John

Thanks Mike. Those two were indeed near to a 4 as were a couple of the others to a 5. I plead generous as charged.

Source: Player Match Ratings: “It only takes a second to score a goal”

Brian Clough was quite correct when he made the quote above. But Villa have now failed to score one in our last 5 league games and this was the 13th league game that we have failed to trouble the scorer this season. Four months ago we scored our 4th goal of the season at Anfield to claim our second away win of this fledgling season. We stood 2nd in the league after our first 4 league games with 10 points and had high hopes of a season free of relegation worry. But the 18 games since then have brought a paltry 7 goals; have added only 12 points and we have won just two of those games. Those figures say it all as does the current league table which has us a mere 3 points clear of the relegation places and relying on other clubs to slip up to keep us out of the drop zone. It has reached the point in this season where games are running out for us to secure our safety. We need a point from each of our remaining 16 league games to reach a 38 point target that should secure our safety. But we now face games against Arsenal and Chelsea. After those games we may well find ourselves in the bottom three and wondering where those 16 points are going to come from. We need to start scoring, to provide service to Benteke, to get some movement in the last third and to ask Gil if he has any mates who might be available for £3m or less! There were some encouraging signs yesterday particularly after the introduction of our new signing. We put some pressure on our visitors, looked positive and threatened their goal more often than we have teams of late. That gave us a brief taste of what football at Villa Park has been in the past and can be again. We had to pinch ourselves at times as we were actually being entertained and it looked like we might just get something out of the game. But Liverpool are old heads at soaking up pressure and they slowed the game to a standstill with what must rank as the most time consuming double substitution ever seen at Villa Park. We were unable to exert the same level of pressure on them after that and to add insult to injury one of those substitutes (not the one whose arrival on the pitch was delayed by his search for gloves to wear) scored their decisive second. Villa gave a battling display yesterday and deserved something other than a 2-goal defeat from the game which flattered our opponents. But football can be a cruel game when you are near the bottom and once a team takes the lead against us it is pretty much game over given our sad lack of goals. This was not the Liverpool of old although their manager may be in denial concerning that. There was not a great deal to choose between the two teams other than in the crucial area of being able to score goals. We did not have the rub of the green when we had them on the back foot but goals like catches win matches and we cannot buy a goal at the moment. My player ratings from another scoreless home game are: Brad Guzan – 7 – Collected a poor effort from Sterling on 38 minutes when a second was there for him on a plate after a through ball drifted past both Westwood and Baker. Brad then did very well to push a Skrtel header onto the post on 50 minutes and to get a hand to a 75th minute Lucas shot that looked destined to creep inside the far post. Alan Hutton – 7 – Did well to get to the ball before Sterling on 15 minutes who had been looking at getting on the end of a one-two inside the box. Alan was always willing to make forward runs, was solid in our defence and was the best of our back four yesterday. Nathan Baker – 6 – Made an earlier than planned return from injury through necessity and was understandably not as dominant as he had been earlier this season. Did well to get an outstretched leg to the ball on 49 minutes after a rare Sánchez error had threatened to give Borini an opportunity for a second. Nathan would have hoped to have done better on 67 minutes when his header flew over the bar from a corner. Jores Okore – 6 – Kept plugging away but lacked some of his assurance of late as one of two central defenders who were unfamiliar with playing alongside each other. Caught dwelling on the ball on the edge of his box early on but the danger was averted when Hutton intercepted Moreno’s cross. He was less fortunate when Borini who scores as often as we do was able to make space for himself unnoticed behind Jores on 24 minutes and found himself unmarked when poking home Henderson’s cross for their opener. Aly Cissokho – 6 – Solid at the back and did what he was able when he got forward. Ashley Westwood – 6 – He was unlucky to be replaced within an hour and we missed his ability to thread passes forward during the brief spell that we had the upper hand. Fabian Delph - 6 – Moved the ball forward particularly in the second half but he gifted the ball to Sterling near the edge of the box and by so doing claimed an unwelcome assist for their second goal. Hit a 83rd minute shot just over and tested Mignolet with a powerful shot late in stoppage time that was unfortunately hit straight at the keeper. Tom Cleverley – 5 – Started well enough but failed to stay in the game other than when he briefly switched sides with Gabby and was then for some reason switched back again. Westwood played a nice ball into the box for him on 43 minutes but he hit his effort over the bar. Carlos Sánchez – 8 – MOTM – Hit a shot from outside of the box on 40 minutes that Mignolet held at the second attempt. Carlos looks increasingly comfortable and effective with each appearance. He was the best of our midfield by some distance yesterday. Gabby Agbonlahor– 5 – Some way off the captain’s performance we would have hoped to see. I guess he gets games in the hope that each will prove to be the rare one he is up for. This was not the case again yesterday and he offered little to no threat to the Liverpool defence. Christian Benteke – 6 – Had a header from a 17th minute Hutton cross easily gathered by Mignolet but all but equalized on 61 minutes when Baker headed a Delph ball onto him and he turned to hit a fierce shot that forced a terrific reaction save from Mignolet. Will have been as disappointed as we were when a ball found him at the far post only to bounce of his foot rather than be smashed into the back of the net on 69 minutes. The ball then ran towards Baker who sadly missed his kick so did not trouble the keeper. He then tried an overhead kick a minute later that went harmlessly wide. He really should have been on target 3 minutes later when heading a Gil corner that did not have quite enough pace on it wide. Needs a goal, better service and to try to make things happen himself! Substitutes: Andreas Weimann – 6 - Replaced Cleverley on 59 minutes and gave us some more forward movement. Carles Gil – 7 - Replaced Westwood on 59 minutes and looks to have the potential to be some signing. Made a fine run into the box on 67 minutes and was very near to getting his outstretched leg onto a one-two. At long last we have signed a player that plays the ball forward, is at ease on the ball and who is prepared to take on defenders. His introduction put Liverpool firmly on the back foot. Stay up the Villa! John Lewis

"Can we keep him? Yes. With Fabian it will not be about money. He's not a money-orientated guy. He just wants to play football."

