From the number that turned up the other night it might seem rich saying that Aston Villa fans are a loyal bunch, particularly during hard times, but during the David O’Leary days we used to turn up and do the conga in the aisle because the football was that bad. There is a core group of supporters who will watch the team no matter what, but a Monday night match being played in near-freezing temperatures, that is live on TV and is going to offer next to nothing in terms of entertainment, is a hard sell. The club would have struggled to fill the ground even if they had given away the tickets for free.

Villa sell a lot of seats for decent prices but that isn’t necessarily the issue. What were the supporters turning up to see against Southampton? One shot on target. Two corners. A few blocked shots. We have scored six goals in 12 league games this season. To say our home form over the last few seasons has been dire is somewhat of an understatement.

The 25,311 fans who made it to Villa Park saw a team defend resolutely for 90 minutes, which has been an improvement on previous seasons but there is no creativity in the team and there hasn’t been any for a while. Everything is very one-dimensional. Christian Benteke has been injured and then suspended this season, so it’s difficult to judge but the team’s strategy and even survival has been built around the Belgian in recent years. Everything is channelled through him, with Gabriel Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann feeding off the scraps.

The core fanbase are loyal but as with many clubs there are a group of floating fans who will come and go. And, being brutally honest, they could buy a lot for £42. Those fans could take their partners out for dinner with that money, take the family to the cinema or buy themselves FIFA 15. Sure, they’ll be looking at their phones every few minutes to see the score, but it will be a pretty empty stream.

It’s funny how you reset your expectations after seven straight defeats. You start off wanting goals, but then you look for shots. And if there are no shots, maybe attacking intent. After that you’d settle for some possession. But there is nothing with the Villa at the minute.

A casual Match of the Day viewer might see Villa playing on the counter-attack and think that we break with great speed and ruthlessness, but for the other 86 minutes it’s aimless. That is the biggest frustration. In the summer we brought in Tom Cleverley, who looked like he could pick a pass in the early years. He could play in a more advanced midfield role, in front of Fabian Delph and Ashley Westwood, but he has become just another runner.

Paul Lambert said he was pleased with the performance last night. But honestly, what are the expectations now? Post-match Lambert found it hard to find the words to say what they had worked on, in the end he settled on Agbonlahor’s speed, but how does a team even work on an individual’s pace. Villa fans have heard the lines before. The manager has been under financial constraints and the supporters understand that, but he is losing his poker face. He must know it’s not good enough, and Roy Keane must know it isn’t good enough, because every Villa fans knows it.

What is the plan? What is the system? There’s lots of scampering around and closing down quickly, but it all descends into back-to-the-walls stuff very quickly. A fragility runs right through this team and the club. For a while, even if we start well and pick up a 1-0 lead, you know we’ll draw or lose 2-1. If we go 2-0 up, you know we’ll draw 2-2 or lose 3-2. It has been a difficult couple of seasons for the squad and every injury or defeat sees the team lose confidence further. There are no rocks in the team, no leadership, not even in “Concrete Ron”.

Southampton are a model of what Aston Villa could be. They lost a lot of players in the summer but have managed to maintain consistency and, more importantly, their identity. New players came in, but it’s almost plug and play. There should be a core that runs through a club, even if managers and players come and go.



Villa had Martin O’Neill, then Gérard Houllier, then Alex McLeish and now Paul Lambert. But if every time a new manager is appointed, a new five-year project begins and is never completed, then that’s a lot of waste. Villa have seen a lot of managers since 1999 without any consistent plan. There was initially hope when Randy Lerner bought the club but we have probably seen the biggest waste since then.

We could have won last night, we could win a couple of matches and move up the Premier League table but it wouldn’t solve the problem? How does Lambert want the team to play? Does he even know anymore? I always love to ask other Villa fans what system they think we play because it always varies wildly. What we have seen under Lambert is an over-reliance on Agbonlahor’s pace or an individual moment of brilliance from Benteke.

The system should come from the top. Any organisation needs leadership but there is none at Villa, just an uncomfortable silence. When Lerner took over the club, he did all the right things. He did the community elements, he spruced up the ground, he put Acorns Children’s Hospice on the shirts, he converted the kitchens in Villa Park so they could be used to teach kids how to cook, and his assistant General C Krulak spoke to the fans on message boards. All of these are good things but what is the plan now? Is there budget while we’re up for sale? What if a buyer doesn’t come in? The uncertainty must be hard for all involved with the club.

We are going to be in a mess next season. Ron Vlaar will go, Fabian Delph will go and I wouldn’t be surprised if Benteke finally forces through a move. Then where are we? Who will fill that spine? Some fans wonder if going down, rebuilding and coming back up could be a good thing, but looking around at the other clubs in the Midlands - Coventry, Birmingham City, Wolves and so on - suggests that might not be the case.

For as long as the club is run the way it is, like a business, operated and motivated by calculated business decisions then it will be viewed or attended like one. There has to be more for football fans, if not there will be wild swings in attendance. At least we scored last night. And two draws after seven defeats has at least stopped the rot. Going to Burnley on Saturday is not going to be easy, but every game is a struggle this season.

Ryan Baxter is a lifelong Villa fan. He was speaking to Paul Campbell

