One win in eight for Roberto Di Matteo, should his time at Villa Park be cut short?
Aston Villa manager Roberto Di Matteo
They’ve spent over £50 million this summer, but Aston Villa find themselves struggling to get a win under their belts as the pressure mounts on new manager Roberto Di Matteo.
It was another disappointing night at Villa Park after the Claret and Blue let a lead slip for the second time in four days as Brentford snatched a late draw.
Jonathan Kodja grabbed his first goal for the club, the striker took a pass from Mile Jedinak down the right, worked his way to the edge of the area and hit a left-foot shot which curled beautifully into the far-left corner. But with minutes to go Di Matteo’s men failed to clear their lines as John Egan came in to equalise in the 88th minute.
The former Chelsea manager claimed his side need to be more ruthless in front of goal after failing to see out Sunday’s match with Nottingham Forest, a game in which Villa created a number of chances and it was the same against Brentford.
Di Matteo told BBC Sport “We need to be more clinical in front of goal, we could have scored five on Sunday. But most of all we also need to see games out.
“We allowed them to get too much of the ball in the second half and we got a bit nervous in the last 10 minutes. We just need to win. Win ugly, or attractive. It doesn’t matter.”
Aston Villa manager Roberto Di Matteo with Tommy Elphick looking dejected at the end of the match
Many expected Villa to be up there competing early on with former Premier League Newcastle United, however it seems as though Villa have struggled to come to terms with the demands of the Championship with their only win this season coming against Rotherham United.
Inevitably, questions are starting to be asked of Di Matteo and whether he is the right man for the job.
Of course the CV of the former West Bromwich Albion and Schalke manager looks impressive after guiding Chelsea to winning the Champions League and FA Cup but the job was made for someone to come in and give the players a kick up the backside, judging by Di Matteo’s demeanour on the touchline you would struggle to imagine him doing that.
Aston Villa players look dejected
They’ve dropped nine points from winning positions this term and were booed off at the end of the game on Wednesday night, it could potentially be the beginning of the end if he cannot change the fortunes at Villa Park.
His calm approach may work with some clubs but not Villa, they find themselves in a fight to gain promotion back to the Premier League and the longer they hang around in the second tier, it will only get more and more difficult.
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