John

Some good points on our differing views on last night's game Jon, we can't always agree can we? :winkold: Fantram & NulliSecundus I would love to be able to say Richard's name change was a deliberate mistake it was not! :oops: Obviously that goal the other one got against us last weekend is still on my mind. :? As for Heskey's mark Fantram I did not think he had been on long enough to merit less than a 6.

This game had it all and was only missing the second Villa goal that may well have sealed the win for us! This was a proper football match played under floodlights with a healthy helping of big match atmosphere. It was a game where a bunch of hastily and expensively assembled individuals took on an old fashioned English type football team who were prepared to battle and fight for each other. It was a game of pace and end to end football and one that pushed us up to seventh spot as Manchester City edged into fourth thanks to an equaliser that always looked likely. It was also a game that on the balance of play neither side could argue that the other deserved to go home pointless from. Manchester City looked what they are last night a team of talented football mercenaries who have yet to gel into a team. But their individual abilities make them a constant threat up front and they will I consider be a real threat to the established and up to now relatively complacent so called big 4. But, we showed we were up for it last night. We raised our game from the low point of our last game at Blackburn and fought toe to toe against what is opposition that many clubs will wilt against and have lost a game before it starts on reading the team sheet. On last night’s performance we may yet challenge in and around the position that Manchester City now occupy and if we can find consistency then we might yet apply pressure to the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool this season. The returning Gareth got his expected chorus of boos during and before the game. He also had fake £50 notes waved at him when he took corner kicks as well as a decent round of applause when the game was over and he applauded all corners of the ground. But, he had a quiet night and the telling contribution to the game came from City’s former captain rather than from our own. David Dunne’s reception was so different to the reception that Gareth received because he was a player who did not want to leave where our former captain made no secret of his desire to move on. For me though its now time to put thoughts of Barry to one side and to concentrate on the players who still wear our shirt rather than on one who once did but then chose to wear another. My player ratings from a game from which we seemed to get very little from the officials other than an extra 5 minutes injury time (which seems a Manchester thing) are: Brad Freidel - 7 – Solid and dependable again. A good reaction save to an Adebayor header on 40 minutes and was in the right place at the right time when called into action. Carlos Cuellar – 6 – Steady enough but found difficulty in coping with Bellamy but name me a full back who does not when he is up for a game as he always seems to be against us. Richard Dunne – 9 – MOTM – He really wanted this one. Climbed well above our former captain on 15 minutes to power home a header past Given to give us an early lead and might just have got the decisive second on 58 minutes when his header from a Milner corner went wide. He powered forward more than once and dealt with everything in the air and on the ground. James Collins – 8 – Solid in the air perhaps looked a little less comfortable when he was tested on the deck last night but seldom over the course of this season will Manchester City have so little to show for what was considerable time spent in an opponent’s half. Stephen Warnock - 7 – Solid at the back and got forward more than he has since joining us up to now. James Milner – 7 – Hit a shot across the face of the goal on 49 minutes that went just wide and was his usual all action self. Steve Sidwell – 6 – Quiet again and what he does do is not always very noticeable. Steve does not get the opportunity to get forward as often as he likes to when playing in a midfield four and that is what he is most effective in doing. Stiliyan Petrov – 6 – Stiliyan plays a large role in our midfield retaining possession of the ball better than it has done at times in the past albeit at the expense of hitting more balls behind him than forward. Hit a measured shot on 10 minutes which went just wide although Given had it covered. Ashley Young – 7 – Carried an injury for much of this game and got very little protection from the officials. Ashley did some good work when tracking back into his own half particularly after the break and was lively enough up front although too many of his crosses continue to be over hit. Replaced on 80 minutes. John Carew – 6 – Another quiet game and was too easily handled by their defence prior to his substitution on 68 minutes. Gabby Agbonlahor – 7 – Unable to add another goal to his recent tally but his pace caused Manchester City’s cheque book defence a couple of second half problems and he kept busy last night. Might have opened the scoring in the first minute when his flick on from a Young corner forced a stop on the line from Given. Substitutes: Emile Heskey – 6 - Replaced Big John on 68 minutes and won his fair share of aerial challenges. Nigel Reo Coker – Replaced Ashley on 80 minutes to a surprisingly warm reception given the reason for his recent absence from first team action. Not on long enough to earn a rating but he is a player we will need to call on and both he and the manager need to work out any remaining differences for the good of the club in the coming months. Up the Villa! John Lewis

Great memories and a must see DVD. Pity the 71 LCF is not on this I know we lost but it was a final performance that in 9 out of 10 cases would have seen us bring the cup back home and I enjoyed seeing the first half again on Youtube last week.

