John

This should have been a more comfortable win. We had the chances to have put the game out of sight before our penalty gave us a two-goal cushion. As we all know a two-goal lead can more than occasionally not prove enough for us. This so nearly proved to be the case again yesterday. Our visitors who had for 75 minutes looked like a team that were on the bottom of the table and destined to give us a rare routine victory were injected with belief by a goal out of nothing by Sears. After that goal our insecurities and defensive frailties were exposed, and we were left clinging on to the win as our opponents suddenly realised a point might be there for the taking after all. Had it not been for the timely intervention of a post and the hand of Tommy, we might even have somehow managed to lose this one. Nevertheless, win we did for the first time at Villa Park in two months. This win needs to be followed up by our signing of much needed reinforcements before the transfer window slams shut next week and by a win at Reading next weekend who like Ipswich also occupy one of the relegation places. This timely win has moved us back into the top half of the table and above Small Heath who now occupy a more accustomed place in the bottom half themselves. We are also within four points of sixth place and another ticket to the play off lottery. My player ratings from a game during which we rediscovered that winning feeling are: Lovre Kalinic – 6 – The clean sheet that appeared likely for much of this game would have done a lot to boost Lovre’s confidence. Stood no realistic chance with their goal which was sweetly struck by Sears from 30 yards and flew past him at speed into the top corner of the net. Gathered a 45th minute Chalobah shot in the centre of his goal. Should have had that yellow card when he was booked for time wasting when waiting for a substitution to be made rescinded, but the referee is always right even when he’s wrong! Alan Hutton – 6 – He again looked at his best when he was getting forward. James Chester - 5 – Did well enough, given that he is carrying an injury. Tommy Elphick – 6 – Quaner ran between Chester and Tommy before going past Kalinic and hitting a shot which Elphick blocked with his trailing arm as he fell with Chester behind him covering on the line on 73 minutes. He was the best of our defenders yesterday. Neil Taylor – 5 – Will he still be our first choice when this transfer window has closed? Glenn Whelan – 6 – Did what we have come to expect but was more effective than of late at doing it, he understandably tired in the second half. John McGinn – 8 – Hit a shot wide of the post on 4 minutes after Abraham had found him inside of the box. Turned superbly leaving Skuse for dead before running towards the and hitting a 31st minute shot that was too hot for Bialkowski to hold but Adomah was ruled offside when he hit the spilled ball into the net. Turned inside the box on 33 minutes and hit a shot that was not firm enough to seriously trouble Bialkowski who made a comfortable save at his left-hand post. Hit a 41st minute shot from outside of the box that Bialkowski was unable to hold onto but Collins was on hand to put the loose ball out for a corner. Hit a 53rd minute Hutton cross wide of the post and then hit a 64th minute Taylor cross over the bar. John was prevented by Judge from getting on the end of a Hourihane corner which resulted in the penalty that produced our second goal. On another day he could have scored a couple of goals himself. Importantly John continues to avoid the 10th yellow card that would bring him a 2-game suspension. Conor Hourihane – 6 – Hit a 35th minute free kick from outside of the box that Bialkowski held at the second attempt as Abraham came in intent on adding a second. Hit another on 43 minutes that the keeper saved more routinely. His dead ball delivery was again impressive. Albert Adomah – 5 – A marked improvement on last week’s display. Looked more interested, had an impact upon the game and could have gathered some much-needed confidence had his 31st minute finish not been ruled offside. Worked well with Hutton but can do better. Anwar El Ghazi – 5 – Looked brighter than of late and more energetic but he is lacking an end product. He has shown that he can be more of a threat to defences than this. Tammy Abraham – 8 – MOTM – Where would we be without his goals? Tammy weighed in with another brace yesterday. Hit our early 6th minute opener when he got in front of the visitor’s defence to be first to and to prod home Hourihane’s perfectly placed free kick. Coolly sent Bialkowski the wrong way from the penalty spot on 61 minutes, stroking the ball into the right-hand corner. Forced a save from Bialkowski on 36 minutes with a header from a McGinn cross and another on 65 minutes when he tipped his shot over the crossbar. Had a tame effort saved on 85 minutes but almost added a late third on 88 minutes when his shot was blocked at close range by the busy Bialkowski at his left-hand post. Substitutes: Ahmed Elmohamady - 4 – Replaced Adomah on 68 minutes and demonstrated why he is currently spending his time on the bench rather than starting when he came on. Jonathan Kodjia - Came on for Whelan on 78 minutes. Looked busy and better than he has done of late in the time he had on the field, but he was not on long enough to gather a rating. Mile Jedinak – Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Replaced El Ghazi on 85 minutes to stiffen our defensive resolve, so that we would hold on to what we had. Not on long enough to earn a rating. Up the Villa! John Lewis

