John

Manchester City lose games that they take the lead in as often as we win them from a goal behind so the result looked inevitable when we went a goal down in first half stoppage time and so it proved with a late first half goal rather than one at the end of the game costing us points this time. Taking anything from this game was always going to be a bonus but it was a bonus we did not look like getting after 45 minutes of hard work was undone on the stroke of half time by one of our youngsters albeit a full international taking an unnecessary risk that led to the only goal of the game. Manchester City were not quite at their best last night and have not been at their best often enough this season to take their defence of their title down to the wire. But this was not an even playing field. They have a side of stars that has been put together at great expense and we have a team of mostly young talent who we hope might turn into a decent team before we sell off anyone that the likes of Manchester City may want to take off our hands as they did Barry and then Milner. Our team is focused on financial fair play and balance sheets where their team is based on buying success at whatever the cost may be. That for me was exemplified by the substitutes that we were able to call upon in our hour of need where they were able to send on the likes of Dzeko, Nasri and Barry. We worked very hard last night and for me the first half turned and they started to dominate the game after the injured Rodwell had come off and Yaya Toure began to dominate the centre of the field. They had the edge on possession and the lion’s share of the chances for the rest of the game with Zabaleta on 37 minutes and then Yaya Toure on 72 hitting a post. But whilst it stayed 1 – 0 there was always some hope that we might sneak a late goal as so often teams do against us. But it was never really going to happen was it? So we go again after another home defeat to two games that will for me shape our destiny this season. If we play with the same spirit that we have shown of late we can get the 4 points minimum or the 6 points we really do need from the coming games at Reading and then back at Villa Park against QPR. Anything less performance or point wise may well be something we could not recover from as the games start to run out. My player ratings from a game that has left us still lingering in the bottom three with just 10 games remaining but our fans were still able to exhibit their wit and gallows humour as when being taunted by the Manchester City fans chorus of “Going Down” they quickly responded with “What’s it like?” are: Brad Guzan – 8 – MOTM - Kept us in with a chance of stealing a point and stopped too much more damage being done to our abysmal goal difference last night with a fine display. Touched a Rodwell shot over on 22 minutes and then got down well to collect a bouncing Milner free kick from the edge of the box 10 minutes later. Denied Tevez on 41 minutes when he turned away his nice curling shot and got his finger tips to Toure’s 72nd minute shot from the edge of the box to help it onto the post. Matthew Lowton – 6 – Kept a goal bound Tevez shot out with his legs on 55 minutes and then hit a rasping shot just wide of the post on 66 minutes himself. Nathan Baker – 7 – Had a very solid game and was the best of our defenders. Ciaran Clark – 5 – His one real mistake cost us very dearly in first half stoppage time when he lost the ball to Dzeko near the half way line by turning into his man rather than playing it clear. Dzeko then ran on squared the ball for Tevez who left Bennett and Guzan floundering before hitting the ball past Clark who had got back on the line to try to make amends for his error of judgement. He will learn from that. Joe Bennett - 6 – He is more adept when coming forward then he is when defending but he did well enough last night and seems to have recovered from that bad patch. Fabian Delph – 8 – Another very good performance. Kept battling against a very good midfield and we will miss him following that late booking for hand ball which rules him out of our next two vital 6 pointers. Ashley Westwood – 6 – Found it hard to make an impact at times against experienced players of real quality but he kept plugging away and will reach their level with more games and experience under his belt. Charles N’Zogbia - 5 – Did not make the impact he had been making on our games recently last night which was very disappointing. Andreas Weimann – 6 – Almost got a touch to Bennett’s cross on 6 minutes and then hit a fierce shot after being fed by the same player after their goal but Clichy blocked the shot. Hit a good cross in for Gabby on 61 minutes that Kolo Toure put out for a corner. He was replaced on 86 minutes. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 6 – Did his best to try to make something happen and put in a big shift for the shirt but he was unable to produce an end product against defenders of this calibre with pace alone. Christian Benteke – 7 – Got little to no protection from the referee from some rough house defending. Unlucky when Tevez cleared his header off the line on 21 minutes and he also had a shout for a late penalty. Lacked service but he was up for the battle and gave as good as he got. Substitutes: Brett Holman – 6 – Came on for N’Zogbia on 65 minutes and started brightly but his impact and plus points lessened as the game moved on towards its conclusion. Simon Dawkins – Replaced Weimann on 86 minutes thus reducing what goal threat we offered at a stroke. He again showed little to suggest he has it in him to turn a game when coming off the bench in what was a brief run out and was not on long enough to earn a rating. Karim El Ahmadi - Replaced Westwood on 88 minutes. Another who was not on long enough to get any rating. Stay up the Villa and Stay Strong Captain! John Lewis