Nice report Pete summed up a below par performance very well. That our central defenders were unable to cope with Blackburn's predictable threat came as a shock to me as I would have thought their attack was made for our defence to deal with. Another below par display from Ashley & Big John did for us & I think we missed Sidwell in the middle and dare I mentioned it Reo?

This game was always a goal short of being comfortable for us. But a fourth consecutive clean sheet along with another goal for Gabby to make it a goal in each of these four wins for him was enough to secure a place for us in the last sixteen! We didn’t make a final when this competition was held in Cardiff but we have made five Cup Final appearances at Wembley in this competition and another appearance is now long overdue. The team that hails from the once temporary home of English Cup Finals was unable to join the list of sides that have put us out of cup competitions at a premature stage in recent seasons at Villa Park despite James Milner missing a second half penalty and a late stoppage time scare when they found the net only to have the goal the fans who had backed them so well were celebrating ruled out for offside. So a rare run of good cup draws and the second string outfits that the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Arsenal usually play in this competition may be all that stands between us and a walk down Wembley Way next February. Of course there are also the likes of Manchester City, Spurs and Everton who potentially stand in our way but give me two home draws in the next two rounds rather than say Chelsea away again and I would back us against them or any second string outfit that the usual winners of this and the FA Cup might put up against us at Villa Park or in a two leg semi-final. I thought Cardiff showed why they are a reasonable bet to be playing us in the league next season rather than Small Heath. They made a good contribution to what was a decent game and although we looked the more likely side to score the second goal of the night they were never quite played out of the game and looked despite absences from their usual starting line up more than a half decent side that may give the fans of the Bluebirds something to sing about in May and with some cause to thank us for allowing them to concentrate on the league rather than be distracted by a cup run. The crowd was disappointing given the high number of Cardiff fans in attendance and the fact that many of us were watching for free as generous recompense from the club for enduring our Europa Cup win but overall away goal overall defeat against Rapid a few weeks ago. How do we get decent crowds to watch near full strength Villa sides in the cup? A draw against one of the usual suspects that will attract neutral support and local glory hunters who attach themselves to those clubs would be a start. As would some priority being given to those who do turn up on nights like last night when it comes to distribution of potential Cup Final tickets. My player ratings from a game that made it six wins from six for us are: Brad Guzan - 7 – Once more showed he can be a very capable replacement for our other Brad when necessary. Decent stops on 67 and 74 minutes from a free kick and good ones on 75 minutes when he foiled an opponent by diving at his feet and on 14 minutes when a one handed stop prevented a likely goal. Habib Beye – 5 – Did not do enough to press a case for a starting place ahead of Luke or Carlos. Carlos Cuellar – 6 – Returned to the centre of our defence and gave a solid enough performance. James Collins – 6 – Did not look quite as sure as he has playing alongside fellow new boy Dunne but gave another solid if slightly less dominant display yesterday. Tried to beat a player on the half way line on 63 minutes rather than the safer and easier option that might have cost us a goal on another night. Nicky Shorey - 6 – Might have hit a couple more crosses but again looked a better player than he has at times in the past and may yet pose a sustained challenge for a starting place. James Milner – 7 – As he always seems to be busy and involved in most of what was good from us. Hit another hard hit penalty that cannoned off the post and might have given us a more comfortable last half hour. Craig Gardner – 5 – A rare first team outing and can do better than this. Stiliyan Petrov – 6 – Kept our shape in midfield and on 57 minutes he was once again felled for a penalty inside the box. Fabian Delph – 7 – MOTM – Neat touches and hit some very good passes. At times he reminded me of some of Ashley Young’s early Villa displays. Martin seems to have found us another gem that can like Ashley be polished and made a vital player for us and in time for the national side. Hit a firm shot from the edge of the box on 66 minutes that might have troubled the keeper more if it had been either side of him. John Carew – 6 – Another surprisingly quiet game for Big John. Gabby Agbonlahor – 7 – The goal machine struck once again with a nice flick from Carew’s second minute cross past the returning Enckelman. His confidence grows with each goal as does his contribution to the team. Substitutes: Marc Albrighton – Replaced on 79 minutes but was not on long enough to earn a rating. Up the Villa! John Lewis

It just gets better & better Rev!

