John

"This thread will go so mental if we beat Arsenal". When we beat them villalad21.

"on that they escorted me to the door opened it and said we will still be relegated....." Looks like you need to find a new newsagent TRO but your response to them was superb.

We might just make the first couple of games on MOTD when we are not playing Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or a Manchester club by April 2015 if we stay unbeaten in the league and are still in the top 2!

"It took 7 games to get to 10 points last season, so if we lose our next 3 which are Arsenal, Chelsea and City it will be the same start as last season from a similar to th first 7 fixtures to last season". We have 3 wins and a draw from our first 4 league games Imarsha_926. As a note of optimism the last time we were champions back in 80-81 we also had 3 wins and a draw from our first 4 league games.We lost 2 of the next 3 games and won the third so one win from the next 3 games will give us the same start we had when we last won the league.

Could it be that his club did not want to agree a loan with Everton when they had a permanent offer from us on the table? Cleverley is the loser here in the long term. He had an opportunity to play regular football again, to show his current club they were wrong about him and to get into England consideration again. He may have wanted to move to Everton for football reasons or because he did not want to move from the NW. But he may also have wanted to see out the last year of his contract so he could maximise what he gets in 12 months time from another club. He may also have not been prepared to look at a move to us unless we were prepared to make him an offer he could not refuse. At this point I do not care what his reason was. He has made his decision and will have to live with it.

Defoe will only move to a London club he has had his fill of living in hotels around the Birmingham area over the years.

Ayew, Ayew its off to QPR he may go. I had hoped we would have someone in by now. I guess Cleverley may be more motivated by money than playing football on a regular basis. Time to move to plan b (if we have one) and try to do a loan deal or two?

You are quick off the mark rodders. I thought Richardson had his best game for us so far but felt Delph and Westwood had slightly better games yesterday. However, I welcome your opinion as we all can see a game differently and our opinions are all equally valid.

Source: Player Match Ratings: Gabby breaks his and our goal drought!

