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John

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  1. John
    We were missing three of our biggest hitters for this game, but the absence of Jack, Tyrone and Kortney could not derail our fast finishing promotion train.
    These three players had played crucial roles in extending our run of successive league wins to 7 before yesterday’s game. Their absence was a real cause for concern before Saturday’s kick-off, but we proved that we are not quite a one-man team after all, despite rumours to the contrary.
    It has been 44 years since Aston Villa last recorded 8 consecutive league wins. We were promoted at the end of that 1974-75 season, finishing second to Manchester United. Let’s hope that this tremendous run of wins produces the same happy ending.         
    This was a real top of the table clash and in the first half both sides battled like rutting stags to gain supremacy. The second half was a different matter. We pulled 4 points clear of our promotion rivals with a dazzling 45-minute display that produced another vital win and could have given us a more decisive win, than the odd goal one that we achieved. Their goalkeeper Max O’Leary had a day to remember, making save after save to prevent us from stretching our lead to an unassailable one.     
    When they pulled a goal back with 16 minutes of normal time remaining along with an astonishing 7 minutes of stoppage time, many may have anticipated the game being cruelly snatched away from us during those nervous final minutes. That didn’t happen though and didn’t really look like happening. Instead we played out those remaining minutes with confidence and without too much cause for alarm.        
    The players that turned out in claret & blue yesterday wore their shirts with pride. They played as a team and the squad clearly all want to play their part in achieving our goal. They players gave everything, and by so doing, brought what had seemed only a few weeks ago to be an unrealistic hope of making the play offs within touching distance.         
    WBA supporters were telephoning BBC WM after the game claiming that they want to meet us in the play offs, my message to them would be “be careful what you wish for!”           
    My player ratings from a game that took us within 3 wins of equalling our club record of 11 consecutive wins which we achieved in 1897 and that also got Lee Johnson rather infuriated for some reason are:
    Jed Steer – 6 – Well protected by those in front of him, other than when they pulled a goal back.   
    Ahmed Elmohamady – 7 – Another very composed and solid performance from Elmo.          
    Axel Tuanzebe - 8 – He was simply outstanding at the heart of our defence yesterday. Axel was both assured and composed throughout.      
    Mile Jedinak – 7 – Brought all his experience to bear to produce this solid defensive performance when we so needed it. Had an 85th minute header blocked on the line.               
    Neil Taylor – 7 – Did well. His confidence is growing with each win as is his contribution to each of those wins. His attempted clearance was blocked at the start of the build up to their goal and he had a 77th minute shot blocked at the near post.                
    Albert Adomah – 6 – Played his part for the whole game this time, in securing what was an important win. Hit the post with a header on 13 minutes. Hit an 80th minute shot wide of the keeper’s left-hand post.             
    Glenn Whelan – 8 – Controlled the midfield again. Held it together making full use of his experience and steadied things when a cool head was needed. Fully deserves the plaudits he is now getting.  
    John McGinn – 8 – Had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders in this game and John thrived on that. Ran the ball from the corner flag into the box before hitting a shot that O’Leary did well to tip over the bar. Hit an 88th minute shot over having been found by Davis and had a 94th minute shot tipped over the bar.          
    Conor Hourihane – 8 – Had a 31st minute header from an El Ghazi cross punched clear by O’Leary. The keeper again did well to block his 62nd minute close range shot with his leg, which went on to bounce over the bar. Was awarded our penalty when going for a cross into the centre of the box from McGinn. Nodded an inviting El Ghazi cross over on 64 minutes. Picked up a loose ball in the middle to start the move that he finished on 66 minutes with he turned and hit a shot past the keeper and inside the far post for our second goal. On another luckier day for him, he might have had a hat-trick.
    Anwar El Ghazi – 8 – MOTM – Produced the sort of performance that he had showed he was capable of at WBA. He beat his man for fun yesterday, particularly during the second half during which he was unstoppable. Hit a 13th minute shot from well outside of the box that O’Leary was only able to palm away towards Adomah whose header struck the near post. Hit a 62nd minute shot from outside of the box that O’Leary could only punch away to his left. Found Conor inside the box to claim an assist for our second goal. This was a match-winning performance and we need to see more of the same in our remaining games.                   
    Tammy Abraham – 7 – Lacked the service he has become accustomed to getting from Jack in the first half. Showed nerves of steel when slotting his 55th minute penalty into the centre of the goal, as O’Leary dived to his right to give us the crucial first goal, having missed one at Rotherham in midweek. Tammy has two dozen goals this season and another six would be very, very nice.        
    Substitutes:
    Keinan Davis – 7 – Replaced Tammy on 72 minutes and did a really great job. Held the ball up well when we needed him to, fitted smoothly into the lone striker role and quickly got into the game. Outmuscled a defender to claim a ball played forward by Lansbury and moved into the box, hitting a 94th minute shot that O’Leary blocked with his legs at the near post.
    Henri Lansbury – 6 - Replaced Conor on 80 minutes and played his own part in securing this win.       
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  2. John
    This was a game of two halves in which we were the better team in both. We gave a passable impersonation of how we had played against WBA in the first half although as we were playing a more limited team we still shaded that half. The substitutions made at half time and the decision to play football in the second half left Small Heath with much more than they could handle and perhaps fortunate to escape with just the one goal defeat.
    As Rowett said prior to the game Small Heath had nothing to lose last night. But lose the game they did and they have been rather good at doing that over the years. I was almost surprised how poor Bloose were last night and their manager must have been wearing blue glasses if he really thought they “more than matched” us last night. They seem to be in a false league position to me or is it that there really is such a gulf between the two divisions?          
    My player ratings from a game that has left us just two wins from a semi-final appearance are:
    Brad Guzan – 6 – Gathered a weak Maghoma shot at the second attempt on 74 minutes after Gray had put him clear inside the box. Otherwise this was a quiet day at the office for Brad.
    Leandro Bacuna – 6 – Got forward well.                             
    Michah Richards – 8 – Won everything in the air and was also very dominant on the floor.    
    Joleon Lescott – 5 – Joleon was substituted at half time. Was starting two games in four days asking a touch too much of him?                                 
    Jordan Amavi – 7 – Jordan was solid at the back and so dangerous when running at them.                          
    Ciaran Clark – 6 – He is no midfield player but he looked much more comfortable when he was pushed back to play alongside Michah in the centre of our defence for the second half.
    Ashley Westwood - 6 – Had a decent game in the middle.                                        
    Jordan Veretout – 7 – Stood up to be counted last night and this was an encouraging display particularly in the second half. He needs more games now.                 
    Scott Sinclair – 7 – Much more involved in the game than he had been on Saturday, got into good forward positions but he appears to have lost his goal touch. Veretout played the ball to Scott on 9 minutes but Scott’s effort was blocked by Caddis before running on to Gestede who was unable to get a shot in before a combination of Kuszczak and a defender scrambled the ball clear. Kuszczak made a save at his near post to keep out Scott’s 39th minute shot and he hit one over the bar on 52 minutes after the ball had run to him after Gestede had been unable to get a cross from Grealish under control. He headed a cross from Bacuna that was slightly behind him wide of the post on 54 minutes. Had a free kick turned around the post by Kuszczak on 79 minutes after Grealish had been pulled back by Morrison to bring his latest dangerous run to an end.      
    Gabriel Agbonlahor – 5 – Put himself about more in 45 minutes than he did in 90 on Saturday before his half time substitution due to injury. Could not quite stretch to get on the end of Bacuna’s 11th minute cross to the near post after Westwood had found Leo with a nice ball. Gabby screwed a shot well wide of the far post on 29 minutes after Westwood had found him on the edge of the box.       
    Rudy Gestede – 6 – Better in the second half, lacking control on the ground but give him the crosses and he will head them home! Rudy controlled a ball from Veretout with his chest on 3 minutes before snatching at his shot from the edge of the box and sending it harmlessly wide of the post. Got on the end of a splendid cross from Amavi to power a header into the corner of the net and give us our winner on 62 minutes.                
    Substitutes:
    Jack Grealish – 8 – MOTM - Replaced Joleon at half time. His introduction and that of Ayew sparked our upturn in performance. At times he seems to have the ball glued to his feet doesn’t he? Teased defenders at will and really enjoyed this win. Gestede found him just inside their half on 68 minutes, he then took the ball forward and made a great run into their box that was halted by a deflection off Kuszczak’s leg at the near post.
    Jordan Ayew – 7 - Replaced Gabby at half time. Jordan made a great run into the box on 82 minutes before playing the ball back to Veretout whose ball towards Sinclair just needed a slight touch that he was unable to provide. He then played a one-two with Grealish on the edge of the box 5 minutes later but his shot was kept out at the near post by a one handed save from Kuszczak. This was his liveliest and most effective performance for us to date. Jordan looked very good on the right and should start the next game for me. This performance will do his confidence a lot of good and will see Gabby face a big challenge for his usual starting place.   
    Up for the Cup Villa!
    John Lewis
     
