'Hopefully that shuts a few people up' - Problems remain but Aston Villa take step in the right direction

Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins celebrates after scoring. Pic: Jacob King/PA Wire.

Unai Emery clenched his right first and punched the air six times to signal the release of Aston Villa’s pressure valve.

For a club on the brink of crisis, much of it inflicted by circumstances outside of their control, yesterday’s maiden win of their Premier League campaign was an undoubted turning point.

They were far from impressive in a first half where Fulham should really have put the game to bed having led through Raul Jimenez’s third-minute header, but once Ollie Watkins converted a beautiful lob to level in the 38th minute, there were clear signs of Villa rediscovering what it is like to be themselves.

Does one comeback win cure all their problems? No, but it sure was a significant step in the right direction and from the moment Emi Buendia, who had also set up John McGinn to make it 2-1, afforded them a two-goal buffer, they were assured and comfortable until the finish.

“I’m happy and getting calm,” Emery said, urging his team to build momentum away to Feyenoord on Thursday.

“With those points we can feel better and positive for the next weeks. The message was we needed to win today and the players responded well in looking for it.”

They may sit 16th in the early table but are only four points off a European place – territory they are now presumed to occupy by external viewers, if not entirely those within.

Emery’s pessimistic pre-season prediction that his side are not contenders to finish in the top seven was met with arched eyebrows that have since turned to frowns. Yet that tone-setting sermon was made entirely in the context of comparing Villa’s resources to their competitors.

After three years of steady progress, the mood has turned from ebullient to apprehensive in no time for a club that is hamstrung by the present financial regulations more than any other in the Premier League.

Villa are poster boys for the argument against PSR. They are, relative to most, well run and have owners willing to invest – but their lack of global commercial pull and a matchday income that pales compared to the giants has left them having to deliberately weaken the squad.

In July UEFA fined the club £9.5m for breaching their squad cost ratio regulations last season, with a strong threat of more stringent punishments should they not satisfy the rules this year.

So on the eve of the campaign they sanctioned the £40m sale of homegrown star Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle, solely to ensure sufficient headroom when it comes to this curse of financial fair play.

Entering the final day of the transfer window their squad was undoubtedly weaker than the one which ended last season by missing out on the Champions League with the assistance of a refereeing howler on the final day.

The late arrivals of Harvey Elliott, Jadon Sancho and Victor Lindelof, alongside keeping hold of Emi Martinez, who was convinced of a move to Manchester United only for no offer to arrive, offered a positive flourish at the end of their summer of negativity.

Yet those new faces will need time to adapt and a direct comparison to the group that struck three past Paris Saint-Germain five months ago shows Emery’s selection pool now is still weaker. Beyond Ramsey, there is no loan depth from Marcus Rashford or Marco Asensio and, at a stretch, Leon Bailey’s departure to Roma on loan means one option less off the bench.

Damian Vidagany, the club’s director of football operations who joins Emery for every press conference, laid out the challenge a few minutes after the transfer window shut in a long post on social media that took aim at the rules and the clubs with the financial muscle to continuously exploit it.

“We must do better for sure,” he wrote. “But let me explain: genuine expectations are now in a difficult place. In modern football the key to compete well on the market are not only good virtues like your caliber, owners, wishes, ability or results…the main key are the REVENUES. Period.

“To avoid the financial control cost cut you need revenues. If not, then comes the frustration … the clubs with revenues and no results they spend fast and spend stronger to wipe us from the top.”

It is hard to debate his logic – even if Villa have been creative too, replicating Chelsea by selling their women’s team to their parent company in June as a lever to ease those PSR concerns.

Last Tuesday’s departure of Monchi, the transfer chief, and swift arrival of Roberto Olabe in his stead pointed to both Villa’s hierarchy feeling the need for change and why Emery, who it should go without saying retains the wholehearted backing of players and supporters, is regarded as not occupying a hot seat.

It should not be forgotten any time soon that he is the club’s best manager in more than a generation. When he brutally called his team’s defending lazy after a dismal performance in the 1-1 draw away to Sunderland last weekend, a type of cutting feedback that would see other head coaches criticised was deemed entirely justified.

Efforts on the pitch before yesterday’s fightback were still way below what should realistically be expected – irrespective of any issues behind the scenes.

Perhaps they are interconnected, maybe they are entirely separate struggles but the underperformance of Watkins, prior to ending his drought, and Morgan Rogers, in particular, is what has been riling up supporters.

During Thursday night’s unconvincing 1-0 win against Bologna in the Europa League, there were loud groans when Rogers met a glorious opportunity with fresh air and conceded possession cheaply on several occasions.

He worked tirelessly against Fulham, even though his touch remained rough in parts and it should not be forgotten that two years ago he was battling for a guaranteed starting role at Middlesbrough.

Watkins, meanwhile, looked visibly stressed when lining up to take a penalty that was struck tamely down the middle and saved against Bologna. Before levelling against Fulham he had two touches of the ball and less than a minute earlier there was a loud chorus of sighs when he failed to control a long pass with his head.

Yet ending his wait had an immediate transformative effect and he played a vital role in the build-up to Buendia making it 3-1.

"He has had a lot of criticism in recent weeks but what he will get from us as team-mates and staff is love and support,” said McGinn, forever forthright. “Hopefully that shuts a few people up."