John

Yes Blandy Old Trafford is and always has been a tough nut to crack and I can appreciate how you felt after this latest defeat. Since the early 80s when we last won there thanks to goals from Withe we have seldom got any joy there even when we started games on a par with them or with the slight edge on them in the league. One game stands out for me under Big Ron when Stan hit a screamer and they were lucky to get a point as we both went for the title that year but generally our results up there have been too predictable. At least we tried to take the game to them again having recognised that by putting 11 men behind the ball up there damage limitation is mainly all that is achieved. One day under Martin we will crack this nut but for now anything other than a hiding is a bit of a result for us up there and at the start of the season if someone had told me we would only lose 1 game away against the big 4 this season, I would have been more than happy and would have guessed this would be the one we lost.

The three hard earned points we gained at Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal were lost yesterday when we allowed relegation threatened Sunderland their first away win of the season! A capacity attendance witnessed a second consecutive none performance at Villa Park yesterday and how many of them will be enthused enough to buy tickets for another dose of the same unpleasant medicine against Bolton in a fortnight (I wonder what the odds will be on Gary Cahill scoring their winner)? A point against Boro was bad enough but to follow that up with this 90 minutes was far from acceptable. One point from nine over our past three games has put paid to any hopes of a top five finish and on a day when we could have gone back to sixth with a win due to Portsmouth’s defeat this tame performance was hard to accept. It seems to me that the season has gone pear shaped since the threat of Intertoto football was first mentioned a few days ago. But, where once this would have led to an early start to pre-season it is now just two pre-season competitive games replacing what would otherwise be two friendly games, so why would this be something the players might not want? Is it that our small squad of “good honest lads” is understandably tiring as we reach the finishing straight of what has up until now been an encouraging season where we have been punching above our weight? Conspiracy theorists might also suggest that a win for Sunderland and three points for Bolton and Wigan at Villa Park in our remaining home games might send our near neighbours down. But, whilst these teams will now travel to us with hope rather than fear so will our neighbours and can we guarantee keeping up our end of the deal by beating Small Heath and so completing the favour for those other relegation haunted sides? My player ratings from a game that gave Sunderland a more comfortable 90 minutes than they could reasonably have hoped for are: Scott Carson - 4 – Missed a punch on 38 minutes having earlier fumbled the ball and handled it outside his box on 22 minutes, so he was lucky to stay unpunished until Chopra beat him all to easily for their winner. The FA paid compensation following the physical injury Owen sustained when playing for England but the shell shock Carson has suffered from since his England debut has left similar deep scars and although he has at times seemed capable of putting these behind him these still clearly threaten his future along with his status in the game. This was a game that he would have waltzed through before his England nightmare but it is now one which one that again brings into question whether he like David James before him can overcome early errors in what will be a long career to avoid the “calamity” tag sticking. I think the break from the spotlight of England duty may be just what he needs in that it will provide him with time to take stock of his current situation and to try once and for all to put that awful England debut that hangs around his neck like a millstone behind him. Craig Gardner – 4 – Despite what Martin has suggested this is not a position in which Craig looks at all comfortable. His fitness may also have been in doubt yesterday but Olof’s suspension and our lack of a natural full back this season left us with no options. Another difficult game for a player who is much more effective in the middle. Zat Knight – 3 – Left for dead when Chopra raced passed him to get on the end of Richardson’s clever through ball and looks a shadow of the player he appeared early in the season and of the player whose untimely injury gave him back a starting role. Martin Laursen – 6 – Solid enough, although not at his commanding and dominating best. Wilfred Bouma – 6 – His usual solid performance. How about getting his contract sorted now before we go into the last year option Martin? Shaun Maloney – 5 – A couple of nice early touches, put in some good early work but faded later and failed to create anything as did others, so he might have reasonably felt a touch unlucky to have had to make way for Osbourne. Nigel Reo Coker – 5 – Another who like Bouma in the past may have reasonably felt unfortunate to be the one hauled off when a tactical change was necessary. Gareth Barry – 6 – Worked hard and looked a fair bit brighter than of late, without taking the game by the scruff of the neck. Ashley Young – 5 – When Ashley does not play nor do we. Enough said on a day when he could not get past his man, lacked his usual threatening runs and had little opportunity to work his magic from anywhere near the edge of the box. Had his omission from the England squad been leaked to him or was this just a day when nothing would go right? John Carew – 5 – Things could have been much different if his overhead kick had have gone in rather than gone just wide on 8 minutes. Now 5 games without a goal since that hat-trick brought his goal tally to 9 and did not really look likely to get into double figures for the season after that early effort. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 4 – Had a shot saved by Gordon’s legs on 83 minutes but this was far from the sort of performance that will see him retain a place in any England squad and on current form may have been surprised to have got into the provisional selection. Substitutes: Marlon Harewood – 6 – MOTM - Replaced Reo on 56 minutes and within a minute put a great opportunity just wide when he really needed to have been on target. But, he still had a positive enough effect on what was otherwise a very negative day to make him our most effective performer and our only serious threat in the time he was given. Isaiah Osbourne – 4 - Replaced Shaun on 73 minutes and in 20 minutes made no really significant or noticeable impact. Up the Villa! John Lewis

Let them enjoy it while they can. I think our lads have a far better chance of playing in front of the Holte in a first team game for us than they do of playing in a Chelsea first team shirt in front of The Shed. I wonder whether we should make a cheeky bid for the likes of Kakuta now or wait until they face being loaned out because they have two £15m players ahead of them in the race for their first team shirt? :winkold: Home grown talent has a big obstacle to clear to get first team action down there and I know which team is likely to have more players make the grade with the club they are now with.

