Anyone who has spent the last few years following Aston Villa won’t be too familiar with the concept of ambition.
The last five seasons have seen the midlands club finish 16th, 15th, 15th, 17th and 20th, a run that is more or less the definition of ‘finally being put out of their misery’.
But a new owner brings new hope, and Dr Tony Xia has big plans for the Championship team.
In a Twitter Q&A, the club chairman laid out his five year plan for Villa, and he was aiming big.
As you can probably expect, the bold statement was met with ridicule from fans, including some of the Villa Park faithful.
.@AVFCOfficial @willows17 @Dr_TonyXia pic.twitter.com/F1gNwNlzrX
— Tim (@CookPassTim) August 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/dezzaxx_/status/763427703299211264
@JackPittBrooke @willows17 @Dr_TonyXia what is the definition of deluded? #AskTheChairman
— Ross (@AManWithAClue) August 10, 2016
@Dr_TonyXia and apparently #NUFC fans are deluded! #avfc fans must be cringing at these tweets
— Shaun Dinning (@shaundinning) August 10, 2016
@willows17 @Dr_TonyXia theres thinking big then theres stupidity that wouldnt happen if we won 4 prems back to back
— Joe Breeze (@jbreeze2304) August 10, 2016
Now sure, the prospect of Villa becoming Europe’s biggest club might be a little far-fetched when they’re not even in the top flight of English football, but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming big.
Reading Dr Xia’s comments, we can’t help but be reminded of Leicester City chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha pledging to spend big to lift the club into the Premier Leagues top five.
At the time, his comments got remarks like these…
Dear Leicester City owner with the ridiculously long name! Aspirations to be a top 5 club!!? … Yeah Cheers!! #yoyoteam #oneyearwonder
— Sam Sims (@samsims2410) May 14, 2014
Leicester chairman is giving Nigel Pearson £180 million over 3 years to make us a top 5 team 😏😏
— Danny (@Dannydraper_) May 14, 2014
The Leicester owner thinks £180 million over 3 years will turn them into a top 5 club? *snort* That's a good one!
— Jamie Ryan (@jamierye) May 14, 2014
https://twitter.com/Bartjblett/status/466385072053301248
https://twitter.com/benmhancock/status/466346310023786496
Those comments were made in May 2014, and we all know what happened just two years later.
All we’re saying is a lot can happen in two years, let alone five.
At risk of being made to look stupid, we’re going to let Dr Xia put his plan in action before laughing off the prospect of European domination for Villa. They do already have a Champions League winning manager, after all.
Sure, it seems ridiculously unlikely, but so did the idea of Leicester winning the league.