There will be more entertaining games at Villa Park this season but this second successive home win is slowly making Villa Park into a fortress again and points gained on the road unlike last season are not being negated by dropped points at home! This was a game we had all wrapped up by the end of the first half. We then coasted through the second half and allowed Portsmouth more possession than we really should have done in the knowledge that they were unlikely to be able to pose much of a threat to our goal. We rarely needed to get out of second gear to secure the spoils yesterday and rarely showed any will to do so. Had we at least continued at the same level we had in the first half another 2 goals or so looked there for the taking. But, we seemed to hang the banner “mission accomplished” out at half time and showed no real desire to press home our advantage and strike the final blows that would send our already groggy and well beaten opponent to the canvas. My player ratings from a game from which we collected the expected 3 points with the minimum of fuss are: Brad Freidel - 7 – Dealt well with Portsmouth’s better efforts including a good stop on 59 minutes and was kept a lot busier than he might have expected during the course of this game albeit mainly by speculative long range efforts which found him in the right place at the right time to collect with the minimum of bother. Carlos Cuellar – 6 – Asked to again play out of position after looking increasingly good in his preferred position of late but Carlos has reacted to that much better than has another Villa man. Another good steady display pending Luke’s awaited return. Richard Dunne – 7 – More no nonsense defending. Richard gives 110% and is forming an increasingly solid central defensive partnership with Collins. Their test will come when they line up against teams with a more effective strike force but they won’t be lacking in desire to add to what is now 2 clean sheets from their first two games in Villa shirts. Richard reminds me a lot of ex-Villa favourite Shaun Teale and that can’t be too bad. James Collins – 7 – MOTM - I’m much impressed by the start James has made to his Villa career. A dominant display yesterday and he shares Laursen’s desire and will to be first to any ball that is played into our box. Stephen Warnock - 6 – Has yet to show us all of what we know he is capable of and Shorey will probably get an opportunity to remind Martin how unlucky he sees himself to have lost his starting place on current form with his performance against Cardiff rather than by using press column inches to make his case. James Milner – 7 – Spot on with his 34th minute penalty which he blasted past David James with great confidence. A better performance than last weekend but not quite at his optimum level. Steve Sidwell – 6 – Quietly did his bit but gets more opportunity to make his presence felt up front in a five man midfield. Stiliyan Petrov – 7 – Kept our pattern in his deep lying role and was brought down in the box by a rash challenge for our opener. Hit a nice effort from the edge of the box from a deflected Young free-kick on 51 minutes that James did well to keep out. Ashley Young – 6 – Did not make his usual telling impression on this game. Hit a fine cross on 10 minutes and James was forced to push a header from one of his own defenders onto the top of the net for a corner. John Carew – 6 – A surprisingly quiet afternoon for Big John prior to his substitution on 65 minutes. Gabby Agbonlahor – 7 – Used his new found muscle to shake of a defender and then ran onto the edge of the box where he picked his spot in the corner to leave James with no chance and to effectively settle the game on 43 minutes. Three goals in successive games have built up his confidence and he now looks twice the player he has done at times in the past. The task is now to sustain this level of performance and make this a 20 goal season. Substitutes: Emile Heskey – England’s centre forward replaced Norway’s on 65 minutes and was then himself replaced 15 minutes later having picked up a knock. Fabian Delph – Replaced Emile on 80 minutes and like the player he replaced was not on long enough to rate. Up the Villa! John Lewis

I think if he is fit and up for it he should start. Young, Cuellar, Dunne & Warnock would look a very solid back 4 and I would like to think the vast majority of Small Heath fans (if sadly not all) would respect his loss.

Yes rjw63 18 home wins would be more than acceptable and I'm sure we could all grow to love those constant 2-0 home wins. Bickster, I agree 100% that both both Pantsil and Hughes made very significant contributions to our win yesterday. My thanks go out to Agent Aaron and his new deep cover convert agent JP! BOF, it was like he had walked into a brick wall - superb!