  3. John
    We witnessed history being made yesterday. In years to come the question will be asked, do you remember when our great club broke their record of consecutive league wins in 2019?
    That record had remained unbroken since 1910. That’s beyond living memory, so we had to refer to the record books to read about that winning run and that grand old team. In the years to come, you will be able to say that you were there and that you witnessed this incredible run.
    You can tell your children, your grandchildren and anyone else who is prepared to listen, that you remember this splendid team, this great run and had the pleasure of seeing Jack Grealish, John McGinn, Tammy Abraham et all play in the claret and blue. Those players have earned their place in Villa history as did Harry Hampton, Billy Walker, Pongo Waring and Eric Houghton, before them in bygone seasons.          
    We secured our place in the end of season promotion playoffs yesterday, with two games of the season to spare. Only in our wildest dreams, did any of us see this winning run coming at the beginning of March. As our boss said after yesterday’s game, “If you had asked me 11 games ago would we go and win the next 10, I would have thought you were a little bit crackers.” 
    Now let’s extend this winning run to 15 games! This superb run merits a joyful ending. For it not now to end with our promotion, would be too cruel on this team who have worked so hard to claim their ticket to the play off lottery. For a second successive season to end in despair would be beyond abhorrent.            
    We have played better than we did yesterday during this run of wins. Millwall are always a tough nut to crack and were both determined and uncompromising, as they looked for a point to assist their relegation fight. Although not at our scintillating best, we were still clearly the better of the two teams and on another day the score might have better reflected this. As it was, for the second successive home game the visitor’s man of the match was their goalkeeper, but once again he still finished on the losing side.               
    Villa didn’t need to go into fourth gear to win this one. We eased to victory without adding a second goal, that would have left us sitting more comfortably near the end. Our team have now developed the confidence and composure to see games out without undue cause for concern though. We seemed perhaps, to be conserving something for the decisive games that are to come, as we eased to what was ultimately a comfortable tenth win in front of a packed Villa Park.           
    My player ratings from a game that sealed a Happy Easter for us and that meant that the play offs are coming are:
    Jed Steer – 6 – Produced a very good save on 15 minutes, pushing a Wallace shot from outside of the box, out for a corner to his right. He then had a moment of madness, when he ran out to but didn’t get near a 71st minute floated free kick into the box, taken from just inside our half by Pearce which was thankfully headed wide by Cooper.   
    Ahmed Elmohamady – 7 – Elmo gets better with each game and looks increasingly composed, confident and reliable.          
    Mile Jedinak - 7 – Mile did a tremendous job again in the centre of our defence yesterday in the absence of both Axel and Kortney. He was as uncompromising and determined as our opponent’s defenders were and that is saying quite a lot.      
    Tyrone Mings – 8 – MOTM – So steady and so composed at the heart of our defence. Didn’t put a foot wrong and oozed confidence. He plays a crucial role in making this team tick. 
    Neil Taylor – 7 – Did well again and has played his part in this fantastic winning run.                
    Albert Adomah – 6 – Substituted after an hour no doubt with the intention of preserving his energies for those battles that are yet to come.              
    Glenn Whelan – 7 – Substituted on 60 minutes, most likely for the same reason that Albert was. Got down bravely where the boots were flying on 16 minutes, to head away a corner that had fallen to Pearce who had played it back across the face of the goal. Provides solidity for our midfield.    
    John McGinn – 8 – Did well to avoid a booking that would have threated an untimely play-off suspension. Whelan played a neat ball to him inside of the box, but his 41st minute shot was blocked at the near post by a defender. Had a hand in many of our chances.           
    Jack Grealish – 8 – A welcome return for the player whose return to the side as captain following a lengthy injury, sparked the outstanding run that broke a long-standing club record yesterday. Green played the ball back to him and his 68th minute shot from near the penalty spot was only kept out by Martin’s legs. McGinn found him near the centre circle on 72 minutes, Jack ran on to the edge of the box before hitting a shot which deflected off a defender just inches past the keeper’s right-hand post.  
    Anwar El Ghazi – 7 – Hit the cross that Jonathan put away for the winner. Headed a 9th minute Grealish corner wide at the far post and brought a defender down in getting up for it. McGinn played a nice ball for Anwar to run onto, he looked to curl a shot past Martin and inside of the far post, but Martin got down well to push the ball around the post on 90 minutes. 
    Jonathan Kodjia – 7 – Came in for the injured 25-goal Tammy and hit our winner in the 30th minute. Pounced on a misjudged loose back pass a minute earlier, but his heavy first touch enabled Martin to just touch the ball first as they met on the edge of the box and the chance was gone. Made a nice run inside the box on 56 minutes running between two defenders before hitting his shot wide of the far post. Jack found El Ghazi on the left side of the box and his nicely hit 30th minute cross, was hit home by Johnny Danger to his obvious delight.          
    Substitutes:
    Conor Hourihane – 6 – Replaced Whelan on 60 minutes and did his bit in the middle.
    Andre Green – 7 - Came on for Albert on 60 minutes and looked good. Grealish found him on the right of the box on 66 minutes but his shot from a tight angle hit the side netting. Hit a sweet 84th minute volley after an El Ghazi shot had deflected off a defender towards him, only to be denied a goal by a great reflex save by Martin. McGinn swept the ball right for Andre who ran inside of the box and hit a 90th minute shot that deflected over the bar off a defender.         
    Keinan Davis – 6 - Replaced Johnny Danger on 76 minutes and again did his bit, showing some surprisingly deft touches with the ball at his feet.       
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  4. John
    This forgettable game was settled by an unforgettable winning goal from Jack Grealish in the 88th minute.
    Wigan came to Villa Park with limited ambition. They came to frustrate and to claim a point as will other teams as we climb further up the table this season. We started the game well and finished it even better but for over an hour this match appeared to have goalless draw written all over it until Jack struck with his stunning late goal. It is so nice to be scoring late goals rather than conceding them now!   
    We lacked movement up front from forwards who were starved of service by a midfield that lacked creativity. Wigan worked hard, got men behind the ball and on those occasions when this did not prove sufficient resorted to making strong/illegal challenges particularly on Jack Grealish and Jonathan Kodjia in an attempt to keep them both quiet. That worked pretty effectively for them during the first 87 minutes until we went ahead and claimed our fourth successive home win to move just 3 points off the play-off places.       
    We bounced back from defeat at Leeds as we so needed to do yesterday. We did not win with a swagger but successful teams win games when they are some way off their very best and this we did. I hope we also began another lengthy unbeaten or dare we hope a winning run yesterday? That will be put to the test at Norwich in midweek and at QPR next weekend.  
    My player ratings from a game that we collected only our second home win in nine league games against yesterday’s visitors are:
    Pierluigi Gollini – 6 – A very, very quiet day at the office. Could have sat on a deck chair in the goalmouth for most of this game but it was not really the weather for that.     
    Alan Hutton – 6 – Worked hard and looked solid at the back if something less than a threat when moving into the Wigan half.   
    James Chester - 6 – Another solid and composed performance on a day when our defence was seldom tested.       
    Tommy Elphick – 6 – Tommy eased through this game with little cause for concern being provided by the visitors. That might not have been the case had Wigan been a little more adventurous and started the game with or introduced late substitute Will Grigg earlier than they did.
    Jordan Amavi – 7 – Another encouraging display. He looks so confident and effective defensively of late and poses a threat when getting forward as he has always done. Clipped an effort just past the post on 7 minutes from inside of the box and Jaaskelainen dived low to his right to gather a shot from outside of the box 4 minutes later after he had picked up a loose ball from a corner.
    Albert Adomah – 5 – Failed to make the same sort of positive impression on this game that he has done in others lately.    
    Gary Gardner - 5 – Put in a shift as he always does prior to his substitution but he has it in him to impose himself more upon opponents.
    Mile Jedinak – 6 – Another solid midfield display. Opponents must feel like they have run into a brick wall when they are challenged by Mile. Hit a shot from the edge of the box on 72 minutes straight at Jaaskelainen who gathered the ball easily enough.  
    Jack Grealish – 7 – MOTM – Hit a spectacular winner to claim all three points for us in the 88th minute. A McCormack cross was headed out by a defender and picked up by Jack just outside the box. He then hit an unstoppable shot past Jaaskelainen and into the top right hand corner of the net.
    Jordan Ayew – 4 – Jordan was disappointingly quiet again yesterday and needs to make a bigger impact on games like this. Lost the ball more than once and noticeably a couple of times near the end when we particularly needed to keep possession.
    Jonathan Kodjia – 5 – Might have opened the scoring for us in the 14th minute when Adomah found him nicely inside the box but his attempted chip over Jaaskelainen was kept out by the keeper’s outstretched arm.        
    Substitutes:
    Ross McCormack – 6 – Replaced Gardner on the hour and introduced a bit of much needed energy.  
    Rudy Gestede – 4 - Replaced Adomah on 73 minutes. Rudy provided no threat up front and made little if any positive impression after coming off the bench.      
    Leandro Bacuna – Replaced Jack in the 4th minute of stoppage time so he was not on long enough to gather any rating.
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  7. John
    Two Championship heavyweights traded blows last night before Super Jack landed a knock-out blow in the 85th minute that was good enough to win any game.
    Cardiff’s defeat is their second on the trot and they may now find pulling back Fulham who are on such an impressive run to be beyond them. There is therefore now a decent prospect of this fixture being repeated on 26th May subject to both teams emerging victorious from their two-legged semi-finals and avoiding each other in these.
    After the game Neil Warnock said, “you could see what it meant to Villa tonight the way you thought they’d won the World Cup when the whistle went.” He is right it wasn’t The World Cup and it is unlikely to prove too decisive in the promotion race, but it might just act as a bit of a confidence booster for us and knock that of his own club should the two teams happen to meet again next month.    
    We played a lot better than we had at Norwich (it would have been difficult to play any worse) last night and the win takes us within four points of third placed Cardiff. A win on Friday against Leeds United will now see us qualify for the playoffs. Sadly, points dropped recently and unnecessarily have made automatic promotion an unrealistic prospect for us.         
    Cardiff worked hard and pressed us giving our players very little time on the ball particularly in the first half. Although we look the better team on paper the game is not played on paper as the league table currently demonstrates. Our visitors could consider themselves unfortunate to have not had scored as the first half drew to its conclusion with them on top. The second half was a different matter with Villa posing an increasing threat until Jack hit his world class winner.        
    My player ratings from a game that Villa produced a Royal Command Performance for the watching Prince William who was sitting comfortably next to his Villa hero John Carew last night are:
    Sam Johnstone – 8 - MOTM – His saves kept us level for Jack to hit our late winner. Having done so well to keep out a Whelan header in the third minute of first half stoppage time he then recovered quickly to block Paterson’s attempt from the rebound. Kept out a 57th minute Zohore shot from the edge of the box with his left foot at the left post and did the same on the 82nd minute with another shot from Mendez-Laing.        
    Ahmed Elmohamady – 6 – An improvement upon his last game.    
    James Chester - 7 – So solid at the back and was a reassuring presence in JT’s absence.       
    Mile Jedinak – 6 – Filled in well for JT alongside Chester.
    Axel Tuanzebe – Picked up a knock which led to his early substitution when losing possession on 16 minutes near the centre circle to Mendez-Laing who ran on to hit a shot against the far post. Did not merit a rating during the time available.
    Robert Snodgrass – 7 – Had a penalty shout on 46 minutes when he went to ground after Bennett leaned into him just inside of the penalty area. Worked hard and well.
    Glen Whelan – 4 – A late replacement for Bjarnason who was injured during the warm up. Twice came uncomfortably close to getting an own goal in first half stoppage time. Morrison played the ball back across goal after Whelan had cleared his initial header only for Glen to send it goalward where Elmohamady was in the right place at the right time in the second minute of first half stoppage time to clear the ball off the line. In the next minute he headed a Bennett free-kick which looked destined for the back of the net before Johnstone pulled off a tremendous save to keep it out with his left hand.    
    Conor Hourihane – 5 – Worked hard. Was found by a great Grabban ball on 69 minutes but having taken a touch his left foot effort ended in the side netting tis a pity his right foot is just for standing on. His 80th minute shot from the edge of the area after Grealish’s back heel had given him the opportunity was then pushed wide for a corner by Etheridge.      
    Albert Adomah – 5 – Substituted after an hour. Hit a second shot inches wide of the post from a 34th minute Snodgrass corner after his first was cleared back to him by Bamba.       
    Jack Grealish – 8 – Hit our stunning 85th minute winner when a Snodgrass free-kick was cleared to the edge of the box and fell to him in space to hit a right footed volley in off the inside off the left post. Given little protection by the referee having been clearly targeted for some special treatment by our opponents.    
    Lewis Grabban – 6 – Doesn’t seem to carry quite the goal threat he did earlier for us. Hit the side netting on 2 minutes having been found by Snodgrass and headed a 48th minute Grealish cross wide of the far post.     
    Substitutes:
    James Bree – 5 – Came on for the injured Tuanzebe in the 26th minute. Showed signs of ring rustiness but that was only to be expected.       
    Jonathan Kodjia - 6 – Replaced Adomah on 60 minutes. Ran inside the box beat a defender and had a 65th minute shot saved by Etheridge at the near post. Gaining increasing match sharpness with each outing with a view to being at his best for the playoffs.  
    Chris Samba – Replaced Hourihane on 88 minutes and was not therefore on long enough to gather a rating.
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  8. John
    A fifth successive league win has taken us above Middlesbrough and into fifth place.   
    We played some scintillating football in the first half and were the better team by some distance, but we ended it just one goal to the good. A two or a three-goal lead would have better reflected our first half dominance and it would have put the game beyond our visitors.
    We were unable to play with quite the same panache that we had produced in the first half during the second. We almost appeared to be running down the clock, having apparently taken a leaf out of our beleaguered and soon to be departing Prime Minister’s play book. Unlike her though, we did achieve the meaningful result that we were seeking, but we needed the two-goal cushion that we eventually got and that our ascendancy richly deserved to secure it.       
    Having stretched our lead to two goals after an hour, an apparent goalkeeping error, good goalkeeping by Raya and missed chances conspired to give the visitors hope of getting something out of the game, when there should have been none.        
    Blackburn were let back into the game in the second half and their confidence grew as we were pinned back in our own half too often. Those old concerns about being able to see out a game returned, as did the worry that a one-goal lead is never a comfortable one. The end of the game couldn’t come soon enough for us, although the referee seemed willing to keep it going until they had equalized, having found 6 minutes stoppage time to play from somewhere. We did however, eventually secure the vital win that we were looking for and the relief was there for all to see as the final whistle was belatedly blown.           
    My player ratings from a game that kept us in front of the chasing pack and that gave us the opportunity to see Juan Pablo and Martin on the pitch again at half time are:
    Jed Steer – 5 – He does seem to have the occasional error in him, as he demonstrated yesterday, having last done so at Forest. Jed was otherwise generally assured, but what seemed to me to be a lapse of concentration produced the goal that brought the visitors back into the game. Mulgrew’s 74th minute free kick appeared to possibly bend a little in the air and Jed was left only able to throw out a hand to his right to keep it out as he moved left. Ex-nose Bell was the first to react to the loose ball, hitting it into the net to set up a fraught end to the game for us.   
