John

A couple of years samjp26? It does seem we do have bigger fish to fry currently after all then. We should keep the star because the boys of 82 earned it for us after all. Adding that to something similar to the late 70's badge as Mattyvilla has shown above would do for me.

A great weekend at Villa Park. Beers in the stands and no police road blocks in place. There was a big build up of fans at Witton station post game on Saturday with SA fans (of all ages) overheard being advised to walk into the city centre by the police as an alternative to waiting for a train (could a few buses not been put on)? Had to laugh when SA fans mentioned that the stairs at the Scottish stand (Witton Lane) were painted in their colours . The stadium looked great with those posts in place. Two games at Villa Park and Villa were never in danger in losing either!

2009 Arj Guyj we won 1-0. We really need to win to get out of the bottom three and this is already a must win or at the very least a must not lose game for me. I hope and think we will win this one.

Yes those from the dark side of the city have a lot of difficulty in accepting that we were, are and always will be the best team in the city by some distance. Ratings are a matter of individual opinion but it is good to know that our ratings were quite similar for this one.

A bit of a nothing to lose game for us because anything other than a defeat for us would be a bonus and an everything to lose game for Rodgers. I really hope Benteke will be squirming in his seat towards the end of the game and wondering why he ever left us for them as he counts his money.

Thanks very much.

I guess if the police had told us that access to Witton station & Witton Lane was to be restricted then Bloose fans could have made plans as well as us. But preventing Villa fans getting to the station and up Witton Lane so Bloose fans could get away was beyond reason. I have heard the police say in the past that keeping fans in the ground after a game could be seen to infringe their human rights. Does the same not apply to preventing a large number of Villa fans having access to Witton Lane so that a much smaller number of Bloose fans can get there? There were enough police on duty to have escorted Bloose fans to the station 20 minutes after the game and to clear anyone who was still waiting around to wish them well post game away from the stadium. I note the Witton pub was also only available to away fans again...

This was a game of two halves in which we were the better team in both. We gave a passable impersonation of how we had played against WBA in the first half although as we were playing a more limited team we still shaded that half. The substitutions made at half time and the decision to play football in the second half left Small Heath with much more than they could handle and perhaps fortunate to escape with just the one goal defeat. As Rowett said prior to the game Small Heath had nothing to lose last night. But lose the game they did and they have been rather good at doing that over the years. I was almost surprised how poor Bloose were last night and their manager must have been wearing blue glasses if he really thought they “more than matched” us last night. They seem to be in a false league position to me or is it that there really is such a gulf between the two divisions? My player ratings from a game that has left us just two wins from a semi-final appearance are: Brad Guzan – 6 – Gathered a weak Maghoma shot at the second attempt on 74 minutes after Gray had put him clear inside the box. Otherwise this was a quiet day at the office for Brad. Leandro Bacuna – 6 – Got forward well. Michah Richards – 8 – Won everything in the air and was also very dominant on the floor. Joleon Lescott – 5 – Joleon was substituted at half time. Was starting two games in four days asking a touch too much of him? Jordan Amavi – 7 – Jordan was solid at the back and so dangerous when running at them. Ciaran Clark – 6 – He is no midfield player but he looked much more comfortable when he was pushed back to play alongside Michah in the centre of our defence for the second half. Ashley Westwood - 6 – Had a decent game in the middle. Jordan Veretout – 7 – Stood up to be counted last night and this was an encouraging display particularly in the second half. He needs more games now. Scott Sinclair – 7 – Much more involved in the game than he had been on Saturday, got into good forward positions but he appears to have lost his goal touch. Veretout played the ball to Scott on 9 minutes but Scott’s effort was blocked by Caddis before running on to Gestede who was unable to get a shot in before a combination of Kuszczak and a defender scrambled the ball clear. Kuszczak made a save at his near post to keep out Scott’s 39th minute shot and he hit one over the bar on 52 minutes after the ball had run to him after Gestede had been unable to get a cross from Grealish under control. He headed a cross from Bacuna that was slightly behind him wide of the post on 54 minutes. Had a free kick turned around the post by Kuszczak on 79 minutes after Grealish had been pulled back by Morrison to bring his latest dangerous run to an end. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 5 – Put himself about more in 45 minutes than he did in 90 on Saturday before his half time substitution due to injury. Could not quite stretch to get on the end of Bacuna’s 11th minute cross to the near post after Westwood had found Leo with a nice ball. Gabby screwed a shot well wide of the far post on 29 minutes after Westwood had found him on the edge of the box. Rudy Gestede – 6 – Better in the second half, lacking control on the ground but give him the crosses and he will head them home! Rudy controlled a ball from Veretout with his chest on 3 minutes before snatching at his shot from the edge of the box and sending it harmlessly wide of the post. Got on the end of a splendid cross from Amavi to power a header into the corner of the net and give us our winner on 62 minutes. Substitutes: Jack Grealish – 8 – MOTM - Replaced Joleon at half time. His introduction and that of Ayew sparked our upturn in performance. At times he seems to have the ball glued to his feet doesn’t he? Teased defenders at will and really enjoyed this win. Gestede found him just inside their half on 68 minutes, he then took the ball forward and made a great run into their box that was halted by a deflection off Kuszczak’s leg at the near post. Jordan Ayew – 7 - Replaced Gabby at half time. Jordan made a great run into the box on 82 minutes before playing the ball back to Veretout whose ball towards Sinclair just needed a slight touch that he was unable to provide. He then played a one-two with Grealish on the edge of the box 5 minutes later but his shot was kept out at the near post by a one handed save from Kuszczak. This was his liveliest and most effective performance for us to date. Jordan looked very good on the right and should start the next game for me. This performance will do his confidence a lot of good and will see Gabby face a big challenge for his usual starting place. Up for the Cup Villa! John Lewis

