O’Neill years long gone for strugglers

Aston Villa 0 Sunderland 0

It is over three years since Ireland’s new manager was in charge at Aston Villa and yet they still very much remain a work in progress.

Manager Paul Lambert works within financial parameters altogether different to the ones enjoyed by O’Neill — and it shows.

To their credit, Villa have accumulated a healthy return of 16 points, even without their stellar player Christian Benteke performing at his peak, yet this is not a side to challenge the top six like that engineered by O’Neill.

Their gung-ho approach last season made them attractive on the eye, if susceptible to goals. Yet what they have gained in solidity this term — this was a fourth clean sheet in seven — they have surrendered in forward fluency.

In the relative safety of mid-table, they at least look capable of evading another relegation skirmish. The same cannot, however, be said about Sunderland.

This point was sufficient to elevate them off the bottom, however they should have departed with all three having been the superior side.

Much of the spine of this team remains from O’Neill’s reign — Wes Brown and John O’Shea in the centre of defence, Craig Gardner and Seb Larsson in the midfield and Steven Fletcher up front — and the early signs are that Gus Poyet has steadied a ship which looked destined to sink under the stewardship of Paolo Di Canio.

Seven points from their previous five matches is certainly encouraging when you consider they had claimed just one from their opening eight. Yet whether they would be in this predicament had Ellis Short, the owner, kept faith with O’Neill is questionable.

At least there is now hope at the Stadium of Light.

“The teams that do well this month getting points make a massive impact in the league,” Poyet said. “If we can do well in this period you go up so quickly. We need everybody.

“That is the only message I can say to the players. Be ready because to be fresh and compete in this league you need to be fresh every game.”

No one summed up an-out-of-sorts Villa better than Benteke, so often their talisman but now in the midst of a seven-game goal drought.

His best chance came and went early on when he fluffed his lines with a first-time curler over the crossbar following good work from Ashley Westwood.

Seb Larsson came within a whisker of an opener for the visitors when he curled a free-kick agonisingly wide. Then chance of the match came and went shortly before the interval.

A well-worked corner routine ultimately found Phil Bardsley at the far post and his header across the area found Emanuele Giaccherini — unmarked and onside — just three yards out. Somehow, the Italian conspired to hook the ball over the crossbar. It was a costly miss.

Another warning shot was fired in the 67th minute when Giaccherini swung in an inviting cross from the left for Fabio Borini, yet his Italian compatriot’s header cannoned off the crossbar.

Benteke’s substitution with four minutes remaining rather harshly prompted ironic cheers from a small section of fans inside Villa Park.

Asked if he would keep playing Benteke, Lambert replied: “You can never guarantee anybody anything. But he’ll come through it as a footballer.”

ASTON VILLA (4-3-3): Guzan 6; Bacuna 5, Vlaar 6, Clark 5, Luna 5; El Ahmadi 6 (Tonev 71), Westwood 6, Delph 6 A Weimann 5 (Albrighton 71), Benteke 5 (Kozak 86), Agbonlahor 7.

SUNDERLAND (4-1-4-1): Mannone 6; Bardsley 7, O’Shea 7, Brown 8, Dossena 6 (Celustka 84); Ki 6; Giaccherini 5, Larsson 6, Gardner 6 (Colback 76), Borini 6 (Johnson 76); Fletcher 6.

Referee: Neil Swarbrick.