Envy?

In May 2019, Norwich were made champions of the Football League by winning at Villa Park. Three weeks later Villa were promoted themselves by beating Derby in the play off final. This itself came a year after Villa lost the previous year's final, and looked to be heading into administration.

Villa had, instead of buying, had loaned players and that worked with Tami Abrahams knocking in a handful of goals.

Upon promotion, Villa had to buy players to create a new squad, and they bought well. Season on seaon, Villa spent big and improved.

To the point where in the 2023/24 season, Norwich failed to gain promotion losing to Leeds in the play off semi final. Villa had season on season improved their squad, at oine point in 2020 buying Emi from Norwich, so that while Norwich scraped into the play-offs of the Chamionship, Villa finished 4th n the Premier League and thus qualified for the this season's Champion's League.

This mid-week, Norwich drew with Leeds 0-0, while Villa beat Bayern 1-0 in front of a packed Villa Park.

It didn't always go smoothly, with sacking Dean Smith after a poor start in November 2021 and appointed former Liverpool midfielder, Steven Gerrard in his place.

The next season, after scoring just seven goals in the opening 11 games, Gerrard was sacked in October, and former Arsenal manager, Unai Emery, was appointed. At the end of that season Villa finished 7th, a remarkable turnround from the team's fortunes seen under Gerrard.

The trajectory of the two clubs has been very different since that spring day in May 2019. At times Villa have gambled, and the gamble paid off. Make no mistake that failure to get promoted in that same season might have resulted with the club sufferening points deduction and maybe facing relegation. Then in the Premier League, good recruitment and coaching saw the club survive.

Villa spent heavily, at times they had no choice, but they bought well, and the club's fortunes improved. There is a piece in the EDP tomorrow "As a #NCFC fan enviously watching on, it’s difficult to deny being disappointed that we have gone from a club so far ahead of #AVFC that season to one now so drastically behind them in the space of just five years."

Could Norwich really have taken the same road, taken the same risks, spent the same amounts of money? Emery is a fine coach, as his record at Villa Park shows. He would never be coming to Carrow Road. And after the fallout of the Chase era still effecting Norwich's finances, there was no way would Delia and Micheal risk the club's future in gambling by spending big for promotion. Smith did a fine job in getting Villa promoted, and keeping them up that first season, hope was that he could do the same with Norwich. But the team wasn't good enough, and Smith himself seemed to have little idea of how the team should play.

I don't envy Villa, at times I was shocked at the amounts spent and risks taken, but it worked for them. And they appointed Emery, when his stock in England was low after his time at Arsenal, but drom day 1, he turned Villa round, as players bought were good enough to be coached into change, and the performances and results came.

In time, Norwich can rebuild, recruit, develop and create a new team, with a good coach that is possible. Maybe that's happening already.

Maybe not.

Villa are the largest club (sorry Brum, Wolves and Baggies) in England's second city, and have resources and fans we can only dream of. Yes, smaller clubs from smaller, provincial city can be sucessful. Leicester won the Premier League, having spent £20m, but that was a once in five thousand year chance.

Also, not every team can be sucessful and improve year on year. Its a fact of life, chopping and changing managers and styles of play is not a recipe for sucess. Yes, Villa have done well, seriously well, but certainly in 2019/20 it could have easily gone the other way. I wish Villa well, they took chances, nettles were grabbed and the Holte End roared.

in 1992-94, we cheered on as Norwich overspent and over achieved. The bank statement came in and the hangover hit. Players were sold to keep the banks happy, until there was no one else to sell. We can't take that risk again, even when the prizes are so large. Maybe the new shareholder will invest in the team. Maybe not.