Does anyone have any idea of how deep Randy is into the club money wise? I have seen a lot of different figures quoted over the years. But other than the money he gave to Deadly and the £20m he agreed to spend on players as part of the deal to buy the club what has he since put into the club? How much of that is in the form of loans? How much has he taken out in say salary/interest? What is our overall level of loss since he took over?

The Times.

Get well soon Giddy. The best full back at Villa Park I have seen he would fetch £15m+ at today's prices.

Agreed Raver50032. West Ham looked one of the least effective teams we have faced to date but we really needed that win. The win will be something that we can take forward into games against better opposition in the hope that we can get the odd unexpected result against them as we did at Everton for example.

Source: Player Match Ratings – The joy of winning!

For once we were able to hold onto a 2-goal lead and the three resultant points have left us with hopes that we can yet pull off our very own Great Escape. One win gained and another 4 or 5 now needed - simples! West Ham may regret not starting with Jarvis and Big Sam may wish he had gone for us from the start of the game rather than at the start of the second half and then again when they had gone two behind. But this was a vital win that leaves us still with hope that would have been all but dashed by another home league defeat. So West Ham did not get their first league win at Villa Park or league double against us in 6 seasons and we thankfully did not equal our top-flight club record five-match home losing streak which had been set 50 years ago in 1963. We secured a win after 8 games without one and this was the 13th attempt we had made to win a televised Sunday game and we did so after a fifth goal in successive games from Benteke. It was not a first half to remember and both teams needed a word at half time from their respective managers I would guess. It seemed West Ham were most responsive early on as they put us under pressure and gained corners that too often in the past have led to goals against us. This time we were made of sterner stuff and hit them with two goals before we became rattled near the end and but for Guzan might have again thrown away a 2 goal cushion. We now need to build on the confidence that a home win and holding onto a lead will give us and anything we could get from our next two games would be a very big bonus. My player ratings from a game that left us outside of the dreaded bottom three places after it were: Brad Guzan – 7 – Really came into his own after we had gone two up having already claimed balls well inside his box. On 84 minutes he kept out a Vaz Te header from a deep cross that could have crept in at the far post. He then kept out a Nolan effort with his legs at his near post in the 5th minute of stoppage time and got an outstretched hand to Cole’s header from the resultant corner that was otherwise bound for the top corner. Matthew Lowton – 6 – A steady enough performance. Ron Vlaar – 7 - First to the ball on many occasions and his experience is helping those alongside him make our defence look a tad more solid. Ron touched a Westwood corner just over the bar on 39 minutes. Ciaran Clark – 7 – I think that international goal gave him some confidence after what was a difficult game at Everton and he did well for me and got a vital touch back towards Guzan from a cross on 37 minutes with Joe Cole loitering behind him. Nathan Baker - 6 – He is not a wing back so offers little coming forward but he offered us something to counter what they were expected to offer from dead balls when moving into the box where he is considerably more comfortable. Booked on 72 minutes for a rash and needless tackle on Joe Cole but stayed on with that injury where others would have been looking to make an exit. Jordan Bowery – 5 – Lacks the pace to play wide in this division but he worked and covered well before being replaced on 63 minutes. Fabian Delph – 7 – MOTM - Put in a very big shift and he is beginning to look the player we had hoped he may become when he joined us from Leeds. Ashley Westwood – 6 – Deflected a Cole ball aimed into the box off his head past Guzan for their 87th minute goal that led to a nail biting climax to this game. Charles N’Zogbia - 7 – Brought down inside the box to earn our penalty after Benteke had played the ball to him. He then got the winner on 78 minutes after Bent had been brought down on the edge of the box with a well taken free kick that went over a statuesque wall and past Jaaskelainen had lined up to far over to his right hand side. Had earlier been found on the edge of the box by Benteke on 65 minutes and flashed his shot just wide of the post. Andreas Weimann – 5 – Really should have scored on 2 minutes when Jaaskelainen spilled a Benteke shot from the edge of the area into his path and he was faced by a gaping goalmouth that he steered the ball wide of. Andreas was clearly affected by this miss and the impact it might have ultimately had on the game if not our season until he made way for Bent on 63 minutes. Christian Benteke – 7 – He really hits a sweet penalty doesn’t he? Scored our vital opener on 74 minutes sending Jaaskelainen the wrong way and hitting the spot kick into the corner of the net. He was cool as a cucumber in what was a really pressured situation. Substitutes: Darren Bent – 6 – Came on for Weimann on 63 minutes and cleared a goal bound Carroll shot off the line a minute later that would have give them a lead we would have been unlikely to have recovered from. Job done! Simon Dawkins – 5 – Replaced Bowery on 63 minutes and will need more game time to make an impression for us. Yacouba Sylla - Replaced the injured N’Zogbia on 85 minutes but was not on long enough to earn a rating this time. Stay up the Villa and Stay Strong Captain! John Lewis

