John

Agreed both. The feeling for me was one of relief at the end.

Noted keefa3011. I agree with the flaws in his performance that you have identified. Westwood was a clear man of the match for me Stevo985 and he was very near to getting an 8. I agree 100% that he has made a great start with us.

Source: Player Match Ratings: A golden goal!

This was a game that will not live too long in the memory and one that seemed to be meandering to an inevitable stalemate until Benteke struck of 80 minutes to give us the win. But the three points we gained may prove very important come the end of the season. A display approaching that we had produced in our last two home games against Manchester United and Arsenal would have produced a win with something to spare last night. But our performance did not come close to the level we had delivered in those previous games and we have to appreciate that it will be the results that we get in 6 pointers like this one that will secure our place in the top flight this season quicker than any we might get against the odds in our more high profile games against the top four. But win it we did and to have done anything less would have made life even more difficult than it will be now in the weeks before the transfer window opens and in the months that follow it closing when we along with those clubs who are keeping us company in the bottom six have concluded any transfer business. It was a dismal game and one that will have neutrals concluding that both clubs will face a relegation battle this season that they might not win. I was alarmed by the fact that there was so little to choose between the two teams last night and by our inability to apply any real pressure until the last twenty minutes of the game. But I trust this young team under Paul Lambert’s leadership can get better and with some additions in the transfer window we can pull clear of the threat of relegation before this season gets into the last month or at least before the final day of this season. What decided this game was a young striker who we signed in the last window. What we need to do is to unearth a couple more at a similar fee that can make as big an impression as he has done. We also need to get points on the board from our next two games. Six would leave us on 19 points and possibly half way to safety. Three would leave us with the equivalent of a point from each of our games this season and for me that is the minimum target for these next two games and for the rest of the season. My player ratings from a game that once again took us out of the bottom three are: Brad Guzan – 7 – Came for a cross on the edge of the box on 64 minutes without getting to it but kept out a Roberts shot with his leg 2 minutes later and had another good game and another clean sheet. Matthew Lowton - 7 – Another encouraging defensive performance. Nathan Baker – 6 – Looked understandably rusty on occasions early on but he settled down well enough and got up well to head down a Bannan corner on 32 minutes that bounced over the bar. Ciaran Clark – 7 – Looked good again last night and might have opened the scoring on the hour when he headed a Bannan corner across the face of the goal and past the far post. Enda Stevens - 6 – Replaced due to injury on 24 minutes. Ashley Westwood – 7 – Ran the middle again he makes himself available and it is rare and a surprise if he does not make good use of the ball. Brett Holman - 6 – Hit a shot from the edge of the box on 55 minutes that brushed the side netting but Federici had it covered. Substituted on 67 minutes after another hard working display and earned this start with his last substitute appearance. Barry Bannan - 5 – Some way below the performance level he hit at the weekend and too many balls went astray. He lost the ball on the edge of the box on 10 minutes and must have been as relieved as we were when the ball flashed just wide of the post from a touch from the resultant cross. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 6 – Kept busy and put in a shift but less of a threat than he might have been expected to have been to a defence who would surely have been worried by his pace. Andreas Weimann – 5 – Can and has done much better than this. He kept working but should have done better on 7 minutes when his cross was placed behind Holman when a goal scoring opportunity looked on. He was then found inside the box by Benteke who squared the ball to him on 27 minutes only for him to blast his shot well over the bar. Had a shot deflected wide on 51 minutes after Westwood had found him. Christian Benteke - 8 – MOTM – Got up well to head home a corner and to win us the game with just 10 minutes remaining. Had earlier steadied himself on 17 minutes and hit an on target shot but one which did not trouble keeper Federici who saved it at the foot of his post. Lacked service but worked well with what he did get. Substitutes: Eric Lichaj – 6 - Replaced Enda on 24 minutes and did well enough. Stephen Ireland - 7 - Replaced Holman on 67 minutes. Got a header from the edge of the box on target on 75 minutes but it was never going to trouble the keeper. Gave us dome missing spark when he came on. Marc Albrighton – 4 - Replaced Weimann on 68 minutes. Made no positive impression and hit a wild and embarrassingly bad cross on 79 minutes with players in the box waiting. Marc has been so much better than this. Up the Villa and Stay Strong Captain! John Lewis

