John

I this so, but I was only a lad back then.

That's a bit harsh on Millwall.

On Easter Monday (13.00 kick-off), we welcome The Lions of Millwall to Villa Park. A win would take us up to 75 points, which would in my opinion, all but ensure our qualification for the play-offs with 2 games remaining. It would also give us 10 consecutive league wins for the first time and our longest winning run since 1897, when we clocked up a club record 11. That run comprised of 9 league wins, an FA Cup Final win and a FA Cup semi-final win. It was also spread over two seasons. Our visitors won’t make it easy for us, they never do. They need points themselves to avoid possible relegation, currently being 3 points ahead of Rotherham, with a game in hand. We last beat The Lions at Villa Park in 1990 (twice, once in the League Cup), although we have only played them once at home since then, drawing 0-0 last season. They have made a habit of beating us on our visits to them, having won each of the 7 games we have played at The Den since our 3-1 win there in 1975. Overall, we have won 7 and have drawn 7 of the 21 league games that there have been between the two clubs. Including cup games, this gives us 14 wins and 10 draws from the 34 meetings that there have been between the clubs. It’s high time we recorded our first win against them in 29 years. We do not want to end our winning run just yet. I would rather like it to continue for another 6 matches. Just win it for us Villa!

We won 11 on the bounce during 1897 (which included the FA Cup Final & semi-final).

Nine wins from nine, for the first time since 1910. Nice one Villa!

I'm happy enough with our present owners and assume that they feel the same about our football club. I can fully understand that others would like to buy us as well, but we're not for sale, as I understand it. I would guess that it would take an offer that our current owner's can't refuse to make them even think of leaving so soon.That would have to be a mighty good offer given they are hardly cash strapped. What will be will be, but I would be surprised if anything comes of this.

Let's hope that it proves to be a very Good Friday for us and that we claim a 9th successive win at Bolton. We need another win to maintain our momentum and to not give the clubs that are below us any encouragement in their pursuit of us. It has been 7 years since we last won at Bolton, although we have only played there once since then. Last year's defeat was a bitter pill to swallow and it played a big role in contributing to us dropping out of the automatic promotion picture. Overall we have won 62 and have drawn 37 of the 155 league games that there have been between the two clubs. A Villa win will see our hosts relegated. Their financial situation is if anything, worse than their playing one is. They are like us, founder members of the football league. They have won the FA Cup 4 times, their last win came in 1958 with two goals from Nat Lofthouse seeing Manchester United beaten, as they had been the previous year by two goals from Peter McParland. Only a penalty shoot out semi-final defeat against us in 2000 prevented them reaching another FA Cup Final. Their relegation should not therefore in my opinion, be a cause for us to rejoice, but it is something that we need to make happen by winning this game. I wish them well in the future, but on Friday we need the win that will put us on 72 points with just 3 games to play. Just do it for us Villa!

I agree with the top paragraph. He has been a good example of how someone can run a club very well. Certainly he has been an awful lot better than owners that we have had before the present ones. What I don't like now and I admit that I went a little over the top yesterday, is the way he seems to now be pointing the finger at us. He is giving the appearance of being someone who is prepared to act as a Witchfinder General, leading a mob with torches ablaze, seeking out other football clubs that he suspects may be in breach of FFP. Why not leave it to the EFL and just get on with running Boro?

Polly really has such a whinging voice, clearly has a very sizeable chip on her shoulder and gives the elderly a bad name. Ken (who only seems to go to Small Heath when he has won a ticket from WM) is said by the presenters to have a calming voice, it has the opposite impact on me! Their result predictions have to be heard to be believed, they would tip an under-12 team to beat us. They are really that sad. How bad they must feel as we win and win and then win again!

"I’m not apologising for nothing.” So much for him being repentant then. “This offence is so serious, we are sending you to prison for 14 weeks." OK let's make it 4, if that's OK with you, given you were by your own admission, having the time of your life? His 4 weeks appear to have left him neither punished or rehabilitated. It is also remarkable that Small Heath have yet to get even a slap on the wrist for failing to control this sorry individual. Prompt action was needed, but it seems this will be allowed to drag on and on unlike this idiot's time in prison.

Gibson really is a bitter little man. He was once hailed as one of the best football owner's around. He now comes over as someone who points the finger at other clubs simply because his own club are going down the pan. He's looking for a reason for that which is not too close to home to make it uncomfortable for him. He has not been shy to spend money in the past and has been forced to sell players following relegation as we were, but took a bit longer to do so. No doubt a few other smaller clubs will like the idea of having a pot at us as well. Sooner we get up the better.