We really need this win. A home win and getting out of the bottom 3 would do so much for our fragile confidence. The players owe us this one but we may need 3 goals to do it and a 2 goal cushion going into the last 5 minutes.

Sad news. From the interviews I heard from him over the years he seemed a down to earth decent bloke. The Troggs also produced some good music.

I have to wonder how vital a scout is for our football club at the moment. With no money to spend it seems a post we do not currently need to fill. Henke may well have identified the players that would have saved our season had they been purchased or may even have identified the two we did sign. But I guess he was employed at a time when we still had the intention to back our manager with some decent funds in transfer windows so those players he might have identified may now be playing for other PL clubs or still with the clubs they were scouted at and it seems we may never know what impact he might have had on our football club had we acted upon transfer suggestions he may have made.

I liked these two take outs: The Hard Wok in Streetly and Wok "n" Roll in Oxford.

"Sack the board/manager please". Do we have a board to sack rjw63? I would see the owner as the man who selects both the manager and those that sit around a board room table with him (if anyone does)so would not this be a case of him sacking himself (although I agree it is something that currently merits his consideration). But that is no doubt one for another topic.

The trap door is opening for us and many more performances like the one that we produced in the first half last night will see us relegated for the first time since 1987 but conversely more performances like the one that we gave in the second might yet see us stay up. So we have lost yet another 6 pointer. This time we have done so against a Newcastle team that had started the game just a point ahead of us and who had not won away from home this season. We just left ourselves with too much to do and although we did almost come back to grab a point this result and 3 more dropped home points has left us with as hard a task of pulling our season around as we faced at the start of the second half. To make it happen we will need to produce some 90 rather than 45 minute performances of the tempo and fight we produced in the second half and lacked in the first. I think we surrendered the initiative to them as soon as they got our team sheet. They were always going to go for a win last night (who would not against us at the moment) but to play three central defenders against a team that had offered so little away from home to date was a clear sign of the fragility of our confidence. Not content with that Bannan and Westwood also spent much of the first half hour just in front of what had effectively been a five man defence leaving us with Bent, Benteke and N’Zogbia largely isolated in more forward positions and with a large gap in the middle of the pitch that Newcastle exploited. That cautious approach failed and on going two down we then pushed Bennett uncomfortably forward into an unfamiliar midfield spot until half time when he along with Bent were replaced by substitutions that along with what I am sure were some harsh half time words led to us dominating the second half to the same extent that they had bossed the first half and being unlucky to have not got the share of the spoils that second half performance merited. But teams in our position do not get their fair share of luck do they? Both sides have it in them to stay up but Newcastle’s chances of doing so have been enhanced not only by last night’s result but by identifying their areas of weakness and doing something about it in this transfer window. Our weaknesses are clear but we appear to be being denied the means to do anything about it. Where Newcastle have refreshed their squad with players that made a difference last night it seems we are prepared to see the club drift to relegation for the want of what would be a reasonable level of investment on the playing side and trust in a team that are clearly shell shocked turning things around. That is an unacceptable risk for this football club to take and a relegation that we may find very difficult to recover from was never part of the bright future we were told to expect! My player ratings from a game that plunged us back into the bottom three are: Brad Guzan – 6 – Pulled off a good one handed save from Santon on 15 minutes but 4 minutes later Sissoko showed us what we were missing by threading a nice ball through to Cisse who hit the vital first goal in through Brad’s legs. Left with no chance when Cabaye hit a screamer past him on 31 minutes when left in space on the edge of our box to pull the trigger having took one touch