Aston Villa 1, Bolton 1: Mat Kendrick's big match verdict
Sep 20 2010 By Mat Kendrick
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Paul Robinson goes in on Marc Albrighton.
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Luke Young breaks for Villa.
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Ashley Young celebrates his goal with Manager Kevin MacDonald.
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Stephen Ireland shoots.
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Ashley Young is chopped by Stuart Holden.
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Zat Knight beats Gabriel Agbonlahor to the ball.
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Stephen Ireland goes in on Stuart Holden.
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Stewart Downing is tackled by Gretar Steinsson.
IT’S just as well Gerard Houllier’s French evolution (not revolution) gets underway today because Aston Villa are in desperate need of ‘Je ne sais quoi’.
No, ‘Je ne sais quoi’ is not the latest so-called teenage strike sensation to emerge from France’s Clairefontaine football academy like former Liverpool flop Anthony Le Tallec.
To the uninitiated, ‘Je ne sais quoi’ translates roughly as ‘I don’t know’ and is more commonly used to convey an intangible, indefinable, missing ingredient.
And that’s precisely what Villa require at the moment to fully return the lost optimism to B6 – that certain something that nobody can quite put their finger on.
Whether Houllier can provide the recipe for success remains to be seen and most of the claret and blue contingent will reserve judgment for the time being.
The 63-year-old Frenchman left Villa Park on Saturday evening appealing for patience from supporters after stopping to sign their autograph books.
But, from his first matchday appearance as Villa boss, albeit in the Trinity Road directors’ box, Houllier will know he needs to reignite the club’s spark – and quickly.
It was blatantly apparent from Saturday’s strangely subdued atmosphere. When Villa fail to wallop their Wanderers whipping-boys at home then something’s clearly lacking down Witton way.
Villa’s 13 goals in their last three Trotters trouncings – 4-0, 4-2 and 5-1 – have been unlucky for the lads from Lancashire. And a repeat was always unlikely and not just because Owen Coyle has allied Bolton’s battling abilities with his own passing football philosophy.
But because Villa remain in limbo right now, caught between the excitement of boasting a select band of talented stars and the dilemma over how to consistently get the best out of them.
Whether fresh tactics, fresh training ideas, fresh investment from the chairman, fresh faces or all of the above and more are needed, the pressure is already on Houllier to assess, impress and progress.
