John

Scott Sinclair scored a brace of goals yesterday to make it five goals in two games for him but his goals did not bring us the win we needed. We have conceded five goals in our last two home games and you cannot expect to win games too often when the defence is leaking goals like that. We conceded an early goal but equalized within two minutes and were ahead at the break. Another goal looked likely and it would have settled the game for us. We were not short of opportunities to add a third but our visitors left Villa Park with what may prove to be a rare away point for them this season. We now have four points from four games and this sort of point accumulation is on a par with another bottom six finish. We are now treading water whilst we wait and hope for our new signings to gel together to provide a winning side. There continue to be some signs of encouragement and we played some nice football at times yesterday but we do need to start picking up more points now to keep clear of the relegation zone that we have spent too many seasons in of late. I think we will not be looking over our shoulders towards the end of this season but I wonder just how good a team we would be now if we still had Benteke up front. I guess if we did we would not have most of our new signings though. This was not a must win game or a six pointer yet but it was the sort of game we really need to be winning.Sunderland’s half time substitutions and their strong start to the second half gave them an equalizer 7 minutes after the re-start. We were the better team overall yesterday but we were unable to claim an elusive home league win and our bottom of the table visitors left happy to have doubled their points tally. We will just have to beat them up there again! My player ratings from a game that we started missing the creativity of Grealish and Traore through injury and Gil through choice are: Brad Guzan – 5 – Positioned himself too far to the right of his goal for me and was unable to get anywhere near to Villa’s well placed 9th minute free-kick. Brad tipped a Fletcher header over the bar on 49 minutes. Alan Hutton – 6 – Did his best work when getting forward which he did on a regular basis. Alan was solid at the back when tested. Michah Richards – 7 – Unlucky to get a touch on Lens’ 52nd minute equalizer that helped the ball over Guzan. Looked certain to give us the lead again on 59 minutes but Sinclair’s cross hit him near the goal line rather than he hit it and the ball surprisingly ended up in Pantilimon’s hands. Our captain was both dominant and committed at the centre of our defence. Ciaran Clark – 6 – Too easily lost a challenge with Lens on the edge of the box which led to his equalizer. Jordan Amavi – 7 – Conceded the free-kick that produced their opener when he brought down Graham but was very dangerous when getting forward and getting the ball over as he did for our second. The ball was deflected into the side netting by a defender on 63 minutes after he had made a good run into the area. Leandro Bacuna – 5 – Playing him in the middle failed to pay anything near the dividends that Tim was looking for. We missed his crosses. Leo screwed a shot wide on 38 minutes having been fed by Hutton. Ashley Westwood - 7 – Early miscued passes but improved after the first quarter of an hour. Made a decent run and was fed by Hutton on 17 minutes but his shot finished just wide of the near post. Idrissa Gueye – 7 –Looked good yesterday and seems a big improvement on the slithery snake he has replaced. Screwed a 25th minute shot wide of the post from the edge of the box. Carlos Sánchez – 7 – Looked assured and comfortable in our midfield particularly in the first half. He should have done better on 36 minutes when a free-kick fell to him inside the box and he hit his shot well over the bar. Carlos lost a midfield challenge with Toivonen who then found Lens for their equalizer. Scott Sinclair – 8 – MOTM - He is a goal machine at the moment. Brought down by Cattermole in the 11th minute and converted the spot kick himself sending Pantilimon the wrong way for our timely equalizer. Was again in the right place at the right time to put us ahead on 41 minutes when he turned in a cross from Amarvi who had been found by Gueye to give us a well worked goal. Rudy Gestede – 6 – Did well to turn and get a shot on target from the edge of the box on 39 minutes. Turned a header from an Amavi cross wide of the post on 77 minutes and hit the ball wide 8 minutes later from just inside of the box. Found it difficult to make an impression against their central defenders and took a while to get into this one but this is early following a big step upwards for him. Substitutes: Carles Gil – 7 - Replaced Bacuna on 68 minutes. Provided a creative spark we had been missing whilst he sat on the bench. Needed to start today and showed that following his introduction. Carles got a yellow card rather than a penalty on 79 minutes after a poor touch took the ball away from him when he had got into a very threatening position. Up the Villa! John Lewis