We started the game needing three points, looked likely for a long time to get none and in the end should be grateful with one from what was an abject performance! This result has made the dream of automatic European qualification look increasingly remote. We needed to close the gap on Everton and Liverpool and to stretch the gap between us and the likes of Blackburn and Manchester City. But, a point from a team who were humiliated at home by surprise FA Cup semi-finalists Cardiff last weekend leaves us trailing both of the Liverpool teams by 7 points and only 3 and 4 points clear of Blackburn and Manchester City respectively in the race for European qualification via the Intertoto Cup. This draw will have provided new hope to Sven and Mark Hughes where a win might have left them feeling a 5 & 6 point gap may just prove too much to overhaul in the 9 remaining games, in much the same way that many of us may now feel that closing a 7-point gap will be likely to prove beyond us. But, a win for Portsmouth this weekend would see them having gone above us within a week by taking 5 points more than us over 2 games. So its not all over yet (either way) and conversely a win for us at Fratton Park would make up for last night’s dropped points and put us back on course for Europe one way or the other. Let’s hope that not for the first time this season our away form can compensate for dropped points at Villa Park. Boro enjoy playing at Villa Park almost as much as we enjoy going up there and if they had not missed two great opportunities they could have been three up before our captain equalised from the spot. Gareth Southgate must have given them the hair dryer treatment after their cup exit because they worked very hard last night and for most of the game held the upper hand. They often seemed to have more players on the field but I suspect that as a unit they just worked harder and wanted it more. My player ratings from a game that may ultimately provide the players with a longer summer break than they might currently be looking at are: Scott Carson - 6 – Quickly off his line twice during this game to save what would have been likely goal scoring opportunities, on 62 minutes when first to the ball with a strong challenge on the edge of his box and earlier on 10 minutes when he did well to get down to block a shot from Tuncay before Mido somehow placed the rebound wide. Craig Gardner – 4 – Missed a couple of early challenges and then allowed Downing to ease past him for their goal. Very dissappointing . Zat Knight – 4 – Gift wrapped the ball for Downing to open the scoring on 23 minutes and looked far from the assured player that had kept Curtis on the bench for much of this season. This needs to be just a blip as he has a vital role to play in the run-in and we can’t play Olof at centre half and at right back! Martin Laursen – 7 – Not quite at his immaculate best but Martin was still easily our best defender and provided some much needed solidity to our central defence. Wilfred Bouma – 6 – A solid enough performance and unlike some of our players last night looked comfortable enough on the ball when moving forward and found other Villa shirts with his passes. Shaun Maloney – 4 – Made very little impression on the game before his half time substitution. Nigel Reo Coker – 7 – MOTM – Held our midfield together and it would have been overrun without his whole hearted and fully committed contribution. Gareth Barry – 5 – Did not exert anything approaching his usual commanding influence on the game particularly in the first half. Had two moments of note, being unlucky to see his chip beat the keeper on 63 minutes but go just over and he did well to convert his 74th minute penalty and so put his previous penalty miss behind him. Ashley Young – 6 – Kept working although not at his best either last night, did provide a regular if muted threat and his effort did lead to our penalty. John Carew – 5 – Got very little change out of one time Villa target Huth and failed to get anywhere approaching the hat trick form he produced during his last Villa Park outing. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 4 – So, so quiet, posed no goal threat last night and must have been hoping that Fabio was not watching this one. Substitutes: Olof Mellberg – 5 – Looked ring rusty on his return to first team action but was still an improvement on Craig who he replaced for the second half and he did pretty much plug up that flank. Marlon Harewood – 6 – Replaced Shaun at half time and once again offered something from the bench that had been missing up front before his appearance. Marlon’s confidence is high and he troubles defenders, I think the time has come when he should start a game. Up the Villa! John Lewis

It's never safe with just the one goal lead Des even against a dispirited Newcastle outfit so the third was crucial. But, I felt reasonably safe at 2-1 this time as I felt we had deflated their fragile belief in their ability to get the points by then.

