Aston Villa will narrowly miss out on the top 10, according to our predictions.
Where will your side finish in 2012-13? With the season just one week away, our pundits have put our heads together to give you a comprehensive set of predictions.
Opinions and analysis on all 20 Premier League clubs are given here by 12 of our writers and pundits here at HITC Sport. On the basis of the predictions from our ‘daring dozen’ we have calculated how the table will look come next May.
How does it work? All the predictions are totalled together, the team with the lowest score will finish 1st, and the highest will finish 20th. Here are the predictions for your club.
Verdict: Aston Villa will finish in: 11th
Highest prediction: 9th, Lowest prediction: 17th
Dan Coombs: 9th; Last season was a disaster for Villa, but Randy Lerner acted decisively to get rid of Alex McLeish. Paul Lambert is the perfect man for the job, and a top half finish should be expected. Darren Bent will have to be on top form, and a back up striker will still need to be bought in case he is injured, but if the manager can get Charles N’Zogbia in form then he will be a dangerous asset. Ron Vlaar is an excellent addition in defence, and a solid base will give them a foundation to build upon.
Vic Daniels: 17th: Paul Lambert will come to understand the term ‘pig in lipstick’. Another tough season for last year’s strugglers.
Mathew Nash: 12th; Star Player – Darren Bent, Top Scorer – Darren Bent. Another disappointing season for Villa under new boss Paul Lambert but overall not a bad position for an ever growing competitive league. The form and fitness of Darren Bent is essential to trumping my prediction and young centre back Ciaran Clark could also make a significant impact this term. But Brummy rivals WBA will push them close.
Tomo Taka: 15th; New manager Paul Lambert will find it difficult to improve much on last season’s 16th achieved by Alex McLeish. The Aston Villa challenge entails higher expectations than the job at Norwich and how Lambert deals with the pressure will be interesting. Star player will be: Darren Bent. Bent was injured for much of the season last season and Villa greatly missed his goals. He has however consistently scored goals in the Premier League over the years and now fully fit, should return to form this new season. Villa’s challenge will be scoring goals. Villa scored the fewest last year netting only 37 and they severely missed Darren Bent when he was injured. His return should see them improve but he will need help from others to increase the goal tally.
Jake Lane: 9th; The Villains had a torrid time under McLeish last term but fans will enjoy the much needed breath of fresh air that Paul Lambert will bring to the club. Villa are a top ten club and their new manager will get the best out of key players Charles N’Zogbia, Darren Bent and when he returns from injury in September, Gabriel Agbonlahor. With new signing, defender Ron Vlaar and trusting Shay Given has gotten over his Euro 2012 nightmare, expect the midlanders to be much stronger at the back this year.
Nigel Owen: 15th; Villa were one of only two teams who failed to score an average of a goal per game last season, yet are keeping faith with their strike force. Admittedly they did lose Darren Bent to injury from February, when he had 5 goals in 10 games, so they will be hoping he stays fit. The loss of James Collins and Carlos Cuellar will mean a new central defensive partnership will need to form, and if Bent doesn’t hit his straps straightaway, Paul Lambert will need that new pairing to be rock solid. It doesn’t take a genius to see that an £18m striker with a goal every other game in his 300 game career is vital to any side, but particularly so to a low scoring side like Villa.
Surya Solanki: 12th; Good signings, new manager and return of the prime striker, Aston Villa would surely have a solid 2012-13 season. Don’t see them getting into top-10, but a 12th place finish is surely achievable.
Paul Moore: 11th; The appointment of Paul Lambert is a very good one. The new manager will be pleased with a mid table finish and Darren Bent is due a good season in front of goal.
John Aggrey: 15th; They will be 15th because; I’m not laughing at them post-Alex McLeish; he’s a Carling Cup winner for crying out loud. He successfully led Birmingham to relegation and just before our very eyes; he failed by a whisker in leading Aston Villa the same road. So Lambert arrives from Norwich City and here’s a whole different game plan. Villa needs the mentality, they have the players and just after a few fixes, Villa should be good to rumble again. Their main Star should be; Gabriel Agbonlahor for me any day. Having watched him mature over recent time even in recent trouble at this club and alongside Bent, he should keep the Villa Machine in motion. Biggest Challenge; Try and win several matches as possible. Last season they only won 7 matches and with several draws, they were almost relegated. It sounds simple, but getting more wins should be the greatest thing now.
Naveenan Thanendra: 12th; Following the latest episode of Alex Mcleish’s quest to ruin as many west midlands clubs as he can, Randy Lerner brought in Paul Lambert to pick up the pieces. So, as disastrous as last season may have been for the Villa faithful, the future certainly seems to be a lot brighter. Having lost James Collins and Carlos Cuellar, Lambert moved swiftly to add Ron Vlaar to solidify that backline alongside Richard Dunne. Furthermore, Lerner has now sold his stake in NFL bottom feeders, the Clevelend Browns, for over $1billion, indicating that he is now ready to invest further in Aston Villa. For now though. Darren Bent’s scoring prowess will be essential for Lambert to succeed. However, if Lambert wants to see further progression up the table he will have to tackle the challenge of harnessing the raw talent of Villa’s young side.
Keval Shah: 9th; Lambert will inject some much needed life back into Villa this season. After a successful season with Norwich he will now have an improved squad to work with, as well as a fit again Darren Bent. However, with Dunne injured for the start of the season and Collins and Cuellar leaving for West Ham and Stoke respectively, Ron Vlaar will feel the weight on his shoulders from the get-go. If Lambert can tighten up the defence this season, I believe the squad contains enough quality players to earn a top half finish.
Khiam Barry: 14th; Villa will rely on Darren Bent heavily for the goals as Agbonlahor is never certain to score double figures in a season. Question marks about the solidity of the back four, and Petrov is a big miss in the centre of midfield.
Connor Jipps: 9th; Villa chief Randy Lerner moved quickly this summer to dispose of the highly criticise Alex McLeish and has installed former Norwich boss, Paul Lambert as his successor. Unlike his predecessor McLeish, Lambert joins the club off the back of a successful managerial debut season in the Premier League. At Norwich Lambert was unable to receive the funds he deemed necessary to take the club forward and Villa must have offered up a reasonable transfer budget to the Scot to persuade him to make the move. Early transfer deals appear promising with Matthew Lowton, Karim El Ahmadi, Brett Holman and Ron Vlaar all joining the Midlands outfit. Vlaar’s arrival in particular is an indication of Lambert’s vision, with the Dutch centre back highly rated across Europe from his time at Feyenoord. More importantly for Villa though is the return of hitman Darren Bent from an injury that ruled him out of action between February and the end of the season. Under McLeish Villa looked toothless in attack, but Bent’s return will undoubtedly correlate to a greater goal threat. Pre-season has offered the players a good platform to prove themselves to the new manager and results have been good. If Villa can translate their pre-season form in to the new season and adjust from the rigid defensive system of McLeish to the more free-flowing style of Lambert, they could just find themselves sneaking back in to the top half of the table.
Full predicted table: (1) Manchester City, (2) Manchester United, (3) Chelsea, (4) Arsenal, (5) Tottenham, (6) Liverpool, (7) Newcastle, (8) Everton, (9) Fulham, (10) Sunderland, (11) Aston Villa, (12) Stoke, (13) QPR, (14) Swansea, (15) West Ham, (16) West Brom, (17) Norwich, (18) Reading, (19) Wigan, (20) Southampton.
Where do you believe Aston Villa will finish next season?
image: © ell brown
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