Aston Villa have sacked Roberto Di Matteo - but where did it go wrong?
Aston Villa have sacked Roberto Di Matteo after just 124 days in charge - but where did it go wrong?
The Italian won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012 but failed to have a positive impact on the Midlands club, following their relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season.
Di Matteo leaves Villa 19th in the Championship, with just 10 points from 11 games. Here we look at what cost him his job…
Late slips
The 85th, 86th, 87th, 88th and 89th minute. These are the times Villa have let points slip in the Championship this season, dropping nine points in the process.
If they had held on against Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield, Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Barnsley, Roberto Di Matteo would still be in a job, sitting in seventh, a point behind rivals Birmingham City and a play-off spot.
But of course, that counts for little, and genuine questions must be asked of Villa's mentality.
Aston Villa have sacked Di Matteo with the club 19th in the Championship
Against Brentford in particular, with Villa dominating and showing no signs of slipping up, Di Matteo replaced injured striker Ross McCormack with defender Jordan Amavi at half-time, despite having attacking options on the bench. Cue nervousness at Villa Park, and a last-minute equaliser that had been coming.
"When we are going into a lead we are not managing to see it out and it keeps occurring," the Italian said after the game. "The last 10 minutes were nervous because of that. It is something we need to work through."
Mentality is often underrated in football, particularly in a division where promotion can hinge on momentum, or in Villa's case stopping the rot as soon as possible.
It hasn't happened, this season or last, and the evidence of low morale is clear as day.
Go 1-0 up, and Villa will struggle to kill the game off, cowering in the final stages. Go 1-0 down, and Villa's heads will drop, allowing opponents to pick them off as Preston did with such ease on Saturday. Villa haven't fought back from a goal down to win a league game since December 7, 2014.
Di Matteo failed to instil resolve and has paid the price.
Highlights of Preston's 2-0 win over Aston Villa from the Sky Bet Championship
The summer revamp
The summer transfer window went more or less as well as it could have for Villa, with the club rebuilding in all positions with nine senior players at a cost of nearly £50m.
Refreshingly, fans were kept informed of targets by new owner Dr Tony Xia, who used his Twitter account as a minute-by-minute account of the club's market moves.
Reputable Championship names in McCormack, Jonathan Kodjia, Albert Adomah and Aaron Tshibola all brought hope, along with two Premier League captains in Tommy Elphick and Mile Jedinak.
Di Matteo bemoaned the decision to rule out Jonathan Kodjia's goal at Preston
Di Matteo said of Xia: "He's been great. He's been absolutely fantastic from day one. We knew that we needed to make some changes.
"He's spent a lot of time here to be close to the dealings in the transfer market which has helped us tremendously."
A dozen games into the season, they haven't yet gelled. Jedinak has failed to make his presence felt in midfield, new goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini has made costly errors, and McCormack's attacking prowess has not been utilised, though not helped by niggling injury.
Their attack - a mix of height, pace and versatility - is among the most feared in the Championship, but only on paper. Was it too much to ask of Di Matteo to have this four-pronged front line firing from the off, or should it have all clicked in an instant?
Given another dozen games, they may have hit it off, but Villa fans will never know. The managerial merry-go-round at Villa Park gets booted up once more.
A Villa vs Wolves
October 15, 2016, 5:15pm
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Managing expectation
Upon entering the club, Jedinak and McCormack professed their amazement at the club's size. One look at the 43,000-seater stadium and top-flight training ground was enough, but on recent form, do Villa deserve the 'big club' tag? Do they warrant a Premier League spot on their size alone?
With three wins this calendar year and no away win since last August, entering the Championship on the back of picking up just 17 points last season, it's difficult to argue that Villa are still a side with a Premier League reputation.
In fact, but for the goals of Christian Benteke, Villa could have easily fallen in each of the three seasons prior to their eventual demise. It could be argued Villa have been a Championship side since 2011.
When Sky Sports' Ian Holloway made his predictions for the Championship season back in August, Villa were placed down in 16th, staggering Xia and fans alike.
But that losing streak, that losing mentality taken from a dismal Premier League campaign, is not extinguished with the dropping down of a division. See: Wolves, Leeds, Southampton, Norwich, Leicester.
This was always going to be a rebuild job, and both Di Matteo and Xia did what they could to manage the expectation of those expecting a quick return to the top flight.
The new manager must do more of the same, go back to basics, and start with a victory of any kind, before Villa's position in the Championship comes under threat.
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