Gabby’s first goal at Villa Park since December and a second goal of the season for Weimann have left us in a giddy third place going into the coming international break. We are unbeaten in our first three league games and have scored at Villa Park for the first time this season at the third time of asking. On the down side we did concede our first goal of the season yesterday. In doing so we lost the chance to emulate the 1900-1901 defending league champions who were the last Villa team not to have a goal scored against them in their first three league games. But this was a good day to be a Villa fan at Villa Park and such days have been very rare of late. Paul Lambert chose to keep an unchanged team for a third league game where many of us might have tinkered with it. The points we have gained this season have been built on a solid defence that has two full backs who are prepared to venture forward. The rest of the team worked hard and pressured Hull yesterday particularly in a first half that we dominated. We claimed two well worked goals and struck the woodwork twice in that first half. But we took our foot off the pedal in the second half, Bruce changed things around for them and their goal brought them back into the game and left us hanging on at the end. This was three points we may well have not hung onto last season but this is not the team of last season. Hull does seem to bring out the best in us. No doubt some will point to their game on Thursday as a reason for their defeat. Last season their pending Wembley FA Cup Final appearance was mentioned as a reason that they may have taken their eye off the ball. But we have now beaten them twice in successive Villa Park meetings. Home wins have been a rare commodity of late for us and our last two have come against yesterday’s opponents. If a player was considering joining one or the other club today I think this might well influence his decision... Our 7 points from 9 may not be a prelude to a run for the title or a Champions League place but it is a good start to the season which offers us a cushion that we may well need given the run of games we face on our return to league action. The transfer window also slams shut today and our current league standing cannot do anything but help us to persuade prospective signings that Villa Park is the place to be. My player ratings from a game that has left us with a wide grin are: Brad Guzan – 7 – Brad was solid as a rock when he needed to be. Made a splendid save on 80 minutes when he tipped a Livermore shot over to deny him an equalizer and also kept out a fierce Aluko shot in stoppage time. Alan Hutton – 7 – Another very encouraging all round performance. Philippe Senderos – 7 – Played his part in marshalling our defence and gave another good performance. He was not able to get quite enough on his well aimed 48th minute header from a Westwood free kick to seriously trouble their keeper. Ron Vlaar – 7 – He is the heart of our defence and it is crucial he is still with us at close of business today. Aly Cissokho – 7 – Aly was strong at the back and a menace to Hull when moving forward. He unluckily got the last touch to Jelavic’s header for their goal which Guzan might otherwise have had the opportunity to keep out. Charles N’Zogbia – 6 – Started pretty well and put his foot in more than once to claim the ball. Given he missed so much of last season he can improve and see out games once he has got more games under his belt. Kieran Richardson - 6 – Caught by the trailing leg of a defender on the edge of the box on 10 minutes when he would have otherwise been one on one with the keeper. Hit a shot from 30 yards over the crossbar on 50 minutes. Kieran gave a decent display yesterday as part of a hard working midfield. Ashley Westwood – 7 – Hit a tremendous free kick that struck the post with McGregor beaten on 43 minutes after Delph had been brought down by Davies as he was about to run into their box. This was a good response to the prospect of increased competition for midfield starting places. Fabian Delph – 7 – Started the move that led to our first goal. Might also have opened the scoring in the 2nd minute when Gabby back heeled the ball to Weimann who then found him but his shot from a tight angle rattled the woodwork. He also made a very good forward run on 79 minutes which ended with a shot that went harmlessly wide of the post when he might have done better to slip the ball through to an unmarked Grealish. Andreas Weimann – 7 – Hit our second on 36 minutes. Delph claimed a loose ball and found Gabby who hit the ball wide to Richardson whose cross into the centre of the area found Andi in space. He took a touch before hitting the ball into the corner of the net with some aplomb. Andi worked hard throughout up front in the middle and at times at the back. Two goals from three starts is an encouragingly good strike rate. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 8 – MOTM – Why can’t he play like this more often? Hit our opening goal on 14 minutes when he turned on the edge of the box and drilled the ball into the corner of the net past McGregor after N’Zogbia had fed Weimann who in turn found him. Gabby also made three very probing runs and crosses on 16, 33 and 58 minutes. The first two of these were put out for corners and the last one was headed clear. He was denied a second when his goal bound shot on 40 minutes was blocked by McGregor’s leg. Faded prior to being substituted having given a whole hearted display up until then. We will be looking for another focused performance like this when he next takes the field for us and for consistency during the rest of the season. Substitutes: Carlos Sánchez – 6 – Replaced N’Zogbia on 64 minutes. I had anticipated Carlos would be starting the game. He instead faced a need to settle into it at a time when we were coming under pressure. This proved to be difficult which was understandable given he is still in the process of settling into his new surroundings. Jack Grealish – Replaced Richardson on 75 minutes. Not on the field quite long enough to gather a rating but he was on long enough to be cynically scythed down on the first four occasions he was given the ball to move forward with. I had wondered whether Norman Hunter and Ron Harris had been taken onto Hull’s coaching staff. But it seems more likely that their manager has become aware of Jack’s emerging talent and had suggested his resolve might be put to the test by the odd heavy challenge or four. He came through that test well and Hull deservedly did not profit from this approach earning their three resultant bookings. Might be well advised to invest in some heavy duty shin pads in the coming days. Darren Bent – Replaced Gabby on 85 minutes. Another who did not get the game time to merit a rating. But he did miss an opportunity to put the game beyond reach in stoppage time when he was found by a well weighted Westwood ball on the edge of the box. Sadly Darren hit his shot wide of the post from a very similar position to the one he did the same thing from in our recent cup debacle. This was another chance he would once have buried but he lacks the confidence that goals bring and the sharpness that a run of games can help bring about. Up the Villa! John Lewis

We have our cushion now so points from these games are a bit of a bonus for me. Five points would be very very nice, anything more would be top 6 form and anything less would be what most of us would have been expecting before a ball was kicked this season. 15 it is then!

1-0 to us. Goalscorer: Own goal or Bent gets one on target (if he is given some playing time).

James McArthur from Wigan should higher wage offers or the lure of living in Hull, Liverpool or Valencia sway Cleverley to make the wrong decison anyone? Would anyone also consider making a bid for Callum McManaman from the same club should we be unable to do a loan deal for the likes of Townsend?

