John

I think the longer be stays the more likely be is to be tarnished by his association with them. Walk out now Monk you know it makes sense and nobody on this side of the city would blame you.

I hope we can bring Abraham in but I think he might want to stay where he is in the hope of getting the odd game. He also may not be prepared to drop down a division. Does anyone else think that Shane Long might prove an alternative who could do a job for us?

I thought Tuanzebe showed enough to start alongside Chester at the weekend. Kodjia showed his class once in creating our goal as did Conor in getting into the position to score the winner but both of them did little else. Doyle Hayes again showed promise and Moreira saved their penalty but did not put pressure on our current first choice. Jack was unlucky to see his shot rattle the bar and showed why keeping him was so vital to us. Job done but Yeovil ran us too close for comfort and the goal does not disguise what was a well below par display.

Bit of history being made tonight then. Let's hope there's a kind of Huish all over the park tonight after we win the first ever competitive game between the two clubs.

Nice to have a player with some real pace to call upon. Clearly he's fast and he is no doubt furious about not making our first team line up. Henri may yet prove to be the right man for the Villa after all!

Not good enough either (although both would be acceptable), how about a cross between Andy Gray, Gerry Hitchens, Brian Little and Gary Shaw?

This cup has brought us a lot of joy in the past but promotion is what matters now so we should try to rest our starters tonight for the league games that will be coming thick and fast afterwards. Play the kids and the players who have not started the last two and who are unlikely to start the next couple of games. They should still be good enough to get us through tonight and those playing should relish the opportunity that this game can give them to impress. They will be wearing the shirt, playing in front of a large television audience and that should be enough to make them want to give of their very best. The cup itself will not be ours to win just now but when we do go out it should be with our heads held high against better placed opposition than we currently are. We don't probably want to go too far though look at how Bristol City imploded after they reached the last four last season for example. A nice comfortable 3-1 win would be nice for tonight with some of our youngsters having impressive games.

It has been reported in the Birmingham Mail that Ron Saunders has been placed in a residential care home near Solihull. He has been there since May. Ron, who is now 85, has dementia. His son Ronnie gave an interview to The Portsmouth News. Ronnie said that, “It crept up very slowly, he now struggles with every aspect of his life, everything he does.” He continued, “I saw it starting 20 odd years ago, there were certain things dad did that made us realise.” Ronnie added, “We knew his brain was quite damaged. We feel quite lucky he has lasted this long because we never thought he would. Mum couldn’t cope with him anymore his brain had gone.” The family have spoken to Dawn Astle (Geoff’s daughter) about the links between football and dementia. What a cruel illness dementia is. It hits a family so very hard to see their once strong family member become dependant on the care of others and to forget so much of their past. We really should have a Ron Saunders Stand by now. I felt that we should have had one many years ago when Ron could have been there at the ground to see it unveiled. Ron was the greatest Villa manager during my time as a Villa fan and he built our league championship and European Cup winning team. I thank him for what he did for us and my thoughts are with his family at this so difficult time. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/heartbreaking-story-one-aston-villas-15020929

Agreed and I was there when Brian Little, Andy Gray, Dennis Mortimer and Dean Saunders made their debuts. He has made a really promising start.