We were missing three of our biggest hitters for this game, but the absence of Jack, Tyrone and Kortney could not derail our fast finishing promotion train. These three players had played crucial roles in extending our run of successive league wins to 7 before yesterday’s game. Their absence was a real cause for concern before Saturday’s kick-off, but we proved that we are not quite a one-man team after all, despite rumours to the contrary. It has been 44 years since Aston Villa last recorded 8 consecutive league wins. We were promoted at the end of that 1974-75 season, finishing second to Manchester United. Let’s hope that this tremendous run of wins produces the same happy ending. This was a real top of the table clash and in the first half both sides battled like rutting stags to gain supremacy. The second half was a different matter. We pulled 4 points clear of our promotion rivals with a dazzling 45-minute display that produced another vital win and could have given us a more decisive win, than the odd goal one that we achieved. Their goalkeeper Max O’Leary had a day to remember, making save after save to prevent us from stretching our lead to an unassailable one. When they pulled a goal back with 16 minutes of normal time remaining along with an astonishing 7 minutes of stoppage time, many may have anticipated the game being cruelly snatched away from us during those nervous final minutes. That didn’t happen though and didn’t really look like happening. Instead we played out those remaining minutes with confidence and without too much cause for alarm. The players that turned out in claret & blue yesterday wore their shirts with pride. They played as a team and the squad clearly all want to play their part in achieving our goal. They players gave everything, and by so doing, brought what had seemed only a few weeks ago to be an unrealistic hope of making the play offs within touching distance. WBA supporters were telephoning BBC WM after the game claiming that they want to meet us in the play offs, my message to them would be “be careful what you wish for!” My player ratings from a game that took us within 3 wins of equalling our club record of 11 consecutive wins which we achieved in 1897 and that also got Lee Johnson rather infuriated for some reason are: Jed Steer – 6 – Well protected by those in front of him, other than when they pulled a goal back. Ahmed Elmohamady – 7 – Another very composed and solid performance from Elmo. Axel Tuanzebe - 8 – He was simply outstanding at the heart of our defence yesterday. Axel was both assured and composed throughout. Mile Jedinak – 7 – Brought all his experience to bear to produce this solid defensive performance when we so needed it. Had an 85th minute header blocked on the line. Neil Taylor – 7 – Did well. His confidence is growing with each win as is his contribution to each of those wins. His attempted clearance was blocked at the start of the build up to their goal and he had a 77th minute shot blocked at the near post. Albert Adomah – 6 – Played his part for the whole game this time, in securing what was an important win. Hit the post with a header on 13 minutes. Hit an 80th minute shot wide of the keeper’s left-hand post. Glenn Whelan – 8 – Controlled the midfield again. Held it together making full use of his experience and steadied things when a cool head was needed. Fully deserves the plaudits he is now getting. John McGinn – 8 – Had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders in this game and John thrived on that. Ran the ball from the corner flag into the box before hitting a shot that O’Leary did well to tip over the bar. Hit an 88th minute shot over having been found by Davis and had a 94th minute shot tipped over the bar. Conor Hourihane – 8 – Had a 31st minute header from an El Ghazi cross punched clear by O’Leary. The keeper again did well to block his 62nd minute close range shot with his leg, which went on to bounce over the bar. Was awarded our penalty when going for a cross into the centre of the box from McGinn. Nodded an inviting El Ghazi cross over on 64 minutes. Picked up a loose ball in the middle to start the move that he finished on 66 minutes with he turned and hit a shot past the keeper and inside the far post for our second goal. On another luckier day for him, he might have had a hat-trick. Anwar El Ghazi – 8 – MOTM – Produced the sort of performance that he had showed he was capable of at WBA. He beat his man for fun yesterday, particularly during the second half during which he was unstoppable. Hit a 13th minute shot from well outside of the box that O’Leary was only able to palm away towards Adomah whose header struck the near post. Hit a 62nd minute shot from outside of the box that O’Leary could only punch away to his left. Found Conor inside the box to claim an assist for our second goal. This was a match-winning performance and we need to see more of the same in our remaining games. Tammy Abraham – 7 – Lacked the service he has become accustomed to getting from Jack in the first half. Showed nerves of steel when slotting his 55th minute penalty into the centre of the goal, as O’Leary dived to his right to give us the crucial first goal, having missed one at Rotherham in midweek. Tammy has two dozen goals this season and another six would be very, very nice. Substitutes: Keinan Davis – 7 – Replaced Tammy on 72 minutes and did a really great job. Held the ball up well when we needed him to, fitted smoothly into the lone striker role and quickly got into the game. Outmuscled a defender to claim a ball played forward by Lansbury and moved into the box, hitting a 94th minute shot that O’Leary blocked with his legs at the near post. Henri Lansbury – 6 - Replaced Conor on 80 minutes and played his own part in securing this win. Up the Villa! John Lewis