    Ahmed Elmohamady – 7 – Another good display from Elmo, who is looking more reliable with each game.          
    Kortney Hause - 7 – Solid alongside Tyrone once again, to the extent that a fit again Axel did not need to be rushed back to shore up our much-improved defence.    
    Tyrone Mings – 8 – MOTM – Kept our defence composed when it was coming under increasing pressure during the second half and popped up at the other end to give us the much-needed insurance of a second goal. McGinn hit a sweet 61st minute cross from the left edge of the box that Tyrone headed downward and into the net past the despairing Raya. He is clearly a very good top-flight defender and will hopefully be appearing there with us next season.              
    Neil Taylor – 6 – Steady enough at the back and might have had a second in first half stoppage time when Grealish found him on the left of the box and his shot could only be palmed towards the near post by Raya. El Ghazi was offside when he helped the ball in at the far post, but would the keeper have been able to have scrambled across goal to have kept it out, had he left it?                
    Glenn Whelan – 8 – Another very solid, composed and assured midfield performance by Glenn. He has hit a rich vein of form, hasn’t he? He was beaten twice in the air at the far post for two successive first half corners, Conway rattled the bar following the second on 16 minutes. We might therefore need a re-think on who we place on that post for our future games.              
    Andre Green – 6 – Substituted after 66 minutes. The ball wouldn’t quite run for him yesterday and ran past him more than once early on, his final ball needs greater accuracy.  
    John McGinn – 8 – Put his international woes behind him yesterday. John was unlucky to not get the goal that his terrific first half performance merited, when Raya pushed his 21st minute shot against the far post, after Green had found him nicely on the edge of the box. Hit a sublime ball to El Ghazi in the build up to our opening goal. Hit a 15th minute shot from outside of the box that Raya gathered at the second attempt. Conceded an unnecessary free kick that produced their goal.          
    Jack Grealish – 7 – A good game from Captain Jack with John and himself, running the show and getting us moving forward.              
    Anwar El Ghazi – 6 – His well hit cross produced our opening goal, after he had nicely chested down McGinn’s ball to him.                
    Tammy Abraham – 7 – Tammy was in the right place at the right time once again when he tapped home El Ghazi’s inviting 8th minute cross from close range for our early opening goal. Turned well before hitting a shot from near the penalty spot from a nice McGinn cross, that Raya kept out with his legs. Could and should have eased our nerves on 89 minutes when Hourihane found him inside the box nicely, but he hit his shot over the bar.       
    Substitutes:
    Albert Adomah – 6 – Replaced Green on 66 minutes and will now be eyeing his starting place.
    Conor Hourihane - Replaced Jack on 89 minutes. Played a nice ball to find Abraham inside the box on 89 minutes, which should have led to our third goal. Not on long enough to gather a rating.      
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  9. John
    We gained a point from a losing position rather than lost points from a winning one for a change yesterday.  
    We were nothing short of appalling in the first half and made it all too easy for Hull. Given our form of late, more than a few of us could see this one coming. Chester’s timely goal came just before half time and it gave us some grounds for hope where there had previously been none.
    If there was anything positive to be taken from this game, it was that we awoke in the second half to come back from two goals down to claim a point. A point was not enough however, and Hull showed that they are not quite as good as their 6-game winning run might have suggested when they were belatedly put under some pressure yesterday. What they do have is the confidence that a good run of results brings in comparison to the lack of it and the anxiety that we currently suffer from due to our own ongoing dismal run.
    Unfortunately, although there was plenty of time left after our equalizer to complete the recovery and to take all three points, we didn’t really look like doing so and the team seemed to lack the belief that they could go on to win the game. It seemed many of them, unlike the fans were perhaps a little too readily content with another “Desmond”.   
    What has happened to the Villa that won at Derby, Boro and deserved to win at the Albion? We have clearly missed both Jack and Axel but to take just 7 points from our last 7 games is simply not good enough.
    We now find ourselves in the bottom half of the table and 7 points adrift of sixth place. Had we managed 14 points from our last 7 games (which didn’t seem quite so unlikely back then) we would have 46 points rather than 39 and would now be 6th rather than 13th. We would also be within touching distance of the top 2 rather than having all but written off any lingering hopes of making the play offs.           
    Let’s hope we can win another one of the games that appeared winnable a few short weeks ago next weekend. Hopefully we can use that to start the winning run that we need to start sooner rather than later, if not to start a late promotion run to give us some pride back. Not giving our visitors a 2-goal start would go some way to achieving that against bottom of the table Ipswich.
    My player ratings from a game that left us top of the bottom half of the table once again are:
    Lovre Kalinic – 5 – Beaten low at his left-hand post by Bowen’s first from the edge of the box on 27 minutes and he will be disappointed by that as were we. Had little chance with their second, with the unmarked Evandro’s well hit shot deflecting off Taylor on the line into the roof of the net. Blocked a 25th minute header from Burke at his near post. He then prevented us from surrendering all 3 points to the visitors on 90 minutes with a superb save from a point-blank Martin shot.
    Alan Hutton – 5 – His cross produced our second goal.         
    James Chester - 6 – Gave us a lifeline when he got his head to Hourihane’s 45th minute free kick. Did incredibly well to hook Elphick’s deflection on a Grosicki shot off the line in the 8th minute after Hourihane had lost possession at the start of the move.    
    Tommy Elphick – 6 – Produced another steady enough performance in the centre of our brittle defence.              
    Neil Taylor – 5 – Produced an improved second half display. One strong second half challenge was rather memorable, and he did very well to get back to clear a dangerous cross from the 6-yard box on 73 minutes. He stuck out a leg in an attempt to poke the ball clear on the edge of the area, but it invitingly fell straight to Bowen a couple of yards to his left from where he hit their opener.             
    Birkir Bjarnason – 4 – He put himself about but has looked a pale imitation of the player he was earlier this season since his return from injury. Headed a 49th minute Hutton cross wide of the far post. A couple of times yesterday as he chased after and wrestled down opponents in the middle of the field, he looked more like a Keystone cop from the silent movie era rather than an international footballer. Might be worth another shot in the deeper role that Conor has been trying to fill. Substituted on 75 minutes.                
    John McGinn – 8 – MOTM – Ran the show and battled gamely on but others around him declined to follow his excellent example for far too long. Kept trying to move us forward, worked tirelessly and shone brightly throughout the game. Hit a 56th minute shot wide from an Abraham cross and hit a shot from outside of the box over 12 minutes later.
    Conor Hourihane – 5 – Hit a perfectly placed free kick for our first but he clearly cannot fill the deep midfield role where he looks uncomfortable and a bit of a fish out of water. He works hard but lacks the pace of some opponents he comes up against and is unfamiliar with what is expected from him in this role. His place in the team should be in the opposition half, where he has been effective rather than in our own where he is not.     
    Albert Adomah – 3 – Only began to look partly interested in the second half after what I’m sure will have been a quiet word from the boss during the interval. He was substituted on 59 minutes as understandably Dean’s patience with him had been exhausted some time earlier. Made little to no contribution during the first half.       
    Yannick Bolasie – 3 – See Albert’s rating above. Yannick mirrored his none performance and I found myself checking half way through the first half that he was still on the field given the scarcity of his contribution to the game.            
    Tammy Abraham – 7 – This game should have been a celebration of Tammy’s decision to continue his loan spell with us but our sorry performance last week as well as in the first half yesterday unfortunately put paid to that. Suffered from a lack of service in the first half but always looked for the ball and hit our 64th minute equalizer when after having his first attempt at a low cross from Hutton blocked by a defender, he stepped over him to hit the ball past Marshall at the second attempt.        
    Substitutes:
    Anwar El Ghazi - 5 – Replaced Bolasie on 59 minutes. He was on the bench today having given a couple of the sort of performances that Albert and Yannick produced today since his terrific display at The Hawthorns last month. This was a somewhat brighter display.    
    Jonathan Kodjia - 5 – Came on for Adomah on 59 minutes and provided a little of the energy that we had been lacking.    
    Andre Green – 6 - Replaced Bjarnason on 75 minutes. Showed some pace and desire on his return from his loan at Portsmouth but he also hit an 86th minute cross over from close range when a winner looked his for the taking.   
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  10. John
    Scott Sinclair scored a brace of goals yesterday to make it five goals in two games for him but his goals did not bring us the win we needed.
    We have conceded five goals in our last two home games and you cannot expect to win games too often when the defence is leaking goals like that.
    We conceded an early goal but equalized within two minutes and were ahead at the break. Another goal looked likely and it would have settled the game for us. We were not short of opportunities to add a third but our visitors left Villa Park with what may prove to be a rare away point for them this season.
    We now have four points from four games and this sort of point accumulation is on a par with another bottom six finish. We are now treading water whilst we wait and hope for our new signings to gel together to provide a winning side. There continue to be some signs of encouragement and we played some nice football at times yesterday but we do need to start picking up more points now to keep clear of the relegation zone that we have spent too many seasons in of late. I think we will not be looking over our shoulders towards the end of this season but I wonder just how good a team we would be now if we still had Benteke up front. I guess if we did we would not have most of our new signings though.
    This was not a must win game or a six pointer yet but it was the sort of game we really need to be winning.Sunderland’s half time substitutions and their strong start to the second half gave them an equalizer 7 minutes after the re-start. We were the better team overall yesterday but we were unable to claim an elusive home league win and our bottom of the table visitors left happy to have doubled their points tally. We will just have to beat them up there again!
    My player ratings from a game that we started missing the creativity of Grealish and Traore through injury and Gil through choice are:
    Brad Guzan – 5 – Positioned himself too far to the right of his goal for me and was unable to get anywhere near to Villa’s well placed 9th minute free-kick. Brad tipped a Fletcher header over the bar on 49 minutes.
    Alan Hutton – 6 – Did his best work when getting forward which he did on a regular basis. Alan was solid at the back when tested.
    Michah Richards – 7 – Unlucky to get a touch on Lens’ 52nd minute equalizer that helped the ball over Guzan. Looked certain to give us the lead again on 59 minutes but Sinclair’s cross hit him near the goal line rather than he hit it and the ball surprisingly ended up in Pantilimon’s hands. Our captain was both dominant and committed at the centre of our defence.
    Ciaran Clark – 6 – Too easily lost a challenge with Lens on the edge of the box which led to his equalizer.
    Jordan Amavi – 7 – Conceded the free-kick that produced their opener when he brought down Graham but was very dangerous when getting forward and getting the ball over as he did for our second. The ball was deflected into the side netting by a defender on 63 minutes after he had made a good run into the area.
    Leandro Bacuna – 5 – Playing him in the middle failed to pay anything near the dividends that Tim was looking for. We missed his crosses. Leo screwed a shot wide on 38 minutes having been fed by Hutton.
    Ashley Westwood - 7 – Early miscued passes but improved after the first quarter of an hour. Made a decent run and was fed by Hutton on 17 minutes but his shot finished just wide of the near post.
    Idrissa Gueye – 7 –Looked good yesterday and seems a big improvement on the slithery snake he has replaced. Screwed a 25th minute shot wide of the post from the edge of the box.
    Carlos Sánchez – 7 – Looked assured and comfortable in our midfield particularly in the first half. He should have done better on 36 minutes when a free-kick fell to him inside the box and he hit his shot well over the bar. Carlos lost a midfield challenge with Toivonen who then found Lens for their equalizer.
    Scott Sinclair – 8 – MOTM - He is a goal machine at the moment. Brought down by Cattermole in the 11th minute and converted the spot kick himself sending Pantilimon the wrong way for our timely equalizer. Was again in the right place at the right time to put us ahead on 41 minutes when he turned in a cross from Amarvi who had been found by Gueye to give us a well worked goal.
    Rudy Gestede – 6 – Did well to turn and get a shot on target from the edge of the box on 39 minutes. Turned a header from an Amavi cross wide of the post on 77 minutes and hit the ball wide 8 minutes later from just inside of the box. Found it difficult to make an impression against their central defenders and took a while to get into this one but this is early following a big step upwards for him.
    Substitutes:
    Carles Gil – 7 - Replaced Bacuna on 68 minutes. Provided a creative spark we had been missing whilst he sat on the bench. Needed to start today and showed that following his introduction. Carles got a yellow card rather than a penalty on 79 minutes after a poor touch took the ball away from him when he had got into a very threatening position.
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  11. John
    What a difference two wins can make. Having won away for the first time in 437 days on Tuesday night we went on to win our second home game of the season yesterday and pulled five points clear of the bottom three.   
    But enough talk of the bottom three we can now look at the top six that we are within six points of. We are coming to get those clubs that currently make up the top six as well as the knuckle draggers from the dark side of the city next weekend.
    There was to be no late goal conceded by us this time and for a second time within a week it was us that claimed the three points with a late winner. We might have added another two before the final whistle was blown as we finished the game very strongly. Two more wins that would take our winning run to 4 games could well see us in the top half of the table and who would have thought that likely three weeks ago?
    This was not our best performance although we threatened to run away with the game after taking the lead. It is not a game that will live long in the memory unlike the goal that won it for us which was so well taken. I do however wonder whether it might just be a second win that proves to be a turning point in our season?  
    My player ratings from a game that brought Brucie his 7th point from his first 3 matches and our visitors their first away defeat are:
    Pierluigi Gollini – 6 – Made a decent save at his near post from Aluko on 44 minutes and tipped a cross over for a corner in the third minute of stoppage time.      
    Alan Hutton – 5 – Did a decent enough job.   
    James Chester - 7 – Looked very good alongside Baker and appeared to have enjoyed wearing the captain’s armband.       
    Nathan Baker – 7 – A solid display and Elphick may not find it too easy to displace him when he recovers from injury.
    Jordan Amavi – 7 – His best game for us since his return from injury. Looked solid enough at the back and good when coming forward.
    Leandro Bacuna – 5 – Did a job for us in the middle but I suspect Tshibola might be able to do a better one.    
    Gary Gardner – 6 – Has made a difference to our midfield which had been struggling badly before his introduction.
    Mile Jedinak – 5 – Played today with players alongside him that have the pace to help him see games out albeit not through to their conclusion.
    Jordan Ayew – 6 – Forced a one-handed stop from Button on 27 minutes and had a 65th minute free-kick from the edge of the box tipped over the bar by Button. Should have put the result beyond doubt on the 82nd minute when he was put clear by a nice ball from McCormack only to steer the ball wide of the post.    
    Jonathan Kodjia – 7 – MOTM - Hutton found him inside the box and his 10th minute shot from a tight angle was well kept out at the near post by Button. Scored our 80th minute winner after Button’s clearance from outside of his box went straight to Adomah who rather than have a shot himself as the keeper struggled to get back crossed for Jonathan to volley the ball at waist height into the corner of the net. What a great finish that was and it was one that was worthy of winning any game! Headed the ball just wide of the post late in injury time after Button had pushed Adomah’s shot towards him. 
