Stan Collymore has described Aston Villa’s season as “mildly disappointing” and believes the club will miss out on European football next year.
Boyhood Villa fan Collymore regularly attends games having spent three seasons with the club in the late 1990s and, although he recognises the progress made under Unai Emery, he feels defensive frailties will hamper their progress.
Villa, who are ninth in the Premier League following Saturday’s disappointing 1-1 draw with 10-man Ipswich Town, are still in the Champions League and qualified automatically for the round of 16 after coming eighth in the revamped group phase.
Unai’s reaction to today’s draw against Ipswich Town 🗣️
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 15, 2025
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Collymore predicts Villa will finish eighth
But Collymore believes the failure to sign at least one defender in the January window will come back to bite them.
Speaking to 101 Great Goals via William Hill Vegas, the 54-year-old said: “I’ve got Villa to finish eighth which would have us miss out on Europe in its totality.
“It happened to Newcastle and it’s just one of those flaws and glitches whereby particularly clubs with smallish squads don’t have the capacity to cope with the amount of tournaments that are being played.
“If I’m right Villa will miss out on Europe. I don’t think we’ll win the Champions League, so it will be down to could we win the FA Cup? I think that still gets you in the Europa League so that’s the best opportunity.
“As for the season overall, dare I say it has been mildly disappointing which sounds bizarre when I have been in the Holte End with mates to watch us beat Bayern Munich, watch us beat Juventus…
“If you take aside the Champions League, a nine out of 10 effort so far, the league campaign has been distinctly average because there has been a lack of attention to detail in terms of keeping clean sheets. Villa just cannot keep a clean sheet. More often than not we concede the first goal which means you’re chasing the game.”
Collymore eyes FA Cup glory
Villa are challenging on three fronts, the league, FA Cup and Champions League. Asked what would constitute success for the club this season, Collymore said: “With my Villa fan’s hat on, we haven’t won the FA Cup since 1957 so it would be winning a trophy, particularly after the rapid ascent in the last couple of seasons under Unai Emery.
“What Villa are prioritising is to go as far as they can in the Champions League but I think they will be extraordinarily disappointed if they down’t get some flavour of Europe.
“So, the FA Cup as a fan. As a club, go as far as you can in the Champions League.”
Rashford and Asensio not enough – Collymore
Villa made two big-name signings in January, bringing in Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio on loan from Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain respectively, but Collymore wasn’t entirely happy with the club’s dealings.
“In terms of the recruitment, the jury is out,” he said.
“I know there were two marquee signings in terms of Asensio and Rashford but I think many Villa fans would have liked to see one or two central defenders.
“Tyrone Mings got injured again fairly recently, he’s back now, Pau Torres has been injured, Diego Carlos went off to Turkey and Ezri Konsa has been shuffled between right back and central defence.
“It’s great to have headline signings that grab attention – national as well as local headlines – but the signings that Villa have had, none have been exceptional. If you look at Villa’s three main scorers – one has been Ollie Watkins that Unai Emery inherited, one was Morgan Rogers, a nine out of 10 player, but probably wasn’t expected to play as many games as he has so that’s a bit of luck and Ross Barkley, who has scored three. Again, he was probably expected to come in and play a few games in cup competitions and not weigh in in terms of the Premier League. Leon Bailey has been disappointing, Donyell Malen hasn’t done a lot yet, Ian Maatsen… [Amadou] Onana started very well, but has drifted off.
“Players that have come in for good money have been par or just below par, so there are questions for Unai Emery to answer. At the moment Villa fans are saying ‘great we’re still in the Champions League’, but we need to rectify some of there glaring inconsistencies in performances.”