If we have had a bid accepted I think wages will be the key issue. Having Keane at the club has most likely had much to do with us going for the player and will most likely determine his choice of club if the wage offers made are much the same and Everton have run out of cash by now. If they have not might this suggests they have found a buyer before we have?

Source: Player Match Ratings: A painful but not a shock cup exit!

This was no cup shock or slaying of a giant by a minnow. It has become an all too regular occurrence in recent seasons for us to be able to consider a defeat such as this one as either. Orient last night became the fourth club from a division below us to inflict an embarrassing cup defeat on us since January 2013. In doing so they joined Bradford, Millwall and Sheffield United in knocking us out of a cup competition with alarming ease. There was once a time that a regular draw against Manchester United was required to end our interest in cup competitions with any certainty. But now a cup tie against opponents from a lower division is all that it usually takes to leave us able to concentrate on the league without the pesky distraction of a cup run. Our club has a great cup fighting tradition but this like a regular place in the top half of the table is now firmly behind us. It has now reached the stage where we arrive half expecting to leave the ground with our opponents being the ones who are left to look forward to the draw for the next round. I for one have had enough of this particular Groundhog Day. Memories of winning this competition twice in three years in 1994 and 1996 are becoming more distant with each season. We do have the league left and the target of getting enough points to stay up once again. We also have the FA Cup still to play for. It would be nice to have enough points on the board next January to not be able to trot out the excuse that a run in this cup that we last won in 1957 would only represent a distraction. Orient performed well last night and their win was not without merit. They threatened our goal increasingly and grew in belief as the game wore on. We failed to take our opportunities and they increasingly looked the more likely team side to prevent what was beginning to look like inevitable extra time. This defeat highlights our current lack of a goal threat. We have now gone two home games without troubling the scorer and we rarely look like doing so. We also have a squad that cannot rest nor do without through injury the likes of Delph and Vlaar let alone Benteke without it showing on the pitch. My player ratings from a game that has left us with the realisation that we have become the team that everyone else wants to play in the cup are: Shay Given – 6 – Appeared fortunate to be given a first half free kick when he failed to look around him and his arm connected with the forward behind him in the process of throwing the ball out. This led to the ball landing at the feet of an opponent on the edge of the area before the whistle spared his blushes. He also seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to get his kicks away but he did very well on 68 minutes to deny Baudry having tipped his header to safety with the assistance of the far post. Alan Hutton – 7 – Solid at the back and good runs forward. Alan for once looks like going into an international break as a first team regular and long may this continue. Nathan Baker – 5 – We are not so steady at the back without Concrete Ron and that is a clear warning for the club as the end of this transfer window approaches. Should really have been on target at the very least once at the other end. He put a header from a corner over the bar on 62 minutes, failed to get a touch on a good Westwood corner on 75 minutes and then flicked a header wide of the far post on 87 minutes. Philippe Senderos – 7 – Less composed than he has been alongside our captain of late but this was another steady performance. Kieran Richardson – 6 – Did well enough having been moved back to cover for Cissokho’s absence. Vincelot ran in behind him to head in their late winner. Joe Cole – 5 – A couple of nice touches and showed glimpses of the impressive player he had been before injury took its toll on him. Needs more appearances to build his fitness level up to what it needs to be in order to make a bigger contribution in future games. Carlos Sánchez - 7 – Ran our midfield particularly in the first half and was always looking for the ball and to break their play up. Gamely came back on for more having come off worse from a crunching first half challenge. Carlos will become increasingly influential when alongside Delph as he settles in at Villa Park. Ashley Westwood – 6 – Shot wide on the half hour having been found by Grealish. Pinged some nice passes and was pretty effective particularly early on. Jack Grealish – 8 – MOTM - For me Jack is reminiscent of Brian Little in the way that he runs and moves around the pitch. If he can have anything approaching the career Brian had at Villa Park we have a real gem on our hands. Jack made some nice runs and was always prepared to worry and take on defenders. He became increasingly confident and played a progressively more important role for us in the game as it wore on. Cut inside well on 61 minutes and his shot was deflected wide off a defender. Jack then turned a shot just wide of the post on 70 minutes. This was a very encouraging performance on a bleak night. Leandro Bacuna – 6 – A lovely touch put him clear of his marker in the first half but nothing came of it and had a 23rd minute shot deflected wide off the forehead of a defender. He later scooped a shot over the bar from just inside the box on 80 minutes. Being out of the side will not be helping his confidence but he needs to start doing more when he gets himself into good positions to press for a place. Darren Bent – 5 – Darren was unlucky on 28 minutes when he was denied by the outstretched leg of keeper Woods after Cole had played him in. Westwood then hit a sweet ball through to him on 59 minutes but his connection onto the ball just helped it harmlessly towards the keeper. Senderos hit a lovely ball through to him from inside his own half and between two defenders on 83 minutes but he shot wide finding the stanchion behind the goal rather than the back of the net. I cannot help but think that he would have put one of these chances away a couple of seasons ago. He needs more first team action to try to sharpen up his game for the coming weeks. Substitutes: Andreas Weimann – 6 – Replaced Joe Cole on 62 minutes and kept himself busy as he always does without being able to add the goal threat we so badly missed last night. Up the Villa! John Lewis

