John

You may well have hit the nail on the head, I would like to think the new appointments would put some money into the club as the current custodian is no longer willing to do so. At the very least it would be nice to see a figurehead turning up to the odd game unless it is the former chairman again.

He is staying with us then. Why would he want to leave given the contract he is on with us? I very much doubt it would be to play first team football.

On BBC Radio WM tonight Garde said "We will have to take points from that game (Newcastle) and then maybe we will have the chance, if we are not capable to do that then it will be over but for the moment its..I see that as a great opportunity to have still in end the opportunity to get points from direct opponents" This may be a language issue and he may have been referring to the games against Norwich and Sunderland as well as the game at Newcastle but if that is the case it needs correcting quickly. Although he may be saying what most of us are thinking next weekend or at best the start of January is far too soon for any manager to be accepting relegation no matter how likely it may seem. It is hardly likely to fill the players with confidence for the rest of the season and would I guess lead them to be resigned to our relegation if their manager had expressed no faith in them turning things around in the remaining games.

On The West Midlands football phone in on BBC Radio WM tonight they said that the Supporters Trust had been told that the appointment of a new chairman and a new director was imminent.

No team has ever avoided relegation from the Premier League with single figure points at this stage of the season. This is being widely quoted as a reason to conclude that our fate is already sealed. That may well prove to be the case but there was football before season 1991-92! In season 1990-91 Sheffield United had managed only 4 points and 4 draws by mid-December after their first 17 games in Division 1. They ended the season in 13th place on 46 points and well clear of the relegation places. So history proves it has and can be done after all. A repeat of that achievement by Villa would be a very nice unexpected Christmas present for us all! On 13th December 1998 we beat Arsenal at Villa Park to go top of the table. We have not beaten them in the league at Villa Park since. Yesterday precisely 17 years later to the day it was Arsenal that beat us to go top of the league themselves. Arsenal remain undefeated in the league at Villa Park this century and it seems the only way we will avoid their winning run at Villa Park being extended to 18 years is by our being relegated. That is something we sadly look likely to be able to achieve with some games to spare now. There was no festive cheer to be taken from this game for us and no Christmas gifts of much needed points from our visitors. Teams that are above us seem able to get surprisingly positive results as did Newcastle yesterday and Bournemouth on Saturday. We alone of the bottom dwellers can be relied upon to be consistent to the extent that yesterday’s defeat broke our football club’s all time record run of games without a win. I have had enough of the sort of record breaking we have been doing for far too long now! Our chances of extending our 29-year stay in the top flight grow less as each game passes us by. We started well enough yesterday but their early converted penalty relieved any pressure there may have been upon them given they were aware that we were likely to pose them little to no threat up front. Their second goal was the coup de grâce and they were able to run down the clock in the second half without shifting out of second gear. Their win was a very, very comfortable one. We did create a few half chances but we were fortunate that they were happy to come away with a 2-goal winning margin because had they had the will to have gone for victory by a wider margin our goal difference could have looked worse than it already does today. We now need snookers to stay up. Other teams are getting the sort of unexpectedly positive results they need which seems