This was a game of two halves in which we were the better team in both. We gave a passable impersonation of how we had played against WBA in the first half although as we were playing a more limited team we still shaded that half. The substitutions made at half time and the decision to play football in the second half left Small Heath with much more than they could handle and perhaps fortunate to escape with just the one goal defeat. As Rowett said prior to the game Small Heath had nothing to lose last night. But lose the game they did and they have been rather good at doing that over the years. I was almost surprised how poor Bloose were last night and their manager must have been wearing blue glasses if he really thought they “more than matched” us last night. They seem to be in a false league position to me or is it that there really is such a gulf between the two divisions? My player ratings from a game that has left us just two wins from a semi-final appearance are: Brad Guzan – 6 – Gathered a weak Maghoma shot at the second attempt on 74 minutes after Gray had put him clear inside the box. Otherwise this was a quiet day at the office for Brad. Leandro Bacuna – 6 – Got forward well. Michah Richards – 8 – Won everything in the air and was also very dominant on the floor. Joleon Lescott – 5 – Joleon was substituted at half time. Was starting two games in four days asking a touch too much of him? Jordan Amavi – 7 – Jordan was solid at the back and so dangerous when running at them. Ciaran Clark – 6 – He is no midfield player but he looked much more comfortable when he was pushed back to play alongside Michah in the centre of our defence for the second half. Ashley Westwood - 6 – Had a decent game in the middle. Jordan Veretout – 7 – Stood up to be counted last night and this was an encouraging display particularly in the second half. He needs more games now. Scott Sinclair – 7 – Much more involved in the game than he had been on Saturday, got into good forward positions but he appears to have lost his goal touch. Veretout played the ball to Scott on 9 minutes but Scott’s effort was blocked by Caddis before running on to Gestede who was unable to get a shot in before a combination of Kuszczak and a defender scrambled the ball clear. Kuszczak made a save at his near post to keep out Scott’s 39th minute shot and he hit one over the bar on 52 minutes after the ball had run to him after Gestede had been unable to get a cross from Grealish under control. He headed a cross from Bacuna that was slightly behind him wide of the post on 54 minutes. Had a free kick turned around the post by Kuszczak on 79 minutes after Grealish had been pulled back by Morrison to bring his latest dangerous run to an end. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 5 – Put himself about more in 45 minutes than he did in 90 on Saturday before his half time substitution due to injury. Could not quite stretch to get on the end of Bacuna’s 11th minute cross to the near post after Westwood had found Leo with a nice ball. Gabby screwed a shot well wide of the far post on 29 minutes after Westwood had found him on the edge of the box. Rudy Gestede – 6 – Better in the second half, lacking control on the ground but give him the crosses and he will head them home! Rudy controlled a ball from Veretout with his chest on 3 minutes before snatching at his shot from the edge of the box and sending it harmlessly wide of the post. Got on the end of a splendid cross from Amavi to power a header into the corner of the net and give us our winner on 62 minutes. Substitutes: Jack Grealish – 8 – MOTM - Replaced Joleon at half time. His introduction and that of Ayew sparked our upturn in performance. At times he seems to have the ball glued to his feet doesn’t he? Teased defenders at will and really enjoyed this win. Gestede found him just inside their half on 68 minutes, he then took the ball forward and made a great run into their box that was halted by a deflection off Kuszczak’s leg at the near post. Jordan Ayew – 7 - Replaced Gabby at half time. Jordan made a great run into the box on 82 minutes before playing the ball back to Veretout whose ball towards Sinclair just needed a slight touch that he was unable to provide. He then played a one-two with Grealish on the edge of the box 5 minutes later but his shot was kept out at the near post by a one handed save from Kuszczak. This was his liveliest and most effective performance for us to date. Jordan looked very good on the right and should start the next game for me. This performance will do his confidence a lot of good and will see Gabby face a big challenge for his usual starting place. Up for the Cup Villa! John Lewis

