Patience fading with Aston Villa's season still awaiting lift-off

Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Brentford was not the start to the month Steve Bruce had been hoping for and that’s putting it mildly.

Over the course of 90 frustrating minutes, the Villa boss saw much of the goodwill built up during a bright end to August evaporate and he once more finds himself under increasing pressure.

Just how much is riding on tonight’s game is worthy of debate and it is unwise to read too much into the social media voices claiming this might be win-or-bust for the boss.

Those involved with the day-to-day running of a club which has spent the past three years in almost constant flux will be naturally wary of triggering even more radical change.

There’s no disputing, however, the fact results must improve soon.

The lack of consistent form extends back to the end of last season and the boos which greeted Saturday’s performance was the clearest indication yet supporters are starting to lose patience.

Just how much patience Tony Xia has left is of course the key question.

The owner has been widely praised by supporters for his willingness to communicate with supporters on social media. Such interaction has its drawbacks.

It is questionable, for instance, whether a club owner should be voicing his displeasure at a performance, as Xia did on Saturday, before the manager has even reached the post-game press conference.

That is not a comment on the current situation as such.

But, moving forward, it may prove tricky for a club which constantly preaches the need for stability to find it if the owner is continually commenting publicly on performances, good or bad. It is a trap Xia, for all his good intentions, risks falling into. Silences are now leapt upon as signs of displeasure, for on social media there is never an answer to satisfy everyone.

Anyone who missed Saturday’s result and saw the reaction on Twitter would have presumed Villa had lost the game and the fallout from the performance certainly overshadowed the fact that for the first time this season Bruce’s men kept a clean sheet.

Much of that was down to Sam Johnstone, the on-loan Manchester United keeper who has been among their most consistent performers.

“We must stay positive,” he said. “Football is crazy and anything can happen so you’ve got to stay focused.

“I am confident things will start going our way.”