They did krisagg75 it was 6-1. That win was our 5th in a row and followed wins against Chelsea (h) 2-0, Newcastle (h) 2-0, WBA (a) 3-0 & Leeds (h) 3-1. Glory Days!

Andy Gray's interview with Jonny Gould below indicates he is trying to "nibble away" to get someone interested in the club. But Randy's asking price is a barrier. http://jonnygould.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/andy-gray-talks-to-jonnygould-aston.html

Clearly Lambert needs some help. But could it be that the club have told him it is either another player or another assistant manager but not both because money is too tight to mention at B6?

“If it became feasible financially then who knows but there’s a bit of them asking too much at the moment.” So are we just sticking to our guns fee wise or have we offered all of the money we are able having been told we can go no higher? I think this may go to the last day and to the last hour but it is likely to be Citeh and Sinclair lowering their expectations that makes it happen rather than some of the Cleverley money (if it is still there) being used to force a deal through. If Citeh and the player will not budge I think we need to move onto a player we may be able to afford, whose wages will be acceptable to the club and who does not have the baggage this one has.

What a relief! Now let us move to make our next signing.

Gil joins Defoe and Sinclair waiting in their hotel room for a call then. What could possibly go wrong?

I agree with the first part of that 100%.

The longer this deal drags on the more likely another club will test the water with an acceptable bid. We need to hook this player now or risk him hitting the back of the net with another club.

Has he arrived for his medical yet anyone?

Hutton for me with honourable mentions for Clark and Baker as well.

£15m for Benteke would be a joke. Do Liverpool see him as only half of the player that Bony is?

Banksy (not the one with the spray paint) was in goal for Leicester and we lost as we did yesterday. I have seen the likes of Pele, Zoff, Rossi, Platini, Cruyff, Best, Charlton, Law, MacKay, Ball, Peters, Gentile, Moore, Breitner, Rummernigge, Tardelli, Bettega, Klinsmann, Matthaus, Jennings and Marsh to name but a few turn out against us along with all of the fine Villa men they came up against. It has been good, bad and ugly. But I would not have missed a moment on our claret & blue roller coaster.

Gary Jacob said in The Times today "Tottenham Hotspur and Villa have had talks about securing a pre-contract with André Ayew the winger who is also out of contract at Marseilles this summer."

Were you watching Randy? I guess not.

"We never done enough in the last third" - Lambo!

£1.5m for Vlaar from Manchester United? Money must be tight up there following their summer spending and unless they add a player or two (say one on loan & one as a part of the deal) that would be some way off being an offer we cannot refuse.

"I thought we renewed his contract while he was injured didn't we?" Yes in March 2011 romavilla. He was also reported by SKY Sports as having said in the summer that "I'd love to sign a new deal and am ready to talk, but it's not up to me, so we'll have to wait and see". But our owner had taken his eye off the ball and his eyes were only on selling the club then. Delph has also since become an England player and has seen the £ signs flash before his eyes.

"I don't get this. In what way did we not have to stick by our own player? Were we just meant to let him be injured then never play football again... having paid around £8m for him?! It surprises me more that so many people are saying it - "we stuck by him". Of course we did!" I think at one point he said that he owed the club for sticking by him bobzy. Back on 30/8/13 he did tell the Birmingham Mail "The fans have been great with me, they've been patient. I've been here four years now and I've been injured most of them. If I'm being honest, if I was a fan I'd probably be a bit frustrated thinking 'oh, when is he going to start playing. All credit to them they've backed me all the way." Given that, I think it is not unreasonable that fans have a problem with him now just over a year later being on the verge of leaving us for nothing. But that is football these days and the club should have made him a contract offer 12 months ago.

If Spurs do make a bid then it may flush out those clubs who are looking to pick him up for nothing. £3m would be a joke and if that is the offer they have in mind I would give them the same reply as they would give us if we offered the same for Lennon or Townsend. Spurs seem to make their offers through the press as they did with Benteke to test our reaction. They seem to think we are desperate for any sort of money when one of our players wants away. I trust they will be proven wrong again.

A must not lose game for me. A win would be nice though and it would make up for points dropped at home of late.

Bournemouth score goals for fun (in the division below us against the likes of Small Heath). We keep it tight at the back (against the likes of Liverpool who knocked them out of the other cup at their ground). They have also never beaten us even when they had Ted MacDougall to open the scoring with a superb diving header in front of the Holte End in 1972 in front of 48,110 fans who will never forget that game we had Andy Lochhead to win it with a sweet volley from a free-kick from big George Curtis. They will no doubt rest players with an eye on promotion and I wish them luck with that. We will I trust put out as strong a team as we are able. We have Benteke to play the Andy Lochhead part but where is their Ted MacDougall? We could have had tougher as well as easier games than this one. But this is a game we can win and I say bring it on! The worst part of the draw is that it does not put the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs or the Manchester clubs together yet.