    Rudy Gestede – 4 – Given another start but did little to warrant a further one next weekend for me and I think his place will now come under increased pressure from McCormack.     
    Substitutes:
    Albert Adomah – 7 – Came on for Gestede on the 55th minute and his introduction played a big part in our improved performance. Made our winner and made a nice run into the box in injury time before getting into a shooting position and forcing a save at his near post from Button. His direct approach and running at defenders makes him a player that can win games for us.       
    Ross McCormack – 6 - Replaced Jedinak on 73 minutes and looked lively.  
    Ashley Westwood – Replaced Ayew on 86 minutes and was not therefore on long enough to gather any rating.
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  12. John
    We still await our first win in 2017. Any lingering promotion hopes that might still have persisted in the most optimistic of Villa fans minds (my own included) were extinguished along with our unbeaten home record yesterday.
    This was a game that we had hoped to win albeit not with any great confidence but it was one we had not expected to lose. It was the first of four home games in our next five matches that could have begun a run of home wins. Ipswich were in as miserable a run as we were when they arrived at Villa Park but as Forest found last weekend Villa are currently the team to play when you are a football club on the crest of a slump and looking for a rare win. 
    We started the game brightly but had nothing to show for that at half-time and if you fail to find the net when you are on top as we were in the first half then the thought persists that you may well have missed the boat. The second half was a different story. We were not so dominant as we had been in the first half and did not create chances or half chances in the same way as we had during the first 45 minutes. One stumble gave Ipswich an opportunity to win a game and it was a chance that they took to win a game that up until then neither team had really looked like winning.
    The visitors scored with their only on target shot during the whole game. We seem to have rediscovered the habit of losing games in the last few minutes having done so against Forest and now Ipswich. We are also crying out for goals because you need them to win matches. We have an average of under a goal a game from our 30 league games to date and have lost 2 more games than we have won.
    We are now 16 points off sixth spot but only 7 points clear of the bottom 3 so it is now sadly clear where a focus needs to be. We were unfortunate that one mistake cost us so dearly yesterday but you don’t always get the rub of the green when you are losing games as often as we are at present. This team may well look better when they have had chance to dwell but as I recall we were saying the same thing at the start of this season!
    For me this three at the back system is not working for us and it was not the way to go yesterday given the team we were facing had very limited ambitions outside of their own half. Four at the back would surely have been enough. Hutton is no attacking wing back and Taylor looks more of a defensive back than a wing back that will run at people. By bringing Elphick back we are also disrupting a central defensive pairing that had been working well. The onus was on us to bring the game to them, to make chances (which we did) and to put one or more of them away (which we did not). We already have a changed team that are short of confidence so are we asking a bit too much of them to also ask them to adapt to a different way of playing?    
    My player ratings from a game which we resigned ourselves to another season in the Championship are:
    Sam Johnstone – 6 – Held onto a near post shot from Ward on the 48th minute, had no real chance with their winner and that was about it for him on an otherwise untroubled afternoon.      
    Alan Hutton – 5 – A surprisingly rapid return to the starting line-up. Performed in the manner we have come to expect from him. He did hit one of his best crosses in a Villa shirt on 36 minutes that was just above Hogan and that Kodjia was not quite able to get on target despite an acrobatic attempt to do so.        
    James Chester - 6 – Solid, assured and seldom put under pressure by the visitors. Ran alongside McGoldrick and did not get a challenge in on him before he squared the ball through Baker’s legs and past Hourihane for Huws to steal the game for the Tractor Boys from close range on 83 minutes.  
    Tommy Elphick – 5 – Slipped, lost his footing and was left floundering on the ground like a fish out of water as McGoldrick collected the loose ball in the build up to their late winner.     
    Nathan Baker – 6 – Nathan has been playing so very well alongside Chester but is less comfortable on the left of three central defenders although he gets on with it and did even make the odd foray down the flank yesterday. Failed to get a header on target from a nice 79th minute Hourihane free-kick and had a header blocked a minute later.
    Neil Taylor – 6 – Looked quietly competent on his debut but I could not help thinking that if we are looking to play wing backs we had one who looks ideally suited to that role left sitting on the bench.
    Conor Hourihane – 6 – Conor has not settled into the team quite as quickly and as seamlessly as we had hoped but there are some positive signs of what could grow into a good long term productive partnership with Lansbury taking shape. Hit a solid low shot from the edge of the box which produced a good one handed save at the post from Bialkowski on the 9th minute. Hits a nice dead ball and let us hope he finds the back of the net against his old club on Tuesday which could prove the making of him as a Villa player.       
    Henri Lansbury - 7 – MOTM – Our most effective player by some distance yesterday. He makes us tick on those occasions that we do so. Hit an 8th minute shot that Bialkowski pushed past the post for a corner.    
    Birkir Bjarnason – 6 – Hit a rasping shot that thudded against the crossbar on 21 minutes after Hourihane had found him unmarked just inside the box in a central position with a free-kick from the left edge of the area. Worked hard and this was his best performance for me to date in our shirt.   
    Jonathan Kodjia – 6 – Was the go to guy who was fed the ball and expected to run at defenders yesterday and he did that well enough on occasions. Worked himself into a shooting position inside the box on the 42nd minute but Bialkowski got down well to save his attempt. Found by Adomah just inside the box in the last minute of stoppage time but his shot was gathered at his near post by Bialkowski. Needs to look up for others who may be in a better position more often and play alongside his new strike partner rather than behind him.   
    Scott Hogan – 6 – Placed a shot just wide of the post on 32 minutes. Did not get a lot of service and I had expected to see him look more of a threat than this but it is very early days for him.      
    Substitutes:
    Albert Adomah – 5 – Replaced Hutton on 67 minutes. Failed to make the impact we had hoped for yesterday in a game that I would have started him in to give him more time to do so.     
    Andre Green – Replaced Taylor on 77 minutes. Not on quite long enough to gather a rating.      
    Leandro Bacuna – Replaced Elphick on the 89th minute and was also not on long enough to get any sort of rating.
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  13. John
    We extended our unbeaten run to 7 games yesterday and Stoke’s own unbeaten run now stands at 9.
    The deluge in which the game was played was not conducive to flowing football and both teams cancelled each other out in the first half. The goals like the weather were not going to dry up though and the second half rained goals.
    I had feared that the visitors might extend their run of victories at Villa Park to 4 each time they went ahead but we are made of sterner stuff than we once were, now aren’t we? A draw was a fair result on a day that we were not able to reproduce the level of performances that we have been producing of late, in a game during which we so clearly missed Jack’s invention in and around the visitor’s box.     
    The visitors started strongly, were well organised, gave us little space and were allowed to make several uncompromising challenges in order to break up our forward movement. They came to stifle us and to get a point. They might have taken all three had we not battled back twice from a goal behind. This was a point that may well prove crucial when the season reaches its conclusion against a team that unlike us currently, have both a solid goalkeeper and a solid defence.  
    We now face a second tough home game against the current league leaders on Sunday. They are currently 12 points ahead of us and we could do with a win to bring that gap down to single figures and to leave us with realistic ambitions of finishing the season above them in one of the automatic places.
    My player ratings from a game that kept us two points ahead of our fellow promotion chasers from the Potteries are:
    Orjan Nyland – 6 – Saved well from Allen low at his left-hand post on 6 minutes. Parried away an 11th minute shot from McLean from a Martina cross and Chester hooked the resultant loose ball clear. For some reason dropped a knee when Allen put Stoke ahead on 47 minutes and the ball flew over his outstretched arm into the net. Went the right way for Afobe’s well hit 78th minute penalty but the ball was destined for the left-hand corner of his net.            
    Ahmed Elmohamady – 5 – Allowed McLean to run inside him and then unnecessarily brought him down inside the box with Kodjia covering the run ahead of the forward.    
    James Chester - 6 – Solid enough and looked nearer to his reliable best.       
    Axel Tuanzebe – 6 – Becoming more familiar with and showing signs of growing into the role alongside Chester.            
    Alan Hutton – 6 – Lost possession on the edge of the box to McLean whose cross was hit home by Allen for the visitor’s first. Looked better when moving forward than when under pressure at the back from Ince. He’s got to start on the right whenever possible.     
    Glenn Whelan – 6 – Did all that can be expected of him. He is not a like for like replacement for Jack, but he did put in a shift.
    Anwar El Ghazi – 4 – So disappointing following his display last week. Had little of the ball and did little with it on those rare occasions that he did have it. Was unable to force home a Hutton cross on 55 minutes from close range that Butland gathered gratefully.    
    Conor Hourihane – 6 – Butland helped Conor’s 24th minute free-kick from just outside of the area over the bar.       
    John McGinn – 7 – Got stuck in and was our stand out player until the arrival of Jonny Danger. Missed the space that opponent’s double teaming and focus on Jack normally provides as did others.             
    Yannick Bolasie – 6 – Blasted the ball harmlessly over the bar on 80 minutes when a cross seemed a much better option. Hit a shot wide of the post on 61 minutes from inside of the box. Claimed an assist with a nice cross for our second and it was nice to see him playing a full game.
    Tammy Abraham – 7 – Had a 55th minute shot from the edge of the area saved low by Butland at a post. Was made to wait a long time to take our 73rd minute penalty but he coolly slotted it home sending Butland the wrong way in the process. 
    Substitutes:
    Jonathan Kodjia – 8 – MOTM - Replaced El Ghazi on 65 minutes and what a difference he made! Was pulled back inside the box by Pieters as he moved to Elmo’s ball to him which resulted in our penalty. Headed home our second equalizer on 84 minutes when he headed a Bolasie cross pat Butland and into the left-hand corner of his net.       
    Scott Hogan – Replaced Whelan on 85 minutes. Not on long enough to gather a rating.   
    Up the Villa & A Merry Christmas to all Villa Talkers!
    John Lewis
  15. John
    This was a point gained rather than a point lost because Wolves were by far the better side on the day and had the chances to have run out clear winners had they taken them. They just seemed to want it more than we did.
    We had hoped for a win, an early new manager “bounce” and for the players to want to pull out all of the stops to impress the new boss but old habits are hard to break. Although there have been significant changes in our starting line-up since last season this season’s displays have also impacted upon this team’s confidence and belief. On the plus side at least we didn’t concede yet another goal in the last 5 minutes and will hopefully have Ayew starting the next game.
    Villa started well enough in a local derby that both teams gave as good as they got before we took the lead after 15 minutes. At times we looked as if we might add a second goal in the first half but there was only one team that posed a goal threat in the second half and it was certainly not us. Not for the first time this season having gone one ahead we then gradually dropped back rather than pressed for a second. We were lucky on yesterday’s dismal second half performance to have held onto our unbeaten home record and to have hung onto a point against our Black Country visitors who dominated the second half all too easily as we ran out of gas alarmingly.            
    Steve Bruce can be in no doubt after this game of the tough task he faces in turning this Villa side who have won only once this season into a winning team. He has much work to do but he has the ability to organise us and to turn things around. That will take him more than a couple of days as this game proved but we need to start winning games sooner rather than later and a win at Reading would be most welcome.              
    My player ratings from a game that we started in the bottom 3 and ended needing a minimum of 3 points to get out of the bottom 6 as well as 9 points away from the top 6 are:
    Pierluigi Gollini – 6 – MOTM - Stood no chance with Costa’s 33rd minute penalty that was hit past him into the top right hand corner of the net. Kept us level on 73 minutes with a fine one handed save from a near post Edward’s header from a corner that would otherwise have been pounced upon by Dicko.      
    Micah Richards – 5 – Micah was re-introduced into our starting line-up by our new boss and did as well as could be expected considering his recent inactivity. He was fortunate not to concede a penalty on 52 minutes when he did well to run back into position as Costa squared the ball for Bodvarsson who had looked likely to give them the lead before Micah clattered into his back.   
    James Chester - 5 – Might have expected to collect a second yellow when he brought down Costa near the centre circle as he ran past him.       
    Tommy Elphick – 5 – Our captain was still some way off the assured sort of performances we had been looking for from him prior to his substitution due to injury.
    Aly Cissokho – 5 – Surprisingly started instead of Amavi. Dived in an attempt to try to block a 33rd minute shot from the edge of the box from the unmarked Costa but the ball hit his raised arm and the penalty that brought Wolves level was given.
    Albert Adomah – 6 – Made some good runs and did well to clear the 73rd minute corner that Gollini had got a hand to at the far post before Bodvarsson could look to force it in.    
    Aaron Tshibola – 4 – Not near his performances for us to date in a game that appeared to pass him by.
    Mile Jedinak – 5 – Showed more pace at times then he has done previously which was encouraging prior to his being substituted inside the hour having run out of steam understandably enough following his long distance international duty.
    Jack Grealish – 6 – Played a nice one-two with McCormack after Chester had found him on the 15th minute and his heel was clipped inside the box by Iorfa to bring us the penalty that Kodjia converted to give us an early lead. Jack was as lucky that a petulant stud to leg movement on Coady having been brought down by the same player was apparently not seen by any of the officials so it did not result in his receiving a card as was Coady lucky to see just a yellow for his reaction. Will Jack now face retrospective punishment?     
    Ross McCormack– 6 – Ross showed good movement throughout despite not getting the sort of service he would thrive upon. Might well have given us the lead again on the 44th minute had Kodjia fed him when he was unmarked and in a clear shooting position. Unfortunately, Kodjia having been found near the penalty spot by Adomah instead tried to score himself when his chances of finding the net were significantly less likely.    
    Jonathan Kodjia – 6 – Hit his 15th minute penalty confidently past Ikeme into the lower right hand corner of the net. Might have had another on 36 minutes when a headed clearance from the edge of the box fell to him and he hit a sweet shot that Ikeme did very well to turn past the post at full stretch. Faded noticeably in the second half.     
    Substitutes:
    Ashley Westwood – 5 – Came on for Jedinak on the 55th minute and made little positive impression in the time he had. His introduction fully demonstrated the lack of midfield options currently available to Brucie.     
    Alan Hutton – 5 - Replaced Richards due to injury on 66 minutes. Missed his kick on 83 minutes and the ball having previously taken a touch off Edwards therefore ran onto the unmarked Cavaleiro whose shot from near the penalty spot had just evaded the advancing Gollini. Thankfully the goal bound shot was blocked by Alan who had kept on running to cover his keeper and he made full amends for his own error.  
    Nathan Baker – Replaced Elphick who had taken a knock on 77 minutes.  Nathan was not on quite long enough to earn a rating but played his part in holding the fort as the minutes ticked by at the end.
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  16. John
    We have won more cup than league games this season and this one sets up the return of a slithering snake to Villa Park in the Fourth Round of this cup competition which we last won 59 years ago.  

