
Stefan Radu
Midfielders
Stiliyan Petrov
Jack Rodwell
Moussa Sissoko
Stephen Ireland
Nigel Reo-Coker
Marc Albrighton
Ashley Young
Feindouno
Robert Pires
Emanuel Badu(Loan)
Alex Teixeira
With a squad of new talents such as Rodwell, Radu, Teixeira etc. Much was now expected of Villa from the off. Clince tried to take the pressure off his young starlets by frequently mentioning the likes of Dunne and Petrov as being crucial to the outcome of the new season.
Up to the Christmas period Clince's men were inconsistent. At times they shipped 3 or 4 goals, other times they were amazing, playing beautiful football. One player who did consistently perform though was Gabby Agbonlahor, who was frequently on the score sheet, usually playing as a lone striker. The 9th place that they were occupying heading into the new year however was worrying Villa fans.
In January, Clince again delved into the market,. Aaron Ramsey, Bernardo and Stephen Kelly all joined on loan and a new number 1 arrived in the form of Guillermo Ochoa.
Brad Friedel had been having a bad season and the right back slot had been rotated between centre back Davies and Luke Young who was well short on form.
By the end of the season Clince's team had turned everything around. Having managed to stay in the League Cup throughout the season, Villa went on win it this time around, making up for the disappointment of the previous season, where Man United had controversially beaten them. In the league their form saw them rise swiftly up the table and they eventually finished 5th, their best result in 14 years. In Europe however they faultered against Stuttgart at the quarter final stage. Overall Villas season and appointment of Clince was classed as a huge success, especially considering the youth of the team and manager. Guillermo Ochoa was credited for keeping the defense well organised following his arrival in January and the rest of the squad were widely complemented on their grit and determination to see the club rise so well in the second half of the season.
Undoubtedly Villa's Player of the Season was Gabby Agbonlahor, scoring 39 goals from 44 starts. No doubt Villa fans will be hoping that this is a sign of things to come from a player who has always been seen to have great potential.
Can Villa improve on their 2010/2011 season? Follow our in depth coverage of their 2011/2012 season to find out.
With the transfer window having been officially open since the 9th of this month, there has been surprisingly little talk about Aston Villa moving for any players. Of course Clince has already tied up 6 free transfers in deals which were concluded last season.
Goalkeepers Marco Amelia and Simon Pouplin are set to join from Genoa and Freiburg respectively. It is expected that these buys will see fading star Friedel fail to win a new contract and that the Uruguayan Carini will be sold or sent on loan at some point during the transfer window.
Midfield depth is also going to be significantly improved with youngster Enzo Reale(Lyon),Croatian Ivan Rakitic(Shalke), Juan-Angel Albin(Getafe) and the much sought after Ibrahim Afellay being added to Clince's squad in July
With Agbonlahor having performed so well for the duration of last season and young speed demon Nathan Delfouneso looking better and better, there is no word yet of any support arriving up front for Villa.
June 21st
Exciting news arrived for Villa fans this morning all the way from Barcelona. Mick Clince has bid 6 million for 19 year old Brazilian striker Lucas Gaucho having been offered the player at that price. A deal is expected to be concluded in the next few days. Gaucho is known as a bit of a goal scoring poacher, generally staying in and around the oppositions box, unlike Agbonlahor and Delfouneso who like to stray out into the channels at times.
June 25th
Aston Villa today completed the signing of Brazilian wonderkid Lucas Gaucho from Barcelona. During a press conference with his new aquisition, Clince hinted that besides filling the vacant right full back spot, there would be no more transfers in during this window.
There is to be a mass exodus of fringe and reserve players in July when contracts run out for Villa players, but that is also all that is to be expected according to Clince."Maybe we will send 1 or 2 of the younger lads out on loan for some experience, but that is all I can see happening"
In the past couple of days Villa have seen the likes of Brad Friedel, Luke Young, Robert Pires and Steve Sidwell amongst others, leave as a result of their contracts expiring. These players are being released after most had below par seasons in 2010. The question now is, will those coming in to replace them succeed where they failed and impress Villa Boss Mick Clince during their time at the club.