We were missing three of our biggest hitters for this game, but the absence of Jack, Tyrone and Kortney could not derail our fast finishing promotion train. These three players had played crucial roles in extending our run of successive league wins to 7 before yesterday’s game. Their absence was a real cause for concern before Saturday’s kick-off, but we proved that we are not quite a one-man team after all, despite rumours to the contrary. It has been 44 years since Aston Villa last recorded 8 consecutive league wins. We were promoted at the end of that 1974-75 season, finishing second to Manchester United. Let’s hope that this tremendous run of wins produces the same happy ending. This was a real top of the table clash and in the first half both sides battled like rutting stags to gain supremacy. The second half was a different matter. We pulled 4 points clear of our promotion rivals with a dazzling 45-minute display that produced another vital win and could have given us a more decisive win, than the odd goal one that we achieved. Their goalkeeper Max O’Leary had a day to remember, making save after save to prevent us from stretching our lead to an unassailable one. When they pulled a goal back with 16 minutes of normal time remaining along with an astonishing 7 minutes of stoppage time, many may have anticipated the game being cruelly snatched away from us during those nervous final minutes. That didn’t happen though and didn’t really look like happening. Instead we played out those remaining minutes with confidence and without too much cause for alarm. The players that turned out in claret & blue yesterday wore their shirts with pride. They played as a team and the squad clearly all want to play their part in achieving our goal. They players gave everything, and by so doing, brought what had seemed only a few weeks ago to be an unrealistic hope of making the play offs within touching distance. WBA supporters were telephoning BBC WM after the game claiming that they want to meet us in the play offs, my message to them would be “be careful what you wish for!” My player ratings from a game that took us within 3 wins of equalling our club record of 11 consecutive wins which we achieved in 1897 and that also got Lee Johnson rather infuriated for some reason are: Jed Steer – 6 – Well protected by those in front of him, other than when they pulled a goal back. Ahmed Elmohamady – 7 – Another very composed and solid performance from Elmo. Axel Tuanzebe - 8 – He was simply outstanding at the heart of our defence yesterday. Axel was both assured and composed throughout. Mile Jedinak – 7 – Brought all his experience to bear to produce this solid defensive performance when we so needed it. Had an 85th minute header blocked on the line. Neil Taylor – 7 – Did well. His confidence is growing with each win as is his contribution to each of those wins. His attempted clearance was blocked at the start of the build up to their goal and he had a 77th minute shot blocked at the near post. Albert Adomah – 6 – Played his part for the whole game this time, in securing what was an important win. Hit the post with a header on 13 minutes. Hit an 80th minute shot wide of the keeper’s left-hand post. Glenn Whelan – 8 – Controlled the midfield again. Held it together making full use of his experience and steadied things when a cool head was needed. Fully deserves the plaudits he is now getting. John McGinn – 8 – Had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders in this game and John thrived on that. Ran the ball from the corner flag into the box before hitting a shot that O’Leary did well to tip over the bar. Hit an 88th minute shot over having been found by Davis and had a 94th minute shot tipped over the bar. Conor Hourihane – 8 – Had a 31st minute header from an El Ghazi cross punched clear by O’Leary. The keeper again did well to block his 62nd minute close range shot with his leg, which went on to bounce over the bar. Was awarded our penalty when going for a cross into the centre of the box from McGinn. Nodded an inviting El Ghazi cross over on 64 minutes. Picked up a loose ball in the middle to start the move that he finished on 66 minutes with he turned and hit a shot past the keeper and inside the far post for our second goal. On another luckier day for him, he might have had a hat-trick. Anwar El Ghazi – 8 – MOTM – Produced the sort of performance that he had showed he was capable of at WBA. He beat his man for fun yesterday, particularly during the second half during which he was unstoppable. Hit a 13th minute shot from well outside of the box that O’Leary was only able to palm away towards Adomah whose header struck the near post. Hit a 62nd minute shot from outside of the box that O’Leary could only punch away to his left. Found Conor inside the box to claim an assist for our second goal. This was a match-winning performance and we need to see more of the same in our remaining games. Tammy Abraham – 7 – Lacked the service he has become accustomed to getting from Jack in the first half. Showed nerves of steel when slotting his 55th minute penalty into the centre of the goal, as O’Leary dived to his right to give us the crucial first goal, having missed one at Rotherham in midweek. Tammy has two dozen goals this season and another six would be very, very nice. Substitutes: Keinan Davis – 7 – Replaced Tammy on 72 minutes and did a really great job. Held the ball up well when we needed him to, fitted smoothly into the lone striker role and quickly got into the game. Outmuscled a defender to claim a ball played forward by Lansbury and moved into the box, hitting a 94th minute shot that O’Leary blocked with his legs at the near post. Henri Lansbury – 6 - Replaced Conor on 80 minutes and played his own part in securing this win. Up the Villa! John Lewis