Crisis what crisis? We have four more points than we got from the corresponding three fixtures against Wigan, Liverpool and Fulham last season and we sit level on points with Arsenal & Liverpool and are three points behind Manchester United with a game in hand! Roy Hodgson’s Fulham played like they had just come off their 5 hour flight from Russia and been pushed straight onto the turf at Villa Park. A number of misplaced passes in the first half and a subdued overall performance demonstrated the price small squads can pay for European campaigns. This was not a great game and it was not a particularly entertaining one. Fulham had plenty of possession but never looked a threat to Brad’s goal. I think that Martin wanted his team to show him they could grind out a result like this at home and although it was not pretty it was effective it produced a home win which was a rare treat last season. Gabby’s timely strike settled the game with half an hour to play and it can’t have done his confidence or World Cup hopes any harm. How tempting it must be for any England qualified player we have or for any such player we may be looking to sign to know that either Fabio Capello or his assistant Franco Baldini will more likely than not have a seat in the stands and so be there week in and week out to watch as they press for inclusion in future England squads. So what will this season that is devoid of European distraction eventually become? We have six points from nine which is a good start. We can play as near to our first choice team in cup competitions as we like without worrying of player burn out. There are really no excuses this year are there? Another couple of signings would help the cause but we will go into our next game with more than a little confidence given that it is a side for which seventeenth place would no doubt merit an open top bus parade that we will face. Let’s continue with our winning ways, plunge them into the relegation mire in which they are content to bi-annually wallow and put those three points in the bank as we strive for a third top six finish in three years! My player ratings from a game that has gone half of the way to banish the early season negatives (the opportunity to complete the task will present itself in a fortnight’s time) are: Brad Freidel - 6 – Rarely tested but found some difficulty getting a Beye back pass under control on 17 minutes before putting the ball out for a throw when under some pressure. Habib Beye – 5 – A passable impersonation of Ray Wilkins but where Ray’s passes usually moved sideways Habib’s were almost exclusively backwards yesterday. Beye does provide much needed cover but our defence will be strengthened as will our forward options by Luke’s timely return. Ciaran Clark – 8 – Looked born to play in our central defensive role yesterday and it became clear yesterday why Gordon Cowans rates his potential so very highly. Dunne needs to stop haggling over money and start playing football for us or he may find Ciaran has made the position his own. Neither lacking in confidence or ability on yesterday’s showing. There will be tougher forward lines for him to face but Martin now needs to tread the fine line between having experienced players at the back and keeping young talents like Ciaran happy at the club which we failed to do with our last similarly promising talent who now hold together the Bolton defence where he could have now done the same with us. Carlos Cuellar – 8 – Three very solid defensive performances on the bounce from Carlos who relished the role of senior partner in the middle of our defence yesterday alongside Ciaran. He is at last beginning to look the top quality reliable defender Martin was confident he had signed a year ago. Will he like Petrov having taken a season to adapt to the change from Scottish to English football blossom into a big hitter as Stiliyan has? Got a flick on to Young’s corner for our opener. Nicky Shorey - 6 – Full marks to Martin for leaving new signing Warnock on the bench and giving him time to settle into the club before being thrown into the action. It would have been hard on Nicky to have been immediately replaced given his recent encouraging performances and on yesterday’s display he appears to have resolved to not give up the shirt meekly. James Milner – 7 – Another in a string of reliable performances from a player who is likely to come to the fore for England in the forthcoming season. Steve Sidwell – 7 – An encouraging display on his return to our midfield. He is beginning to show signs of returning to somewhere near the performances and level of consistency he used to produce for Reading and to look capable of filling the hole in our midfield that was expected to have been there last season but was created this season when our former captain left in search of financial gain. Stiliyan Petrov – 6 – Kept things solid in his deep lying midfield role. Nigel Reo Coker – 8 – MOTM – A welcome return to the team. He dominated the midfield with his all action and totally committed performance as he had at Anfield. Nigel should be the first name on the team sheet for the battle that our team will face against vastly inferior but spirited opposition after the international break. Ashley Young – 7 – Stretched for but did not quite get on the end of Gabby’s good cross on 12 minutes. Another better game from Ashley who now needs to build on these performances with a view to recapturing the form and consistency that he showed for most of last season that did so much to make us top 4 challengers for so long. Gabby Agbonlahor – 7 – Hit a tremendous goal to settle this game on 59 minutes and was on hand to pressure Paintsil when he presented us with a third minute own goal from a venomous Young corner. Gabby did very well in the lone striker role that suits him so well. He pulled the trigger, picked his spot and beat Schwarzer from 20 yards with his left foot strike to seal this win. Substitutes: John Carew – 6 – Replaced Reo on 73 minutes. I loved that moment when Paintsil just bounced off him on 76 minutes! Up the Villa! John Lewis

I thought Beye & Heskey were near a 5 too BOF and Milner was very near to MOTM. I have a feeling Milner may like Barry a couple of seasons ago become our MOTM week in & week out. Ciaran I'm not sure we have gone backwards but I don't think we have moved forward as much as we would have liked. A few more performances like the Liverpool one (starting on Sunday) can put us on the right road as will another 3 quality signings!

I can see what you are both saying but it felt cruel to me as it has on the other occasions 2 legs have ended all square and we have gone out in this way. But we knew the rules and consequences when we entered the competition and can have no excuses. I would have started with Gabby, Reo and Sidwell too atalbot01 but I'm sure if things had gone wrong with Monday night's team selected others would have blamed Martin for not starting with 2 up front at home. I back the manager and the players to get it right its a pity the opportunity will not come in this competition though.

