Aston Villa have appointed an ‘elite coach’ in Unai Emery but they’re not an elite club

What first attracted Aston Villa to the four-time Europa League winner Unai Emery?

Emery replaces Steven Gerrard, who had won one trophy in three seasons with Rangers, and would never have been interviewed without his playing record. The Liverpool legend’s name appealed to the ego of Villa’s chief executive. His appointment – reportedly made without speaking to other candidates – was a vainglorious punt.

Replacing Gerrard with Emery changes the story. The club now has an ‘elite coach’ to return them to top-six finishes and European competition. Pundits and fan forums appear to agree. Widely positive reaction says that Villa have hired a ‘winner’, ‘one of Europe’s best’.

Indeed, on these very pages, it has been argued that Aston Villa have failed upwards.

This is fine as far as it goes. Ranking coaches working today by silverware, Emery would place much higher than any other plausible Villa boss. No-one would dispute that he is the most decorated man ever to fill the position. The question fewer people seems to be asking is, how relevant are continental medals to lifting a mid-table Premier League team?

Recent history suggests: not very. The current Premier League era is defined by the 2008 takeover of Manchester City, at which point the ‘big four’ became five. In the four years it took City to buy the title, the managers who achieved a top-six finish with ‘other’ clubs were Harry Redknapp (three times), Martin O’Neill (twice), and David Moyes and Alan Pardew (once each).

During that 2008-2012 period Spurs also became established at the top table, with repeat Champions League money and Gareth Bale making a Big Six. In the ten seasons since 2012, Agueroooooo! and all that, the managers who achieved a top-six finish with ‘other’ clubs were Moyes and Brendan Rodgers (twice each), and Roberto Martinez, Claudio Ranieri and Ronald Koeman (once).

What did those eight men have in common? Not age, nor playing career, nor nationality, nor coaching qualifications, nor preferred tactics. None would be considered ‘elite’, unless you asked Rodgers to describe himself in five letters or fewer. But with the exception of Koeman, all had extensive prior experience managing in the top flight in England.

This is not ‘can you do it on a wet Wednesday night in Stoke?’; it’s the reality that money has made the Premier League, for better and worse, a league like no other. At time of writing Villa are 17th in the table but 18th in…