Scott Sinclair scored a brace of goals yesterday to make it five goals in two games for him but his goals did not bring us the win we needed. We have conceded five goals in our last two home games and you cannot expect to win games too often when the defence is leaking goals like that. We conceded an early goal but equalized within two minutes and were ahead at the break. Another goal looked likely and it would have settled the game for us. We were not short of opportunities to add a third but our visitors left Villa Park with what may prove to be a rare away point for them this season. We now have four points from four games and this sort of point accumulation is on a par with another bottom six finish. We are now treading water whilst we wait and hope for our new signings to gel together to provide a winning side. There continue to be some signs of encouragement and we played some nice football at times yesterday but we do need to start picking up more points now to keep clear of the relegation zone that we have spent too many seasons in of late. I think we will not be looking over our shoulders towards the end of this season but I wonder just how good a team we would be now if we still had Benteke up front. I guess if we did we would not have most of our new signings though. This was not a must win game or a six pointer yet but it was the sort of game we really need to be winning. Sunderland’s half time substitutions and their strong start to the second half gave them an equalizer 7 minutes after the re-start. We were the better team overall yesterday but we were unable to claim an elusive home league win and our bottom of the table visitors left happy to have doubled their points tally. We will just have to beat them up there again! My player ratings from a game that we started missing the creativity of Grealish and Traore through injury and Gil through choice are: Brad Guzan – 5 – Positioned himself too far to the right of his goal for me and was unable to get anywhere near to M’Villa’s well placed 9th minute free-kick. Brad tipped a Fletcher header over the bar on 49 minutes. Alan Hutton – 6 – Did his best work when getting forward which he did on a regular basis. Alan was solid at the back when tested. Michah Richards – 7 – Unlucky to get a touch on Lens’ 52nd minute equalizer that helped the ball over Guzan. Looked certain to give us the lead again on 59 minutes but Sinclair’s cross hit him near the goal line rather than he hit it and the ball surprisingly ended up in Pantilimon’s hands. Our captain was both dominant and committed at the centre of our defence. Ciaran Clark – 6 – Too easily lost a challenge with Lens on the edge of the box which led to his equalizer. Jordan Amavi – 7 – Conceded the free-kick that produced their opener when he brought down Graham but was very dangerous when getting forward and getting the ball over as he did for our second. The ball was deflected into the side netting by a defender on 63 minutes after he had made a good run into the area. Leandro Bacuna – 5 – Playing him in the middle failed to pay anything near the dividends that Tim was looking for. We missed his crosses. Leo screwed a shot wide on 38 minutes having been fed by Hutton. Ashley Westwood - 7 – Early miscued passes but improved after the first quarter of an hour. Made a decent run and was fed by Hutton on 17 minutes but his shot finished just wide of the near post. Idrissa Gueye – 7 –Looked good yesterday and seems a big improvement on the slithery snake he has replaced. Screwed a 25th minute shot wide of the post from the edge of the box. Carlos Sánchez – 7 – Looked assured and comfortable in our midfield particularly in the first half. He should have done better on 36 minutes when a free-kick fell to him inside the box and he hit his shot well over the bar. Carlos lost a midfield challenge with Toivonen who then found Lens for their equalizer. Scott Sinclair – 8 – MOTM - He is a goal machine at the moment. Brought down by Cattermole in the 11th minute and converted the spot kick himself sending Pantilimon the wrong way for our timely equalizer. Was again in the right place at the right time to put us ahead on 41 minutes when he turned in a cross from Amarvi who had been found by Gueye to give us a well worked goal. Rudy Gestede – 6 – Did well to turn and get a shot on target from the edge of the box on 39 minutes. Turned a header from an Amavi cross wide of the post on 77 minutes and hit the ball wide 8 minutes later from just inside of the box. Found it difficult to make an impression against their central defenders and took a while to get into this one but this is early following a big step upwards for him. Substitutes: Carles Gil – 7 - Replaced Bacuna on 68 minutes. Provided a creative spark we had been missing whilst he sat on the bench. Needed to start today and showed that following his introduction. Carles got a yellow card rather than a penalty on 79 minutes after a poor touch took the ball away from him when he had got into a very threatening position. Up the Villa! John Lewis

Thanks for the above. We all have and are entitled to have our own opinions on player performances and it is rare that we will agree with each other 100%. I do not agree with Gregg's ratings of those two players.

Source: Player Match Ratings: Bring on the Noses!