from a headed clearance. Matthew Lowton – 6 – Got forward well in the second half. Ron Vlaar - 6 – Solid and the defence looks better with him in it. Ciaran Clark – 6 – A steady overall performance. Nathan Baker - 6 – Had a good downward header blocked near the line by Guitierrez on 82 minutes. Joe Bennett – 5 – Replaced by Gabby at half time and spent the last 15 minutes loitering in the midfield as we belatedly went to a back four. Barry Bannan – 5 – Largely ineffective in the first 45 minutes. Ashley Westwood – 6 – Struggled to make his usual impression during the first half. Charles N’Zogbia - 7 – He is clearly enjoying the freedom that he gets behind a front two and is starting to show signs of stepping up towards the sort of form he had showed when playing there with Wigan. So unlucky on 22 minutes when he hit a superb shot from a Benteke header that flew past the keeper only to cannon off the post and hit an effort into the side netting on 58 minutes. Darren Bent– 5 – Made a decent run on 5 minutes and almost got something onto the ball. Like Benteke starved of service in a first half after which he was then replaced. Christian Benteke – 6 – Forced a save from the keeper on 47 minutes when N’Zogbia found him on the edge of the box and he worked a shooting opportunity for himself. He then stepped up to convert our 49th minute penalty sending the keeper the wrong way and planting the ball into the corner of the net. He likes a penalty doesn’t he? An offside decision then sparred his blushes on 73 minutes when he turned a Lowton cross wide when the ball was his to tap home and on 86 minutes he was unable to get anything on a bouncing ball from a Guzan free kick. Substitutes: Gabriel Agbonlahor – 7 - Replaced Bennett for the second half and earned our penalty when he was brought down on the edge of the box. Really tried to make things happen and this should lead to a run in the side. Andreas Weimann – 7 – MOTM - Replaced Bent at half time and turned inside the box forcing a reaction save from Krul on 46 minutes after Gabby had found him inside the box. Benteke then found him with an inch perfect ball on the hour and he forced another good save from the keeper. Injected pace and gets shots in and on target. He needs to start at Everton. Stay up the Villa and Stay Strong Captain! John Lewis

"if no one comes in as we are as good as down thanks lerner for relegating us even doug never did that since the premier league was formed". Although I agree with the likely result of not bringing players in Demitri I have to point out that Deadly got his relegations in before the PL began. I would love to think there really is £6m in the kitty and I suspect that Lambo understood there was that and more at the start of this window when he started to think about going shopping for the players we were linked with earlier. I would also like to think we could use the wages we may not spend on Warnock and Hutton on bringing in loan signings with or without a view to making permanent deals should we stay up (although have we not indicated we do not want to pay the wages of other clubs players). I think our best hope is that teams abroad will let us sign players on loan that they have fallen out with and cannot sell to other clubs or that teams who may want to give young players a game (as Spurs did with Walker) will want to give players game time in the PL that they cannot get at say the Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Spurs or Chelsea. But I have no confidence that even that will happen.

Lambo needs to make it clear to the players that we need 3 points from this game. As things stand we are outside the bottom 3 and that needs to still be the case at the end of this season. Newcastle are also on a poor run but unlike us they have seen fit to do something about it. As ever the game will swing on the first goal. I just hope it does not come from a corner.....

"I still think the problem is, what would happen if we spent 30m & didn't get the windfall next season". The owner would get the parachute payment and the money from selling the likes of Benteke, Weimann and Bent?

"There's a number who do, of all sizes - from Arsenal and Spurs, to Wigan and Albion. Man U as well". Point well made Blandy. But Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester United have a bigger income and started from a better position than we did post MON. Wigan are not safely run on a break even basis but they have become proven fighters when the going gets tough so make a habit of staying up mostly against the odds. Albion were a yo-yo club up until the last couple of seasons and seem to be the club we now aspire to become. But 3 years ago they were small time when considered alongside us and what worked for them may not work for us.

