WONDER if the optician Alex McLeish has hired to improve Villa’s vision supplies claret and blue tinted spectacles?
Because even the most optimistic of Villa fans would have struggled to see the good in last night’s performance.
In fact, the glasses were very much half empty as Tottenham’s Champions League chasers put Villa’s Europa League outsiders firmly in their mid-table place.
From the moment Aaron Lennon breezed past Stephen Warnock and Rafael van der Vaart bamboozled the rest of Villa’s defence with a sublime spin in the first five minutes it was clear Spurs were too slick and too quick for their visitors.
Spurs full back Benoit Assou-Ekotto recently claimed Villa have become a by-word for mediocrity. And while his assessment is harsh, McLeish’s men were distinctly average last night.
Emmanuel Adebayor and Spurs scored twice, but Villa could have been seeing double that as White Hart Lane welcomed back heart patient Harry Redknapp by getting Alex McLeish’s blood pressure rising and their own boss’s blood pumping.
Villa, meanwhile, were lucky to avoid a thumping. We can spare a moment or two to describe the goals, but there were too many ones that got away to list all of Spurs’ chances in full.
It was no surprise to see Van der Vaart, the scourge of Villa last season with all four goals as Tottenham did the double, involved in the opener after passing a late fitness test on an ankle problem.
His corner from the left was unconvincingly cleared and when Gareth Bale returned it to the edge of the six yard box, Adebayor had time and space to steer in an acrobatic overhead kick.
David Cameron, the Prime Minister or president of the Villa Supporters Club London branch as he is fast becoming known, was not the only one who left No.10 last night.
So too did the Villa defence as Tottenham’s No.10 was left free on far too many occasions.
Cameron and McLeish are probably more concerned about the Hutton inquiry, which should follow, after Villa’s problems with the right of their party.
Alan Hutton was adamant he wouldn’t have sleepless nights ahead of his reunion with a particular Welsh wonder on his first return to Spurs, instead he had a nightmare evening at White Hart Lane.