Thanks for your comments Harry and thoughts on how you would have rated in general given our overall performance or lack of one. Carlos does lose the ball more than he should but I thought he had one of his better games for us and shaded Brad for MOTM for me.

I would go Guzan, Hutton, Richards, Lescott, Amarvi, Sanchez, Veretout, Westwood, Grealish, Gill & Sinclair.

WBA are a far better team than Small Heath and if we had been up for it in the way we were last season they would not have won yesterday. Both wanted/will want to beat us (as they always do) but the odds on WBA having the means to do so were far greater than those of our knuckle dragging neighbours doing so on Tuesday. Our result on Saturday should make our team determined not to put us through it again against Small Heath. This could be closer than it should be and I would therefore accept a 2 goal winning margin rather than the 3+ one I had been looking for previously but nothing less than a win will be good enough (OK I would take a penalty shoot out win rather than a cup exit). It is unlikely we will play this lot in the league for many a year so we really need to show the gulf in class that exists between the two clubs in the same way as we did in 1988 when we beat them 5-0 in the League Cup and 6-0 in the Simod Cup at Villa Park within a month. Make it happen Villa. This is not the time to rest players they did enough of that yesterday.

This performance or should I say lack of it was simply not good enough. We were as bad yesterday as we had been good twice at Villa Park against the same opponents last season. This game meant something to us but it seemed to pass our players by unnoticed. We carried too many passengers yesterday and you really cannot afford to not have everyone up for it in games like these. Albion got their revenge all too easily yesterday. They clearly wanted it much more than we did and bossed the game from start to finish playing the sort of football that we expect from a Tony Pulis team. They were uncompromising but effective and could not be described as being pretty to watch. Their winner which could not have been described as having come against the run of play came from a striker who wanted away from the club but that did not stop the Baggies celebrating it. We did not impose ourselves early. In the continued absence of Gueye we lost the midfield almost without a fight. We also posed no sort of threat up front without the pace of Traore and with Gabby unsurprisingly looking like a fish out of water in attempting to lead the line. We did get a little better in the second half but it would have been hard to have become any worse and we did not improve enough to ever really look like pulling this one out of the fire. The referee made two decisions that went against us on 64 and 71 minutes that might have given us something from this lack lustre performance but that was never going to happen was it? The team have the opportunity to make some sort of amends on Tuesday night. But a performance that is anything like the one that they produced yesterday could even against such limited opponents produce the unthinkable and unpalatable that evening. Make sure it does not happen! My player ratings from a sorry game that has left us still without a league win at Villa Park and occupying the same lowly league position that we finished last season in are: Brad Guzan – 7 – A much better display and Brad did much to keep our deficit down to a single goal. Made a good reaction save to keep out a Rondon header in the second minute and was grateful Berahino was unable to get a firmer touch when gathering his 19th minute effort. Did well to push a Fletcher shot past the post on 31 minutes but was left on his knees when Berahino deflected a Morrison shot past him 8 minutes later for their winner. Brad made a save at the second attempt from Rondon on the hour mark and held a far post Rondon header on 83 minutes. Alan Hutton – 6 – Solid enough at the back but although he got plenty of the ball when moving forward he was not able to do as much with it as he would have wanted. Alan was possibly unlucky not to have gained a penalty when Berahino appeared to handle his 64th minute cross just inside rather than outside the area. Michah Richards – 6 – Found the back of the net with a header from a Lescott ball into the box but with the ball on its way to him the referee blew his whistle rather than played the advantage on 71 minutes. Joleon Lescott – 6 – Looks like he can form a solid partnership with our captain when they have had the time to work on it as did Clark and Okore last season. Jordan Amavi – 6 – Needed to produce a stronger challenge on Dawson in the build up to their winner. Made a nice run into the box on 52 minutes prior to a Sánchez shot from the edge of the box being easily held by Myhill. Carles Gil – 6 – Looked decent enough when he had the ball at his feet. Had an effort on goal deflected after Gabby had had pulled the ball back to him inside of the box on 26 minutes. Ashley Westwood - 4 – Flashed a shot wide of the post on 24 minutes but made little positive impression yesterday. He can and needs to do so much better than this. Jack Grealish – 5 – He was not at his best yesterday and came up against a side who allowed him little to no room to play in. He will learn from games like this. Jack did not make the sort of impact we and I am sure he has become accustomed to making which was disappointing given he is a local lad and so was fully aware of the importance of this game to us. He will have much better days such as on Tuesday night I trust. Carlos Sánchez – 7 – MOTM – Carlos is a rare player who can hold his head high after this game. He was very solid and tidied up very well when in defensive positions. Sadly he did not have enough support alongside him to turn the tide in midfield but this was a very encouraging display from him. Scott Sinclair – 4 – We could have done with one of his goals yesterday but his contribution had been minimal before his half time substitution. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 4 – Gabby was never going to win balls in the air against Albion’s towering defenders but that did not stop us putting ball after ball to him in the air particularly in the first half. He surprisingly did win one or two, occasionally looked interested by chasing after the ball and did produce a 69th minute cross that Myhill gathered at the second attempt. But this was not a derby day for him to remember and he caused very little concern to the defenders he came up against. If selected on Tuesday he will need to show a lot more if he is to retain a starting place albeit the queue to replace him is a short one. Substitutes: Rudy Gestede – 4 - Replaced Sinclair at half time but failed to provide the spark we were looking for up front. Was unchallenged when he connected with a Bacuna cross on 91 minutes but his header sailed harmlessly over the bar. Leandro Bacuna – Replaced Gil on 76 minutes and was not on long enough to merit a rating. Jordan Veretout - Replaced Sánchez on 82 minutes. Jordan was not given long enough on the field to earn a rating. Up the Villa! John Lewis

