Maple Lions

We may be only six games into the new season but already the results give us cause to consider the fate of the EPL’s likely lads:

Tottenham

After a dizzying year under Martin Jol that nearly took the Yid Army into the Champions League — with the high of a classic derby against the poilus of Highbury and the low of the final day botulism run — fans were expecting much more at White Hart Lane. Over the summer Tottenham kept Davids and acquired Berbatov but lost Carrick to Manchester United. And the result? 17^th in the table, including a right shellacking at the hands of the Scouse. Two wins in hand could in theory take them back up but their form (no away wins, GD -6) isn’t encouraging.

Wigan

Dave Whelan’s boys burst onto the scene with an opening day nail-biter against Chelsea and kept their form to finish midway in the table in their first year of promotion. Their start this year was much less flashy and one wonders what impact the sales of Nathan Ellington and Jimmy Bullard may have had.

Reading

The new Wigan. Their disciplined drive through the Championship has barely faltered, especially when they recently held the Red Devils to a draw at the Madejski Stadium.

Aston Villa

This season’s Cinderella tale, without question. After a player uprising and the humiliating departure of gaffer David O’Leary, there was genuine doubt over the future of Birmingham’s last outpost in top-flight football. But with the arrival of Martin O’Neill and the club’s purchase by financier Randy Lerner, the Villans have escaped the clutches of both the sheriffs and the Grim Reaper. Their current form is encouraging, going undefeated thus far.

Paul Canniff

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Because the England manager’s job just wasn’t sufficiently precarious, Martin O’Neill takes over at Villa Park.

Mind, if there is a successful bid to take the club out of Doug Ellis’ hands, this could all go down sweetly for folks in the Midlands.  Or maybe not.

Paul Canniff

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Birmingham’s remaining toehold on the EPL is descending into chaos as the players demand to meet with the chairman, forcing David O’Leary into the spotlight:

O’Leary was summoned to Villa Park at around 5pm yesterday to meet the three-man team that has been set up to conduct an internal inquiry into the episode. The club has wasted no time in attempting to get to the bottom of the turmoil that has engulfed Villa Park and it is possible that O’Leary could be dismissed within the next 48 hours if evidence is uncovered that the Irishman was involved in the events that led to the players’ statement being handed to a local newspaper on Friday afternoon.

[…]

Although there has been general unrest at Villa stemming from the chairman’s persistent parsimony across all areas, the players’ statement was not released with the backing of the entire first-team squad. That alone has left several players confused and others curious at O’Leary’s decision to offer support to a statement that, in some cases, they knew nothing about. It leaves the Irishman caught in the middle of an internecine struggle that would appear to be pushing him closer to the exit door by the day. O’Leary could not be contacted last night.

The Guardian looks back over the reign of chairman Doug Ellis. Over at the Telegraph, Ron Atkinson offers O’Leary his two pence, with links to further coverage.

UPDATE: David O’Leary departs as manager.
Paul Canniff

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Birmingham City and West Brom are in a seesaw battle to fend off relegation, while Aston Villa labour in the lower half of the EPL table. What gives with the Midlands? Guardian football columnist Kevin McCarra tackles the issue here:

Cramming themselves into the Championship is an ignominious kind of solidarity for the Midlands clubs. When Aston Villa were champions of England in 1981, they half-complained, half-boasted of the many derby fixtures that had to be surmounted on the road to the title. All that remains is a culture in which football itself is regarded with great significance even if it is fear more than hope that galvanises the crowd. The Hawthorns continues to foster a gripping atmosphere that is seldom equalled elsewhere in the Premiership.

In last Sunday’s edition of BBC Sportsweek Daily Telegraph columnist Henry Winter had some observations on the prospects for Aston Villa.

Paul Canniff 

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