    We are now three wins from a return to Wembley but after last night another semi-final seems a very much longer way off; particularly if our team against Manchester City gives anything like the same sort of inept performance that our starting eleven did last night.

    We did finally struggle into the next round but the only team to really emerge from this game with significant credit were our visitors. They seemed to want it much more than we did and the only thing that we did well was to disguise any gulf in class there may have been between the two teams.

    Some of the players who started the game last night that do not usually do so demonstrated why that is the case and did little to press their claim for a regular starting place. What they did do was show that we lack adequate cover for future injuries and suspensions to the first team in what is left of this sorry season. Will we do anything about it in what is left of the transfer window? I would guess we will not.  

    Villa’s performance was embarrassingly poor for most of this game. We did have the lion’s share of the ball but did little positive with it until late in the game when two good finishes won it for us. Our opponents had a couple of opportunities but did not really look like scoring which was fortunate for us.

    The game was heading for what seemed inevitable extra time and potentially a penalty shoot-out until the last quarter of an hour. We then scored twice which flattered us and would give anyone looking at just the result the impression that we had won the game with the minimum of fuss. But the score alone can sometimes give the wrong impression and this was anything but a comfortable win.

    Wycombe can now concentrate on the league and getting to the play-offs again this time with a happier final conclusion. Our primary objective must be to secure an unlikely further year in the top flight although an almost equally unlikely second successive Cup Final appearance would be very nice. Wins in the cup can build upon fragile confidence and a good cup run can be beneficial to survival prospects. It can give players and fans alike a break from the pressure of league games that we desperately need points from to try to pull clear of the relegation zone although last night did not feel like much of a break to me!             

    My player ratings from a game during which we stretched our unbeaten run to four games having made 9 changes from the side that shared the points with Leicester are:

    Brad Guzan –5 – Made a decent save diving to his left to keep out a Wood shot from just inside of the box after 31 minutes. Came for but missed a Jacobson cross on 45 minutes and was fortunate that Thompson’s header flew just over the bar.                                                                              

    Jordan Lyden – 6 – Hit a couple of decent crosses into the box and looked solid. A promising full debut for another Jordan!  

    Micah Richards – 5 – Showed a will to win and endeavour but continues to be prone to an occasional error or lapse of concentration.         

    Ciaran Clark – 6 – Had a decent enough game at the back alongside Micah. Ciaran also grabbed our all important and long awaited opener on 75 minutes when he headed a Gil cross past Ingram and into the corner of the net with some aplomb.                                   

    Kieran Richardson – 4 – This was not the level of performance he would have hoped to produce last night.                            

    Carlos Sánchez – 4 – Replaced at half time having picked up another knock earlier. Carlos was some way off his best last night as has regularly been the case of late. Surrendered the ball on the edge of his own box early on and this is a habit that he seems unable to shake off.     

    Jack Grealish - 4 – The player who dazzled at the FA Cup semi-final last season was unrecognisable last night. Took the safe easy option too often and rarely displayed the talent he has within him to unlock defences and make goal scoring opportunities. Another very disappointing performance from Jack that begs the questions why has it all gone wrong so quickly and when/will this be put right?                    

    Ashley Westwood – 5 – Hit a shot from inside of the box well over the bar on 63 minutes after an Ayew cross from inside of the area that Grealish had not connected with fell to him. He was the best of our starting midfield for me which is not saying as much as it should be.

    Scott Sinclair – 5 – Looked up for it at times albeit not over the full 90 minutes but for me he showed he still has it in him to do a decent enough job for us. Gestede chipped a ball into the box for him to run onto and his near post shot was deflected into the side netting by Ingram on 41 minutes. Made a nice run into the box on 68 minutes but his shot was deflected over by a defender having snatched at a shot a minute earlier that flew well off target.  

    Jordan Ayew – 7 – MOTM – His pace, hard running, willingness to try to make something happen and his class stood out last night. Jordan ran into the box purposefully and hit the side netting on 15 minutes after Gestede had played a nice ball he had received from Sinclair to him on the edge of the box. Hit a shot into Ingram’s arms on 28 minutes having been fed by Richardson. He was fed by Gana a couple of yards inside their half and ran just inside the box before hitting a 54th minute shot past the keeper but wide of the far post.    