They are both potential promotion rivals (should we get our act together) so why on earth should we strengthen them?

I heard on Talksport the other day, that PSG are after Idrissa Gueye and a fee of £20m+ was mentioned. If this did happen, I don't suppose there is any hope (other than Bob and No) that we included a % sell-on clause in the deal when we sold him to Everton?

Cahill coming back is in reality unlikely to happen. He will be in demand by PL clubs such as Fulham and may therefore prefer a half season relegation battle with them to a part in an unlikely play off run with us. If so, that's a pity because his arrival could have had the same impact on our defence this year as JT's arrival had on it last season.

Sky aren't always right. Gary might just prefer to come home and work with JT rather than Woy. It's a case of the pull of the PL against the pull of Villa Park. Who knows he might also not want to play against Chelsea.

Can't be another Desmond surely? 2-2 and Tammy to score at anytime is 22/1 with Corals but it can't happen again can it? I hope not!

He picked the wrong club didn't he? He can va va voom off!

Cardiff and Fulham have not stayed in the PL yet (there's still hope). It's also not just money but it has a lot to do with it. It is all too frustrating isn't it?

Bournemouth sold us Elphick and he proved to be not the same player than he was prior to injury, so we would be right to ask for a loan with an option to buy. We then have the opportunity to look at him, ensure his fitness and check that he's still the player he was (rather than a donkey) before parting with our cash. Any fee for the loan and the percentage of his wages that we meet, should then be dependent on the number of games that he plays for us until the end of the season.

Not yet...

Most of our strikers have tended to play for us in the top flight so it's not really a fair comparison over the years. Saying that Tammy says Hi...

Anyone think Maji of Sunderland might be worth a look? Bordeaux have had a bid of £3.5 accepted for him. Talksport have said that it might be nearer £2m. He's out of contract in the summer, I understand. Looks a promising young forward from the limited bits, I have seen of him. Could be a decent investment. We could even loan him back to them until the end of the season to tempt them?

Given the players involved I suspect Dean would have had a bigger role in deciding we should go for them. Not surprising they would go to PL league teams rather than us just now either. Looks like we may have to take our cash elsewhere.

I would have struggled to believe that our visitors would be bottom of this league and that we would be in the bottom half of it 38 years after we had done battle with each other to be champions of England. We were really the two best teams in England back then and although they have always had difficulty in accepting it we were the best of the two teams having won the Championship trophy by 4 clear points (when you got 2 rather than 3 points for a win). Overall we have won 21 and have drawn 13 of the 49 league games between the two clubs. We drew 1-1 at Portman Road in August and won our home game against them last season 2-0. They won 1-0 at Villa Park in 2017 having previously not won at Villa Park since 1994. We have not won a game at Villa Park for two long months and we have had six league and cup attempts to do so. A win would take us back into the top half of the table and would take us 4 points off sixth place. It would also give us a little pride back and some much needed confidence. Let's win it and keep a clean sheet in doing so!

James deserves a good reception for tearing up that contract when he sustained that injury shortly after signing it a few weeks ago (with hindsight it's a pity he did though).

So there is still hope!

Dean said during his post match interview on BBC Radio WM last Saturday that "we're looking to bring in reinforcements during the window and we're hoping we can bring a couple in, certainly defensively because its an area that we need to strengthen, we haven't got the options we would like or the competition for them places, if we get that you'll see a stronger team". It's about 45.18 minutes into the clip below: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p06xfg17

Took a long time to play a full game for us due to his fitness issues but was quick enough to return to Everton's bench. Seems to have got out of the habit of wanting to play games. Showed glimpses of his undoubted ability but not often enough. Good of him to free up another loan space for us I suppose.