Thanks for adding your thoughts on the ratings you would give for this one. Message understood.

This performance or should I say lack of it was simply not good enough. We were as bad yesterday as we had been good twice at Villa Park against the same opponents last season. This game meant something to us but it seemed to pass our players by unnoticed. We carried too many passengers yesterday and you really cannot afford to not have everyone up for it in games like these. Albion got their revenge all too easily yesterday. They clearly wanted it much more than we did and bossed the game from start to finish playing the sort of football that we expect from a Tony Pulis team. They were uncompromising but effective and could not be described as being pretty to watch. Their winner which could not have been described as having come against the run of play came from a striker who wanted away from the club but that did not stop the Baggies celebrating it. We did not impose ourselves early. In the continued absence of Gueye we lost the midfield almost without a fight. We also posed no sort of threat up front without the pace of Traore and with Gabby unsurprisingly looking like a fish out of water in attempting to lead the line. We did get a little better in the second half but it would have been hard to have become any worse and we did not improve enough to ever really look like pulling this one out of the fire. The referee made two decisions that went against us on 64 and 71 minutes that might have given us something from this lack lustre performance but that was never going to happen was it? The team have the opportunity to make some sort of amends on Tuesday night. But a performance that is anything like the one that they produced yesterday could even against such limited opponents produce the unthinkable and unpalatable that evening. Make sure it does not happen! My player ratings from a sorry game that has left us still without a league win at Villa Park and occupying the same lowly league position that we finished last season in are: Brad Guzan – 7 – A much better display and Brad did much to keep our deficit down to a single goal. Made a good reaction save to keep out a Rondon header in the second minute and was grateful Berahino was unable to get a firmer touch when gathering his 19th minute effort. Did well to push a Fletcher shot past the post on 31 minutes but was left on his knees when Berahino deflected a Morrison shot past him 8 minutes later for their winner. Brad made a save at the second attempt from Rondon on the hour mark and held a far post Rondon header on 83 minutes. Alan Hutton – 6 – Solid enough at the back but although he got plenty of the ball when moving forward he was not able to do as much with it as he would have wanted. Alan was possibly unlucky not to have gained a penalty when Berahino appeared to handle his 64th minute cross just inside rather than outside the area. Michah Richards – 6 – Found the back of the net with a header from a Lescott ball into the box but with the ball on its way to him the referee blew his whistle rather than played the advantage on 71 minutes. Joleon Lescott – 6 – Looks like he can form a solid partnership with our captain when they have had the time to work on it as did Clark and Okore last season. Jordan Amavi – 6 – Needed to produce a stronger challenge on Dawson in the build up to their winner. Made a nice run into the box on 52 minutes prior to a Sánchez shot from the edge of the box being easily held by Myhill. Carles Gil – 6 – Looked decent enough when he had the ball at his feet. Had an effort on goal deflected after Gabby had had pulled the ball back to him inside of the box on 26 minutes. Ashley Westwood - 4 – Flashed a shot wide of the post on 24 minutes but made little positive impression yesterday. He can and needs to do so much better than this. Jack Grealish – 5 – He was not at his best yesterday and came up against a side who allowed him little to no room to play in. He will learn from games like this. Jack did not make the sort of impact we and I am sure he has become accustomed to making which was disappointing given he is a local lad and so was fully aware of the importance of this game to us. He will have much better days such as on Tuesday night I trust. Carlos Sánchez – 7 – MOTM – Carlos is a rare player who can hold his head high after this game. He was very solid and tidied up very well when in defensive positions. Sadly he did not have enough support alongside him to turn the tide in midfield but this was a very encouraging display from him. Scott Sinclair – 4 – We could have done with one of his goals yesterday but his contribution had been minimal before his half time substitution. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 4 – Gabby was never going to win balls in the air against Albion’s towering defenders but that did not stop us putting ball after ball to him in the air particularly in the first half. He surprisingly did win one or two, occasionally looked interested by chasing after the ball and did produce a 69th minute cross that Myhill gathered at the second attempt. But this was not a derby day for him to remember and he caused very little concern to the defenders he came up against. If selected on Tuesday he will need to show a lot more if he is to retain a starting place albeit the queue to replace him is a short one. Substitutes: Rudy Gestede – 4 - Replaced Sinclair at half time but failed to provide the spark we were looking for up front. Was unchallenged when he connected with a Bacuna cross on 91 minutes but his header sailed harmlessly over the bar. Leandro Bacuna – Replaced Gil on 76 minutes and was not on long enough to merit a rating. Jordan Veretout - Replaced Sánchez on 82 minutes. Jordan was not given long enough on the field to earn a rating. Up the Villa! John Lewis