So a whole season’s effort to gain European qualification brings only 180 minutes of European football and an exit before the group stages and what were potential big European nights against the likes of Celtic or Lazio. We are now left to concentrate on the league and domestic cup competitions! This defeat will cost us in gate and television revenue, it will also not help us to attract players and it was a real body blow after so encouraging a performance at Anfield only 72 hours earlier. But, it could all have been so different. At 2-0 we looked like we were in the box seat but a goal was all they would need unless we could find the safety of a third which would have seen them needing two to go through. But, we don’t score three at home often and clean sheets are far too infrequent for this to have been a comfortable ride into the group stage and let’s face it although we had opportunities to score more goals so did they. Rapid Vienna fans turned up in large numbers last night but Villa fans did not. Whether that was due to a belated Moscow reaction or to the fact that the game was on television or to a feeling that there would be bigger European nights than this during the season or that a £15 admission with the incentive of a free ticket for a potential home group stage game was still not enough to tempt fans to Villa Park is open to question. But, what is beyond doubt is that this game as a result lacked the atmosphere that great European nights at Villa Park can produce and the bulk of the noise came from Austrian voices. These were not minnows ripe for slaughter and a mere stepping stone to the group stages. That goal on 16 seconds in Vienna and our failure to secure an away goal left us at risk (not for the first time) of going out of Europe on the away goals rule as we had against Trabzonspor, Helsingborgs and Atletico Madrid in the past. We should have been good enough to have won this. But, we spent a lot of time in our own half in the first half when our opponents were content to let us have possession there, after we scored our first and second goals when they knew they would need a goal to go through and then more alarmingly after they had scored their all important away goal when we needed to throw everything including the kitchen sink at them. My player ratings from a game that left both us and the players knowing our European venture had ended far too early are: Brad Guzan - 7 – Too often exposed by a defence that badly needs strengthening. A good stop from an overhead kick on 74 minutes but how the forward the ball fell to did not score only he could know. Stopped a shot with his leg a minute later but this time the deflection ended in the back of our net and the fatal blow had been struck. Managed to block a late effort within the 6 yard box before another scoring opportunity was spurned. Habib Beye – 6 – Doing a decent enough job as we await Luke’s return. Curtis Davies – 6 – Came off with that shoulder again and it looks like our new central defender may not be playing alongside him on Sunday. Carlos Cuellar – 7 – Stretched well to send a threatening early cross out for a corner on 5 minutes and cleared a goal bound effort on 47 minutes with Brad beaten. Looked our best defender by some distance. Nicky Shorey - 6 – Did well enough but will no doubt lose his starting place albeit after two of his better performances in a Villa shirt. James Milner – 7 – Hit a threatening cross into the box on 7 minutes that Heskey was unable to get on the end of and then hit an unstoppable penalty into the corner of the net with great force on 37 minutes to break the deadlock and to earn him the job of taking our penalties in the future I would suggest. Should have got the vital third on 68 minutes when the keeper pushed a Young shot to him and the ball ended up in the side netting. Fabien Delph – 7 – Had a lovely jinking run on 14 minutes that ended with him floored near the edge of the box but with no free kick. Hit a decent shot from the edge of the box on 76 minutes to force a save. Looked lively throughout and hit some good balls. Stiliyan Petrov – 6 – Not as influential as he was at Anfield. Ashley Young – 7 – MOTM - Hit a good cross on 12 minutes that Heskey did not get to. Delph found him with a good pass 17 minutes later, he was then brought down outside the box but got up, the referee played a very good advantage and he ran into the box to go down again this time for a penalty that Premier League officials seldom blow for when he is the player who goes down inside the box. But his penalty was weakly hit and too near to the keeper who produced a comfortable save. What a difference a goal from the first of our penalties could have made. But, only 7 minutes later he was again found well by Delph and brought down inside the box to earn the penalty that produced our opener. Cut inside well on 68 minutes and hit a good shot which the keeper pushed out into the path of Milner. Much closer to his best last night. John Carew – 7 – Just wide with a cheeky back heel on 49 minutes and then hit a tremendous second for us on 52 minutes when he ran inside the box beat a defender and then slotted the ball between the keeper and his near post. Emile Heskey – 6 – Worked hard but failed to pose a goal threat. Substitutes: Gabby Agbonlahor – Replaced Emile on 81 minutes not on long enough to earn a rating or to threaten to make the difference he was brought on to make. Shane Lowry – Replaced Curtis on 82 minutes not on long enough to earn a rating. Marc Albrighton – Replaced Delph on 85 minutes another who was not on long enough to earn a rating. Up the Villa! John Lewis

I think keeping a clean sheet will be necessary to get through tonight. I also hear they are bringing 1,200 fans to Villa Park.