Source: Player Match Ratings: One point is better than none.

Our 100% record has been lost and we failed to get a single shot on target yesterday. But on the positive side we remain unbeaten and our defence has now achieved two consecutive clean sheets for the first time since last November. It would have been great to have taken three points yesterday to follow up on our opening day win. It would also have been nice to have won our two opening games of the season for the first time this century. It did feel a little like we were giving two points we gained at Stoke back but this was a match we would probably have lost last season. Should we beat Hull next weekend we will have 7 points from a possible 9 which would be a terrific start and would offer us some cushion for the tough run of games that follow. We had the better of the first half but Newcastle had the better of the second in front of what was a disappointingly albeit understandably low first home crowd of the season. The expectation last season would have been that a second half goal was inevitable in such circumstances and that the points would be lost. I think many of us feared the same would be the case this time. But we are made of sterner stuff at the moment and this game had the look of one between two teams who seem destined for a mid table finish this season. That would represent a significant improvement on recent seasons for us. Our defence looks much tighter and our midfield appears less brittle than it did last season when opponents are running at them. But we need to create more and to take a higher proportion of the chances we do manage to create. The return of our injured strikers may well resolve the latter problem in the coming weeks. The introduction of players with creativity that are currently on the books and the bedding in of players who are either new to the club or returning to first team action should also improve our creativity. But we really do need to look at bringing in one or perhaps two players during this window to play a part in helping us to create more chances and to make home wins less of a rarity then they have been for much too long now. My player ratings from a game that has left us temporarily occupying a place in the top four are: Brad Guzan – 7 – Riviere got to the ball ahead of Senderos on 32 minutes and his shot evaded the defender’s challenge but Brad got down well to save his low shot. He also tipped a Janmaat header over the bar on 51 minutes but otherwise did not have the busiest of games. However, he did make a tremendous match saving stop on 88 minutes to deny de Yong and then managed to cling onto the rebound at the second attempt. Alan Hutton – 8 – Alan was solid at the back and very impressive when running at defenders. He has been a revelation so far this season and is currently providing us with something we have been missing at the back as well as taking the opportunity he has been given by the boss with both hands. Ron Vlaar – 7 – A solid central defensive display and Ron is currently working very well and forming an effective partnership with Senderos. Having him still with us in September is crucial to how our season pans out in the long run. Philippe Senderos – 7 – Another steady performance alongside our captain. Currently his pace issues are not being highlighted due to his experience and reading of the game. Aly Cissokho – 8 – MOTM – Liverpool’s loss looks to be our gain. He has strength and pace. He made powerful runs forward, hit good crosses into the box and was solid at the back. Let us hope he will be available for the next league outing to continue this impressive start in our shirt. Charles N’Zogbia – 6 – Headed just over onto the roof of the net on 9 minutes after a nice Cissokho cross had been deflected to him at the far post and was just wide with a curling 30 yard free kick 9 minutes later. A bright start but he did fade particularly in the second half prior to his substitution which was not surprising given his long spell out of the first team action. Fabian Delph - 7 – Not quite at his very best yesterday but he still stood out in our midfield as he did so consistently last season. He also went a game without a booking which is a shock given Dean found room for 4 of his team mates without any difficulty. Ashley Westwood – 6 – A solid enough display. Ashley is a consistent performer in our midfield who has it in him to make an even bigger and consistent impact this season than he did last. Kieran Richardson – 6 – A steady enough performance but he had played his game by the time he was substituted. Kieran has the ability to be more influential, to maintain his involvement throughout games and hopefully this will start to happen as he begins to settle in at Villa Park. Andreas Weimann – 5 – Failed to make a significant impression on the game. He is currently our top goal scorer albeit at a very early stage in the season. He has a good engine but I feel he needs to operate further forward in a more central role. That might help him to get more involved in games and to prove a bigger threat to our opponents than he or anyone else did yesterday. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 4 – He was unable to get his head to a hanging cross on 39 minutes. Showed some early pace but faded out of the game too readily. He is neither a lone striker nor a target man and now looks more effective in a wider position for me. Although he lacked service and support he needs to work on harassing defenders when they have the ball in an attempt to make something happen. Too often the ball flew across their area without him having looked to try to make a determined move to get onto the end of it. This is a time when we were really looking for him to hit the ground running from day one and to accept responsibility as a senior player given our current lack of alternatives up front. Substitutes: Carlos Sánchez – 6 – Replaced N’Zogbia on 62 minutes and made a good impression in what time he was given to do so. Hit a sweet ball that found his man with his first positive touch. He looks like the rock he has been described as. He also looks like a player who has the potential to dominate in the midfield and to break up a significant amount of opposition forward movement. Harshly booked for his first challenge by what was a book happy referee. Darren Bent – Replaced Richardson on 76 minutes. Headed a cross from Delph onto the top of the netting on 79 minutes but Darren did not get enough playing time to earn a rating. For me if we are to play with only one up front he is worth giving a shot at filling a role that he is well suited for in the same way other bomb squad members have done with some success to date. Darren is the best finisher and target man we currently have available and his introduction was belated for me. Nathan Baker - Replaced Cissokho on 83 minutes. Did not have enough time to gather a rating from this game but might have headed a late winner had the ball found its way to him rather than being taken off his head by a defender. Up the Villa! John Lewis