So having finished yesterday’s game on the bench it looks like Joey Barton might find himself in front of one again, this time for felling Shaun Maloney inside the box. Barton must hope that he will have yesterday’s referee Lee Mason (or was it Lee Marvin as it seems he was born with a wandering eye!) on any panel that might sit to look at the incident that led to Shaun Maloney winding up on the deck on 14 minutes as he could do no wrong in his eyes yesterday. He must have borrowed Wenger’s spectacles when he missed that incident within the box and then when Barton’s hand make contact with Barry’s shot to prevent what seemed a likely equaliser for us, with Shaun still on the floor in front of him. He also missed him connect with Ashley Young’s leg rather than the ball when he jinked inside the box later in the same half and waved away our penalty claims. This was also not the only time that Ashley was denied any reasonable protection by this inept official. But, to the game itself and what a game it was. Yes, this was without doubt a game of two halves. In the first we gave a more than passable impersonation of the dreadful performance at Fulham that had led to our second away defeat of the season. But, in the second we swept aside Keegan’s Newcastle with some splendid attacking football against what is admittedly a fragile Newcastle defence. Half time boos were replaced by full time cheers and Newcastle half time smiles became Newcastle grimaces by full time. What brought about this transformation? Well Martin replaced our two most ineffective players in the first half with two players who gave bright impressive second half performances. Whether Martin had decided to make that change for tactical reasons, because they had an open argument with each other during the second half or because things got heated in the dressing room I do not know. But, what I do know is that these changes and what Martin must have said to the team in that dressing room in I suspect no uncertain terms had the desired affect. The donkeys that had played in the first half in Villa shirts were transformed into lions by the second half and within 6 minutes we were in front instead of behind. My player ratings from a game that ensured that we maintained our top 6 standing rather than lose ground for a second weekend against another team that just can’t win are: Scott Carson - 7 – A very solid display and a good save near the end. Olof Mellberg – 4 – A 45 minute performance that was so far away from the ones we have come to expect from him that some fans are now beginning to question whether it is his commitment to the team that is suddenly lacking and it is this that led to such a blip rather than the distraction that his dispute with the even less effective Petrov caused. I think it was all brought to a point with a dreadful attempted back heal near their penalty area that if it had come off would have been around 15 yards from any team mate. Curtis Davies – 7 – Possibly shaded Laursen yesterday as our best defender and that is saying a lot. Martin Laursen – 7 – A couple of uncharacteristic lapses but generally a good performance if not one that quite reached his usual exceptional level, but his less effective performances are better than most central defenders best. Wilfred Bouma – 7 – Got that all important equaliser on 48 minutes. Found by Maloney on the edge of the box and hit a speculative shot that was deflected to leave Given flat footed and a spectator as the ball went in at the near post. Nice…I also loved that moment in the second half when he stood his ground and Butt bounced off him looking for a free-kick! Shaun Maloney – 7 – 100 % better than his Craven Cottage outing. Worked hard and produced Young like crosses in the second half after he changed sides with our new England player. Looks well worth another start at Reading next week. Nigel Reo Coker - 7 – Held things together very, very well in our midfield. It was a pity to see him booked again for a reaction to a challenge that went unpunished and we will miss him badly when he is suspended again. Did very well to claim the ball back after a Mellberg slip on 19 minutes threatened to give Newcastle a chance for a second. Stiliyan Petrov – 4 – Just could not find a way into this game and his only contributions to it in the 45 minutes he was on the field was the part he played in unsettling team spirit due to his dispute with Juve bound Olaf and by making way for Big Marlon at half time. Had been performing better up until the last copuple of games but performances like these must make it hard for Martin to continue to back him to come good in the long term. Gareth Barry – 7 – A good solid performance by Gareth particularly in the second half and was unlucky to see Barton‘s hand divert his goal bound shot on 14 minutes. Ashley Young – 7 – A welcome return and caused the Newcastle defence headaches before they realised the referee was not adverse to them stopping him by illegal methods eventually substituted on 90 minutes with the job done bruised but a winner. John Carew – 9 – MOTM – For a player who was supposed not to way in with his fare share of goals and to have itchy feet. This hat-trick that brought his goal tally to 9 this season and his reaction to the fans adulation put any such claims to bed once and for all for me. Big John nearly broke the back of the net with well hit penalty on 90 minutes after Carr had handled inside the box. Had a flicked header saved easily enough by Given on 41 minutes but had him well beaten on 51 minutes with a nice back header that went in past a statuesque Duff (whatever happened to the player he once was?) and into the net at the far post. He was then unlucky to see a glancing header sail just wide of the far post on 54 minutes but his second followed a scramble inside the box on 72 minutes when he was Johnny on the spot with an instinctive header to secure our win with his second and our third of the day. Substitutes: Marlon Harewood – 8 – A fully committed, whole hearted, enthusiastic, hard running second half performance. Replaced Petrov at half time, worked well in combination with Big John and his appearance along with that of Gardner played a big part in the reversal of our fortunes in the last 45 minutes. Craig Gardner – 7 – Did everything that could have been asked of him defensively after replacing Olof at half time and was so unlucky not to get himself among our scorers on 70 minutes when Harper denied him twice within a minute. His first was a nice voley that looked like it was going just inside the post until the keeper pushed it for a corner. Craig then hit a scorcher that Harper managed to get his face in the way of to deflect it for another corner that then led to our third goal. Martin might now be seriously thinking that Craig might be the one to fill in at right back during the season run in. Isaiah Osbourne - Replaced Ashley on 90 minutes not on long enough to rate. And so to Reading and the opportunity to do Small Heath a big favour? Up the Villa ! John Lewis

I liked the Grand National comparison Lancs. For me I think we got interfered with by a rider less horse (Harrods Al shall we say) and now just need to regain our stride to keep in touch with Rafa's Farewell, Gollum’s My Pretty Toffee and Sven's Latest Fling, of course keeping our heads in front of Harry's Cheque Book and Sparky’s Great Unwatched as well as watching out for a strong finish from Dodgy Bubble Blower. Of course we will have to side step the stricken faller Small Heath Porn Boy on the way who will be awaiting a visit from the vet to put him out of his misery and the division as we head for the line ridden by Martin and trained by Randy. :winkold:

A very interesting comparison Lancs. I'm not sure how long it took or what made you think of it but the links between the two teams are uncanny. We also had a small squad back then! :winkold: I had been thinking myself that the current situation is similar to what it was in the late 70s when we had an entertaining team that looked on the verge of winning something in the near future and that could often afford to give their opponents a goal start and still win. It made me wonder which team would win if they played each other next weekend. I think the 81 team would and I also had a thought about how many of today's team would get into the great side that you have compared them with. I came up with zero although Bouma, Carew and Young would run Williams/Gibson, Withe and Morley close and Laursen does not get in as he might upset the balance of the greatest Villa side in living history. Thanks again for this Lancs, it took my mind off the transfer window for a few minutes.

Agreed nm4733.

Indeed it is Demitri!

The big 4 do nm4733 and I think that Manchester City and Everton expect to win most of their home games. We like Portsmouth seem to be more effective away from home but these are the sort of games we need to win.

