Curbishley 'disappointed' by Villa move

Alan Curbishley returns to Aston Villa tomorrow looking to help dispel memories of a disappointing period of his playing career by ensuring Charlton get their Barclays Premiership campaign back on track.

The Addicks boss, 48, spent two seasons at Villa Park during the early 1980s after making the short, yet controversial, switch across Birmingham from St Andrews, where he had been on the fringes of the England World Cup squad before a knee injury ruled him out of contention.

Despite his best efforts, the midfielder never quite hit the heights of his promise shown as a trainee at West Ham and then for the Blues, with a transfer to Charlton coming in December 1984 following the arrival of new Villa boss Graham Turner.

The switch back to London was to eventually lead to a the start of a promising coaching career as Curbishley helped guide the Addicks from homelessness to an established Premier League club since earning his first managerial post in 1991.

And although Curbishley is now fully focussed on arresting Charlton’s current run of three successive Premiership defeats, he cannot help but look back on his brief spell at Villa Park with a sense of what might have been.

“I was disappointed,” Curbishley reflected. “It was difficult crossing from Birmingham to Villa, and I didn’t fit in after the change of manager.

“It was short-lived, and in fact it was the shortest time I’d ever spent at a club, just two years.

“Every time [first-team coach] Mervyn [Day] and I go back, we see the photographs as we walk through, and we’re in a couple of them – but it was short-lived for me.”

Curbishley, who is still held in high regard by the Villa fans, added: “I always look forward to going back there and when I left it was the first time I started thinking about being a manager.

“My last game for Villa was against Liverpool in front of 38,000 on the Saturday, then I signed for Charlton on the Wednesday and played in front of 4,500 at The Valley.

“It was a big culture shock – but it’s turned out to be the correct decision.”

Curbishley knows all too well the level of expectation at the midlands club, and can empathise with the plight of current Villa manager David O’Leary, whose side are languishing in the bottom half of the table.

“We’ve probably finished above them in the last few seasons, and averaged a better league position – but Villa have always been a club whose fans expect to be in the top six,” said the Charlton boss.

“It shows you how difficult that is to obtain. They have the potential to break into the top six, but haven’t managed to do it for some time – that’s the pressure David will have to bear.”

Charlton may have opened the season with five straight wins on their travels, the Addicks surrendered their 100% away record with a 4-1 defeat at Blackburn just before the international break.

That has now been sandwiched between home losses to Bolton and Manchester United, and Curbishley knows it will take a much-improved all-round display if his side are to record a first win at Villa Park in six seasons.

“It feels like I’ve been getting after the players all the time, and the results haven’t helped,” said the Charlton boss. “But we haven’t given ourselves a chance defensively in recent games and we have to improve on that.

“Our goal difference was respectful – but now it’s been shot to pieces.”

Shipping seven goals in the last two games is indeed not pretty reading.

And while Curbishley is in no way looking to make young Denmark keeper Stephan Andersen a scapegoat, he admits the time may well soon come to restore veteran stopper Dean Kiely, who missed the start of the season with a fractured finger.

“Deano didn’t agree with me, but had to accept it and be positive to wait for his chance,” the Charlton boss said.

“He’s never been in this situation before, but I think he’s handled it quite well.

“He knows he’s got to keep himself in tip-top shape for if a chance does come along.”