If so, it seems that Wigan might be prepared to listen to the sort of offer that we should also be able to make. Like Jack he has recently missed games due to injury.

Well worth a look. I think both of them are likely to be playing at Villa Park next season.

We gained a point from a losing position rather than lost points from a winning one for a change yesterday. We were nothing short of appalling in the first half and made it all too easy for Hull. Given our form of late, more than a few of us could see this one coming. Chester’s timely goal came just before half time and it gave us some grounds for hope where there had previously been none. If there was anything positive to be taken from this game, it was that we awoke in the second half to come back from two goals down to claim a point. A point was not enough however, and Hull showed that they are not quite as good as their 6-game winning run might have suggested when they were belatedly put under some pressure yesterday. What they do have is the confidence that a good run of results brings in comparison to the lack of it and the anxiety that we currently suffer from due to our own ongoing dismal run. Unfortunately, although there was plenty of time left after our equalizer to complete the recovery and to take all three points, we didn’t really look like doing so and the team seemed to lack the belief that they could go on to win the game. It seemed many of them, unlike the fans were perhaps a little too readily content with another “Desmond”. What has happened to the Villa that won at Derby, Boro and deserved to win at the Albion? We have clearly missed both Jack and Axel but to take just 7 points from our last 7 games is simply not good enough. We now find ourselves in the bottom half of the table and 7 points adrift of sixth place. Had we managed 14 points from our last 7 games (which didn’t seem quite so unlikely back then) we would have 46 points rather than 39 and would now be 6th rather than 13th. We would also be within touching distance of the top 2 rather than having all but written off any lingering hopes of making the play offs. Let’s hope we can win another one of the games that appeared winnable a few short weeks ago next weekend. Hopefully we can use that to start the winning run that we need to start sooner rather than later, if not to start a late promotion run to give us some pride back. Not giving our visitors a 2-goal start would go some way to achieving that against bottom of the table Ipswich. My player ratings from a game that left us top of the bottom half of the table once again are: Lovre Kalinic – 5 – Beaten low at his left-hand post by Bowen’s first from the edge of the box on 27 minutes and he will be disappointed by that as were we. Had little chance with their second, with the unmarked Evandro’s well hit shot deflecting off Taylor on the line into the roof of the net. Blocked a 25th minute header from Burke at his near post. He then prevented us from surrendering all 3 points to the visitors on 90 minutes with a superb save from a point-blank Martin shot. Alan Hutton – 5 – His cross produced our second goal. James Chester - 6 – Gave us a lifeline when he got his head to Hourihane’s 45th minute free kick. Did incredibly well to hook Elphick’s deflection on a Grosicki shot off the line in the 8th minute after Hourihane had lost possession at the start of the move. Tommy Elphick – 6 – Produced another steady enough performance in the centre of our brittle defence. Neil Taylor – 5 – Produced an improved second half display. One strong second half challenge was rather memorable, and he did very well to get back to clear a dangerous cross from the 6-yard box on 73 minutes. He stuck out a leg in an attempt to poke the ball clear on the edge of the area, but it invitingly fell straight to Bowen a couple of yards to his left from where he hit their opener. Birkir Bjarnason – 4 – He put himself about but has looked a pale imitation of the player he was earlier this season since his return from injury. Headed a 49th minute Hutton cross wide of the far post. A couple of times yesterday as he chased after and wrestled down opponents in the middle of the field, he looked more like a Keystone cop from the silent movie era rather than an international footballer. Might be worth another shot in the deeper role that Conor has been trying to fill. Substituted on 75 minutes. John McGinn – 8 – MOTM – Ran the show and battled gamely on but others around him declined to follow his excellent example for far too long. Kept trying to move us forward, worked tirelessly and shone brightly throughout the game. Hit a 56th minute shot wide from an Abraham cross and hit a shot from outside of the box over 12 minutes later. Conor Hourihane – 5 – Hit a perfectly placed free kick for our first but he clearly cannot fill the deep midfield role where he looks uncomfortable and a bit of a fish out of water. He works hard but lacks the pace of some opponents he comes up against and is unfamiliar with what is expected from him in this role. His place in the team should be in the opposition half, where he has been effective rather than in our own where he is not. Albert Adomah – 3 – Only began to look partly interested in the second half after what I’m sure will have been a quiet word from the boss during the interval. He was substituted on 59 minutes as understandably Dean’s patience with him had been exhausted some time earlier. Made little to no contribution during the first half. Yannick Bolasie – 3 – See Albert’s rating above. Yannick mirrored his none performance and I found myself checking half way through the first half that he was still on the field given the scarcity of his contribution to the game. Tammy Abraham – 7 – This game should have been a celebration of Tammy’s decision to continue his loan spell with us but our sorry performance last week as well as in the first half yesterday unfortunately put paid to that. Suffered from a lack of service in the first half but always looked for the ball and hit our 64th minute equalizer when after having his first attempt at a low cross from Hutton blocked by a defender, he stepped over him to hit the ball past Marshall at the second attempt. Substitutes: Anwar El Ghazi - 5 – Replaced Bolasie on 59 minutes. He was on the bench today having given a couple of the sort of performances that Albert and Yannick produced today since his terrific display at The Hawthorns last month. This was a somewhat brighter display. Jonathan Kodjia - 5 – Came on for Adomah on 59 minutes and provided a little of the energy that we had been lacking. Andre Green – 6 - Replaced Bjarnason on 75 minutes. Showed some pace and desire on his return from his loan at Portsmouth but he also hit an 86th minute cross over from close range when a winner looked his for the taking. Up the Villa! John Lewis