I think players, management and fans had expected rather than hoped that playing a team we thrashed 4-0 on their own ground at home would produce the 3 points needed to put us into the top 4 but it was not to be! Expectation levels have been rising since we reached the 40 point safety target some 3 – 4 months earlier than we have in other recent seasons and those expectations were not doused by a fine point from Anfield on Monday. This was the day that Mark Hughes’ Blackburn would turn up like lambs to the slaughter and allow us to walk all over them and leap-frog Everton and Liverpool who were not playing this weekend to take our place among the top 4. But, although at times our players appeared to think that all they needed to do was to be there to make it happen Blackburn had other ideas. Blackburn are currently on a good run and Mark Hughes had done his homework after we had embarrassed them on their own patch. He stifled one of our main goal scoring threats by putting big Samba on Martin Laursen at set pieces and he also had Emerton employ strong arm tactics on Ashley Young that were only legal in the eyes of the inept officials who were in charge of yesterday’s proceedings. Ashley although to some extent shackled in outfield play still had a deadly weapon to employ from set pieces and it was that free kick wizardry that gave us the point to keep the gap between Blackburn and us in place which could prove so important when the EUFA Cup places are handed out in May. Oh and they also had Small Heath reject David Dunn giving a passable impression of the player he once was to the near 40,000 crowd at Villa Park who had turned up anticipating a win but left accepting that our point was probably as much as our performance deserved. But, on the positive side this kept our unbeaten run going, we again showed spirit to come back from a goal down and we now have a splendid opportunity to make up lost ground again next weekend at beleaguered Fulham. What this game showed is that we still have a small squad and an honest bunch of lads! The players we have available have done brilliantly to put us in a position where we could push on in our remaining games in the reasonable expectation of ending the season in a high enough league position to enter competitive European football again after what has been too long an absence from it. But, we need to ensure that opportunity is taken and that this season is not allowed to go out on a whimper as have others in the past under previous management. For that to happen we need to be bringing in some players in the dwindling days that remain of this transfer window that will create some competition for places where none now exists, to give the whole thing a shot in the arm and so Martin can rest players occasionally when necessary and not need to rush them back after injury as we did Barry today when he was less than 100%. We also need to stop talking about the prospect of letting Olof leave for a paltry £700,000 or so. Failure to qualify for Europe by weakening an already small squad would cost much more than that and we really can’t entertain the prospect of letting him go until a replacement is signed and that at present does not look too likely to happen does it? My player ratings from a game that took us above Liverpool but which failed to give us a 3-point cushion that they may have found less easy to bridge are: Scott Carson - 7 – Will have impressed Fabio when he pulled off a fine save on 24 minutes from one of the few England U21 players we have yet to sign or be linked with. Why not Martin? Will have impressed the England boss less with a fumble from an innocuous ball on 38 minutes that led to the ball escaping his grip, but this was a good all round display. Olof Mellberg – 6 – Was this his last game in a Villa shirt? I hope not but if it was he was solid as ever and he remains the best right back at our football club. For me he joins Southgate as our best central defender since Lord Paul and before anyone mentions it Laursen will be rated when his Villa days draw nearer to their conclusion, which I hope will be many years in the future. If it is to be arrivederci, then thanks for the memories, for your years of exemplary service and the best of luck at pastures new (other than when we face you and Juve in the Champions League sometime soon)! Curtis Davies – 6 – Will not have been happy that Dunn got past him to fire the shot that led to their goal on 68 minutes but otherwise dealt pretty well with what is a decent Blackburn forward line. Martin Laursen – 7 – A great third minute tackle to dispossess Dunn inside the box when he was about to pull the trigger set the tone for another fine defensive performance but on this occasion his attacking threat was largely nullified. Wilfred Bouma – 7 – Another very solid defensive performance. Stiliyan Petrov – 6 – Did reasonably well for me before his tactical substitution on 60 minutes, but for some supporters even his best (which this was not) would not be good enough. Nigel Reo Coker – 6 – Can usually get away with the sort of clumsy looking challenge that led to Bentley gaining a penalty on 68 minutes but not inside the box and not with this referee. Otherwise gave his usual committed performance in the holding role. Gareth Barry – 6 – A bright start and a welcome return, but his fitness was not really there for a 90 minute blood and thunder game and try as he did he was unable to maintain the usual grip he exerts on our games. Would have benefited from another week off, but our squad does not allow such luxuries. Ashley Young – 8 – MOTM – Given very little protection from the Blackburn defence and particularly from Emerton’s at times crude attempts to stop him in open play. Our main if not only threat yesterday. Hit a great dead ball that looked likely to produce a goal but a Blackburn leg got to it first on 31 minutes. Might have earned a penalty on 54 minutes when challenged by Dunn inside the box had he not leapt quite so high after it. Scored a fine equaliser on 73 minutes when he picked his spot from a free kick on the edge of the box to leave the ball in the corner of the net and Freidel well beaten. Might even have won it for us with a late free kick that went just wide with the keeper again beaten. John Carew – 7 – Started very brightly but became increasingly embroiled in his personal battle with Samba and although he worked very hard did not have his usual impact where it matters. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 5 – Had a couple of moments but will not have done much to impress the watching Fabio. Looks in need of a rest, provided no real threat and seems to go down too easily when challenged in what would be good positions if he stayed on his feet. Substitutes: Marlon Harewood – 7 – Replaced Petrov on the hour and looked lively on coming off the bench. Tested Friedel with what was our first real shot on target on 63 minutes but the keeper was able to get his body behind his powerful shot. Marlon was then unlucky to see his header from a Young free kick on 77 minutes hit the bar and did have the ball in the net on 88 minutes but offside had already been flagged for. Up the Villa! John Lewis

I hate to say it but I'm sure it will be Small Heath!