You brought the pre-game concerns, the uncertainty of the game itself and the post game triumph to life Bicks. Great report!

Freidel, Young, Upson, Davies, Warnock, Milner, Petrov, Reo, Sidwell, Young & Love. :winkold: or failing those 3 signings: Freidel, Young, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey, Milner, Petrov, Reo, Sidwell, Young & Heskey.

In Martin & Randy I trust. Would we not have taken sixth twice in two years when DO'L & Ellis were still here? Expectations have risen because of how far this club has moved forward. We need more players and Martin as well as us know that. One poor result even on the back of our poor end to last season does not a bad manager make. I still consider we are lucky to have him and I would not want anyone in his place.

Let’s face it we just cannot beat Wigan at home. But, when they have come away from Villa Park with points in the past they heard the final whistle with relief rather than with satisfaction after outplaying us, as was the case yesterday. This was truly a nightmare start to the season! Let’s get the positives out of the way first it was a sunny day and any watching Rapid Vienna scouts will have been lulled into what I trust will prove to be a false sense of security after witnessing this none performance. It was end to end stuff for the first 20 minutes or so and that was bad enough as we should not really be content to be trading blows with the likes of Wigan at home. But things then got much, much worse after that as they then went on to dominate the game and to take a well deserved three points. It seems we have started this season as we finished last. We also look to have brought our dismal home form from last season into this one. Players like Petrov and Gabby who through injury or an extended summer break following international duty had not had a full pre-season looked well off the pace. I wonder whether it would have been worth keeping Reo and Sidwell who had performed well enough together in the close season in our midfield to try and counter what was always going to be a strong midfield challenge from Wigan? It was also a pity we did not have the option of bringing on an impact player such as Big John who I assume did not start due to the niggle that ultimately kept him off the bench. Where was the second half fight back? Where was the late pressure on their defence? Why was our defence allowed to be put under so much pressure as Wigan were able to run through our midfield at will? Last season we drew 0-0 with Wigan at Villa Park and so we just need to make up a point from our remaining 37 fixtures to get back to last season’s points tally. That can clearly be done but yesterday’s result will have done our confidence no good at all. Instead of looking like a world class sprinter who was bursting with energy on leaving the starting blocks we had the look of a horse that had been left behind in the stalls in a selling plate at the end of a gruelling winless racing year. My player ratings from a game that did much to damper any pre-season optimism and showed there is urgent work to be done in the transfer market before this window closes are: Brad Freidel - 6 – Beaten on 15 minutes by N’Zogbia when the post came to our rescue and was then thankful 5 minutes later when Milner was on hand to clear off the line. But, he had no chance with Rodallega’s sweet shot on 31 minutes which flew past him and left him a mere spectator as the ball flew into his net for an opening goal that had been coming for a while. Made a vital stop on 42 minutes when a second looked likely and tipped an effort wide on 73 minutes to prevent a possible third. Habib Beye – 5 – Not a habib day or debut for Habib who must have had flashbacks to Newcastle last season at times during yesterday’s performance. Curtis Davies – 4 – Lacked confidence and authority yesterday. Carlos Cuellar – 3 – Like Curtis lacked authority yesterday and he really needs to show he is capable of playing well in the position he wants sooner rather than later. Carlos also headed wide on 78 minutes with a free header from a corner. Nicky Shorey - 3 – His poor defensive header found Rodallega for their opener. I had expected Shorey to step up to the plate today but this looked more or a return to some of the worrying performances of last season. James Milner – 6 – MOTM – Looked the same world beater he had when coming on for England in midweek for the first half hour but faded as did the rest of the team after that. Hit a cracking shot from the edge of the box on 18 minutes to force a rare save from Kirkland and cleared his own lines 2 minutes later. Fabien Delph – 5 – Gave a passable impersonation of our former captain’s awful midweek howler that led to a Dutch goal in midweek (although Gareth was admittedly unsighted by the pound notes that were in his eyes) on 9 minutes when he played a ball into an opponent’s path that may have led to an early goal or to Davies taking an early bath when the player went down following his challenge. Hit an effort wide on 13 minutes. This was always going to be a tough game for Fabien and it was. Stiliyan Petrov – 4 – Looked behind the pace and made no real impression in our midfield when it was under the cosh. Ashley Young – 4 – Had a well hit free kick pushed wide by Kirkland on 38 minutes. Ash was often double if not treble teamed to nullify his impact and influence on the game. We had no Option B yesterday when his crossing dried up and we paid the consequences. Should have done better on 88 minutes when Heskey picked himself up off the floor to square the ball to him only to see his shot blocked. Gabby Agbonlahor – 2 – The extended summer break paid no dividends here. The only positive moment was one when his persistence won us a second half throw in. But where were the runs and the potent strike threat? Looked too content to be kept quiet. He really needs to push on this season if he is to achieve what he wants from this game in the long term. Emile Heskey – 5 – Did the hard bit on 14 minutes when he nutmegged a defender to make a good shooting opportunity for himself, but he then dragged his shot wide. Worked hard enough but lacked service. Substitutes: Steve Sidwell – 5 – Replaced Delph on 61 minutes and had an opportunity to grab a late consolation goal on 93 minutes when the ball just needed the touch he failed to provide to go in and that might even have been our equaliser and second goal in 5 minutes to seal a Stoke like comeback had Young scored as he probably should have done on 88 minutes. Marc Albrighton – 6 – Replaced Beye on 68 minutes hit one excellent cross, his time will come, sooner rather than later if yesterday’s game does not prove to be just a one-off. Nathan Delfounseso – 5 - The last of our substitutions on 77 minutes when he replaced Gabby made no impression in the time he had. Up the Villa! John Lewis