"Did you even watch the game" - I did. I assume you did as well and would have given Enda a higher or lower rating than I did CI. "if that performance is one that we're happy with then it's no wonder we are where we are in the league". For me it was good to see Barry getting nearer to the level he has produced in the past daggy-333 and I look forward to him taking confidence from this one and getting back to his previous best and then moving up another gear. For me we are where we are in the league now because we let players go without signing like for like replacements. "a 0-0 bore". I think as 0-0 games go this was a decent enough one Woodytom although the length of time since we had a run of good home games may well have lowered my expectation levels a tad.

We claimed a vital point and a clean sheet to boot yesterday. The game may have been goalless but we did not leave it pointless and that was a bonus given the calibre of the opposition. Our youngsters can take some confidence from this one. A win against Reading may now just give us the lift we need to reach the 40 point target that has been looking a very tough ask of late. It was a game that I would have been happy with a point from at the start and so it turned out. This is an improving young Villa side and the crucial question is now whether it can improve quickly enough to be safe come the end of the season. Arsenal were not at their best yesterday but that is no concern of ours and should not detract from another good performance at Villa Park. Last season we would have stood back and invited them to come onto us but this season we are willing to try to match sides like this and to seek points rather than damage limitation. Chances were at a premium but they did come to each team although it would have been harsh for either side to have lost this game as it was when we lost our last home game. We have gone head to head at Villa Park with two of the Premier League big hitters in our last two home games. We produced whole hearted displays in both and gave each of them a tough game. We now need to reproduce the same level of performance on Tuesday against a team that will be challenging in the bottom four this season rather than in the top four. A win would give us some breathing space between us and the drop zone but anything less just will not be good enough. My player ratings from a game from which we earned a hard gained point that took us out of the bottom three are: Brad Guzan – 6 – Did very well to get his foot to a goal bound shot from Ramsey which had took a deflection off a defender on 29 minutes. Matthew Lowton - 7 – Another good display and he filled in very well when asked to move over into the centre to cover for Vlaar. Ron Vlaar – 7 – Rock steady until an injury forced him off on 61 minutes. Let us hope he can emerge from the treatment room (or should it be called the Bermuda Triangle) quicker than others who have entered there before him this season and have yet to re-emerge! Ciaran Clark – 7 – I was impressed with the way he was not fazed when he was left as our most senior central defender following the departure of Vlaar with half an hour remaining. Prevented a late winner for Gervinho on 87 minutes when he did so well to get to a nice cross from Arshavin as Gervinho waited to tap it in. Enda Stevens - 6 – He can hold his head up high after this one. Facing up to players of the quality that Arsenal can muster might have been too much for some inexperienced players to cope with but he may just have a touch of the late Eamon Deacy about him for me and he kept at his game for the full 90 minutes. Ashley Westwood – 7 – MOTM - Has made rapid progress since his introduction to the first team and it looks like he has the work ethic and desire to further improve. Ran the show in the middle, showed composure and worked well with Bannan. Karim El Ahmadi - 5 – Needs to start putting his stamp more on games. He seemed on the periphery of things at times although his booking may have played on his mind when it came to making challenges. Barry Bannan - 7 – A hard working display and he is at long last approaching the level of performances we had seen from him in the past. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 7 – Really put in a shift yesterday and seems to have found some of his old pace and enthusiasm. He was looking to get on the end of a ball from the half way line from Vlaar that Szczesny slid out of the box with on 37 minutes that did not earn the keeper any booking from referee Mason who gave him the benefits of any doubt as he did his team mates throughout. There were also appeals for a penalty when Gabby ran onto a Benteke flick on but Mertesacker got his foot to the ball and his challenge was a good one. On 68 minutes Holman exchanged a couple of nice passes with Benteke before playing the ball wide to Gabby inside the box but his shot was straight at the keeper who collected it at his second attempt. Andreas Weimann – 7 – Worked himself into the ground before he left the field with just injury time to be played out. A nice ball from Westwood on 14 minutes found Andreas wide and on the edge of the box and instead of looking to cross he tried to beat Szczesny at his near post and forced a save from the keeper. He was caught offside on 38 minutes when he turned in the ball from close range after Clark had done very well to find space inside the box and his shot from a Bannan cross had fallen to him. Christian Benteke - 7 – Held the ball up well again and wins ball in the air at will. He has very soon become the man that most worries opposition defences. Substitutes: Eric Lichaj – 6 - Replaced Ron on 61 minutes and did well enough. Brett Holman – 7 - Replaced El Ahmadi on 61 minutes and was unlucky not to have opened the scoring on 78 minutes when Westwood threaded the ball through to him well and he hit a screamer from the edge of the box that Szczesny just managed to get enough of a hand to in order to deflect it onto the crossbar. Marc Albrighton – Replaced Weimann on 90 minutes. Not on long enough to earn a rating. Up the Villa and Stay Strong Captain! John Lewis

