Chelsea 7, Aston Villa 1: Mat Kendrick's big match verdict
“IN TERMS of finishing fourth, on that performance we wouldn’t finish 44th.”
At least Martin O’Neill and all of the Villa fans can finally agree on something.
Which is just as well because Villa need any kind of unity they can muster after the most disastrous day of the manager’s reign.
It was the club’s biggest top-flight loss since a 6-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in September 1986 and the first time they had conceded seven since losing 7-0 at Manchester United in October 1964.
The only harmony at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was both sets of supporters chanting ‘‘Martin, Martin give us a wave’’.
The away fans tried desperately to wring some drops of support for the boss from an embarrassing washout and their Chelsea counterparts cruelly mocked them.
O’Neill, humbled and humiliated, obliged at the end by raising his hand towards Villa’s travelling army with an apologetic gesture.
In acknowledging the claret and blue brigade, who deserve so much better than that rubbish, he was surely also bidding farewell to Villa’s Champions League hopes again.
Seven is supposed to be a lucky number, but it was anything but for Villa at the Bridge. Their seven-goal hammering kept them seventh, with seven games left and seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham (although Villa’s goal difference took such a battering that they will need to make up eight points on Spurs).
It was not so much the seven deadly sins as the perceived seven costly mistakes which came back to haunt O’Neill and Villa. Wrath, sloth and pride still made the list.
But instead of greed, lust, envy and gluttony, were lethargy, favouritism, wastefulness and control. The detractors reckon these faults have undermined O’Neill’s Messiah status. While there’s truth in that, it’s worth remembering that these single-minded methods are what got his Villa where they are in the first place.
Wrath is what the manager unleashes on anybody who dares question his master-plan.
Sloth is a reluctance to utilise all the available talent in his squad.
