With a new sponsorship deal in place with fund manager DWS Investments, Aston Villa manager David O'Leary is hoping for an even better finish than last year's sixth place
A repeat of last season's top-six finish would be viewed as a success at Villa Park, according to Aston Villa manager David O'Leary.
But, he concedes, the Midlands team is unlikely to break into the top four and snatch a coveted Champions League place next May.
The club narrowly missed out on a UEFA cup slot last term, pipped at the post on goal difference by Newcastle United on the last day of the season.
Rather than dwelling on what might have been, the Villa manager is keen to focus on the positives and continue working on restoring the club's reputation as a Premiership big gun.
"Supporters do expect more next season and that is because we hopefully restored a bit of pride last season," he said. "A repeat of last season would definitely be seen as successful."
He is sanguine about the club's chances of breaking into the top four and grabbing Champions League qualification, given how far ahead of the rest of the division the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are in terms of football, marketing and financial muscle.
With Liverpool and Newcastle below them typically slugging it out for that last Champions League berth, the fifth-placed reward of a UEFA cup berth has been the consolation prize for the loser of that particular contest over the past couple of seasons.
"Last season we were one of a number of teams battling it out below those teams and they will again provide the yardstick for the rest," said O'Leary. "That does not mean to say we will not try to put pressure on the top four or five, but it is getting increasingly difficult to force your way into that group.
"We almost did it last season and I said that was possibly our best chance for years to come. But it is a challenge that I relish and we will not let the big-spending clubs have it all their own way."
Maintaining a top-six finish is a challenge in itself given the cyclical nature of the game. As in the financial world of the club's sponsor, DWS Investments, past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future. Just ask Everton supporters.
Treading water is not easy in the Premiership. While the top three last season, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, finished some 15 points clear of fourth-placed Liverpool and 19 points clear of Newcastle in fifth place, the next seven teams were only separated by nine points, such is the fierceness of competition in the middle of the table.
This is only set to intensify after a frenzied summer of transfer dealings that was inevitable after the Euro 2004 shop window.
While the top five have, as usual, led the way in the transfer market over the summer, a number of the teams that finished immediately below Villa last term have also been splashing the cash in a bid to crack Europe.
The likes of Charlton Athletic, Fulham and local rivals Birmingham City have all been outspending Villa in order to strengthen their teams and build strong enough squads to sustain a season-long push for glory.
O'Leary is well aware these clubs pose as big a threat to Villa's ambitions as the big guns and he is far from complacent.
"The likes of Middlesbrough, Birmingham and one or two others have spent big and will want to get ahead of us, and that is all part of the challenge," he said. "Teams like Manchester City and Everton, who had disappointing campaigns last season, will also be aiming to bounce back."
Three new players will be pulling on the famous claret and blue strip next season though. O'Leary has added AC Milan star Martin Laursen, Chelsea rookie Carlton Cole and Czech defender Vaclav Drobny to his squad during the summer.
Danish Euro 2004 star Laursen was a £3m capture from the Serie A giants, while Cole and Drobny have been brought in on season-long loan deals. The sale of Peter Crouch to Southampton for £2m and Rob Edwards to Wolves for £150,000 helped bankroll these deals.
By way of comparison, free-spending Chelsea have shelled out some £90m in summer dealings, with only £2.2m coming back in sales. That came from Birmingham, who captured flying Danish winger Jesper Gronkjaer as part of their £5.7m spending spree. Charlton have invested £3.75m in new players while Middlesbrough have spent £4.5m.
"You can only spend within your budget and if one club is spending massive amounts, good luck to them," O'Leary said. "The goalposts have not moved for the majority of other clubs.
"On the transfer front, as I have said from day one, I identify the targets and then leave it to the chairman and the board to chase the deals."
O'Leary is not one to be jealous of the somewhat looser purse strings at Chelsea, however. Blues manager Jose Mourinho's £30m spree on forwards Mateja Kezman and Didier Drogba means there is still no space on the bench for promising starlet Carlton Cole, despite Hernan Crespo being farmed out to AC Milan for a season and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink being packed off to Middlesbrough on a free transfer.
"The Carlton Cole loan deal should be good for everybody involved," O'Leary said. "Carlton will get the chance to play Premiership football and hopefully develop as a striker, and that is good news for Chelsea.
"We get a raw talent in and hopefully he adds something to the squad. Chelsea will either get a better, more experienced player back or his value will have risen because of his time here at Villa."
Loan deals are an increasingly common feature of the game. Holding out for a decent transfer fee that may or may not come is no longer seen as sound practice and clubs are often more than willing to rid their squads of peripheral players whose salaries drain the balance sheet. Veterans Dion Dublin, Ronny Johnsen and Hassan Kachloul have all been released by Villa this summer.
O'Leary is now looking to home grown stars Gareth Barry and Lee Hendrie to step up a gear and prove their maturity. The manager was disappointed with Barry in particular last season, feeling he did not build on his strong performances the year before.
O'Leary has traditionally sought a balance between youth and experience. He added further experience to the midfield through the January transfer window signing of 30-year-old former Newcastle player Nolberto Solano, while the young German Thomas Hitzlsperger has been making a strong claim for a regular first team start.
"That is what you always try to do," O'Leary said. "You look for the right calibre of players, at the right price, that you can hopefully develop."
The mix of foreign players - such as the club's strong contingent of Scandinavians like Swedes Olof Mellberg, the club captain, and Marcus Allback - as well as homegrown talents such as Barry and Cole, is more a by-product of blending experienced and fledgling talents than a goal in itself.
"I have to be careful not to have too many players who will regularly be travelling halfway across the world for internationals, for example South Americans," O'Leary said. "But otherwise it is about a player's quality and potential, not his nationality."
Last season's top scorer, Colombian Juan Pablo Angel, who netted 16 times in the Premiership, and Peruvian Solano, along with Ecuadorian defender Ulises de la Cruz, make up the team's South American contingent.
It looks unlikely Angel will lead the line on Saturday's opener at home to Southampton. The player has returned to light training following a knee injury but remains doubtful for the first couple of games of the new season.
In his absence, new signing Cole is looking to forge a productive partnership with England striker Darius Vassell. The duo were paired together during the team's four-match pre-season tour of Sweden, as well as in domestic friendlies against Walsall and Derby County.
Cole netted four goals in the six game but Villa lost the final two fixtures, with old boy Ian Taylor ironically netting twice for the Rams in a 2-1 reversal.
O'Leary is not too worried, however. "From my point of view, it is all about getting the players ready for the start of the season," he said.
"The games on tour are extended training sessions and everything we do at this time of year is designed to prepare players for the long season ahead."
With the ring rust worked off in these warm-ups, O'Leary now has to ensure Villa avoids the poor start that blighted last season's campaign. If the team can maintain the form that saw it leap from 17th in the table before Christmas to sixth at the end of the season, Europe is a strong possibility.
The manager will not be drawn on who he thinks will win the league though. "After so many years in football, I have learned never to make predictions," he shrugged. JP
