Matt Maher: Chris Heck's complex Aston Villa legacy will take time to become clear

After two years as Villa’s president of business operations, the American is off to pastures new, two years before his self-publicised deadline for reaching annual revenues of £400million.

With Villa’s income this season estimated to be only £25m short of that figure, Heck can head off to his new job at LIV Golf claiming he has taken the club most of the way toward the goal in double-quick time.

On the other hand, a decent chunk of the extra cash has been earned by Unai Emery and his players on the pitch in the shape of Champions League prize money. The true financial value of Heck’s commercial deals, most notably the current sponsorship agreement, won’t become clear until Villa’s next set of accounts are published next year.

In that respect, you might say Heck is leaving before a final verdict on his tenure can be reached. Then again, it always takes time before anyone’s true legacy becomes clear. His greatest impact, in the long-term, may well be the now altered plans for Villa Park’s expansion.

What can be said is his time has coincided with a deterioration of the relationship between the club and supporters, through a variety of flashpoints which started with the abrupt rebranding of the Holte Suite to become a “corporate” area and continued through some rather eye-popping ticket prices.

A common complaint, among fans, has been a lack of communication or consultation. Increasingly, they feel decisions are taken without much or any consideration in their direction.

Heck by no means deserves all the criticism. His role was never so powerful or as wide-ranging as chief executive. The power at Villa, for better or worse, now lies at Bodymoor Heath. Heck has only ever been taking direction from the owners.

Yet he was also happy to become a lightning rod for fan ire. There has never been a sense of him trying to win any popularity contests. Then again, for taking the flak, he was very well paid.

Now he is going, none of it is his problem. Yet there have been seeds of frustration sown over the past two years which, while the outlook mainly seems rosy at the minute, could yet come back to haunt Villa further down the line. That legacy will take time to reveal itself, make no mistake.