A second win of the season and a second successive home win against Wigan who have been hard to beat at Villa Park in past meetings maintained our 100%-win record yesterday. It gave us two wins at the start of a season for the first time in 19 years. We have played better than this but for a second time in this fledgling season we showed our resilience by coming back to win after going a goal down. We sit third in the early league table with a game in hand of the early league leaders. Six points from our first two games is an encouraging start and it is something we can and need to build upon. Cardiff gained promotion last season by winning close games on a regular basis and by maintaining a winning run that built their confidence. They developed the habit of grabbing late winners and although their football was not pretty it proved annoyingly effective. We have started this season a little like that. We might have lost or drawn a game like this and the last one last season, but we didn’t. Let’s put a run of wins together and stick to those automatic places like a limpet throughout this season. Wigan looked a decent team yesterday and wins will not come easy against them for this season’s promotion contenders. They will consider themselves unfortunate to leave Villa Park pointless. I hope that a few more teams will feel that way before this season concludes. My player ratings from a game that brought us another win as we await more new signings to further strengthen our team are: Orjan Nyland – 5 – Beaten to the ball on the edge of the box by Powell who won their challenge to prod home Jedinak’s woeful attempted back pass on 41 minutes. Had little chance with their second. Will be working on his kicking and on crosses after this. Needs to be allowed time to acclimatise to his new team and to a new league. Axel Tuanzebe – 6 – Substituted on 65 minutes as we were searching for a winner. Gave a competent enough display filling in as a full back but he would be more comfortable and needs to play in the centre of our defence. James Chester- 7 – His usual reliable self at the back and was unchallenged when he climbed to head home a nicely placed 13th minute free kick from McGinn to give us our opener. Don’t you just love his new scoreboard photograph by the way? Mile Jedinak – 5 – One careless moment tarnished what was otherwise a decent enough defensive display. His awful under hit back pass gifted Powell their equalizer. His place is in the midfield and he should only be used as an emergency central defender. Headed a McGinn free kick wide on 66 minutes. Alan Hutton – 7 – Connolly got in front of him to head the ball home on 55 minutes and give Wigan the lead. Got forward well, earning his “Scottish Cafu” chants with a particularly adept 27th minute turn. Ran to the edge of the area before hitting a 46th minute shot that Walton saved comfortably enough and gave his usual fully committed performance. Ahmed Elmohamady – 6 – Seems to be an automatic choice. Headed away from the post to safety on 28 minutes. He does produce consistent performances, but this is a position that I feel we should still be looking at strengthening with some urgency. Birkir Bjarnason – 7 – Played in the holding midfield role and popped up at the far post in the 94th minute to give us our late winner. A McGinn cross was cleared only as far as Hourihane who hit a sweet cross around the defender who was in front of him that Birikir hit home at the far post. Jack Grealish – 8 – Was given little to no protection throughout from the referee who gave Wigan a licence to make uncompromising challenges upon him at will. Jack was his usual impressive self on those occasions that he was not hacked down. How super nice it was to see Jack still in a Villa shirt. John McGinn – 8 – MOTM – A very impressive debut. He works hard, likes to make a challenge and looks good on the ball. His corner led to our equalizer and his left footed free kick found Chester for our first. Kipre attempted to clear John’s 63rd minute corner but it cannoned off Dunkley’s head into the back of the net for our second. Hit an effort just wide on 73 minutes having had a 33rd minute shot from outside of the area saved by Walton. Looks likely to be another impressive Scot who has appeared for The Hibees before joining us and he follows in the illustrious footsteps of Alex Cropley and Des Bremner. Andre Green – 6 – Made a couple of decent runs and will get better with a run of games. Hit a 69th minute shot from the edge of the box that Walton kept out. This can be a big season for him. Jonathan Kodjia – 4 – Looks a shadow of the player he was before injury. He improved during the second half, but it would have been difficult to have been less effective. Should have found his match fitness by now which was the reason we gave for his lack lustre displays at the end of last season. Headed a nice McGinn cross over in the 52nd minute and had a 61st minute shot blocked by Walton. Headed a 68th minute Adomah cross wide. Badly in need of a confidence boosting goal or two. Substitutes: Albert Adomah – 5 – Came on for Tuanzebe in the 65th minute. Has not looked the same player that did so well for us up until towards the end of last season for some time now. Rushian Hepburn-Murphy - 6– Replaced Green on 74 minutes. Looked keen as well as full of running and pace. Conor Hourihane - Replaced Kodjia on 87 minutes. I had expected that Conor would start yesterday. Although he was not on long enough to gather a rating he did have time to hit the cross that produced our late winner. Up the Villa! John Lewis

