A look back at Aston Villa in 2011: What has changed?

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A lot has changed for Aston Villa over the course of the last five years, with 2011/12 proving to be a tough campaign for the club.

It may be an understatement to suggest that Aston Villa are experiencing some turbulent times in the present day. With no manager to speak of following the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo and a depleted fan base, things are looking bleak for the Midlands side. Regardless, it is always interesting to look into the past and compare your fortunes, especially with a club as fascinating as Villa.

Back in 2011, the club made the baffling decision to hire Alex McLeish as their new manager following Gerard Houllier’s departure. What made it so shocking was the fact that McLeish’s previous club was Birmingham City, with the obvious connections inciting fury among the Villa faithful that this decision had been made.

Some boycotted games and some just booed and booed hoping that it would inspire a change in leadership, however it took until the end of the season for the trigger to finally be pulled.

The decision was made after a poor campaign that left Villa down in 16th with just seven wins throughout the campaign. Some fans said they saw it coming given the hostility around the club, but either way it was a disaster of a season.

Although the funny thing to remember is that they still managed to retain their Premier League status, meanwhile today they find themselves down in the second tier. It certainly does beg the question of whether or not fans would want to go back to the McLeish era, as painful as it was, in order to restore their top flight position.

It seems likely that the answer for many would be no. As worrying as things are right now, the club do have a new owner in Dr Tony Xia as well as a chance to rehabilitate themselves down in the Championship. Things have not got off to the best start, but as long as their next appointment is a smart one then there is no reason why they can’t return to their Premier League roots within the next few years.

Five years ago Aston Villa were simply floundering from season to season, chopping and changing managers in the hope that they could revisit the success of the Martin O’Neill days. That was not the case, and the one thing they can say today is that there is a glimmer of hope, however small it may be.