Yesterday’s win took us into the top 6 and level on 39 points with 4th placed Liverpool who we next meet in what is now a 6-pointer! Steve Coppell has done very well to keep this team of Championship standard players riding so high in our division and deserves a medal or the Newcastle job as reward for this! He has a hard working bunch of lads who know their jobs and perform them to the best of their abilities. But, did anyone see a player in a hooped blue and white shirt that they would have chosen instead of one of the players who lined up against them yesterday? A couple of players who might make it onto our bench like Doyle and Hunt perhaps. They also have a player in Shorey who looks pretty decent to me, but would he keep Bouma out of his claret & blue number 3 shirt? So Coppell’s team came to face us yesterday and to be frank they were just the sort of team we would have chosen to face in front of another encouragingly large crowd at Villa Park, after what has come to be our annual disappointing FA Cup exit at the hands of Manchester United. We put on a thoroughly professional performance yesterday against admittedly the type of team we need to be beating at Villa Park to get any reward at the end of this season. This was an important win and one that has made us one of 4 clubs who are on 39 points and fill positions 4, 5, 6 & 7 in the league table. We also had a couple of players who were performing at their international best yesterday and very few defenders can come anywhere near to coping with either Laursen or Carew at their very hungriest, so what hope for Reading coping with both at the same time? Reading just could not manage our goal threat from corners and free kicks. We do score a lot of our goals from set pieces and it would be nice to see a little bit more come from open play. But let’s not be greedy as there was also a time not long ago when we posed no real threat from a dead ball and we have clearly moved on since then following some hard work on the training ground. We are scoring goals and that is what matters and we are also playing at a level that only the big 4 and the likes of Manchester City, Everton and Portsmouth, with whom we are competing for a place in Europe can live. That is real progress! My player ratings from a game that was won with some ease are: Scott Carson - 6 – Juggled an early ball but was seldom asked a question by the Reading attack and when he was, on 67 minutes he pulled off a splendid reflex save to deny Gunnarsson who had flicked on a header that would otherwise have found the net. Craig Gardner – 6 – Was Olof travel sick yesterday or suffering a reaction to a dodgy pasta or pizza? Craig was switched back at short notice to cover in Olof’s absence and did well. But, I would have hoped that a third of the way into this transfer window we would have a permanent right back in place by now and I’m sure Martin would be thinking much the same. Curtis Davies – 7 – Did not put a foot wrong and is beginning to show why “The Baggies” rate him so highly. A future England central defender who might not be left too long waiting for a call from Fabio. Martin Laursen – 8 – Left by Doyle on 22 minutes and was right to then resist the temptation to pull him back which would have surely led to a red card and that could have changed the course of this match. Made the game safe on 55 minutes with a fine header from Young’s inch perfect delivery that Martin made sure nobody else had any hope of getting before him! Forced a good stop by the keeper with another good header a couple of minutes later from another well placed corner Wilfred Bouma – 7 – Another of his usual solid defensive displays. Stiliyan Petrov – 7 – Hit a fierce shot on 12 minutes that the keeper pushed out for a corner and had another goal bound effort deflected for a corner that was not given on the half hour. Another very effective and encouraging midfield performance. Nigel Reo Coker – 7 – A couple of decent forward runs although nothing ultimately came of them but he was once again solid in his midfield holding position. Gareth Barry – 7 – Upped his performance in the second half and was unlucky to see a flicked header from Young’s corner go just over on 74 minutes. Immediately after that he was then twice in a minute in a goal scoring position and was almost found twice by Carew but could not quite reach each ball. Ashley Young – 8 – Back to his best yesterday a constant wide threat and his delivery from set pieces was outstanding. John Carew – 9 – MOTM – Nodded a Young free kick into the corner of the net for our opener on 22 minutes, stung the keeper’s hands with a rasping effort from close range on 80 minutes and then applied the appropriate finish to Gabby’s cross after Young had found him with a good pass on 88 minutes for our third. This performance had everything. Goals, a fine example of an old fashioned centre forward at his best and this outstanding display was far too hot for Reading’s defence to handle. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 6 – Showed his pace but there was no tangible end product. On another day and a different referee, Hahnemann might have been sent off not because he was the last man but because of his wild challenge. Substitutes: Shaun Maloney replaced Ashley Young, Marlon Harewood came on for Gabby and Moustapha Salifou made his first Villa appearance in place of Big John Carew on 90 minutes, in a treble substitution that appeared to be the equivalent of a curtain call for the exiting players. Sadly they grabbed their soft consolation goal shortly afterwards in the resulting confusion. None of these were on long enough to earn a rating or to provide a reason for such wholesale changes being made so late in the game. Up the Villa! John Lewis

Good points VillanTommy. We only have suspensions to worry about and even with our small squad (with a couple of additions) should be in a great position to build on the achievements of the first half of the season.

So it will need to be seventh time lucky next time (probably in next season’s Third Round!) as Manchester United knocked us out of the FA Cup yesterday for the sixth time since we beat the Busby Babes in the 1957 FA Cup Final. It’s now been 51 years of hurt since yesterday’s guests of honour Sims, Sewell and McParland, went up to collect their winners’ medals at Wembley. This game had looked increasingly likely to be a stalemate as the game wore on and as time ebbed away in the second half it looked like we would be all too content for my liking with a replay at Old Trafford. Let’s face it Manchester United were far from at their best yesterday. Teams like West Ham occasionally beat them on their off days but history tells us that we do not. There was not a lot between the two teams for most of this game. Neither side was at their best and it was a scrappy dour encounter that looked like one goal, if it came would be enough to settle it. As the home team, I think we needed to do a little more to try to make it us that opened the scoring, particularly when it became clear that the chasm that had existed between them and us when we met in mid October was not there last night. But, we have competed with them like this and better before only to succumb to late goals. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who feared this may be our fate again last night and that’s why I felt we really needed to do something whilst the likes of Hargreaves and Rooney remained on the bench. But, with them both on, the complexion of the game began to change. We started to come under pressure and in the last nine minutes the inevitable happened. That it happened twice rather than once produced a score that did not reflect the game itself but we have grown accustomed to that as well as to taking such cruel late blows. Reading and in particular Dave Kitson who said during the week that he could not “give two sh*ts” about the FA Cup have rightly taken a lot of flak for making it so clear that they see the league as being much more important than the FA Cup. But, last night’s attendance which was our second lowest of the season (only our earlier cup defeat at the hands of Leicester attracted less through the turnstiles). Is this a sign that we Villa fans have no interest in the FA Cup either? Or is it that we have had enough of early exits from the competition at the hands of The Red Devils? I think it is the later. The fact that it was available on the television set in everyone’s lounge did not help either nor did it that this is the second of three home games for us in less than a fortnight after Christmas when money is always tight but the crucial issue may be that this was the least likely of these games that we would win and the chances of us winning the FA Cup are considerably less than those of us qualifying for Europe through a place in the top 7. It may also be that like the players we have some difficulty in accepting a game against Manchester United as one we can win. We don’t look at games against Chelsea like that and the day will come that we treat games with Manchester United in the same way as we do games with The Blues. But, it took a couple of wins and good results against Chelsea to achieve that and the sooner these come against yesterday’s opponents the better! My player ratings from a game that all too predictably ended in another very hard to take FA Cup exit at the hands of Fergie’s Manchester United, that Fabio Capello will have found little evidence to support the England claims of most of our players or of most of those in white shirts come to think of it and that show that we do need to build on what still (to quote a former manager) remains a small squad (albeit a better one) during this window are: Scott Carson - 6 – Pushed a speculative Ronaldo effort into the path of Giggs who was too shocked to capitalise on this to hit an opener on 43 minutes. Scott was then left fumbling to keep the ball in play on 63 minutes before being relieved to push it out for a corner as an opponent sensed a possible opportunity to take the ball off him inside the box. Scott then made a good double save from Carrick a couple of minutes from the end when he blocked a first effort and then held his second shot after the ball had landed back in Carrick’s path. Did not seem as comfortable as of late and will be unhappy to have conceded two on a day when he was not over worked as will our defence. Olof Mellberg – 6 – Lost possession for their opener and you still can’t afford to do that with Giggs. Otherwise he gave his usual fully committed performance in his current role. Curtis Davies – 7 – Looking increasingly comfortable alongside Martin. Martin Laursen – 7 – Solid at the back and must be attracting a few envious suitors. We really do now need to get him to put pen to paper on a new contract. Wilfred Bouma – 6 – This would have been another good overall display but for one crucial defensive lapse. He was caught out of position when Ronaldo hit the decisive opener having come onto a cross near the goal line from behind him. He really did need to make that ball his with Carson not in a position to make any stop. Stiliyan Petrov – 7 – Another encouraging display and he hit a decent effort over the bar from 35 yards out on 12 minutes. Nigel Reo Coker – 7 – Got his tackles in, kept the midfield solid in his holding position and must have seemed more likely to be effective in an England midfield to the watching Fabio than did the largely ineffective and much higher priced Carrick. Gareth Barry – 6 – Not at his best last night and did not make his usual impression on a game that we needed all of our big hitters performing at their best to win. Ashley Young – 6 – He does so much to make us tick, but did not produce his usual bright display last night. Ashley did hit a shot just wide from the edge of the box on 71 minutes but we have become accustomed to more from him than that and he again found difficulty in beating his defender on a regular basis. John Carew – 6 – Clearly not near to full fitness but John was still our best forward last night. He took the ball inside the box on 34 minutes and hit the side netting with a decent shot. Worked himself into the ground against a more than good central defence. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 5 – Not at the races last night. This was an opportunity to impress the new England manager and to provide the sort of support and hard intelligent running that might make Big John’s efforts productive. Those opportunities were not taken. Substitutes: Luke Moore – 5 – Replaced Big John on 64 minutes and made no real impression on the game. Shaun Maloney - 6 - Replaced Petrov on 74 minutes. Did reasonably well during the very limited time he had available. Might have started has John not and for me was unlucky not to be the first to be called from the bench. Craig Gardner – Replaced Bouma on 82 minutes and was left unchallenged 4 minutes later but headed well over the bar when he really should have been on target and at least forced a save. Not on long enough to earn a rating. Up the Villa and let’s look forward to showing Reading that the league means just as much to us as it does them next weekend (or will they have their minds on their replay)! John Lewis