A second win of the season and a second successive home win against Wigan who have been hard to beat at Villa Park in past meetings maintained our 100%-win record yesterday. It gave us two wins at the start of a season for the first time in 19 years. We have played better than this but for a second time in this fledgling season we showed our resilience by coming back to win after going a goal down. We sit third in the early league table with a game in hand of the early league leaders. Six points from our first two games is an encouraging start and it is something we can and need to build upon. Cardiff gained promotion last season by winning close games on a regular basis and by maintaining a winning run that built their confidence. They developed the habit of grabbing late winners and although their football was not pretty it proved annoyingly effective. We have started this season a little like that. We might have lost or drawn a game like this and the last one last season, but we didn’t. Let’s put a run of wins together and stick to those automatic places like a limpet throughout this season. Wigan looked a decent team yesterday and wins will not come easy against them for this season’s promotion contenders. They will consider themselves unfortunate to leave Villa Park pointless. I hope that a few more teams will feel that way before this season concludes. My player ratings from a game that brought us another win as we await more new signings to further strengthen our team are: Orjan Nyland – 5 – Beaten to the ball on the edge of the box by Powell who won their challenge to prod home Jedinak’s woeful attempted back pass on 41 minutes. Had little chance with their second. Will be working on his kicking and on crosses after this. Needs to be allowed time to acclimatise to his new team and to a new league. Axel Tuanzebe – 6 – Substituted on 65 minutes as we were searching for a winner. Gave a competent enough display filling in as a full back but he would be more comfortable and needs to play in the centre of our defence. James Chester- 7 – His usual reliable self at the back and was unchallenged when he climbed to head home a nicely placed 13th minute free kick from McGinn to give us our opener. Don’t you just love his new scoreboard photograph by the way? Mile Jedinak – 5 – One careless moment tarnished what was otherwise a decent enough defensive display. His awful under hit back pass gifted Powell their equalizer. His place is in the midfield and he should only be used as an emergency central defender. Headed a McGinn free kick wide on 66 minutes. Alan Hutton – 7 – Connolly got in front of him to head the ball home on 55 minutes and give Wigan the lead. Got forward well, earning his “Scottish Cafu” chants with a particularly adept 27th minute turn. Ran to the edge of the area before hitting a 46th minute shot that Walton saved comfortably enough and gave his usual fully committed performance. Ahmed Elmohamady – 6 – Seems to be an automatic choice. Headed away from the post to safety on 28 minutes. He does produce consistent performances, but this is a position that I feel we should still be looking at strengthening with some urgency. Birkir Bjarnason – 7 – Played in the holding midfield role and popped up at the far post in the 94th minute to give us our late winner. A McGinn cross was cleared only as far as Hourihane who hit a sweet cross around the defender who was in front of him that Birikir hit home at the far post. Jack Grealish – 8 – Was given little to no protection throughout from the referee who gave Wigan a licence to make uncompromising challenges upon him at will. Jack was his usual impressive self on those occasions that he was not hacked down. How super nice it was to see Jack still in a Villa shirt. John McGinn – 8 – MOTM – A very impressive debut. He works hard, likes to make a challenge and looks good on the ball. His corner led to our equalizer and his left footed free kick found Chester for our first. Kipre attempted to clear John’s 63rd minute corner but it cannoned off Dunkley’s head into the back of the net for our second. Hit an effort just wide on 73 minutes having had a 33rd minute shot from outside of the area saved by Walton. Looks likely to be another impressive Scot who has appeared for The Hibees before joining us and he follows in the illustrious footsteps of Alex Cropley and Des Bremner. Andre Green – 6 – Made a couple of decent runs and will get better with a run of games. Hit a 69th minute shot from the edge of the box that Walton kept out. This can be a big season for him. Jonathan Kodjia – 4 – Looks a shadow of the player he was before injury. He improved during the second half, but it would have been difficult to have been less effective. Should have found his match fitness by now which was the reason we gave for his lack lustre displays at the end of last season. Headed a nice McGinn cross over in the 52nd minute and had a 61st minute shot blocked by Walton. Headed a 68th minute Adomah cross wide. Badly in need of a confidence boosting goal or two. Substitutes: Albert Adomah – 5 – Came on for Tuanzebe in the 65th minute. Has not looked the same player that did so well for us up until towards the end of last season for some time now. Rushian Hepburn-Murphy - 6– Replaced Green on 74 minutes. Looked keen as well as full of running and pace. Conor Hourihane - Replaced Kodjia on 87 minutes. I had expected that Conor would start yesterday. Although he was not on long enough to gather a rating he did have time to hit the cross that produced our late winner. Up the Villa! John Lewis

I previously said that I felt we needed another keeper and we have now brought in two. Jed has been unlucky with injuries and needs games. I feel this represents a good move for the player. I wish Jed well with The Valiants and for the future.

I see Snodders has sent the following Instagram message to John McGinn "All the best mate what a top club you will love it buddy." We really must bring him back home to where he belongs. Three Scots in our first team this season?

Loved Steve Bruce's dig at Nursey during the press conference . Villa Park would be a tough place for any team to come to tomorrow with Villa celebrating Jack's retention. It is worth noting however that Wigan had a great record against us away from home until losing here 1-0 in 2016. Prior to that they had won 4 and drawn 3 of their previous 8 league games here. Let's make this two home wins on the trot against them and maintain our 100% win record this season. An 85-0 win would be nice but I would settle for a 2-0 victory!

It would be a major success if we signed Snodders. We would rightly feel flushed with success if we managed to sign them both.

I think with the number of signings they have made they won't be leaving a place in their first team for him. At best he may get an occasional seat on their bench and a ten minute run on. Let's invite him back where he is appreciated to wear our claret and blue with distinction.

Agreed . I still think that if we play the sort of balls to him that he got on the end of at Brentford he can get goals for us this season.

So the loan window slams shut at the end of the month. There will be a few players at Everton, Chelsea and West Ham to name but three that will not get much of a look in this season and we need to get in there as soon as we can to beat other clubs to the punch. I think we need a left back, a central defender (JT might save us a loan), a forward and Snodders.

Gary must have hated holding up that shirt and will cringe every time he puts one on. Clearly he must have had no other choice and at least by making this move he will be taking money off them and saving money for us. He remains one of our own and I wish him well with his task of ensuring that the Noses lose their relegation battle this season.

"It only takes a minute" to sign him so this could well be a deal that we make just before the transfer window slams shut.

Simon Jordan summed up Levy so well on Talksport yesterday " Spurs like to do deals where they get everything for nothing and 10% off" Big Sam also said this morning on the Alan Brazil show about Spurs bid having been rejected "its not enough money for Aston Villa to even tempt to want to sell him at £25m at his age with his talent". These are a couple of rare quotes that tell it like it is from that radio station that I thought were worth sharing.

How about we let him have his medical there first and then give him a quick call.

Good job we didn't sign this bloke then!

Apparently the photographs of "Turncoat Bryan" had already been taken as well.

They have probably heard it all before in the playground but already know not to repeat it especially in front of their Dad.