Work in progress leaves Taylor with positive glow

Since Darius Vassell is, in the words of his manager, Graham Taylor, "a very modest and shy lad," the opposition need to beware when the Aston Villa striker claims, as he did after training on Friday, "I can create problems for any team."

For Villa's match at Bolton this afternoon, due note will certainly have been taken by Sam Allardyce, whose club have yet to get off the zero mark in the points scramble and who are, by his own early, and remarkably frank, admission, likely to be among those clubs battling relegation towards the end of the season.

Vassell's goal against Manchester City last Wednesday night kick-started Villa's points-gathering in what is certain to be a testing season for Taylor's morale and unflagging good humour. After three 1-0 results, one for and two against, the Villa manager pronounces himself "reasonably pleased". If, as he insisted, last weekend's defeat at Tottenham should have finished the other way round, the team, manager and supporters would be altogether happier, since much effort is required to dispel the widely held feeling that the club are lacking in ambition and living in the past.

Comments such as those were uttered of late by people on their way out of the door, so Taylor and the players who have stayed are understandably nettled. After the win over City, Lee Hendrie urged: "Now is the time to build on that victory, to make the critics eat their words because we're the first team to get knocked every season. Now we want a result at Bolton." Reasonably enough, Hendrie added: "We should be doing more, the gaffer wants more, so it's up to us to deliver."

It is indisputably up to Taylor to deliver, too. His appointment last February, in the wake of John Gregory's abrupt departure, was perhaps the strangest of a turbulent Premiership season. Why, at the age of 57, would he wish to return to a club he had lifted to runner-up spot in the League a dozen years ago? Had this pleasant man not suffered enough knocks in his time in charge at Lincoln, Watford (twice), Wolves and, most distressingly, England?

Apparently not. Perhaps it can be put down to a mixture of confidence and vanity, but Taylor wants to demonstrate man-management skills once more. The fag-end of last season was no time to judge him, as he went about the ceremonial ritual of clearing out and recruiting. This season, however, the head is above the parapet, as he acknowledges. He has this year and, at least by contract, one more to curb the carping about Villa lacking ambition.

The label "a club in crisis" can be affixed on the back of a couple of defeats these days, but after the home loss to Liverpool on the first weekend Taylor was upset to suffer verbal abuse from the crowd. "This is a massive challenge," he said. "I've got to find a way of getting results. Negativity continues to surround Villa for one reason or another. We have to fight negativity, get a positive attitude running through the players. People leaving this club and accusing it of lack of ambition has been going on for years."

After the confrontations of the Gregory regime about money, Villa's chairman, Doug Ellis, had prudence very much in mind when he persuaded Taylor first to become a non-executive director and then the manager. Taylor has not disappointed him. The wage bill has been slashed with the departure of big names, replaced by largely second-choice signings such as Mark Kinsella, Ronny Johnsen and Oyvind Leonhardsen, none of whom will see 30 again.

"My job is to recommend players to the board within the financial restrains we've got," he explained. "If people think ambition is having £50m to spend, then I have to tell them we haven't got £50m and I knew that before I took the job. If that is lacking ambition, so be it."

Taylor might have had a few more quid washing around if anyone had followed up on Alpay Ozalan's transfer request before yesterday's deadline. Now the manager is stuck with a player and wages he could do without, having moved to render the Turkish World Cup defender surplus to requirements by bringing in Johnsen as back-up for Olof Mellberg and Steve Staunton.

After Wednesday's win, Taylor enthused, "I am pleased with our defensive performances. Olof has not put a foot wrong in any of the games, while Steve's experience has been invaluable." And Alpay? "It is up to him how he reacts. With the arrival of Johnsen I now have cover in the centre of defence and when Ronny gets into the team he will be difficult to dislodge. I get on very well with Alpay, but he does appear to have had the wrong sort of advice while away from Villa."

In the matter of advice, Taylor has lots of it for his locally born treasure, Vassell. "This is a big season for Darius, one where there is no hiding place for him. He has blistering pace and tremendous power, but his reading of the game needs to improve. He is a first-class lad and his England call-up was deserved reward, but on the international scene it is easier to impress in one incident, as he did with that memorable goal on his debut against Holland. Now he has been to a World Cup and has the potential to go to three more. It is my job to help him through the next stage of his career."

Vassell's club loyalty is not in question. "I haven't thought much about England," said the 22-year-old who is certain to be in Sven Goran Eriksson's squad announced tomorrow for the friendly against Portugal. "The most important thing to me is Aston Villa and getting our season up and running." No lack of ambition there, as Graham Taylor will be pleased to note.