We gained a point from a losing position rather than lost points from a winning one for a change yesterday. We were nothing short of appalling in the first half and made it all too easy for Hull. Given our form of late, more than a few of us could see this one coming. Chester’s timely goal came just before half time and it gave us some grounds for hope where there had previously been none. If there was anything positive to be taken from this game, it was that we awoke in the second half to come back from two goals down to claim a point. A point was not enough however, and Hull showed that they are not quite as good as their 6-game winning run might have suggested when they were belatedly put under some pressure yesterday. What they do have is the confidence that a good run of results brings in comparison to the lack of it and the anxiety that we currently suffer from due to our own ongoing dismal run. Unfortunately, although there was plenty of time left after our equalizer to complete the recovery and to take all three points, we didn’t really look like doing so and the team seemed to lack the belief that they could go on to win the game. It seemed many of them, unlike the fans were perhaps a little too readily content with another “Desmond”. What has happened to the Villa that won at Derby, Boro and deserved to win at the Albion? We have clearly missed both Jack and Axel but to take just 7 points from our last 7 games is simply not good enough. We now find ourselves in the bottom half of the table and 7 points adrift of sixth place. Had we managed 14 points from our last 7 games (which didn’t seem quite so unlikely back then) we would have 46 points rather than 39 and would now be 6th rather than 13th. We would also be within touching distance of the top 2 rather than having all but written off any lingering hopes of making the play offs. Let’s hope we can win another one of the games that appeared winnable a few short weeks ago next weekend. Hopefully we can use that to start the winning run that we need to start sooner rather than later, if not to start a late promotion run to give us some pride back. Not giving our visitors a 2-goal start would go some way to achieving that against bottom of the table Ipswich. My player ratings from a game that left us top of the bottom half of the table once again are: Lovre Kalinic – 5 – Beaten low at his left-hand post by Bowen’s first from the edge of the box on 27 minutes and he will be disappointed by that as were we. Had little chance with their second, with the unmarked Evandro’s well hit shot deflecting off Taylor on the line into the roof of the net. Blocked a 25th minute header from Burke at his near post. He then prevented us from surrendering all 3 points to the visitors on 90 minutes with a superb save from a point-blank Martin shot. Alan Hutton – 5 – His cross produced our second goal. James Chester - 6 – Gave us a lifeline when he got his head to Hourihane’s 45th minute free kick. Did incredibly well to hook Elphick’s deflection on a Grosicki shot off the line in the 8th minute after Hourihane had lost possession at the start of the move. Tommy Elphick – 6 – Produced another steady enough performance in the centre of our brittle defence. Neil Taylor – 5 – Produced an improved second half display. One strong second half challenge was rather memorable, and he did very well to get back to clear a dangerous cross from the 6-yard box on 73 minutes. He stuck out a leg in an attempt to poke the ball clear on the edge of the area, but it invitingly fell straight to Bowen a couple of yards to his left from where he hit their opener. Birkir Bjarnason – 4 – He put himself about but has looked a pale imitation of the player he was earlier this season since his return from injury. Headed a 49th minute Hutton cross wide of the far post. A couple of times yesterday as he chased after and wrestled down opponents in the middle of the field, he looked more like a Keystone cop from the silent movie era rather than an international footballer. Might be worth another shot in the deeper role that Conor has been trying to fill. Substituted on 75 minutes. John McGinn – 8 – MOTM – Ran the show and battled gamely on but others around him declined to follow his excellent example for far too long. Kept trying to move us forward, worked tirelessly and shone brightly throughout the game. Hit a 56th minute shot wide from an Abraham cross and hit a shot from outside of the box over 12 minutes later. Conor Hourihane – 5 – Hit a perfectly placed free kick for our first but he clearly cannot fill the deep midfield role where he looks uncomfortable and a bit of a fish out of water. He works hard but lacks the pace of some opponents he comes up against and is unfamiliar with what is expected from him in this role. His place in the team should be in the opposition half, where he has been effective rather than in our own where he is not. Albert Adomah – 3 – Only began to look partly interested in the second half after what I’m sure will have been a quiet word from the boss during the interval. He was substituted on 59 minutes as understandably Dean’s patience with him had been exhausted some time earlier. Made little to no contribution during the first half. Yannick Bolasie – 3 – See Albert’s rating above. Yannick mirrored his none performance and I found myself checking half way through the first half that he was still on the field given the scarcity of his contribution to the game. Tammy Abraham – 7 – This game should have been a celebration of Tammy’s decision to continue his loan spell with us but our sorry performance last week as well as in the first half yesterday unfortunately put paid to that. Suffered from a lack of service in the first half but always looked for the ball and hit our 64th minute equalizer when after having his first attempt at a low cross from Hutton blocked by a defender, he stepped over him to hit the ball past Marshall at the second attempt. Substitutes: Anwar El Ghazi - 5 – Replaced Bolasie on 59 minutes. He was on the bench today having given a couple of the sort of performances that Albert and Yannick produced today since his terrific display at The Hawthorns last month. This was a somewhat brighter display. Jonathan Kodjia - 5 – Came on for Adomah on 59 minutes and provided a little of the energy that we had been lacking. Andre Green – 6 - Replaced Bjarnason on 75 minutes. Showed some pace and desire on his return from his loan at Portsmouth but he also hit an 86th minute cross over from close range when a winner looked his for the taking. Up the Villa! John Lewis