The two games to come are against local teams which in the past has brought out the best in Gabby. He needs to do this again and to focus on his football rather than on his activities outside of the game.

I think we will need a minimum of 2 goals to win this given our frailty at the back. I think we need to win a third game on the trot against them to put them in their place and I think we will do that. 3 points and a cup win will make things look so much better for us. Anything less than that is not acceptable. A 3-1 win would be a nice start this weekend and I anticipate a former WBA player getting one of the goals for us.

Why was it not made available to Villa fans only?

This is the sort of game that we need to be getting something from if we are not going to be in trouble again at the end of the season. The team still needs to get more familiar with playing with each other and we cannot afford to be without too many key players through injury but I have been tempted by Sinclair to score 2 or more goals @ 11/1 with Corals and I think we look good for at least a point if that comes in (and he gets 2 goals for fun at the moment).

A 1-1 draw with Wolves in front of a 2,500 crowd with Green getting our goal. We ended that first season second Wolves were third. 6d (2.5p) admission would have been around £2.27 today.I would have rocked up with a 4-wheeler though and paid that 2/6! Thanks for sharing this one Newry-Villan.

Whilst I agree that there is no "great Villa defeat" because they all are tough to take I agree that the Arsenal defeat was nicely cushioned by taking the league title that afternoon thanks to Boro's victory over Ipswich. Other than that the nearest I can get to a "great Villa defeat" was in the 1971 LCF when we did so very well as a then Division 3 team to all but turn over Spurs (who had ended the season 3rd in Division 1) at Wembley. But that defeat was such a bitter pill to swallow and I still cannot believe that Perryman got back to clear Andy Lochhead's goal bound effort that would have put us a goal ahead.

Welcome to our club Tiago! Did Christian tell you that it was an offer you could not refuse? I look forward to you having a great season with us and wanting to make it a permanent deal at the end of the season. Make it happen!

Welcome to our club Matija! Jimmy Rimmer was 5 foot 11 inches and I think we would all take him if he was available now particularly as I would guess that this lad is more comfortable with the ball at his feet than Jim was or Brad is.

Not Austin after what Sullivan said about him I think.

Anyone think Albion may be messing both us and the player about here? This deal is dragging on longer than I had expected given they have signed a replacement. Are Albion prepared to keep an unhappy player rather than to sell to us and to string us both along until the close of the window?