    Rudy Gestede – 5 – Really needed to be on target when his 6th minute header from a nicely weighted and targeted Grealish cross was headed harmlessly off target. Gathered the ball near the half way line on 77 minutes before running to the edge of the box but did not have the pace to get clear both of the two defenders who pursued him, one of whom got the ball out for a corner. Claimed an assist for our second but did not really do much to show he would make the anticipated big impact in the league below should we find ourselves there next season against opponents who are currently two divisions below that level.                      

    Substitutes:

    Idrissa Gana – 7 - Replaced Sánchez at half time. Our midfield improved markedly with his introduction as it did again when Gil was introduced later. Hit a shot just wide of the post on 72 minutes and then hit his first goal for us to ensure there would be no possibility of extra time after all on 90 minutes. He played the ball out to Sinclair whose cross to Gestede was played back to him to the left of the penalty spot and he hit a measured shot into the corner of the net to seal our victory with the assuredness of someone who finishes like that every week.    

    Carles Gil – 7 - Replaced Grealish on 73 minutes. His creativity and touch did much to help us to present a more serious threat to our opponents defence than we had managed to do prior to his introduction.

    Up for the Cup Villa!

    John Lewis

  17. John
    A second successive home win and clean sheet has left us just 270 playoff minutes plus stoppage/extra time away from promotion.
    We did not need to be at our best last night to emerge the victors and we were not. We had by far the better of the game and ran out comfortable winners, but we took our foot off the gas noticeably in the second half and other teams might have made us pay the penalty for that. This was our third game within a week, so it might have been tired legs rather than a casual approach that brought the visitors more into the game in the second half, but we never quite killed them off and a one goal lead can often not prove quite enough. This was a night when we might have boosted our goal difference I hope that we do not regret having not done so.  
    Leeds are not the team to fear that they once were, but neither are we. They had some unfamiliar names in their starting line-up but of these their young goalkeeper Peacock-Farrell kept them in the game and their full back Pearce also looked very promising. These are two players that on this showing I suggest we would perhaps do well to keep an eye on for the future.    
    My player ratings from a game that left me thinking what might have been had we performed a little better in a couple of our recent games and not spent so much of this season without Jack, JT and Kodjia are:        
    Sam Johnstone – 6 – Tipped a 3rd minute Alioski shot over the bar. Rarely called upon after that.
    Ahmed Elmohamady – 6 – A decent enough performance.    
    James Chester - 7 – Failed to get a touch on a great ball from Onomah on 69 minutes that was all that was needed to seal our win. Dependable as always at the heart of our defence.        
    Mile Jedinak – 7 – Has done well alongside Chester in the centre of our defence as two successive clean sheets suggest. Mistimed his header on 76 minutes when Snodgrass found him with a free kick.
    Neil Taylor – 5 – Not yet quite up to the level he has given us at times in the past.
    Robert Snodgrass – 7 – Tried to curl an 18th minute shot inside the far post which Peacock-Farrell pushed out. Unusually hit a couple of free kicks harmlessly into the wall but hit some nice crosses and kept working at it.  
    Glen Whelan – 6 – Did a decent enough job as our holding midfield player. Kept things simple and did well to be in the right position to cover at the far post to head away an attempt by Phillips to turn in a cross on 50 minutes.      
    Josh Onomah – 6 – Much better than of late. Did well to work himself a 33rd minute shooting opportunity but flashed his shot wide of the near post. Kept busy throughout.         
    Jack Grealish – 8 – MOTM - Had a couple of attempts to repeat his match winning shot against Cardiff but they did not trouble the keeper. Made a nice run into the box on 69 minutes and hit the ball from just outside of the 6-yard area which Peacock-Farrell blocked with his outstretched leg.         
    Jonathan Kodjia – 6 – Ran on towards a nice early Snodgrass ball hit from inside his own half only for Peacock-Farrell to run outside his area, beat him to it and clear it with his head on 18 minutes. Looked odds on to hit a second goal for us when he was pushed by O’Connor at the near post as he looked to get his head to a sweet Grealish cross. For some reason his penalty claim was denied. I was surprised to see him start but each minute he gets sets him up to make a bigger contribution in our playoff games. Substituted having got 67 minutes game time.     
    Lewis Grabban – 7 – Elmohamady hit an intended cross from the right so wildly across the goal that it fell to Grealish just outside the left-hand edge of the box. Jack then hit a perfectly flighted 29th minute cross which Lewis headed unchallenged into the left-hand corner of the net for our winner and his fifth goal for us. Was not quite able to turn a nice 61st minute ball from Snodgrass past Peacock-Farrell from close range and the keeper also got to Kodjia’s attempt to turn in the rebound which was ruled out for offside.         
    Substitutes:
    Albert Adomah – 6 – Came on for Kodjia in the 67th minute. Grealish chipped a lovely ball over a couple of defenders to Albert whose 75th minute shot was blocked at the near post by Peacock-Farrell. He then left a defender for dead on 84 minutes on the left flank but then hit the ball wildly across the face of the goal rather than find Snodgrass who was unmarked on the centre edge of the penalty box.          
    Scott Hogan - Replaced Grabban on 78 minutes. Not on long enough to earn a rating.  
    Chris Samba – Replaced Onomah on 85 minutes and was not therefore on long enough to gather a rating.
    Get Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  18. John
    Aston Villa with nothing to play for save their pride and their fans played their part in defending the integrity of the EFL by not surrendering meekly to a team that needed a win as had Huddersfield last weekend for example.  
    We were reduced to ten men in the 63rd minute when the referee decided the penalty they converted was not quite enough punishment for Baker so it then appeared Brighton were set for the win that they needed to clinch the title. However, their wild goal celebrations proved to be somewhat premature because 10-man Villa kept at it and Grealish hit a late equalizer that handed the trophy to Newcastle.
    The sorrowful reaction of the Brighton players at the end showed how much the game had mattered to them. No doubt Newcastle fans will accept that we played a major role in bringing them the trophy they collected yesterday and will stop whingeing about our football club for a short time as a result?   
    We finished the season with a plucky point but in the bottom half of the table, albeit top of that bottom half. We now face a vitally important summer during which Steve Bruce will need to make the changes necessary to gather the extra thirtysomething points we will need to secure automatic promotion next season.
    What yesterday’s game did prove is that in games against Brighton this season there has not been a great deal to choose between the two teams (although it is arguable that we produced our two best performances of the season against them). Brighton who have been promoted have had the consistency that we have lacked and have not had the runs of bad results and poor performances that have blighted our season and cost us any hope we once had of joining them in the top flight next season.   
    Respect is also due to the Seagulls fans who applauded at the right moments, showed appropriate respect and resisted any temptation there may have been to remind us of our under-achievement during this season. Enjoy your return to the top flight and I hope we will join you next season.     
    The highlight of yesterday for me was the half-time appearance of Villa heroes’ Peter McParland and Nigel Sims 60 years on from their 1957 FA Cup win against the Busby Babes. I really hope that we can lift that trophy again for them soon as this is the longest time our club has gone without winning it by some distance.
    On a personal note, I would like to take this opportunity to add my late friend Peter Wyper to the list of Villains that we have sadly lost during this season. Pete was a life-long Villa fan who was among those that cheered the 57 cup winners on their return to the city from Wembley. Pete passed away yesterday evening following a lengthy battle with illness. He will be much missed by his family and friends – HEITS.
    My player ratings from our last game of this disappointing season are:
    Sam Johnstone – 6 – Was sent the wrong way from the spot but had earlier did very well on the 58th minute to block a shot from Baldock with his legs after the forward had got the better of Baker. Sam also did well to keep out a 77th minute shot from Bruno. If that was to be his last game for us it was a decent one but will it prove to be given he has now found his confidence with us?        
    James Bree – 6 – Was found on the edge of the box by Bacuna on 78 minutes and his shot was deflected just over the bar.             
    James Chester - 7 – Solid enough at the back as usual and is becoming a threat up front.     
    Nathan Baker – 5 – Given his marching orders a little too readily for me in the 63rd minute when he clipped the heel of Baldock as he was pulling the trigger having reacted slower to a header on than the forward had.      
    Neil Taylor – 7 – A good solid overall performance that was his best for us to date for me. 
    Albert Adomah – 4 – Did the best of what work he did when they had the ball. His impact up front was once again only minimal prior to his 61st minute substitution. He is capable of doing a lot more than he did yesterday and than he has done of late.
    Henri Lansbury – 6 –  Hit a decent 13th minute shot from around 30 yards that Stockdale pushed wide for a corner low at his left-hand post. He really should have put us ahead 7 minutes later when Pocognoli chested a Taylor cross back across the face of the goal to him but he turned his header inches wide of the far post with the goal gaping before him. Nice to see both Henri and Hourihane getting forward more often than has recently been the case and they can become a very effective midfield pairing with a pre-season behind them.       
    Conor Hourihane - 7 – MOTM - Bent a free-kick around the wall in the 2nd minute of first half stoppage time which Stockdale did well to turn around his post. Hit a 56th minute shot from outside of the box that Stockdale got down low at his left-hand post to keep out and 2 minutes later Davis played the ball back to him inside the box and his shot was again saved by the keeper low at the far post. Eventually took an 85th minute free-kick from the edge of the box following Bacuna’s shenanigans that forced a save from Stockdale.        
    Leandro Bacuna – 5 – Showed the same lack of discipline that led to his recent suspension for getting in the face of a linesman again yesterday when twice forcibly demanding the ball at free-kicks from Hourihane. When did he last score from a free-kick and what leads him to think that he should be in line to take a free-kick ahead of Conor (who tends to force a save rather than prod the ball into the defensive wall)? His petulance was more striking for me than what impact he otherwise had on the game yesterday. Will his name still be found on the team sheet next season or will his long-awaited move to a Champions League team actually happen?     
    Jordan Amavi – 6 – Did well enough playing once again in an advanced role. 
    Scott Hogan – 5 – Pounced on a sloppy half-hit 34th minute back pass from Pocognoli hitting a shot from inside of the box that was deflected just wide by Stockdale’s outstretched leg. Worryingly limped off the field following a clumsy challenge by Sidwell that the referee chose not to show any card for.         
    Substitutes:
    Keinan Davis – 7 – Replaced Hogan in the 2nd minute of first half stoppage time and showed some promise for the future during the second half. Lansbury played a ball into the box for him to run onto on 50 minutes but penalty appeals were ignored by both the referee and his assistant when Dunk slid in to take Davis rather than the ball. He was not quite able to force the ball home near the goal line after Amavi had headed the resulting corner towards Chester at the far post who in turn had headed the ball goalward. Grealish hit a 69th minute cross and having turned nicely he hit a shot that forced a save from Stockdale. Had an opportunity to win the game when the ball fell to him off a defender with a minute of stoppage time remaining. Keinan ran to the edge of the box but his shot was a weak one and was easily held by a relieved Stockdale.      
    Jack Grealish – 7 - Replaced Adomah on 61 minutes. Hit our late equalizer on the 89th minute. Taylor played the ball to him near the edge of the box and his curled shot went past a couple of defenders as well as remarkably keeper Stockdale who was left on his knees having failed to get anything on the ball as it went past him. This was a clear step up on some recent displays from Jack.      
    Tommy Elphick – 5 - Replaced Amavi on 65 minutes. Half hit a 68th minute back pass that Murray ran onto before playing the ball unselfishly back to Baldock who saved Tommy’s blushes by making a hash of the scoring opportunity which left the ball being played clear after it hit Chester’s leg rather than the back of the net.  
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  19. John
    Last night Villa fans in their hundreds decided to get up, stand up on 74 minutes before exiting into the night. Our “custodian” obviously did not do so not least because he had as is usual not bothered to attend the game. No doubt as in the past his decision to stay away was influenced by his lack of interest in the club he once claimed to be the “custodian” of as well as by the likely welcome he would get and has so merited should he have done so.
    Well done to those who organised, publicised and took part in the 74th minute protest last night. To those who stayed in their seats or who left when the third goal was conceded 14 minutes earlier I would ask that you to think again about joining us on the 74th minute in our next two home games http://outthedooron74.co.uk/ 
    It is astounding that given our recent results we still stand only 8 points from safety. It makes me wonder what might have been had we rolled the dice from the start of the last transfer window with a little more intent and if our team was a little less inclined to accept being relegated without a fight.
    Sadly with games at Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal as well as at home to Spurs and Chelsea among our remaining 10 games our relegation for the first time since 1987 is all but 99.9% sealed.
    Even if we somehow won each and every one of the other 5 games we have left that would leave us with just 31 points. That would not be enough. To hit even that target let alone to get another 4 or more additional points which could set a point total that 3 clubs above us might struggle to reach looks well beyond us. Perhaps a 4-point target that would take us to 20 points by the end of the season would be a little more achievable.
    Our “custodian” and board accepted our fate in January if not before then. They should hang their heads in shame about that. The players seemed to give up any lingering hope they may still have had in our last home game and that continued to be the case with last night’s performance albeit quite an improvement on our last home one. As fans I think we now reluctantly accept our fate but we are far from happy about the custodian, board and players being quite so ready to accept it earlier than most of us had been.
    Some of us may still cling to the irrational hope of an unlikely miracle that will see us stay up against all of the odds but we all know that we are now holding on to the slippery edge of the abyss by the finger tips of just one hand. 
    Once again we looked likely to concede a goal every time our opponents attacked and any confidence we had evaporated as soon as we went a goal down. Everton were content with an all too comfortable win last night. Fortunately our visitors resisted the temptation to move out of second gear and help themselves to the further goals that had looked there for the taking. At times our midfield looked reasonable; on occasion our attack also caused Everton’s defence a little concern but we find scoring goals as hard as we find conceding them easy.
    Everton fans deserve credit for applauding our fans singing during the second half when all was already lost and for doing the same to show support as we left the ground on the 74th minute. I have also been reliably informed that Baines and two of his team mates applauded the Holte End at the end of the game. Let us hope that this most played top-flight fixture is only briefly interrupted.   
    My player ratings from a game that finally turned our promised bright future into an embarrassingly bleak one are:
    Brad Guzan – 4 – Got the nod over Bunn. Brad demonstrated that the susceptibilities that led to his losing his starting place have not gone away. He failed to get an outstretched hand to the cross from Funes Mori that led to their third goal on the hour having made a good save from a Lukaku header moments earlier. He had previously spilled a 33rd minute Mirallas shot but Lescott saved his blushes by clearing Oviedo’s shot off the line.
    Alan Hutton – 4 – Worked hard and was a willing runner but he was unable to produce an end product. Alan looked a bit like a fish out of water playing in an unfamiliar wing back role.
    Michah Richards – 5 – Put in a shift but failed to pick up Funes Mori choosing instead to run in front of him to leave him free to head home a 5th minute Mirallas cross. Connected acrobatically with a 26th minute corner but his effort flew a yard wide. 
    Joleon Lescott – 5 – Was in the right place at the right time to clear a 33rd minute close range shot off the line and had an effort in the first minute of first half stoppage time turned wide. 
    Ciaran Clark – 3 – Should have chosen to stay on Lennon but was distracted by Lukaku who was behind him and ended up on neither player when Lennon hit the ball past both Lescott and Guzan from another Mirallas cross for their second on the half hour mark. He also failed to pick up Lukaku who was therefore unmarked when he slotted the ball home when behind him for their third.
    Aly Cissokho – 6 – MOTM – Did surprisingly well in a wing back role. Aly hit a 32nd minute shot that Robles saved at his near post. He also provided some good crosses such as the one after a good run on the 43rd minute that Gabby was unable to get his head to. He was also again solid at the back.
    Leandro Bacuna – 3 – For a reason unknown to me Leo seems to be one of the first names on the team sheet. He again did very little to justify his selection last nigh other than when forcing a save from Robles with a 28th minute shot from outside of the box.  
    Ashley Westwood – 4 – Had a decent 24th minute shot from the edge of the box turned around the post by Robles and a 62nd minute shot blocked inside of the box.
    Idrissa Gana – 5 – The best and hardest working of our midfield yesterday.
    Jordan Ayew – 5 – A welcome return for Jordan after his three game suspension.
    Gabriel Agbonlahor – 3 – Got a touch on the ball on 23 minutes that produced a save from Robles but although he did some running when they were in possession particularly early in the game he posed no threat to their defence.
    Substitutes:
    Rudy Gestede – Replaced Gabby after 67 minutes and scored our consolation goal 12 minutes later which I have now seen on television. Rudy climbed well in front of Jagielka and hung in the air to get on the end of Veretout’s measured cross which he headed home with some aplomb. Other than this I did not see enough of him to be able to give a rating although his goal was well taken and suggested he might yet do a job next season given the right service. 
    Jordan Veretout – Replaced Westwood on 71 minutes and claimed an assist. I was also not there long enough to be able to decide on a rating for him having gone out the door 3 minutes after he came on. 
    Up the Villa!