to be way beyond us. If we are to make some sort of a fight of this then we really need to win a couple of the three games that we have left during what remains of this sorry year. 12 or 13 points at the half-way stage of this season could yet give us some hope of turning things around. To do that we would need to get a minimum of the same points from our next 3 games that we have managed to get from our first 16. It seems highly unlikely at the moment as we stare into the abyss that a team who have difficulty in scoring but concede goals a plenty will get anywhere near the number of points we need from these three games. My player ratings from a game that has left us still without a home league win this season, with the worst goal difference in the league, with a measly 6 points from 16 games and with only 3 from our last 15 are: Brad Guzan – 5 –. Sent the wrong way on the 8th minute when Giroud hit their first from the penalty spot. Had little else to do during the game but played his team mates into trouble a couple of times when playing the ball out of his area such as when he gave the ball to Lescott on the edge of the box in stoppage time. Brad came out for an Ozil free kick on 20 minutes that he failed to reach but Giroud failed to take advantage and Gestede cleared his header away for a corner. He then pushed an 82nd minute Oxlade-Chamberlain shot that had taken a touch off Lescott out for a corner. Alan Hutton – 4 – Started the game badly and pulled Walcott back with both arms on his shoulders after he had cut into the box in front of him for their penalty. He improved later but it would have been difficult to have got any worse. Alan also headed a 43rd minute corner harmlessly wide. Jores Okore – 6 – MOTM – Looked solid enough on a day when the team did not. Joleon Lescott – 5 – Joleon was left with 3 players to mark for their second goal after both Sánchez and Veretout failed to cover runs from Ozil and Giroud. Ozil unselfishly played the ball to Ramsey who was the first of two unmarked players inside the area and the game was over as a contest if in reality it ever was one. Leandro Bacuna – 5 – Cech parried a Sánchez cross to him on 21 minutes but he sent the ball well over. Unlucky on 62 minutes when Ayew found him wide and in a lot of space to see his measured shot go inches over the bar. Jordan Veretout – 5 – Hit a shot from the edge of the box well over the bar on 48 minutes. Carlos Sánchez - 4 – His 50th minute shot was gathered easily enough by Cech. Idrissa Gana – 5 – Hit a shot from the edge of the box wide of the post on 31 minutes. He appeared to have been fouled to everyone other than the referee when he lost possession of the ball near the edge of their box and they went on to add their second. Scott Sinclair – 5 – Gana found him with a good ball in the 6th minute but his low shot from the edge of the box went straight into the arms of Cech. Scott headed a cross onto the roof of the net on 58 minutes. Jordan Ayew – 5 – Aimed a nice looking ball into the box for Sinclair which he was not quite able to bring under control on 53 minutes. Rudy Gestede – 4 – Won some balls in the air but offered little to no threat of scoring himself and was much too static when we had the ball. Failed to get enough on a header from a 49th minute Hutton cross. Substitutes: Carles Gil 6 - Replaced Gestede on 59 minutes and made a decent impact. Hit a shot just wide of the post on 82 minutes that Cech appeared to have covered. Jack Grealish – Replaced Gana on 78 minutes. Did not make any impression on the game so did not merit a rating. Adama Traore – Replaced Sinclair on 87 minutes. Not on long enough to gather a rating but he did make a powerful run from inside his own half in the first minute of stoppage time before hitting a shot from inside the area into the side netting. He offers the chance to make something from nothing as this demonstrated. Given we have nothing at the moment we have very little to lose by starting him in our next four games because we really need to get some serious points from them. Happy Christmas to all readers & stay up Villa! John Lewis

