*Dublin provides safety net*

It was a strange time to exhort the fans but there was Aston Villa’s captain Gareth Southgate, last man on the pitch, pumping arms at the departing crowd. There is a credibility gap at Villa Park, one as gaping as the empty seats in another sub-30,000 crowd.

Lack of belief transmitted itself from muted audience to team as Villa, playing into the corners, nervously survived an improbable bout of late pressure from an injury-ravaged Middlesbrough. The stayaways on Saturday were justified in their fear that this would be a sluggish spectacle in the late summer sun between two teams flattered by high early-season positions.

Villa’s gates are around 10,000 down on last season’s early figures. This can be attributed to a seen-it-all-before scepticism, given their team’s dramatic new-year collapse and the Birmingham public’s traditional August exit to the coast. Whatever the reasons, the lower gate receipts make worrying reading for Doug Ellis and John Gregory when calculating the transfer kitty.

Yet Villa, firmly ensconced in second place going into September, are not doing much wrong that cannot be put right. Whether their improved squad’s optimum performance will trouble the much-touted big three is anybody’s guess, including Southgate’s.

“We know we’ve got a stronger squad - there’s more steel about us this year - but whether we’ve got the quality to challenge remains to be seen,” he said. “But we don’t feel we’ve played particularly well so far.

“Being top so long last season was exciting but draining. I think our attitude will be more resilient now. A lot of soul-searching went on in the summer by everybody, looking at where we went wrong and how we could improve. We’ve still got some improvement to make before we can consistently challenge the big boys.”

Villa’s start to both halves set unfulfilled expectations. A clever one-two after five minutes between Alan Wright and Paul Merson created an opportunity for Dion Dublin to head home with aplomb for his fourth goal of the season.

Just after the interval the persevering Julian Joachim twice went close with enterprising shots. In between, David James reverted to Liverpool ways in fumbling Brian Deane’s header and Paul Ince’s miscued shot.

Ince was prominent in both penalty areas but provided little in midfield which, lacking both Paul Gascoigne and Christian Ziege among Boro’s regiment of injured, palpably lacked invention.

This was largely plain English fare, served up by so many members of the national team’s old boys. To spice his recipe, Bryan Robson will this week pursue exotic youth as he travels to Argentina in pursuit of the 17-year-old Arturo Marinelli, the Boca Juniors forward dubbed “the new Maradona”.

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*The Guardian*
Sunday, 29 August 1999

*Head start keeps Villa at the top*

Those who thought that Villa’s lightning start to last season was no more than a fluke should think again. Their latest victory, secured by a fifth-minute Dion Dublin strike, could and should have been more emphatic, and takes them to the top of the table, level with Manchester United. A familiar story.

In mitigation, Middlesbrough could point to a list of injuries that left their side not so much depleted as hardly recognisable. Christian Ziege, who has illuminated the Riverside since his summer arrival from Milan, was the most notable absentee.

Middlesbrough’s makeshift defence was ill-equipped to cope with Villa’s mobile and marauding attack. Paul Merson in particular, once a Boro player and subjected to boos at his every touch, was a hive of industrious invention.

But yet again Dublin proved the match-winner, sending a powerful header past Mark Schwarzer with the match barely started, his fourth goal in six games.

Five minutes later another free header, from a Merson free-kick, fell to Ugo Ehiogu. He proved less clinical, sending his effort over the bar from six yards. It was an impressive start from the home side, one which Boro should be pleased to have escaped just a single goal down.

They created some chances of their own, with Ince the primary creative force. Twice his centres caused problems for David James in the Villa goal, with Brian Deane unfortunate not to score from the first.

But with the first half drawing to a close, Alan Wright was presented with the simplest chance of the game. Lee Hendrie’s cross fell to the wing-back, standing completely alone on the far post. He completely miskicked with a goal seeming inevitable, the ball rolling to the grateful Schwarzer.

The second half opened, like the first, with the home side completely dominant. Joachim in particular came close with two efforts, but the spell ended with the score still at 1-0.

Villa had missed their chance to kill off the game, and twice Deane almost made them pay. Villa, however, are getting used to winning.