Plucky County went ahead three times last night before two extra time goals produced a flattering final score for us. Tim rang the changes last night as is the norm in cup ties and this so nearly did for us again against lower league opposition. Sinclair’s goals prevented further cup embarrassment of the sort we have annoyingly become accustomed to. But we cannot afford to take the same liberties in the next round and we must start with our first choice starting line up because defeat against our neighbours from the dark side of the city would be beyond humiliation. The defence was near to the one we played regularly last season and it often looked as fragile as it did back then. We played some nice football and deserve credit for coming back from a goal down three times but County kept going at us until their legs understandably grew weary towards the end of this extended cup tie. Their fans can rightly be proud of their team’s whole hearted display and we can be relieved that we made it past them into the next round. My player ratings from a game that has left us one step nearer to another Wembley visit are: Mark Bunn – 6 – Took McLeod’s legs on the edge of the box during first half stoppage time and was sent the wrong way by Stead’s resultant penalty. Got down well to deny Burke a first half goal against his former club on 37 minutes but had no chance of stopping his superbly hit 56th minute curling shot from well outside of the box. Did well to tip a shot from the edge of the box over and got down low at the near post to keep out an effort from the resultant 67th minute corner. Alan Hutton – 5 – His error led to their opening goal on 16 minutes when Snijders shot from the edge of the box took a deflection off Baker on its way into the back of the net. Alan looked in need of games to bring him up to speed. Carlos Sánchez – 7 – Did surprisingly well in the centre of our defence last night and was our best defender by some distance. Nathan Baker – 5 – Has had much better more assured games than this one. Kieran Richardson – 6 – Looked good when getting forward but struggled at times defensively. Allowed Burke too much room and time for their third goal. Jordan Veretout – 6 – Jordan looked livelier and noticeably fitter last night. This was an encouraging performance from him. Carles Gil - 7 – This was a welcome return to first team action for Carles and he did not disappoint producing a good overall display. Hit a shot just wide from the edge of the area on 80 minutes and can make a big contribution for us this season. Jack Grealish – 8 – Threaded the ball through 2 defenders to Richardson who was then brought down by Aborah inside the box for the penalty that Sinclair converted on 78 minutes. Had earlier made our second goal on 49 minutes when he played the ball across the goalmouth and past their defence to the waiting Sinclair who tapped the ball in from close range. Really should have scored when he hit the ball wide when presented with an open goal near the end. Only needs to add goals to his game. Jack relished playing in this one and it showed. Adama Traore – 8 – This is going to be some player! He is that rare footballer that plays as good as his You Tube clip looks isn’t he? He runs at defenders with frightening pace and has more than his share of trickery. Sadly he was kicked out of the game on 60 minutes and he really deserves some protection against the sort of heavy challenges he came up against last night from match officials. Scored our opening goal on 24 minutes when Grealish after a good run unselfishly slid the ball to him inside the box and he beat Carroll with some aplomb and a goal scorer’s finish to his right. Hit the side netting on 48 minutes from the edge of the box following dome nice touches. Hope he is OK for Saturday. Scott Sinclair – 8 – MOTM – His goals eventually made the difference last night. Seemed to have a decent shout for a penalty on 22 minutes and after some good work inside the box his shot was kept out by Carroll’s leg on 35 minutes. He touched a nice cross from Adama just wide on 54 minutes and almost connected with a Grealish cross on 80 minutes. He then made an 81st minute run before seeing his shot saved at the near post and had a shot well held by Carroll 6 minutes later. Scott coolly placed the ball between the left post and Carroll to score our third from the penalty spot on 78 minutes which took the game into extra time. Completed his hat-trick in the 9th minute of stoppage time when he tapped in Cole’s cross and had earlier been in the right place at the right time to convert a Grealish cross in the 49th minute. Scott certainly knows where the net is could he play up front for us in the way that Walcott does for Arsenal? Jordan Ayew – 5 – Substituted on 72 minutes having failed to make a positive impact on the game or to cause any significant concerns for the defenders he faced. Hit a low shot on 26 minutes that Carroll collected easily enough. He badly needs a goal. Substitutes: Joe Cole – 6 - Replaced Adama on the hour mark. Improved markedly after a less than convincing start and pulled the strings in the midfield increasingly as the game wore on. Joe claimed an assist when we went ahead for the first time in the game on 99 minutes and put Sinclair clear in the 16th minute of extra time but his shot went just past the far post. Libor Kozak – 6 – So nice to see him get some game time at Villa Park on his long awaited return from injury. Replaced Ayew on 72 minutes and provided us with something we had been missing up front prior to that. He was unlucky not to have claimed a goal when he turned and got a strong connection on a cross which Carroll did very well to keep out in the final minute of the game. Joe Bennett – 6 - Replaced Gil in the 10th minute of extra time and settled matters 12 minutes later with a well hit goal from the edge of the box that he placed just inside the post. Up for the Cup Villa! John Lewis

Thanks for that PaulC.