The ratings were difficult to call in a game such as this Straggler and the true test for each player will be on Saturday when there will be no excuses. Let's see how close our ratings are then. :winkold:

So we completed our second Italian Job within a week yesterday by beating Fiorentina as we had Juventus in the Peace Cup Final. These two just might not be the only Italian outfits to be conquered by the rampant Villa lion this season! As they did in the Peace Cup the youngsters that make up the present Villa squad showed again yesterday that they can offer Martin some selection alternatives in the coming season and some of them will see next season as an opportunity to make a claim for a regular place on the bench if not in our starting line up. I have been encouraged by the performances of these previously considered “fringe” players and by our pre-season as a whole. I also think lifting that trophy last weekend may have done a lot more for the club and for those players who were involved in particular than we might at first think. As the late great Brian Clough once said about Forest’s victory in a competition with a similar profile “The Anglo-Scottish Cup was something to us, to the club and the players. It provided us with a cup, and players who hadn’t won anything with a medal – players like Woodcock, Withe and half a dozen others who had got nothing out of their careers until we got our hands on that trophy. Success of any description was something this club hadn’t known for nearly 20 years. Our lot tasted champagne (for the first time) and found they liked it”. We do still need more players to add to our squad so that we can realistically look to mount a challenge on all fronts next season. Downing will be a major asset when he becomes available. Fabien Delph looks a real prospect and by choosing us has shown that we are the club of choice for young English players who are looking to make the transition from young players with potential to England regulars. Habib Beye has provided us with added experience and cover at the back as well as with that “Monday, Tuesday Habib Day” song that I’m sure our very own Fonz will much look forward to hearing. Add a striker, a midfield player and a centre half as a minimum and our squad will look a lot nearer to one that can challenge next year than many of us had thought would be the case only a couple of weeks ago. Young players who had generally made up our squad numbers on the back of the programme last season have through the games they have now played moved forwards and onwards. They will offer cover next season and they will not come into games with fear but looking at them as a chance to enhance their reputations at our football club. Yesterday’s game in isolation did not teach us too much. A pre-season friendly rarely does and that is particularly the case in one in which 19 players participate. But our players showed promise and the enthusiasm that we had lacked at the end of last season. Fiorentina were solid at the back, did compete solidly enough, came into the game as our substitutions came on and off in the second half and so did give us a worthwhile run out, as would be expected of a team that finished fourth last season. They also demonstrated that very few Italian defenders can resist the opportunity to make the odd dubious if not cynical challenge even in a friendly. My player ratings from a game that acted as a hors d'œuvres for the season feast of football that is to come our way are: Brad Freidel - 7 – A good stop from Jovetic on 32 minutes and Brad was solid and reliable when tested as we have come to expect. Eric Lichaj – 7 – Has shown Martin with his pre-season displays that he offers a viable alternative to making next Saturday’s game a Habib day. Ciaran Clark – 7 – Grew into the role as the game wore on. Carlos Cuellar – 7 – A solid first half performance from a player who looks to be relishing the opportunity to prove himself in his natural position. Nicky Shorey - 6 – Solid enough. James Milner – 7 – Hit a punch from their keeper Frey just over on 3 minutes and was denied by the keeper again 40 minutes later. Looked very good and ready for a big season before his substitution on the hour. Fabien Delph – 7 – Slight of stature but big on potential as was the young Gordon Cowans. He has pace, skill and although opponents will think they can push him off the ball easily enough I think he might just surprise a few of them with his resolve to make a big name for himself at Villa Park and his willingness to put a foot in. Craig Gardner – 7 – Hit a decent free kick from the edge of the box on 12 minutes that Frey pushed out and hit a good Heskey cross wide 4 minutes later that he might have hit with his right rather than his left foot. Ashley Young – 7 – Brushed aside a challenge on 37 minutes and then went on a determined run before forcing a decent save from Frey. Looked very lively. Gabby