Aston Villa are just where Ian Holloway said they would be.
Millwall manager Ian Holloway
Former Premier League and Championship manager Ian Holloway incurred the wrath of Aston Villa owner Tony Xia this summer by predicting a struggling season for the club.
Holloway told SkySports they would finish in 16th position in the Championship this season, and fail to mount a promotion push.
Well five games into the season, Aston Villa occupy that exact spot.
They have one win, two draws, and two losses to date, finding the division just as much of an adjustment as Holloway forecast.
New manager Roberto Di Matteo
There are fortunately still 41 games to go this season, and the condensed nature of the league means Villa are only four points off the play-offs.
The biggest change for Villa since the transfer deadline is the fact they splashed out to sign Bristol City ace Jonathan Kodjia beforehand.
With Ross McCormack creating more goalscoring chances this season than any other player in the Championship (20), Kodjia could be the missing piece of the jigsaw in attack which helps Villa really kick on.
The opening five games have been a learning curve for the team, but they have bought well over the past month, and speculation regarding incomings and outgoings will now settle down.
This next period of games will really begin to shape Villa’s season, and they will hope to look back in five games time and see that Holloway’s prediction is a distant memory, rather than a dark premonition.
Millwall manager Ian Holloway
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