Paul Lambert’s first season in charge at Villa Park will be remembered as a bit of a rollercoaster ride by Aston Villa fans, who saw their side flirt with relegation places for most of the campaign before saving themselves with a good late run. Expectations were high for the former Norwich manager, who took over in the summer from the unpopular Alec McLeish but realistically, his side were always going to struggle without the hugely influential Stilian Petrov, who had been diagnosed with leukemia, and Richard Dunne, who was to miss the whole of the season with a groin injury. The new man in charge signed central defender Ron Vlaar, winger Brett Holman and central midfielder Karim El Ahmadi, all from the Dutch league over the summer. He also brought on board a few players from lower leagues, among which Matthew Lowton, and Ashley Westwood, who were both to secure regular starting spots. Crucially, with Darren Bent injured at the start of the campaign, Lambert signed Belgian striker Christian Benteke from Genk on August deadline day. The Belgian would go on to become Villa’s player of the year with 19 goals, which was possibly the difference between survival and relegation. Villa had a laborious start of the season, losing their first two games. Lambert kept his faith in young and aspiring players. Ron Vlaar was soon handed the captain’s armband while both Darren Bent and Shay Given were quickly relegated to watching briefs. Fabian Delph gradually imposed himself in central midfield. Holman and N’Zogbia initially competed for a starting spot on the wing until Gabby Agbonlahor’s return to form in the second half of the season earned him a place in Lambert three-pronged attack alongside Benteke and Weimann. Villa had only won three times in the league when they came out at Anfield on 15 December and ran riot against Liverpool, coming away 3-1 winners. Those who thought Villa had turned a corner then were proved badly wrong as Paul Lambert’s charges went on to lose three on the trot against Chelsea, Tottenham and Wigan, conceding 15 goals in the process to finish the year. The Midlanders bottomed out in 19th place at the end of January when both their Cup runs were ended by lower league opposition. Paul Lambert’s only signing of note in the transfer window was midfielder Yacouba Sylla, who proved useful considering the long term injuries to Chris Herd and Mark Albrigthon. The Villa boss’ faith in his young charges was finally vindicated with his side gradually finding their stride in the final third of the season. The Villans proved clinical against sides around them in the table, losing only five of their final 14 against the top four sides in the table and Liverpool. Lambert stuck to his preferred 4-3-3 formation with Benteke the focal point of the attack. Gabby Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann both hit form at the right time to give Villa a potent strike force. It ensured they secured safety with a few games to spare at the end of April with an emphatic win over Sunderland at Villa Park.