Praet, a keeper, a forward and a central defender would be ideal before the window closes (possibly 2 of them being on loan). But we have done much more than I had expected already so I cannot really complain if we only bring in another one or two.

I would like to see us bring in Praet before someone else gets him. Go on Tim you know you want to!

Source: Player Match Ratings: A work in progress but encouraging signs!

It is now twenty long years since Manchester United tasted defeat in a league game at Villa Park. That is way too long! There was not a lot to choose between the two teams last night. But that has been the case before in some of those games and a draw has been the best we have managed to get from any of them. The players worked very hard to stay in the game and to nullify their opponent’s threat. We improved during the course of the game but we posed little to no threat up front to our visitors. The only goal of the game won it but things could have been different had referee Dean not ignored our penalty appeals on 38 minutes when Darmian held Richards back by the neck as he went for a corner. But we do not get much from referees do we? Only one of the players in a claret & blue shirt last night started in the FA Cup Final. This new team will take time to gel. Players will need to become familiar with playing together and players who are new to English football will need to adapt to the pace of the Premier League. We will be boosted when Gil, Grealish and Traore are available for first team selection. It would be nice if we could add another couple of players during what remains of this window as well because sometimes 10 new signings is not quite enough. This team will get better. The time to judge new players will come later when they have some more games under their belt and are more accustomed to playing alongside each other. But we do need to keep picking up points in the interim so three to four points from our next two games must be our target. My player ratings from a game that has left us with 3 points from our first two games and with more positive than negative signs for the future are: Brad Guzan – 6 – Had the ball played back to him quite a lot particularly in the first half and he seemed nervous and uncomfortable with the ball at his feet. Brad got down well to keep out a 78th minute effort from outside of the box by Depay and had done well to get his feet to a loose ball on the edge of the box when under pressure from the same player on 20 minutes. Leandro Bacuna – 6 – Didn’t get forward and whip the crosses in as often as we have come to expect from him. Leo does still remain a cause for concern when it comes to defending but I do not think he would claim to be a full back and he did well enough with his back to goal last night. I wonder if Hutton may get a look in at some point. Michah Richards – 8 – He offers a real threat to opposition defences in the air as he did when he was denied a penalty on 38 minutes last night. Our new captain led by example last night, was keen to give advice to those around him and gave a first class central defensive display. Ciaran Clark – 7 – A solid performance. He was unlucky that his slight deflection on Januzaj’s winner took the ball past Guzan but not past the far post. Jordan Amavi – 8 – MOTM - Flashed a good cross over on 52 minutes following good work by Sinclair which neither Gabby nor Ayew did enough to try to get on the end of. Provides a real threat when moving forward and looked very comfortable the back. Jordan has hit the ground running and looks to be a superb signing. Jordan Veretout – 6 – Worked hard, showed some nice touches but ran himself into the ground more quickly than would be expected. Jordan can become increasingly influential as he gets up to the pace of this league in the coming weeks. Ashley Westwood - 7 – Hit some decent passes and steadied a midfield of which he has suddenly become our most experienced member. Idrissa Gueye – 6 – He is not unwilling to put a foot in is he? Looks comfortable on the ball and is a player who can make a big impact for us. He really should have gone with Januzaj when he made his run from the edge of the box to score their winner though. Scott Sinclair – 6 – Unlucky to have been the player that made way for Rudy on 59 minutes as he was showing some signs of improvement at that point. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 4 – Whilst players who were around him last season have gone Gabby still remains a constant in our starting line up. This was a game in which he might have been expected to set a positive example to the new players he was playing alongside given his experience but it was another game that passed him by. He was unchallenged on 55 minutes but his header from a Westwood corner lacked pace and was easily collected by Romero. Jordan Ayew – 5 – Jordan was gifted the ball by Mata on 48 minutes but his shot from the edge of the area finished high and wide of the target. Worked well enough but did not really make much of an impact up front or cause any real concern to their defence. It is way too early to judge him yet but he will be looking to make a bigger impression as he becomes more settled in this team. He might currently find it easier with Gestede or Kozak playing alongside him. Substitutes: Rudy Gestede – 6 – Replaced Sinclair on 59 minutes. Rudy needs to start games now to give us a cutting edge up front that we are currently missing. Carlos Sánchez – Replaced Veretout on 78 minutes. Looked good during the time he had available to do so but he was not on long enough to gather a rating. Happy New Season - Up the Villa! John Lewis