We have not beat them since the FA Cup Final in 1957 in this competition, having lost to them in the 1963 competition 0-1 at Old Trafford, in the 1976 one 1-2 again at their place, in 2002 2-3 at Villa Park, in 2004 1-2 again at home, and last year 1-2 back at their place. Surely it is high time to lift this curse and for it to be sixth time liucky or will we have to wait another year for it to be 7th time lucky?

Spurs were unable to pull us back for a second time in this game and on a second occasion this season. Another league win leaves us sixth pending Manchester City’s trip to Newcastle as well as relatively safe from relegation on 36 points with more than 4 months of the season to go. That has to be real progress folks! This was a very important win. With our close rivals Everton and Portsmouth winning before we kicked off any dropped points would have left them above, rather than tied on 36 points with us. We had the chances to have put this game out of sight before their equaliser. But after our game at White Hart Lane three months ago to the day is any game involving these two teams really ever safe? That is a question only Dustin Hoffman sitting in a dentist’s chair may know but when Spurs hit the target in the second half I had feared that we might be on the verge of dropping more home points and doing so after away wins represents a step backwards after a step forward. But, this Villa team now has a never say die attitude and where there is still time to get back into a game or to win it they will pull out all the stops to do so. They have also found the art of holding onto the ball in the last few minutes of the game and they did so to good affect last night in front of another large Villa Park crowd and their now regular television audience. Long time rumoured Villa target Jermain Defoe made a rare start for Spurs last night on one of his rare outings from his Midland hotel base of the past 12 months. Goals are not rarities for him and he claimed another one last night. But, it is less often that he plays a full 90 minutes for Spurs and his games for them usually start from the bench or end on it. The quality of the finish he displayed when equalizing showed why a lot of us had wanted to see him in a Villa shirt. But, his preference is to score goals against rather than for us as is the case for another past Villa target who did start on the bench last night, in Robbie Keane who has never quite made it to Villa Park and I suspect that disappointment is likely to be one that Defoe will be destined to share with him. But, their loss has and will prove to be someone else’s gain. For me, I would struggle to see why any young ambitious player would not relish and embrace the opportunity to be part of the improving team that is Aston Villa in season 2007/08 under Martin and Randy’s leadership. I also suspect that any players who do turn down that opportunity are likely to regret it in the fullness of time. My player ratings from a game that ended what has been a successful festive period for us, where 2 set piece goals from defenders settled the outcome and where Robinson got something reminiscent (if nothing quite so venomous as) the sort of stick keepers like Bosnich and Bob Wilson have received from The Holte End in the past are: Scott Carson - 6 – Did well to get in the way of a goal bound shot by want-away Berbatov a couple of minutes before half time. Scott did nothing on the rare occasions that he was tested by the recently prolific Spurs attack to suggest that he should not be England’s number one in place of the previous incumbent who he lined up against us yesterday and nor did he come to think of it. Olof Mellberg – 8 – Olof is a central defender and as such cannot realistically be expected to deliver crosses and make runs in the way a full back like John Gidman once did or as any prospective January transfer window replacement will be expected to. What he can do is work extremely hard and provide the defensive cover along with the security that Bouma also does, that enables our more creative wide players to get forward with confidence. He did that yesterday as he has done all season and he also found time to lose his marker and direct a header into the net from Young’s cross for our first goal on 41 minutes. Curtis Davies – 7 – Did enough to suggest that he should continue against Manchester United and to suggest that Zat may find it as difficult to dislodge him as Curtis did to get a game in his place. Martin Laursen – 8 – MOTM – Hit a golden opportunity well over the bar on 23 minutes when Petrov’s fine cross was deflected and landed at his feet some 8 yards from goal. But, more than made up for this with another of his outstanding defensive displays that all but blunted Spurs usually lethal attacking threat and with a great header from a Barry corner on 84 minutes when he rose unchallenged having lost his marker to clinch our win. Has there been a more potent aerial threat from a central defender from corners since Jack Charlton? Wilfred Bouma – 6 – A quietly effective defensive display until he was substituted as we sought our winner. Stiliyan Petrov – 7 – Another good display. We are at long last seeing more consistently the sort of level of performance that he showed when he first came to us from Celtic. Nigel Reo Coker – 7 – Did very well again in his holding role. Held things together well and played his usual important role in our midfield. Gareth Barry – 7 – Worked hard, not quite at his best but his worst is better than some players best (particularly those who are plying their trade across the city – sorry it is the season of goodwill to most men is it not?). Ashley Young – 7 – Has and will have better games than this, but he still often took two defenders out of the game and he was always a threat. Ashley might benefit from a game out of the firing line, as might Gareth and Gabby but our squad and their importance to the team does not allow Martin such luxuries. Luke Moore – 6 – Worked hard enough and did pretty well in the target man role that is filled so well by Big John, but sadly there remained no end product to cap his efforts. Turned well on 4 minutes when found by a cross from Gabby but hit his shot wide of the post. Luke also seemed to slip when putting a good Petrov cross wide when a second goal looked on 64 minutes later. Badly needs goals but this has been the case for some time now and Luke made it all too clear that he was unhappy with and it would seem reluctant to see the reason for his substitution. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 7 – His pace was as it always is a problem for this and any defence. He used his pace to good affect on 44 minutes when he ran from just inside the half way line to near the goal before being muscled out of it (possibly unfairly) by Zokora. Had earlier flicked on a header from a Young cross that went wide rather than into the net as had been the case at Wigan. Substitutes: Craig Gardner - 6 - Replaced Luke on 74 minutes with what might have been seen as a negative substitution but one which was understandable as we were in the course of surrendering the initiative. The plan did not work or did not work quickly enough as they hit their goal shortly afterwards. Shaun Maloney – 6 – May have been unlucky not to start. Replaced Bouma on 82 minutes and we scored shortly afterwards, I think he might rightly hope for a start on Saturday. Up the Villa and a Happy New Year to all my readers! John Lewis