When was the last time we had 3 consecutive seasons where relegation was a serious worry? How far back do we have to go? We were 19th of 22 in Division 1 in 63-64 Big John, 16th in both 64/65 & 65/66 and went down in 21st place in 67-68. In Division 2 the next season 68/69 we were 18th and went down in 69-70 in 21st position. So I would go for 67-68, 68/69 & 69/70.

Agreed keefa3011 it can only help those young players to have gone toe to toe with opponents like this and to come out of the game with their heads held high. Noted and point understood KjParton.

It was like Groundhog Day yesterday. Our young team gave everything against the league leaders but ultimately surrendered a two goal lead to come away empty handed. Football can be a cruel game and the 17 seasons of hurt since we last beat Manchester United in the league at Villa Park continues. Well we certainly gave Manchester United more of a game than they may have anticipated and took the game to them rather than sat back and tried to limit the damage from the opening whistle. The boss kept faith with the team that brought us a win at Sunderland and they rewarded him with an encouraging display. Manchester United had the bulk of the first half possession but we created more openings and went in a goal to the good with a splendid first on the stroke of half time. We then added a second 5 minutes after the re-start and dared to dream of an unexpected three points. But we have been there before and when they pulled one back 8 minutes later and added a second 5 minutes after that it seemed inevitable they would get a winner and they did with 3 minutes of normal time to spare. They had the better of the second half and although Ashley Young’s substitution was greeted with cheers it was his replacement that went on to win them the game. Fergie said after the game that “Villa did fantastic today” and added that it was “a great game”. He was right on both counts but whether he would have been quite so magnanimous had we held onto that lead is open to question. The league leaders are not unfamiliar with being behind in games and winning them this season. They are a team who are confident that they can turn things around although Fergie’s regular demonstrations to the referee that his wrist watch is shock absorbent showed he might not have been too confident that they would have enough time to grab a point let alone a winner. Alan Hansen felt our win 17 years ago at Villa Park demonstrated that “you can’t win anything with kids”. Yesterday those words came back to haunt us. My player ratings from a game that on 19 minutes the opposition supporters demonstrated a lack of respect that would surely have embarrassed both their manager and players are: Brad Guzan – 6 – Made a good one handed save from Rooney on 65 minutes. Conceded three and was fortunate to see Van Persie rattle the bar rather than hit the net twice in a minute on 72 minutes with his head from a Rooney corner and then with a 25 yard shot. Came out to Hernandez after Scholes had played a ball between Clark and Stevens who was playing the Mexican onside only for the player who first appeared to get the ball stuck underneath his feet to then thread it through his legs for their vital first. Matthew Lowton - 7 – Looks steadier and more composed with each game. Ron Vlaar – 7 – So solid particularly in the first half and it was very harsh on him that he deflected in their equalizer on 63 minutes. Ciaran Clark – 6 – Could not get a decisive challenge in on Hernandez for their first. Played his part in keeping the defence solid until they breeched the dam. Enda Stevens - 6 – A tough full home debut and Valencia gave him an uncomfortable time. Lost Hernandez for their winner but kept plugging away. Ashley Westwood – 6 – Played his part in the middle and he will improve further with more first team games. Stephen Ireland - 7 – Tried to play a one-two with Weimann on 14 minutes but the return ball never came with him unmarked on the edge of the box. Hit a decent shot wide of the post on 35 minutes when the ball had run loose from Weimann. Provided some invention in the middle in what was his 50th game for us. Barry Bannan - 6 – Missed his kick on the edge of the box and Rooney played it wide for Rafael whose cross to the far post found Hernandez open and his effort was helped in for their equalizer. Did pretty well overall. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 6 – Ireland found him with a nice ball on 18 minutes but his cross was some way from Benteke. Lovely cross for our second and gave their full back some anxious moments. Andreas Weimann – 8 – Collected a brace of goals and was denied a hat-trick on 66 minutes that would have given us the lead again when his header from a measured Bannan cross was well saved by De Gea. I was sorry to see him leave the field on 80 minutes although he had worked himself so hard because it seemed as if he if anyone might just have had another goal in him. Hit his first on the stroke of half time. He started the move in his own half finding Benteke wide who put in a strong run and bullied Smalling off the ball before hitting a perfect ball to Andreas whose drilled shot evaded De Gea’s fist and thudded into the centre of the net. Added his second on 50 minutes when Westwood’s ball was cleverly stepped over and Ireland swept the ball wide to Gabby who was in space and hit a perfect cross into the box that he met in front of Ferdinand and applied the required finish to. Christian Benteke - 8 – MOTM - He was immense yesterday. Held the ball up well, won everything in the air and ran at defenders with strength and pace. Reminded me a little of Andy Gray yesterday. Substitutes: Karim El Ahmadi – Replaced Ireland on 79 minutes and he along with the 2 substitutes who followed did not have enough playing time to earn a rating. Brett Holman – Replaced Weimann on 80 minutes. Made the biggest impact of the three replacements and had an effort blocked in Fergie time. Fabian Delph – Replaced Bannan on 87 minutes and they scored their winner with the free-kick that allowed him on. Not on long enough to earn a rating. Up the Villa and Stay Strong Captain! John Lewis