    John Lewis

  20. John
    One moment of magic from John McGinn could only temporarily dispel the gloom from Villa Park yesterday.
    The beat team won, and we were a long way off being the best team. Our visitors gave what will be one of their best performances of the season whereas we produced one of our worst in what is fast becoming a season to forget.   
    Sheffield Wednesday inflicted our first home league defeat of the season upon us for a second successive season yesterday. They started brightly and found it all too easy to come away with all three points as they had done last November when they won by the same score.    
    Tuesday’s home win had given us something to build upon and had lifted us up temporarily into the top six. This abject performance shattered any hopes we might have entertained of turning the corner, of producing a run of good results, of installing some much-needed confidence into the team and of easing some of the pressures that are on our club.  
    We have taken 13 points from our first 9 games of the season and sit uncomfortably in the bottom half of the table in 13th place. We had hoped to hit the ground running this season and to not leave ourselves with ground to make up on those teams who were occupying the automatic promotion places again. Instead of that we have the same number of points as we had after the first nine games of last season and that does not represent progress. Runs of poor performances and results happen to teams but to a club that is expected to seriously challenge for promotion a run such as this one is unacceptable, and it shows no obvious signs of ending any time soon.    
    A win would have put us into the top six again and would have taken us within 2 points of the early league leaders, but we were not able to capitalise on their own awful result. This was our manager’s 100th game in charge of our club and this defeat will only place his future at the club under increasing doubt.           
    We didn’t really get going yesterday other than for a few minutes between John McGinn’s sublime goal and The Owls scoring their winner during which time the rest of the team seemed to realise that he needed a little help. Things might have been different had Hourihane’s 64th minute goal bound shot not been flicked off the line by Pudil. We might then have somehow gone on to get a win that would have papered over the cracks that were so clear yesterday but instead their second goal ended any temporary hopes we held of a late comeback. 
    My player ratings from a game in which we had far too many players having an off day and on which we failed to work effectively as a team are:
    Orjan Nyland – 6 – Beaten by Matias from the edge of the box for their opener and by Fletcher’s powerful header for their winner with the ball ending up in the right-hand corner of the net on both occasions. Saved a 62nd minute shot from Fletcher low to his right.
    Ahmed Elmohamady – 5 – Not near his best.     
    James Chester- 6 – The cross for their winner passed over him to be met by Fletcher’s head. He must be finding that carrying our defence is becoming increasingly difficult even for him.      
    Mile Jedinak – 4 – What did Axel do to be banished to the bench for the last two games? Mile’s place is in front of the defence not in the centre of it. He lacks pace and is not comfortable in this role. Opponents like Fletcher who was made to look like twice the player he now is yesterday are well aware of that and take advantage of it to our cost.           
    Alan Hutton – 7 – Our best defender yesterday. Made a great challenge on Fletcher after he had run between Jedinak and himself to deny him a scoring opportunity.     
    Albert Adomah – 5 – Substituted on 68 minutes having made little positive impression on the game.              
    Conor Hourihane – 6 – Hit a shot from the edge of the area wide of the post on 33 minutes and another straight at Dawson on 58 minutes. He was unlucky not to put us in front when his goal bound 64th minute shot was flicked clear by Pudil. Reach reached a ball on the edge of the box before Conor was able to clear it and found Matias who hit their first into the net before Chester was able to slide in to get in a challenge.     
    Jack Grealish – 5 – Started wide for some reason. We had players sitting on the bench who can fill the wide roles. Jack is clearly less than comfortable playing out wide and needs to play where he was so effective last season just behind the striker(s). Hit a 6th minute effort wide of the far post and another wide from just outside of the box on 52 minutes. Let a clearance run off him to Reach in the build up to their winner.        
    John McGinn – 8 – MOTM – Hit a stunning volley from 30 yards on 53 minutes that went in off the underside of the bar and thudded into the right-hand corner of the net. His goal, performance level and determination shone out like a beacon on a gloomy night.    
    Tammy Abraham – 6 – Lacked service and without it a goal poacher is seldom a scorer.             
    Jonathan Kodjia – 6 – Passed the ball to Tammy a couple of times rather than attempting to go it alone as has been previously been his preferred option irrespective of having team mates in better positions. This was good to see and bodes well for the hopes of him building a good striking partnership with Abraham. Had an effort blocked on 59 minutes.   
    Substitutes:
    Yannick Bolasie – 6 – Came on for Adomah on 68 minutes and made a couple of runs that showed that he should have started this one. Hit an 82nd minute that Hourihane scuffed wide when in a good position.  
    Anwar El Ghazi – Replaced Kodjia on 78 minutes. Not on long enough to earn a rating.   
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  22. John
    There is to be no return to Wembley for us this season and we are now free to concentrate on the league. The earliest we can again lift this trophy for the eighth time will be a long 60 years of hurt since we proudly lifted it for a then record seventh time in 1957. We are now left with 15 Cup Finals in which to save our season!   

    Nine seasons ago we finished sixth in the table with Manchester City ending the season below us. We finished sixth again in the next two seasons and yesterday’s opponents were again below us each time. In the following year things changed. Their new owner threw oodles of money at it and our “custodian” decided to pull the purse strings as tight as they could possibly be pulled. In the seasons since Manchester City have qualified each year for the Champions League and we have never looked like finishing above them again. This season they will again qualify for the Champions League and still have a very outside chance of a quadruple whilst we face the bleak prospect of relegation.

    The results of blank cheque investment in the playing squad and of a penny-pinching lack of it were there for all to see yesterday. The game was over as a contest (if it ever actually was one) after just 4 minutes and it was put beyond any doubt from the penalty spot 20 minutes later thanks to the referee. We then gifted them two late goals to give the score a truer reflection of how the game had really gone. Although we had more possession than they did they were very comfortable about that because we seldom if ever looked like doing anything with it.

