If there is a more improved side in the Premier League over the past 12 months than Aston Villa, I have yet to see them.
For it was just over a year ago that club officials made a decision which must rank as one of their very best over the past two decades.
It was in stark contrast to the one made in the autumn of 2021 when manager Dean Smith was sacked, a decision this SBOTOP observed questioned at the time.
He had overseen a worrying dip in form, but this was the man who had guided the club back to the top flight and kept them there.
To then replace him with Steven Gerrard, a big name as a player but with limited pedigree as a manager at the highest level, smacked of more showbiz than substance and so it proved.
The Villains were 17th with very few Premier League highlights to their name when Gerrard was sacked.
Enter Unai Emery from La Liga and Villarreal where he had won the Europa League.
The rest is very much history at a club which has been transformed since his arrival.
His impact was as stark as it was swift.
With the Premier League betting odds not making good reading for those of a claret and blue persuasion, the side improved dramatically, winning 10 of their last 15 games as the Spaniard guided them to a seventh-placed finish.
Emery has now turned Villa Park into a fortress and supporters are loving every second.
They have won their last 13 home games in the Premier League, the latest a 3-1 success over Fulham last weekend when, on the occasions they went through the gears, proved too much for an underwhelming Fulham side.
Emery’s side, who have scored 23 goals in their six games at Villa Park, were always in control and the victory also meant Villa have opened a season in England’s top division with six successive home wins for the first time since 1932-33.
Yes, their form away from home has been erratic at times, but they are a million miles away from where they were this time last year.
They have not actually tasted defeat at Villa Park since a 4-2 loss to Arsenal in February and, even then, it took two goals in second-half injury time to go down to defeat.
It’s their best home run since winning 13 in a row in 1983 when they were reigning European champions.
To put it into perspective, before this run, Villa had won just 10 of 30 home matches – and lost 13 of those games.
It is not just the points but the style of play and playing personnel.
Many of those who failed to impress under Gerrard soon are prospering under the Spaniard. Emery then bolstered his squad with the summer additions of Pau Torres, Moussa Diaby, Youri Tielemans, Nicolo Zaniolo and Clement Lenglet.
No-one has thrived more than Ollie Watkins whose form has been transformed.
Only two players have been directly involved in more Premier League goals than Watkins in 2023 and their names are Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah. At 27, this is a man in the form of his life, enjoying call-ups to the England squad and a pillar for his team which is now fifth in the table, just three points off top spot.
Watkins is so pivotal that he has not even been substituted in the Premier League since September.
He has either scored or assisted in the majority of those Premier League appearances. Indeed, he is the only player to have at least five of each – as many goals as Nico Jackson and Alexander Isak, as many assists as James Ward-Prowse and James Maddison.
So far in 2023, Villa have earned 68 points from 34 games and, with European football also back in the Midlands, no wonder it’s fun to be a Villa fan right now, watching the team enjoy their best start in the league for 25 years.
The only potential downside could be the fact midfielder John McGinn limped off while on international duty for Scotland on Sunday, leaving Villa fans fearful about his participation in Sunday’s Premier League clash at top-four rivals Tottenham
McGinn appeared to be holding his knee before handing the captain’s armband over and hobbling off the Hampden pitch.
Elsewhere, it should be noted that Douglas Luiz, Boubacar Kamara and Lucas Digne are treading a disciplinary tightrope with all three players one booking away from a ban.
The Villa trio have racked up four yellow cards each from the first 12 Premier League games this season – top-flight players receive a one-match ban if they accumulate five yellow cards within the first 19 games.
However, these are hardly major long-term worries.
Arsenal chose wisely when they decided to replace the retiring Arsene Wenger with Emery in the summer of 2018. Their biggest mistake was not giving him enough time to put his stamp on the North London club.
Now Aston Villa Football Club, one of the ‘sleeping giants’ of the English game, is finally promising to fulfil its potential for the first time since under Martin O’Neill’s stewardship.
Their Midlands’ rivals may not agree but it is good news for English football.
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