Some great nights out there in the early 80s particularly when it was in Needless Alley. Long gone like many of the pubs of the 70s & 80s such as The Parisian, The Golden Eagle and The Parasol to name but 3.

Our worst start to a league season since 1969-70 along with a run of just 2 home league wins in 12 months has started those alarm bells ringing for the claret & blue!This was a six pointer albeit it was only our ninth game of the season. We now need to get points in the forthcoming games that on paper we would seem to have little chance of winning to try to keep out of the bottom three that is currently beckoning us in. I think our six points to date are around 4 - 5 below par and these points need to be made up sooner rather than later. I think those of us who have some confidence that we can turn things around base this optimism on a hope that this team will get better with games and experience and will not this season hit the wall as we so regularly do during March. There is also an expectation that Randy will bring in some much needed reinforcements in the next window rather than primarily use it to try to move on players who are not now regularly starting games such as Bent, N’Zogbia and Ireland for example who also coincidently happen to be among our highest earners. Norwich started brightly and it was the home team rather than the away one that had to weather the first 20 minutes. But we did so and claimed the bonus of a goal against the run of play on 27 minutes and a lead that we somehow held onto up until 11 minutes before full time. But we were the team hanging on for a point at the end and Bennett’s sending off left us down to ten men with over an hour of the game to go and facing a rear guard action for the rest of the second half as Norwich pushed men forward in numbers and they will have left the ground thinking this was on the balance of play a point lost rather than one gained. Our squad is being severely tested by injury and suspension and this was a game that resembled a little too closely some of the inept home performances we grew accustomed to last season. We had a flat midfield yesterday that left inviting gaps in the centre and lacked any creativity comprising of two wide players and two holding players. Chances for us were rare but we took one of them. Chances for them were plentiful but they only took one of them late in the game thanks largely to our keeper’s heroics. My player ratings from a game that has left us just two points clear of the drop zone are: Brad Guzan – 9 – MOTM – We would have lost this game by some distance without him. Brad came off his line well to turn Hoolahan’s shot wide of the post with his outstretched left foot on 22 minutes. On 64 minutes he denied the same player by making himself big at his near post and getting his chest/shoulder in the way of his shot. Was left a spectator on 79 minutes when Turner’s flicked header flew across him and into the corner of the unguarded net after his defence had not reacted to the possibility of a short corner being taken having 2 minutes earlier come off his line after Holt had out muscled Delph to block his shot with his legs. Matthew Lowton - 6 – Did his bit in holding the defence together in the face of some heavy pressure. Ron Vlaar – 7 – Solid as concrete and led the defence by example particularly after we went down to ten men. Perhaps a little fortunate to get away with a first half challenge on Bennett on the edge of the box. Chris Herd – 6 – Did as well as could have been expected playing as a makeshift centre half. It will be time to give him a run in the centre of our midfield for me when we get one of our central defenders fit. Booked on 63 minutes by Dowd who pointed to three alleged previous offences as justification for this at a time