No team has ever avoided relegation from the Premier League with single figure points at this stage of the season. This is being widely quoted as a reason to conclude that our fate is already sealed. That may well prove to be the case but there was football before season 1991-92! In season 1990-91 Sheffield United had managed only 4 points and 4 draws by mid-December after their first 17 games in Division 1. They ended the season in 13th place on 46 points and well clear of the relegation places. So history proves it has and can be done after all. A repeat of that achievement by Villa would be a very nice unexpected Christmas present for us all! On 13th December 1998 we beat Arsenal at Villa Park to go top of the table. We have not beaten them in the league at Villa Park since. Yesterday precisely 17 years later to the day it was Arsenal that beat us to go top of the league themselves. Arsenal remain undefeated in the league at Villa Park this century and it seems the only way we will avoid their winning run at Villa Park being extended to 18 years is by our being relegated. That is something we sadly look likely to be able to achieve with some games to spare now. There was no festive cheer to be taken from this game for us and no Christmas gifts of much needed points from our visitors. Teams that are above us seem able to get surprisingly positive results as did Newcastle yesterday and Bournemouth on Saturday. We alone of the bottom dwellers can be relied upon to be consistent to the extent that yesterday’s defeat broke our football club’s all time record run of games without a win. I have had enough of the sort of record breaking we have been doing for far too long now! Our chances of extending our 29-year stay in the top flight grow less as each game passes us by. We started well enough yesterday but their early converted penalty relieved any pressure there may have been upon them given they were aware that we were likely to pose them little to no threat up front. Their second goal was the coup de grâce and they were able to run down the clock in the second half without shifting out of second gear. Their win was a very, very comfortable one. We did create a few half chances but we were fortunate that they were happy to come away with a 2-goal winning margin because had they had the will to have gone for victory by a wider margin our goal difference could have looked worse than it already does today. We now need snookers to stay up. Other teams are getting the sort of unexpectedly positive results they need which seems to be way beyond us. If we are to make some sort of a fight of this then we really need to win a couple of the three games that we have left during what remains of this sorry year. 12 or 13 points at the half-way stage of this season could yet give us some hope of turning things around. To do that we would need to get a minimum of the same points from our next 3 games that we have managed to get from our first 16. It seems highly unlikely at the moment as we stare into the abyss that a team who have difficulty in scoring but concede goals a plenty will get anywhere near the number of points we need from these three games. My player ratings from a game that has left us still without a home league win this season, with the worst goal difference in the league, with a measly 6 points from 16 games and with only 3 from our last 15 are: Brad Guzan – 5 –. Sent the wrong way on the 8th minute when Giroud hit their first from the penalty spot. Had little else to do during the game but played his team mates into trouble a couple of times when playing the ball out of his area such as when he gave the ball to Lescott on the edge of the box in stoppage time. Brad came out for an Ozil free kick on 20 minutes that he failed to reach but Giroud failed to take advantage and Gestede cleared his header away for a corner. He then pushed an 82nd minute Oxlade-Chamberlain shot that had taken a touch off Lescott out for a corner. Alan Hutton – 4 – Started the game badly and pulled Walcott back with both arms on his shoulders after he had cut into the box in front of him for their penalty. He improved later but it would have been difficult to have got any worse. Alan also headed a 43rd minute corner harmlessly wide. Jores Okore – 6 – MOTM – Looked solid enough on a day when the team did not. Joleon Lescott – 5 – Joleon was left with 3 players to mark for their second goal after both Sánchez and Veretout failed to cover runs from Ozil and Giroud. Ozil unselfishly played the ball to Ramsey who was the first of two unmarked players inside the area and the game was over as a contest if in reality it ever was one. Leandro Bacuna – 5 – Cech parried a Sánchez cross to him on 21 minutes but he sent the ball well over. Unlucky on 62 minutes when Ayew found him wide and in a lot of space to see his measured shot go inches over the bar. Jordan Veretout – 5 – Hit a shot from the edge of the box well over the bar on 48 minutes. Carlos Sánchez - 4 – His 50th minute shot was gathered easily enough by Cech. Idrissa Gana – 5 – Hit a shot from the edge of the box wide of the post on 31 minutes. He appeared to have been fouled to everyone other than the referee when he lost possession of the ball near the edge of their box and they went on to add their second. Scott Sinclair – 5 – Gana found him with a good ball in the 6th minute but his low shot from the edge of the box went straight into the arms of Cech. Scott headed a cross onto the roof of the net on 58 minutes. Jordan Ayew – 5 – Aimed a nice looking ball into the box for Sinclair which he was not quite able to bring under control on 53 minutes. Rudy Gestede – 4 – Won some balls in the air but offered little to no threat of scoring himself and was much too static when we had the ball. Failed to get enough on a header from a 49th minute Hutton cross. Substitutes: Carles Gil 6 - Replaced Gestede on 59 minutes and made a decent impact. Hit a shot just wide of the post on 82 minutes that Cech appeared to have covered. Jack Grealish – Replaced Gana on 78 minutes. Did not make any impression on the game so did not merit a rating. Adama Traore – Replaced Sinclair on 87 minutes. Not on long enough to gather a rating but he did make a powerful run from inside his own half in the first minute of stoppage time before hitting a shot from inside the area into the side netting. He offers the chance to make something from nothing as this demonstrated. Given we have nothing at the moment we have very little to lose by starting him in our next four games because we really need to get some serious points from them. Happy Christmas to all readers & stay up Villa! John Lewis