Yes indeed. I recall that during a recent Leeds game he was also linked by them with Manchester City. There must be quite a queue forming.

On Talksport 2 this morning it was mentioned that Woy and Palace wanted Clarke from Leeds for £3m! Is Levy advising them on transfers or does Woy think it is still 1989? I would pay double or three times that for the lad but why would be want to leave Leeds for us or even the mighty Palace just now? Has to be fake news doesn't it?

So sorry to hear the news Chris. I had one myself 15 months ago so I know what a shock it is. You always think of it as something that happens to someone else but in our case we were that "someone else". Recovery will be a long hard road but each day/week can bring slight improvements that can in time become big ones. Keep doing the physio day in and day out, it really does work. It is very tough to start from square one again with things like hand, arm and leg movement, I always said "onwards and upwards" and so it proved. Aim to get as near as possible to how you were before your stroke in the fullness of time. Improvements can continue to occur for two years after the stroke and I can vouch for that happening in the first 15 months. Writing, typing, gripping, balance and in time walking (with the help of a crutch and then a walking stick) are things that will hopefully start again/improve with constant exercise. Missing Villa games was tough for me as was being unable to do my VT match player ratings but I now get down to games again can drive and use buses. I walk very slowly but I have found fans around the ground and staff/fans inside the ground to be very kind and understanding. Try to maintain a very positive attitude Chris. You will have the support of your family (to whom this will have been an equal shock) and of your friends. Hard working and caring hospital staff and physios will be giving it 110% to get you back to as near to where you were as is possible. Please feel free to message me as someone who has "been there" at any time should you wish. Get better each day mate!