Brian Little has experienced plenty of ups and downs during 50 years with Aston Villa but believes Tony Xia can return to the club to it’s lofty status.
Aston Villa legend Brian Little says new owner Tony Xia is the sort of person the club needs following their humiliating relegation last season.
Villa won just three games in the Premier League in 2015/16, accruing a meagre 17 points, and have so far failed to acclimatise to their first season in the second tier since 1987, winning just one of their first five games under new boss Roberto Di Matteo.
However, Little (below), who played and managed Villa during an association with the club spanning five decades, believes new owner Dr Xia could bring some much needed positivity back to the 1982 European Cup winners.
“The last year or two, the fans hadn’t seen enough of their owner,” Little told the Guardian. “Tony has said that [previous owner] Randy Lerner is a perfectly decent bloke and I echo those sentiments even though it didn’t work for him. He just lost that frontman position that a club needs.”
“The Birmingham people have a bit of an edge to them and [they like] having someone who’s prepared to answer someone back, no matter who they are.
“[Xia is] the sort of person who enjoys it when things go well, but when they don’t he’s quite hurt and emotional about it. That’s the sort person the club needs.”
The Chinese businessman cannot be accused of lacking ambition, having splurged a combined £25 million on strikers Ross McCormack and Jonathan Kodjia from Fulham and Bristol City, respectively according to The Guardian.
He also made public his aim to return Villa to Europe within five years, according to SkySports. After a dismal couple of years, however, Villa fans could be forgiven for feeling a little wary.
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