"the pub rumours always questioned what it would look like if Aston Villa signed Tony Brown from the Baggies and played them all in the Midfield" - We already had Jimmy Brown playing in the midfield Daholteend.

Get in there!!! Solid at the back and held the lead well. 3 points on the board.

"Maxime Lestienne is the latest Twatter rumour going around". He could provide a breath of fresh air at our football club StanBalaban.

"Linked to Southampton. Don't see why we couldn't bring him in." Celtic would want more than we would pay and other clubs such as they would offer him more money jacketspuds.But I would rather they have him than our captain.

"Say all that you want about Doug" - We do Butterfingers and with good reason. But we had thought we could trust this custodian who came in like a breath of fresh air but has stayed around too long for his liking and with what he was looking to do now a fading memory to the extent that our better players see us as a stepping stone as has been the case for too long whether it is to Southampton now or to Liverpool, Manchester United or City in the past..

I would love to think that as our captain he would show loyalty to us and stay.But we need to offer him a deal that will make a move to Southampton one he could turn down namely one that is not a lot less than they would offer him. This should already have happened but our custodian had his mind elsewhere. If Manchester United come in for him or someone else with a higher profile than The Saints then all bets will be off. That may well happen so late in the window we would be left to go with what we have rather than to spend whatever amount Lambo would be given from the fee to spend if we have not already signed the player the club felt could act as an insurance policy for him should he move on. We need to do a deal now if at all possible or once the window has closed if he is still our player. This will be an even tougher season for us without him.

Not an easy one particularly if we rest most of our first choice players again but we do not do easy against many teams in the cup these days. It would be nice to have a cup run but I guess our one and only priority this season will be a top 17 place in the league.