Norwich getting a point is another nail in our coffin. We have had next to no help from clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool and now Everton of late. Still at least they only took one point.

Both Vidic & Cole are more likely to wind up in say LA or New York than at Villa Park. But these are the sort of players that might just make a difference for us over the rest of the season. These are options we would be right to be looking at alongside the need for a keeper, a midfield player and a striker in this coming window. Nice to see a couple of links at last. I wonder if we have booked our usual hotel rooms for them and for Praet yet and whether Peter Odemwingie is up for taking them to the car park?

If we go down and we should do everything possible to prevent that then a play-off spot should not be our target or the target of this football club. Our target should be guaranteed automatic promotion as champions and nothing less. Aim for less and we are likely to get less. The play-off places are a target for teams like Wolves and Ipswich who are not good enough and did not do enough in the summer to go for a top 2 place although they would have no doubt set a top 2 rather than a top 6 target for themselves before the season started. Our target remains currently a top 17 finish to this season.

I just hope that we are on the verge of doing some sort of transfer business along the lines suggested below:

I would have liked to have seen us strongly linked with making the odd signing or three by now. Players such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Steven Naismith, Andros Townsend, Benik Afobe, Tom Heaton and Rico Henry for example may be available to buy/loan early next month. We need to do any such deals without delay but there does not appear to be much if any activity on the transfer front at B6 to me

I am not even sure he can play the fiddle or cares enough to learn how to do so.

A good cup run helped us last season it might do the same this year.

29 points.

Yes not quite yet so I am relying on it being a bit like the end of the film Carrie with us reaching a hand out to drag someone down in our place.

So would I but I would think we would be more likely to get Arsene to loan Campbell to us rather than either of them.

Agreed but less likely to happen than Cole or Campbell for me if they are likely to happen in any case.

A point would be splendid. A win would be too good to be true and a defeat would be what we have come to expect. We really need something from this one. Albion recently proved they can be beaten but a point would do for me. Failing that not too big a hit on our goal difference..

Agreed if Ashley Cole is willing to come to us where he will be guaranteed games from January onwards we should try to make this one happen. He has experience, would command respect from the rest of the team and could make a big impact. I would not say no to Campbell either. These would be only loans but they would show we are prepared to look for a possible lifeline rather than to sink without a fight.

I think 2 games out is enough if the boss is happy with how he has reacted to being out of the squad. I would have him on the bench for the Arsenal game and would hope he could come on and show how much he has missed playing for us next weekend.

I can see where you are coming from and admire your optimism but I do have some difficulty in including Chelsea in the equation other than that they have made our position more difficult with their sorry performance against Bournemouth today (who I think we may need to end the season above to stay up). If someone had told me we would be 9 points behind Chelsea after 15 games I would have taken that gladly. If someone now told me that after 30 games we would be 18 points behind them I would say we would be all but safe from relegation.They are a team we can forget about when it comes to those that we need to focus on to stay up. We need to end the season above three of Sunderland, Newcastle, Norwich or Bournemouth for me. Something between 28 and 32 points might do it this season and I hope it ends up being nearer 28 than 32. We have seen some light at the end of what is a long very dark tunnel today but we have a long way to go and we are likely to be in the bottom 3 for most of the rest of the season. What matters is where we are after our last game and until we cannot end the season 17th we all need to share your hope. .

Well it is not going to be zero points now!

I would think there is a fair chance. I wonder how they got to find out about this. Had they been to the game and were they waiting for autographs in the car park from our players? If you really must lurk around their forums do not believe everything you read on them or you may begin to wonder whether they are a half decent football club that are on the brink of promotion after all rather than one that forever lives in our shadow and that lost against Huddersfield today.

We need to keep in touch with the clubs above us this month to maintain some hope of beating the drop and to give the club some reason to think that making new signings in the next transfer window might save the club money in the long run. We will face Southampton (a), Arsenal (h), Newcastle (a), West Ham (h) & Norwich (a). The games at Newcastle and Norwich are ones that we cannot afford to lose if we are to have any hope of beating the odds this season and staying up. It is tough to see us getting anything from our next two games. Could West Ham be ready for a Christmas stuffing? Most likely not but we might just get something from that game. Surely the law of averages suggests that we will win a home game again one day and it needs to be sooner rather than later. So how many points do you think we will get? None might seem likely at the moment and that would be the end of all reasonable hope that might still be out there. A 15 point maximum return would see us clear of the drop zone and half way to safety. I suspect we will get 2 points but would be over the moon with 7. Over to you...

I think Liverpool will want to keep Benteke with them if only to offer them an option coming off the bench. A lack of playing time before the Euros was always going to be a risk for him with this move but it was one he could not wait to take. Even if they did agree to loan him out I have some doubt that he would want to come back to us and that we would pay his wages.