We welcome Bristol City to Villa Park on Saturday for what will be a very tough top of the table clash. A win would stretch our lead over them to 4 points. They have a game in hand on us, so this game gives us an opportunity to ensure that a win from that, would not take them above us. Our visitors last won and last scored at Villa Park 40 years ago. Overall we have won 17 and have drawn 11 of the 37 league meetings that there have been between the two clubs. We will be missing Tyrone for this one, thanks to his harsh sending off at Rotherham. Hopefully Kortney will be fit to come in alongside Axel. I guess that it is too soon, for Chester to possibly make the bench? Should Johnny Danger start this one, coming in for El Ghazi perhaps? Let's make it 8 wins on the bounce in front of a packed Villa Park on Saturday. That would put us on 69 points and could increase the gap between the clubs that are outside the play off places and ourselves to 6 points, with 4 games of the season remaining. Three wins would give us 75 points and that is likely to be near to, or the points total that would bring us play off qualification. We need another win on Saturday, do it for us Villa!

Agreed, 6th would be more than acceptable for me though.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. It would give us a home second leg in the play offs as well and Albion are losing games for fun at the moment. We just need to keep on winning though and our target needs to remain sixth until that position is secured.

If there is a live Championship game on Sky at the same time, I think.

This is the sort of game that we were expected to win last season and didn't. These are the type of games cost us any hope of automatic promotion last season and could do the same to our play off ambitions a year later. We need to turn up for this one, not assume that a win is guaranteed and show that we have now learned the hard lesson that no game can be taken for granted in this league. Rotherham are 17 places and 24 points behind us. Their aim is to avoid relegation and to stay in the league that we are looking to be promoted from. They are only a point away from getting out of the relegation zone, so they will be giving everything to cause an upset. We have won 2-0 on our last two visits to Rotherham. They have yet to register a home league win against us, having only ever recorded one home win against us, which was back in 1961 in the first leg of the first League Cup Final. Overall we have 8 wins and a draw to show from the 11 league meetings that there have been between the two clubs, but as we all know records can be broken. We are currently on a tremendous winning run that can sweep us into the play offs as the form team. We need to maintain our winning run in order to try to establish some breathing space between the clubs that are outside of the top six and ourselves. Let us make it a magnificent seven consecutive wins on Wednesday night. Just do it for us Villa!

Albion will be looking over their shoulders at us in fear after today...

Tremendous win. Looked like we would have to settle for a point but Villa can't stop winning. Two late goals makes the league table look very good!

A potential two legged tie against Sheffield United, with WBA and Bristol City fighting it out for the right to play us at Wembley, would have some appeal. It's early days to think of play off games though. We have to keep winning and let other clubs worry about playing us. Nevertheless, the home game with Bristol City is looking increasingly important isn't it? We need to maintain our momentum at Sheffield first though and just focus on finishing sixth or better.

I guess he is well aware of the boost that our away fans provide to the team.

I would normally take a point on Saturday given our opponents current decent run of form. This is not however, a normal situation. We are on a magnificent winning run ourselves and we need to keep on winning to secure a place in the play offs. That would earn us a ticket to the end of season winner takes all promotion lottery and you have to be in it to win it! If we did manage to win each of our remaining 7 games, then only Derby, Bristol City and Boro could deny us a place in the top 6 by winning all of there own remaining games (or all but 1 in the case of Bristol City as they are our next visitors to Villa Park). On Tuesday night Boro play Bristol City, so only the winner or that game would be able to overtake us after that, or neither could if that game ends as a draw. Derby also still have to visit Bristol City, so that should see us end up in the top 6. Simples then? No, it will be very, very difficult to extend our winning run from 5 to 12 games and to end the season on 81 points. I think 75 or 76 points would be enough but there are 81 to go for, so why not aim higher? We won 4-2 at Hillsborough last season and have won on 4 of our last 5 visits there. Overall we have won 65 and have drawn 17 of the 133 league games that there have been between the two clubs. Wednesday have been outside of the top flight since 2000 and are currently 4 points behind us in 11th place. Both Big Ron and now Steve Bruce have managed both clubs. I'm sure Steve won't begrudge us a win on Saturday. It will be a tough game and a defeat would end the home team's slender play off hopes. Just win it for us Villa!

Because Craig really is a Nose and acts like one.

You should always expect the unexpected. I think with both of these goals some of us may see a reason not to attribute blame to Jed. I had my doubts about them as well. Harsh perhaps...