General, Congratulations are due to the team and Martin on breaking a club record. The win at Wigan meant that for the first time ever in the top flight (even during the seasons when we won the league title) we have gone from the start of the season to the end of the year without losing more than one league game away from home. I'm sure that Randy, yourself and the whole backroom team will be happy to have seen a club record broken and some history made so early into your time at Villa Park. Please accept my best wishes for the future and thanks for all of the great work that is being done at the club that is so much appreciated. Lets hope that 2008 will bring good things for both Villa & The Browns.

Lawro predicts on BBC Football (and why should I doubt him?): "Wigan have done well under Steve Bruce so far, but Newcastle were poor against them on Wednesday and I expect Villa to give them a much sterner test. Villa have got great pace all across the front areas and I feel it will be difficult for Wigan to cope with them. Prediction: 1-2." :winkold:

If we avoid defeat at Wigan we will also break a club record in the top division as never before (even in a title winning season) have we gone from the start of a season in the top flight to the end of that year without losing more than 1 away league game. The only other time we did this in our entire history was in our promotion year 1987/88 when we lost our 2nd away game at Hull and then went on to be unbeaten away until 14/2.

A great read again, Appy Arry was without any doubt a Villa great thanks for this tribute to him.

Until we scored Manchester City looked likely to be the third team in a row to win at Villa Park but our equalizer turned the tide and on balance we deserved more than a hard earned point. Well we must be having a pretty decent season if we can avoid home defeat against Manchester City. We were slow starting again and when Bianchi opened the scoring things we had given ourselves a mountain to climb but Big John was not going to send us into Christmas with a defeat and his immense performance and splendid goal gave us a much needed point. What a great crowd as well. 41,455 was very encouraging given the normal pull of Christmas shopping on crowds on the last Saturday before Christmas. We needed 3 points really. But, Manchester City are a tough nut to crack (particularly for us) and Sven returning to manage at Villa Park as the fake sheiks had always said he would has got them going places to show that money can buy success and that you really can make wholesale changes and get immediate rewards for such investment. This was a very good game of football particularly in the first half. No quarter was given and none was asked for in what was a competitive battle. We like Manchester City are a vastly improved side who will be in the shake-up for a position somewhere between fifth and tenth this season but it is games like this that are effectively 6-pointers that we have to win if we are to climb higher and secure European football next season. Defeat against Portsmouth and dropping 2 points against City yesterday have not helped our cause but the right late Christmas presents in the January sales should give Martin the opportunity to show that he can mould new signings into the side and make it a better one. My player ratings from a game that we deserved more from on balance were: Scott Carson - 6 – Solid enough when tested, I hope that given time he will get over that England performance to exude the sort of confidence that he did before that game to our defence. Olof Mellberg – 6 – A steady and whole hearted defensive display from a Villa man who has given his best in a position that he would prefer not to be occupying. Will he be pushed into the middle when the inevitable right back signing is made in a couple of week’s time or will he be left to practice his Italian on the bench? Zat Knight – 6 – Steadier than of late. May find it difficult when playing alongside and so being compared with the performances of the polished diamond that is Martin Laursen. Martin Laursen – 7 – Another pretty solid defensive display in the heart of our defence. Might have got more onto his header from a free-kick that was cleared away by a defender on 22 minutes and just wide with a header shortly after that. Will be disappointed that Bianchi got clear of him for their goal. Wilfred Bouma – 7 – Another good performance and a couple of very important well timed interventions when danger reared its ugly head. Shaun Maloney – 6 – Worked hard but did not make the impression he tends to when coming off the bench and is likely to find himself back on it now that Stiliyan is fit again. Nigel Reo Coker - 6 – A solid display from our midfield enforcer. It was a pity he could not get the ball over to the unmarked Gabby on 83 minutes having drawn their defence but he did some very effective work over the 90 minutes in winning his midfield battles. Nigel was wrongly booked when their Petrov fell to the ground as if he had been shot and surely we should appeal this latest booking against a player who referees seem reluctant not to book each week? Gareth Barry – 6 – Worked hard but did not get the opportunity to stamp his authority on the game that he normally does. I’m sure he would have loved to put one over on Sven but our captain didn’t quite manage it this time. Ashley Young – 6 – Double teamed throughout. Sven clearly considered Ashley to be our main threat and yesterday he could not provide the service we have come to expect from him. When he did beat his man on 44 minutes after John had done well to find him near the touchline he hit an effort that was neither a cross nor a shot when cutting inside the box. John Carew – 8 – MOTM – Big John is a throw back to the old fashioned centre forward and was a real handful for the City defence yesterday. Ran at their defence on 14 minutes and finished that one man show by seeing the ball deflected into the net past Hart. Unlucky on 32 minutes when the keeper pushed his shot onto the bar, although he was lucky that the referee missed his use of the hand in controlling the ball. I particularly enjoyed the one whole hearted battle for the ball near the touchline with Richards in the second half where both players acknowledged each other after a succession of meaty challenges between them. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 5 – Really should have scored on 23 minutes but somehow a defender was able to clear the danger on the line as he failed to connect with an open goal before him. Did not make the sort of impression on the game that someone who is mentioned as being on the verge of an England call-up should. Substitutes: Stiliyan Petrov – 6 – Replaced Shaun on 75 minutes and looked our best midfielder in that last 18 minutes. Will surely deservedly start the next game and we have missed him. Up the Villa and a Very Merry Christmas to all of my Readers! John Lewis

