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If last season was the transition for Martin O'Neill's Villa, this time round it's time to deliver.

Villa fans have endured a long, long barren spell without much to cheer about (winning the 2001 Intertoto their most recent chance to celebrate), whilst enviously watching how fellow mediocre teams such as Spurs and Everton seem to have broken free of their going-no-where-fast shackles, to return to competition amongst the big boys.

The summer of 2006 seemed to promise good times for the Midlands club. After years of stagnation under the ownership of "Deadly" Doug Ellis and management of David O'Leary, fresh blood was pumped into Villa with the arrival of Randy Lerner and Martin O'Neill. Deadwood, including Gavin McCann, Juan Pablo Angel, Jlloyd Samuel, Lee Hendrie, (and the old Aston Villa crest) have all since departed, and fresh faces have been brought in to the bolster the troops.

Yet many of O'Neill's signings raise the proverbial eyebrow. Villa spent 4m on Marlon Harewood, a striker who only got four goals last campaign. And then there are the question-marks hanging over both the 9.65m signing of Ashely Young and the 8.5m capture of Nigel Reo-Coker; two players for whom shed-loads of cash has been spent without either player having a recognised background to justify such large transfer fees.

These players have their work cut-out. Last season, not a single Villa player reached double figures of goals scored, with Gabriel Agbonlahor leading the way with nine goals, while Gareth Barry hit an impressive eight from midfield. Coupled with the highest record for draws in the league last season, seventeen in total, Villa know that this season one more goal here and there will effect their points tally in a big way.

Of all the managers in the country, O'Neill is perhaps the most qualified to bring success to Villa. His success at Leicester, including two League Cups, was mightily impressive, especially considering that they finished in the top-half of the Premiership during every season under his reign. He also presided over another successful reign at Celtic where he showed Scottish teams could compete in Europe, and only Mourinho's Porto stopped Celtic recording another European success. The only blot on his managerial career came during his short spell at Norwich.

As for all teams, the start of the season provides a fresh slate from which to build on. To-date, the signs all point in the right direction. But the job is far from complete. For Villa and O'Neill, this season's expectations demand that the season finishes with qualification for Europe for the first time in six years. Thus, Villa needs to either finish in seventh place in the table (or higher) or qualify via the FA Cup or League Cup.

"I know what Aston Villa fans want. They want us to be competing with the very best. I'm trying, and in the not-too-distant future this Aston Villa team will." - Martin O'Neill.

Having clear attainable targets is a good start, but nevertheless incomplete. Delivering on promises, on the other hand, is substantial. The gauntlet has been thrown down.

Read more and keep up to date with all the latest goals at www.101greatgoals.com

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