Shaun Goater 'leaves'

Scapegoat? Problem? Taking a top job? Or just fed up with the lack of progress?

Frankly, it could be any of those or a combination of more than one behind the move.

Whatever the reasoning behind Goater's departure, the reaction needs to be swift on the back of eight defeats in eleven for Natalia Arroyo's struggling side. With Manchester City up next, ironically, Goater's former club, the challenge isn't getting easier.

The irony being that Goater has the best record of any Villa Women's manager, and by all

accounts was a popular member of the management team.

The question is, will his departure improve the performance of Natalia Arroyo, or has one of the key influences now been lost?

Interim Manager: Shaun Goater 🇧🇲

Goater's interim spell may have been short, but his impact on the team was significant, following on from the hopelessly divisive Robert de Pauw.

🕒 3 🟩 W1 🟨 D1 🟥 L1

Win Rate: 33%

Loss Rate: 33%

Unbeaten: 67%

Points per Game: 1.33

Goals Scored: 6 Goals Scored per Game: 2.00

Goals Conceded: 6 Goals Conceded per Game: 2.00

Goal Ratio: 1.00

Goater would be kept on as a key member of Arroyo's staff following his interim spell and was widely seen as someone who could step up into the leading role should form not improve by the season end. That now looks unlikely, leading to speculation that Goater's departure might not have been of his own choosing.

Manager: Natalia Arroyo 🇪🇸

Of course, for now, Arroyo's reign continues, and even with Goater, the underlying numbers achieved by Villa's current boss trailed those of the interim manager spell across the board, despite having been afforded both time and money to drive Villa forward.

🕒 26 🟩 W9 🟨 D4 🟥 L13

Win Rate: 35%

Loss Rate: 50%

Unbeaten: 50%

Points per Game: 1.19

Goals Scored: 39 Goals Scored per Game: 1.50

Goals Conceded: 56 Goals Conceded per Game: 2.15

Goal Ratio: 0.68

Despite recent disappointing returns from Villa's boss it is nothing compared to the mess she inherited.

Manager: Robert de Pauw 🇳🇱

🕒 9 🟩 W1 🟨 D3 🟥 L5

Win Rate: 11%

Loss Rate: 55%

Unbeaten: 45%

Points per Game: 0.67

Goals Scored: 9 Goals Scored per Game: 1.00

Goals Conceded: 17 Goals Conceded per Game: 1.89

Goal Ratio: 0.53

To say that appointment was misguided would be an understatement for the ages, especially given what had gone immediately before.

Manager: Carla Ward 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Carla's transformative effect on Villa only slightly surpasses Arroyo's current form but was done so from a low base and maintained over more than twice as many games.

🕒 66 🟩 W24 🟨 D19 🟥 L32

Win Rate: 36%

Loss Rate: 48%

Unbeaten: 52%

Points per Game: 1.24

Goals Scored: 87 Goals Scored per Game: 1.32

Goals Conceded: 120 Goals Conceded per Game: 1.82

Goal Ratio: 0.73

The progress delivered was significant, since then however Villa have seemed to stagnate, especially in recent months but stagnation is favourable to total folly after Villa were infamously Aloko'd.

Interim Manager: Marcus Bignot 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Calamity Bignot delivered an unbeaten rate similar to that of Ward and Arroyo but how misleading that is can be shown by the win rate of 8% and points per game of just 0.67, that's de Pauw levels of incompetence.

🕒 12 🟩 W1 🟨 D5 🟥 L6

Win Rate: 8%

Loss Rate: 50%

Unbeaten: 50%

Points per Game: 0.67

Goals Scored: 5 Goals Scored per Game: 0.42

Goals Conceded: 21 Goals Conceded per Game: 1.75

Goal Ratio: 0.73 All the more galling then that a totally unproven manager was chosen to destabilise their 'predecessor'.

Manager: Gemma Davies 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

For completeness, although it's really harsh to include Davies, given her holding the reigns as a newly christened and under-resourced WSL clubs, the struggle was natural. What Davies could have done without the Bignot factor will remain forever unknown. 🕒 10 🟩 W2 🟨 D1 🟥 L7

Win Rate: 20%

Loss Rate: 70%

Unbeaten: 50%

Points per Game: 0.30

Goals Scored: 10 Goals Scored per Game: 1.00

Goals Conceded: 26 Goals Conceded per Game: 2.60

Goal Ratio: 0.38

Was Goater Arroyo's Bignot? We somehow doubt it.

Whatever, the pressure, more than ever is on Natalia Arroyo to deliver on the investment made in her regime, something she will now have to navigate without her right-hand-man.