    Our opponents ran out comfortable winners yesterday. Had they wanted to they looked capable of making the score look even more embarrassing than it eventually ended up. Once they went ahead the game had the look of a pre-season friendly about it and our goal became one of damage limitation if it was ever anything else.
    My player ratings from a game that left me wondering whether we might try a cheeky loan offer to give their hat-trick scorer Kelechi Iheanacho a run of games with us this season that he will not get with them are:

    Brad Guzan – 5 – The slithery snake’s 4th minute corner was headed on by an unchallenged Sagna to Fernando whose far post header got a wafer thin touch off Guzan’s outstretched hand before Veretout cleared it off the line with his chest but Iheanacho was quickest to react to the loose ball and turned it in for their opener. He gathered a low shot from Navas on 15 minutes. He was then sent the wrong way for their penalty having committed himself to the left before it had actually been hit to his right. He used to save the odd penalty once upon a time! Blocked a 33rd minute shot from inside the 6-yard box by Fernandinho and got down well to make a save from Sterling on 56 minutes. Blocked a Fernandinho shot at his near post on 74 minutes but to no avail as the loose ball eventually ran to Sterling for their fourth.      
    Leandro Bacuna – 5 – Headed a cross over the bar in the 10th minute. Leo was very unlucky to have conceded the penalty that led to their second when Sterling went to ground having slipped and lost his footing when trying to get in front of him to get onto a Navas cross. He lost his head with Sterling after that as he is prone to do a little too often in games. Leo was booked on 26 minutes and might have seen red when he fouled the same player only 2 minutes later. Moving into the middle for the second half did little for us but it probably helped him stay on the field and avoid a suspension we can do without.                              

    Michah Richards – 5 – We rested our first choice central defensive pairing for this one and I guess our captain will be filling in again at full back for the West Ham game after this one.    

    Ciaran Clark – 5 – His strong challenge on the edge of the box on Iheanacho prevented what could have been an opportunity for a third on 31 minutes. Had a header from a Westwood cross that he was trying to work across the goal gathered by Caballero on 42 minutes.                                

    Aly Cissokho – 5 – Whilst solid enough at the back he does not offer a great deal up front but nor do we as a team.      
    Jordan Veretout – 4 – This game passed him by and this was a noticeable drop in his standards of late.           

    Ashley Westwood - 5 – Ash was also not at his best in the 45 minutes that he played.                                        

    Idrissa Gueye – 2 – Needs to put this surprisingly desperate performance behind him quickly as we will need him at his best next week. His 44th minute shot from outside of the box took a deflection off a defender before being gathered by Caballero. He had lost the ball more than once early in the game and appeared to have learned from that until near the end of the game when two dreadful errors doubled their lead. He got an unwanted assist for their third on 74 minutes when he played the ball back from inside their half into open space for Iheanacho to run onto and slot past Guzan. He then let a pass run past him to Sterling in the build up to their fourth only 2 minutes later and the scorer ran behind him to hit the ball home.     
    Carles Gil – 6 – MOTM – Forced a decent save from Caballero with a free-kick from the edge of the box which was on its way to the top corner on 68 minutes after Ayew had been brought down. Did well enough given those around him did not and was our most creative player by some distance yesterday although that is not saying that much really.      

    Scott Sinclair – 4 – Did very little against his former club yesterday when he could reasonably have been expected to have wanted to have raised his game against them with a view to making his case for a starting place during what is left of the season rather than a continued spell on the sidelines.      

    Jordan Ayew – 5 – Showed less strong running and spark than we have come to expect from him in this one. Without him at or near his best we have very, very little to worry opposition defences. Jordan was another player who was below par yesterday.         

    Substitutes:

    Jores Okore – 6 - Replaced Westwood at half time and was the best of our defenders in the second half.  

    Gabriel Agbonlahor – 4 – Replaced Sinclair on 65 minutes. If Gabby was the answer yesterday I’m not sure what the question was. Made little to no impression on the game and showed little to suggest he is aching for a regular opportunity to save our season.

    Jack Grealish – Replaced Gil on 80 minutes. Not on long enough to earn a rating and did nothing in the time he had available to press his claim for a starting place.  

    Stay Up Villa!

    John Lewis

  23. John
    This was not a great game or performance from us but the mark of sides that get promoted is that they are able to grind out results when not at their very best and this is what we managed to do this afternoon.
    We now stand seventh in the table having won our fourth successive league game. We are unbeaten in our last eight games and are just a point behind the three clubs immediately above us that occupy three of the four play-off positions. We are also only 4 points off Wolves who occupy the second of the automatic promotion places and we visit them next.
    Bolton fought hard for something from this game. They were uncompromising and took full advantage of the lenience the referee gave to their challenges on our two strikers. Once we went in front it could be argued that the game was won given our visitors had not scored in their last six games. Win it we did but it was a little too close for comfort towards the end of the match and the referee’s whistle was much more welcome than the referee himself was.
    Having won this battle between two founder members of the football league we now face an international break that is unwelcome as we have built a momentum that would be nice to build upon without any delay. Both teams now face a testing battle during the rest of this season at different ends of the table.
    Bolton have a bit of a mountain to climb to hold onto the Championship status they claimed back last season having had their worst start to a season in 115 years. Although we increasingly have the look of a thoroughbred moving up through the field as the winning post approaches this race is not a sprint and today’s game demonstrated that we should not start counting our chickens just yet.       
    My player ratings from a game that continued our winning and unbeaten league runs are:
    Sam Johnstone – 6 – Got down well at his left-hand post to keep out a shot from outside of the box from Ameobe on 9 minutes. Got down again in the first minute of first half stoppage time to keep out an Armstrong effort. He looks solid.  
    Ahmed Elmohamady – 6 – A decent all-round performance.                
    James Chester - 7 – Solid once again.    
    John Terry – 7 – He is a rock in our solid defence.       
    Neil Taylor - 6 – Made a nice 90th minute run but was fouled as he was about to pull the trigger on the edge of the box by Henry who was yellow carded as a result. Was then given a straight red 4 minutes later when a yellow seemed more appropriate for what was admittedly a rash high challenge on Le Fondre. No doubt we will be appealing this decision.  
    Robert Snodgrass – 7 – Had a very decent shot from just inside of the area well saved at his near post by Howard on 79 minutes. Worked tirelessly and will improve further with more games.           
    Glenn Whelan - 6 – Worked hard. Lost possession a couple of times but this was a steady enough display.   
    Conor Hourihane – 6 – Did his job effectively but I think he is more valuable to us when given the opportunity to get forward more often.
    Albert Adomah – 6 – A very good first half.              
    Jonathan Kodjia – 7 – MOTM – Hit our winner from the spot on 39 minutes when Howard went left and he coolly hit the ball right. Headed a Adomah cross over the bar in the 3rd minute of first half stoppage time. Should have done better on 37 minutes when a superb long ball from Elmohamady fell to him as he moved into the box but instead of squaring the ball for the waiting unmarked Adomah to tap it into the net he hit the ball wide of the far post. Made up for that when he was brought down by Beevers for the penalty that he himself converted.      
    Keinan Davis – 6 – Held and manhandled at every available opportunity by the defenders he came up against as was Kodjia who was also given little to no protection from the match officials other than when he was brought down for the penalty.           
    Substitutes:
    Scott Hogan – 6 – Replaced Kodjia on 72 minutes. Made a nice run into the box on 78 minutes having picked up a ball from Whelan but his shot was blocked by a defender. Looked good in the time he had to do so.    
    Josh Onomah – 6 - Replaced Adomah on 73 minutes and did his bit to help steady the ship at the end.
    Chris Samba – Replaced Snodgrass on 89 minutes. Not on long enough to gather a rating but did play a loose ball back shortly after coming on that could have cost us the win and then bravely got his head in the way of an on-target shot from Madine in the 5th minute of stoppage time to secure our victory.     
    Up the Villa!
    John Lewis
  25. John
    Our 5-game winning home run came to an end last night but we remain the only team in our division not to be beaten at home. We can thank the linesman who pointed out the hand ball from Liam Cooper that referee Roger East had missed or ignored in much the same way as had the Leeds defence and their manager for that. But justice was done when we scored our now familiar late goal to take a point.
    We refreshingly started this game by pressing our visitors during the opening minutes. We shaded the first half but Leeds then bossed the second half. The first goal always looked as though it might be crucial and it was our visitors that claimed on the 54th minute only to be pegged back by a late equalizer.   
    We needed a better performance than this one against a Leeds side that are currently on a terrific run but we failed to produce it. What we did show was resilience and the ability to get something from a game in the last few minutes of it. Leeds will claim with some justification that they were worth a win. They had looked likely to get it for most of the game but it was Villa that ended up the more likely side to find a late winner.        
    My player ratings from a game we needed to win but could not afford to lose are:
    Mark Bunn – 5 – I have always felt that he has an error in him waiting to come out and so it proved in the 54th minute when Jansson was left unmarked and unchallenged to put Leeds ahead. Bunn with Roofe’s outstretched leg nearby allowed the header to squirm through his hands and over the goal line. Was relieved to see the scorer’s shot rattle against the bar a couple of minutes later after a Chester header had fallen to him unmarked inside of the box. Did well to come out and block Sacko’s effort with his legs on the 77th minute.     
    Alan Hutton – 6 – Alan was steady at the back but he was the closest player to Jansson when he scored their goal without being challenged. Likes a cross as much as Count Dracula does.     
    James Chester - 7 – Headed a nice ball into the box from Amavi just wide of the post in the 32nd minute.      
    Nathan Baker – 7 – Another solid display.
    Jordan Amavi – 5 – Was fortunate not to pay a heavy price when he lost possession inside the box when trying to let the ball go out for a goal kick on the 40th minute. Was also relieved to see Sacko’s 88th minute shot hit the bar after losing possession and being brushed aside by the striker who was a constant thorn in his side.
    Jordan Ayew – 4 – Hit a shot wide on the 74th minute. Had a couple of fleeting moments but this was a noticeable drop on the performance he gave and the energy he produced when appearing as a substitute in our last game.     
    Ashley Westwood - 6 – Had a decent game particularly in the first half.
    Mile Jedinak – 6 – A solid enough midfield performance and won more than his fair share of headers. Tired prior to his substitution and hit his usual share of stray passes.   
    Leandro Bacuna – 5 – Did not reach anything near the level he produced in his last outing.
    Jack Grealish – 6 – Substituted on 49 minutes having been unable to run off a first half knock. Leeds became increasingly dominant in his absence.   
    Jonathan Kodjia – 7 – MOTM - Took the ball off Phillips in the middle of their half and then beat the same player before hitting a 30-yard shot that took a deflection off a defender before Green parried the ball away to his left. Three minutes earlier he was found on the edge of the box by a poor attempted pass from Phillips but Jansson did well to get across to block his effort that deflected wide of the post. Got in a cross in first half stoppage time that was too firm for anyone to get on the end of after some good work on the edge of the box. Had a 67th minute shot pushed away by Green.  
    He was as cool as a cucumber on the 86th minute when he sent Green the wrong way from the spot for our equalizer and the ball thudded into the right-hand corner of the net. He might have gone on to win it for us in the 91st minute when the ball ran to him on the edge of the box after an aerial challenge between Gestede and a defender but his shot deflected off Green’s shoulder to safety. Jonathan might have considered the alternative of playing the ball to the unmarked McCormack who was in a great position to tap it in on his left. Will be much missed during his coming absence on international duty.        
    Substitutes:
    Ross McCormack – 6 – Replaced Jack on 49 minutes. Played his part in the build up to our penalty award.    
    Rudy Gestede – 5 - Replaced Jedinak on 78 minutes in what may prove his last appearance for us. It was his head that Cooper decided to push the ball away from with his hand to concede a late penalty after McCormack had played the ball over his head for both players to challenge for.     
    Albert Adomah – 7 - Replaced Ayew on the 78th minute and gave us pace and a threat down the flank that we had been previously missing.
    Up the Villa & A Happy Promotion New Year to all readers!
    John Lewis
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