Hi General, am I right in thinking that I read that the club were considering having the 1957 FA Cup Winners on the pitch before our first FA Cup game in 2008 much as we did so well with the 82 squad? If so, have we been able to put the wheels in motion, if not it would be a great idea and it might just get the fans up for this one as they were for the Sheffield United game and it might just give us an edge on the day.

Portsmouth gained their first win at Villa Park yesterday since 1970, this was their sixth consecutive away win and it is brought our second successive home defeat. I hope this is not going to herald the coming of the sort of bad run of results that we had last year that effectively killed our season. Defeat at home against the top 4 is currently acceptable but against Portsmouth in a 6-pointer it is not. Yes, their opener had luck written all over it and their second was a goal out of the blue that came totally against the run of play but you don’t concede three goals at home and expect to get something out of a game and teams who are looking to get into Europe do not undo great away wins with poor home defeats. But, perhaps we need to consider that Harry is a year further into the re-building process than Martin is and that this year we may have to expect the odd day like this (particularly when David James remains so determined to show us that we were wrong to let him go)? My player ratings from a great game that we might have won easily if it had been played a couple of weeks later when the African Nations Cup was on and they would have been without the likes of Mutari are: Scott Carson - 6 – A good stop on 93 minutes, would have been unhappy with his clearance that led to their opener but he was solid enough on the few occasions he was called into action and could not be held responsible for any of the three that went past him. Olof Mellberg – 6 – A steady defensive display and hit a decent long range effort that scuttled along the ground and almost crept in on 88 minutes. Zat Knight – 5 – Left for dead in the build up to their third, had an otherwise quiet afternoon. Martin Laursen – 5 – Needed to be tighter on Mutari for his second and really should have scored in the first half with one good and a later great opportunity. Found himself unchallenged from a Young corner on 17 minutes but his weak header was saved with no difficulty by James. Two minutes later, Young again found him unchallenged, this time from a free-kick but he missed the header and the ball glanced harmlessly wide off his shoulder, this was the opportunity we had been waiting for and an equaliser then with us in the ascendancy would have been likely to have changed the course of this game. OK Martin got himself in the positions to get to Young’s good dead balls but there is little point when there is no end product. Wilfred Bouma – 6 – A reasonably solid performance, other than when his sliced attempt at a clearance went into Benjani’s path in the lead up to their opener. Hit a good effort on the stroke of half time that forced a decent stop from James. Replaced by Berger on 53 minutes when we needed to throw everything at them, but I wonder why Wilf is always the one to make way for a substitute? Craig Gardner – 5 – Made little real impression on the game other than on 8 minutes when he got to the ball before Benjani but only to push the ball past Carson himself. Nigel Reo Coker – 6 – Turned into Mutari when collecting Carson’s clearance and almost got back to intercept on the edge of the box before Mutari pulled the trigger on the hour to end this game as a contest. But, he battled well on his return to our midfield. Gareth Barry – 6 – Stepped up with great confidence to beat James who went one way as the ball nestled into the other side of the net on 71 minutes. Ashley Young – 7 – Johnson did better than most against him and it was therefore his dead ball delivery rather than his runs that posed the bigger threat to Harry’s defence. But, it was he that was brought down for our penalty by Distin. John Carew – 6 – Again performed well as a target man holding the ball up well but handled pretty well by Campbell inside of the box. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 7 –MOTM - Our biggest threat. His pace proved a problem for them throughout. Gabby was unlucky to see a shot that had been deflected by Campbell kept out by James outstretched leg on 25 minutes and then forced a good stop from James 20 minutes later. Hit the woodwork with a header on 90 minutes after Marlon had done well to win the ball and hit a cross into him. Substitutes: Patrik Berger - 5 - Replaced Bouma on 53 minutes but failed to produce the impact Martin was looking for and has not looked as likely to this season when coming off the bench as he did last season when doing the same. Shaun looks more likely to be the one to inflict damage on tired defenders for me. Marlon Harewood – 6 – Replaced Gardner on 70 minutes and looked pretty good in the time that was available to him. Hit a firm shot on 74 minutes that James did well to hold. Up the Villa! John Lewis Click here to comment on this article