It has been widely reported that two of the players Clince is interested in signing for the vacant right full back slot are, Sebastian Corchia, who Sunderland brought in last season and Sime Vrsaljko of Lockomotiv Moskow. Corchia had a great 2010/2011 season at Sunderland after signing from Le Mans in January and Clince is known to have been impressed by the young man. 19 year old Croatian Vrsaljko is seen as a young Dario Srjna by Clince. No doubt Vrsaljko would appreciate just being mentioned in the same sentence as his fellow countryman.
July 17th
Villa competed in their first pre-season game today against GF 38 of France.Villa as expected dominated the game, winning 4-1.
It was a game dominated by the presence of Gabby Agbonlahor, who continued from where he left off last season. The athletic striker was on hand to score a hat-trick today. He even played a part in winning the penalty scored by Stephen Ireland. GF 38's goal was scored by new signing, former Arsenal, Inter and Man City midfielder, Patrick Vieira.
As you can see by these stats, Villa had several clear opportunities and got quite a lot of their shots on target to test the keeper.
Aston Villa have agreed a deal with Lockomotiv Moscow for Sime Vrsaljko. The transfer fee is believed to be in the region of £12m. Having been priced out of a deal for France U-21 international Sebastien Corchia, Clince has banked on his second bet Vrsalko to do a very good job for Villa given the chunky transfer fee. Without adequate cover at right back though it would seem obvious that Clince will have to bring in another defender at some stage over the summer.
July 24th
Having agreed to a £36,000 a week contract with Villa, Sime Vrsaljko has officially signed for the club today. Clince beat off interest from Liverpool, Genoa and Inter Millan to sign the young man, who feared he would not be played as regularly as he would like at Anfield or the San Siro.
Although a friendly game, Villa manager Clince would have been hoping for a more dominant look to the scoreline than the 3-2 outcome. The Villa defence was far less dependable today than usual. The Villains did however have several more chances than were converted, so maybe once the season comes around the team will be more clinical in front of goal. New signing Gaucho however, showed that he was in no way rusty and put the ball in the net twice. Substitute Ashley Young scored Villas other goal.
The stats here show Villas clear dominance in the game and subsequent failure to make it show more thoroughly.
On the transfer front for Villa today, Fabian Delph made his way out on loan to Championship club Cardiff City.
After todays game Clince took time out to speak to our reporter," I'm happy enough with the win. We made a few more errors than we would have liked today, but with as many opportunities as we had, I'm sure had this game been during the season we'd have won by much more.
On Delph's loan deal, Clince had this to say," Fabian's a talented kid, but we have plenty of midfielder's in the squad at the moment and it's always important that a talent like his is nurtured by first team football. He's going to a club that will be challenging for promotion and a club I know very well of course.
Asked wether there would be any more deals in or out, Clince said, " At the moment I'm very happy with the squads strength in depth. We do lack cover at full back though, so there may be a chance of something happening in that respect. As for transfers out, I can not see anything happening, I am happy with the players and they are all happy to stay here."
29th July
Aston Villa 4-0 Accrington
Villa were solid here, as expected. Centre back Richard Dunne got his name on the score sheet twice and Young and Feindouno both slotted home one each. Villa were just as dominant as against Brentford but with less mistakes at the back this time around.
August1st
Newcastle have snapped up young centre back Ciaran Clark on loan today. Clarke is well down the pecking order in terms of first team opportunities at Villa and it is understood that the Magpies see him as a regular starter.
August 7th
Aston Villa 3 - 2 Corinthians
Villa yet again dominated this game, however cracks resurfaced in defense, not something Villains Boss Mick Clince will be happy about in his sides last pre-season friendly. In front of goal however his team were impressive with Albrighton, Afellay and Collins on the score sheet and an impressive amount of shots on target.
After the match Clince said," It's been a good finish to pre-season for us, I felt we looked quick on our toes out there today and caused a good team a lot of problems."
Theres no doubt Clince's men will be looking to finish towards the top end of the table again this season, but with a much improved squad can they begin to hope for more?
August 12th
Aston Villa manager Mick Clince pulled off a master stroke today, by securing the signing of talented, Lazio full back Stephan Lichtsteiner on loan. A month ago Villa were without any right full back and now they have two with great reputations throughout Europe.
The Premier League Season starts in 2 days with Villa playing their first game of the season against local rivals West Brom. Today they have strengthened their squad yet again, surely they will teach the Baggies a lesson when the two teams meet.