"Apparently teale and Laursen have both offered services to help out". They are a little long in the tooth now but as long as they do not want paying then they should start against Newcastle mikeyp102. But seriously if Lambo was prepared to accept outside help which I doubt he would be then it would not be a bad thing for someone to tell our players how to mark at corners as if they have been told it has not sunk in. "Just seen Barry Silkman (football agent) on SSN. Said all the bottom 8 are looking to strengthen their squads apart from Villa. Hasn't herd anything to say we're looking to improve." Shocking RandyVillain. I very much doubt that SKY will bother to put anyone at Villa Park on deadline day. If they do they will have a back drop behind their reporter of empty club offices with the lights off and nobody at home. Sad days indeed.

Using the money the owner paid for the club to come up with an inflated spending figure since he took over seems a tad unreasonable to me because no doubt he would expect to get that back when he sells up and as I recall it the previous owner sold for the figure he did on the understanding that Randy would use the £20m balance between Deadly's valuation and what he took from Randy for the club on buying players so that needs to be taken out of the spending figure on players and added to the cost of purchase for me (which he will either get back or not when and if he sells). As has been said a PL club cannot currently be safely run on a break even basis. You cannot expect to lower wages, let players go (because their wages are now more than we are prepared to pay or they want to move on to a bigger club) and not replace them on a like for like basis without it showing on the football pitch as well as on the balance sheet. Randy took a risk that did not come off when he spent for the CL. It seems we as fans are now expected to accept the consequences which are a real risk of a relegation we may not come back from any time soon and a frugal policy that has left us all embarrassed by our recent results. Randy has been good news for this football club and has ploughed a lot of his own money into it but the decline over the seasons since MON left which he has overseen is not acceptable and the risk he takes of relegation and the impact that would have on his investment seems too big for him to choose to take. Over to the accountants....

"It was Darren Bent who assisted Weimann for the second, not Benteke". I was sure it was Benteke Papillon but I did have my head in my hands at the time... "The FA cup is just a distraction anyway. We need to concentrate on survival". It is a sad state of affairs when we have to see the FA Cup as a distraction but we were never going to win that and we can now concentrate on the league and lets hope that will do the trick AVFCForever1991.

Point taken Tamuff-Villa. This has been a sad week of cup exits indeed.

"I wouldn't trust Lambert to spend any more money Lerner that was to give him. I suspect Lerner may well feel the same way". We have everything to lose Londonlax if he does not give him some money to try to change things. He will not provide any money and what other manager would come in at this stage? Even Brian Clough would struggle to keep this squad up without bringing players in. The owner is prepared to take a big risk but we will be the ones watching the likes of Charlton at Villa Park next season rather than Chelsea and he does not even turn up to watch them.

Two cup knock outs against lower league teams this week. The owner has to open the purse strings now if we are to have any hope of staying up but it seems he has accepted our relegation already and is far too happy to accept it than he should be. A central defender and two central midfield players are needed as a minimum. Relegation is not the bright future we were told to expect!

Replay.

"I like Bent but I do think we need a defender and midfielders more than we need a goal poacher right now, it seems barmy that he is not being sold to generate funds". I take your point VillanousOne but I would not want to see him leaving for a team who he would score goals for to keep them up and send us down and should Benteke miss games who would we be left with up front? I also doubt the offers would be big enough to make it worth taking the risk of selling him and would doubt the money would be spent on players in any case. Those 2 lads from Derby would be good buys now and as Benteke has shown the right young players can move a club forwards but those sort of players do not come cheap. Lambo wanted to bring in young players with a re-sale value and if he had been given enough money to buy the likes of Hughes from Derby or Zaha from Palace or the young German prospects that I guess our now departing scout was appointed to identify he would have stood a better chance of making something happen for us this season. But he was asked to turn things around on the cheap so could only sign one player for big money and had to hope others would hit the ground running knowing some might sink rather than swim. The lack of transfer action in this window given our current plight is just not acceptable and the days are running out for our owner to do something about things. I fear the signs are that he will not and will be content to fiddle while Villa burns.