We do you know. We had seen Villa relegated twice and spend years out of the top flight before we found our way back in the 70s. But I hope those that were too young to be at Rotterdam will get the opportunity soon to taste something like that before too much longer.

This is just it, I remember Fox saying when he first joined the club that the aim was to make us a more exciting and appealing brand. Shortly after that Lambert tried to change our style (which failed miserably), then this summer happens and a whole new footballing philosophy has been created at the club.We have been targeting players with a decent technique and who will excite the fans. Hopefully if the plan comes to fruition we will see an entertaining and succesful football team playing at Villa Park again (i don't mean the opposition before anyone says ) Hopefully we are starting to see something similar to when Wenger took over at Arsenal and moved them away from the George Graham boring boring Arsenal, to one of the most exciting teams for neutrals to watch. If we manage to replicate that to a certain degree then Fox will have done a magnificent job. I agree with all of that....but remember, we have to win ugly sometimes as we did at Dean Court Winning ugly I can take on a regular basis it is the losing ugly that I have had some difficulty with in recent years.

FullerMagic has said on The Oatcake site "Villa are quite a fun team all of a sudden."

Welcome to the club Adama! I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Time can't erase the memory of these magic moments: Dennis lifting the European Cup in Rotterdam. Hearing that Bozo Jankovic had scored a second against Ipswich on a radio in the Clock End at Highbury. Brian Little's winner at Old Trafford in the 1977 LCF. Half-time and we are 5-1 ahead at Villa Park against Liverpool (1976). Dean Saunders scoring our third goal in the 1994 LCF. Dennis Mortimer's goal in our 2-0 home win against Liverpool (1980). Tony Morley's goal of the season in our 3-1 win at Everton (1981). Pat McMahon's goal in our 1970 LCSF win against Best, Law & Charlton. The chants of "Villa, Villa" on MOTD as we beat Bournemouth (1972).

Don't remember that. The Ellison stuff was completely made up by people on internet forums and don't even recall people like Collymore tweeting about it. He is one of us.

The ball is now in Spurs court. If they want rid of him and he is motivated to play rather than to count his money then the deal might be brought back into life towards the end of the window if there have been no move by another club. On Talksport this morning they suggested that he wanted to stay in London. Surely he would have noticed before now that we are not?

Well he is taking his sweet time about it so three, four, I have plenty of time to lock my door!

Good luck for the season at Porto Aly! This gives us a space in the squad and it is a decent move for the player who for me did not let us down during his time with us.

Happy we have got this one done and that the player was happy to sign a contract of that length. I thought he had a fine season last year and we were not the same at the back without him. I hope we have learned our lesson about running contracts down to the last year now.

Brearley was a very rare example of someone whose leadership made him worth a place in the team when his playing ability did not. Of course you had to have outstanding players around him to make up for that. In this case I guess Tim cannot guarantee that Gabby will be first choice for every game so has gone for the Australian way of choosing a cricket captain namely choosing one from the most likely first choice starting line up. I would have gone for Clark myself but it was Tim's choice to make. The length of time spent at a club should not result in someone being made captain on those grounds alone and getting the club captain role should make Gabby feel a little better about this.Good luck as our captain Micah and I look forward to seeing you lift a trophy soon.

Is he in the champagne bar at Marco Pierre White's with Timmy yet?

I would expect Stoke to do everything they can to get him to sign for them without coming down to see what we offer as a club because they would be aware that he may well choose us despite their Barca connections. If he does make it to VP & BMH I would guess Tim would take him and his agent up Broad Street, get them on the Sangrias and wave a contract in front of their faces at around 3am. Job done!

What's not to like about that? Super player at his best but he just does not want to be bothered to be at his best often enough.If Tim could get him playing consistently over the course of a season it would be a great signing and he would have proved he is a miracle worker beyond doubt but I suspect Mario would not consider coming to us in any case.

Andy Gray rather than Tony Adams if anyone?