Agbonlahor – 6 – Has the pace and a full season behind him now and will now need to produce consistency and goals if the coming season is to produce the goods for us and a World Cup squad place for him. The next few weeks rather than this brief outing will show whether he is up for the challenge. Emile Heskey – 7 – (MOTM) Emile is fast becoming our pre-season goal machine is he not? He hit our winner on 14 minutes when he applied the requisite finish to Ashley’s cross who had been fed by Milner. Looked up for it from the start and on this form he will be pressing Big John for a starting spot. Substitutes: Marc Albrighton – 7 - Replaced Carlos at half time and did nothing to dampen the high expectation levels that his pre-season performances have so far created. He has the potential to make significant progress at this football club. Curtis Davies – 7 - Replaced Ashley for the second half and conceded a penalty on 75 minutes with a hand ball but otherwise looked what he is a top class central defender who we will need to stay fit over the course of this season. But, his ongoing shoulder problem is a real concern with our current lack of cover for the centre of our defence and I wonder why we did not use the summer to try to remedy this problem rather than risk it going during the season and our being without Curtis for what could potentially be months? Brad Guzan – 7 – Replaced Brad the elder at half time as in the fullness of time he surely will in the long term. Last weekend’s penalty stopper extraordinaire continued to look a real keeper yesterday and this is one playing area that we already do have real strength in depth in. A good stop from a Gilardino header on 52 minutes and made another from Baracar 8 minutes from time. Nigel Reo Coker – 7 - Replaced Gardner on the hour and looked up for it from the start as he encouraged all around him with his verbal advice and his own high level of performance. Reo is another who looks much more comfortable playing where he knows he can best influence a game and he looked like our captain when he came on with or without the arm band. Steve Sidwell – 6 - Replaced Milner on 60 minutes and looks likely to have more opportunities this season than he did last to show his true worth. Steve was the victim of a couple of rash challenges shortly after his introduction. John Carew – 6 - Came on for goal scorer Emile on 60 minutes to the usual adoration and will be up for the game next week. Nathan Delfounseso – 7 - The fourth of our substitutions on 60 minutes when he replaced Gabby. Nathan looked keen to make an impression and now needs to begin to find the net with some regularity to progress and build on his clear potential. Whether he would have found that easier to do at Leeds on loan rather than coming off our bench for the odd 30, 15 or 5 minutes is open to question. His flicked header from a good Albrighton cross flew just wide on 73 minutes. Shane Lowry – The last of our 8 (yes eight) substitutions yesterday when he replaced Fabian on 78 minutes and not on long enough to rate. If the referee had allowed the appropriate stoppage time for all of the substitutions that happened yesterday rather than the minute he did this game would still have been in play when WBA kicked off! Up the Villa! John Lewis

Very good news! Nice to see we have signed a player like this who has the potential to blossom into a real star of the future like Arsenal have shown can be done with Walcott, Ramsey & Wilshere. We should do more of the same when players like this come along and replace Arsenal as the likely destination for players like this who will when looking at our squad see more first team opportunities arising earlier with us than would be the case at Arsenal or at Chelsea or Manchester City where money may be secured earlier at the cost of long term progress. Nice words from Leeds as well and I liked the way they conducted this deal as well.

Fine report PB. Nice to see us lift a trophy and this will give a great boost to the players who took part and who responded so well to the challege of taking on the likes of Porto & Juve and then beat both. I thought young Brad did very well with the spot kicks and his policy of waiting to react to the kicks rather than anticpating where they would go worked very well. I thought Reo did well in the captain's role and Albrighton and others showed they may well have a bright future with us. A very good 116 minutes and then a memorable shoot out!

25 years ago it would have read that way ender4 but in 5 years time I would be happy with: Two of Europe's powerhouses clash head on!

Great summing up BOF. I watched it on Gol TV. I loved their description of the Atlante manager after a second half close up at 1-3 as "an ugly face".

Yes I was thinking that as well parrotandglue and it has been a long standing problem that needs looking at. Yes, Shillzz but was that not much the same or more so for Malaga?