that we had only committed 7 fouls and 2 of these had led to the sending off! Joe Bennett - 4 – Found his namesake more than a handful and was rightly booked on 29 minutes for a rash unnecessary tackle on him. He then showed naivety on 51 minutes by presenting referee Dowd with the opportunity to give him a second yellow when he got entangled with Bennett on the touchline as he tried to run onto a one-two, Bennett appealed and for once Dowd did not question whether a harsh sending off might ruin a game as a spectacle! Brett Holman – 5 – His least effective performance for us to date for me. Played a one-two with Benteke on the edge of the box on 7 minutes but his shot was too weak to trouble the keeper and end a move that had begun on the edge of our own box. Did not impose himself on this game in the way he has in others and we have come to expect more of him than this. Karim El Ahmadi - 6 – Did what he was signed to do well enough but he is not a play maker and that among other things is what this midfield lacks. Fabian Delph – 4 – Had potentially looked a good signing but Fabian’s progress has been hampered by injury. He has started a number of games this season and he now needs to do better than this if he is to prove he can make it at this level. Marc Albrighton – 4 – Meandered away from the vacated post that Turner’s equalizer went in at and spurned one of our rare opportunities by feeling he needed to take a touch rather than hit the ball first time. Seems some way off the player he was when he was introduced into the first team. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 5 – His league goal drought continues and a forward needs to score goals to retain a starting place doesn’t he? But he played a good ball into the box on 34 minutes behind Benteke but into space that none of our midfield players had tried to get forward with him to fill and played a part in the build up to our goal. Christian Benteke - 7 – Made the most of what limited service he got and won more than his fair share of challenges. He puts himself around more than Bent but surely we need to give them a run playing together? Claimed our goal on 27 minutes after Gabby had held the ball up well before pushing it out wide to Albrighton whose first time cross found Christian who was unmarked and so had the chance to take a touch before hitting a sweet shot into the corner of the net past Ruddy who had dived the wrong way. Got a header on target on 46 minutes from an Albrighton cross which lacked the power to beat Ruddy at the foot of his near post having on 45 minutes directed a header from a Bennett cross nicely which had also lacked the power to trouble the keeper. Substitutes: Eric Lichaj – 5 - Replaced Gabby on 54 minutes in an attempt to minimise the disruption to our line up caused by the sending off. Failed to get any sort of challenge in on Turner for their 79th minute equalizer. Darren Bent – 5 – Replaced Benteke on 69 minutes and did not see much of the ball as an isolated lone striker as we were by then well under the cosh. Andreas Weimann – Replaced Holman on 76 minutes so not on long enough to earn a rating but it is nice to see him getting some sort of playing time again. Up the Villa and Stay Strong Captain! John Lewis Click here to view the article

Great memories. I did all 3 finals and Chris hit that shot just in front of where we were standing. Superb game as was the semi-final replay against QPR when Brian Little hit a hat-trick to get us to that final. By the way, I will never forget the first game at Wembley when our coach pulled alongside the Everton team coach on the way out of London after the game and their coach was "mooned" by one and all for a full couple of minutes as we waited together in a traffic jam. Gordon Lee was up on his feet pointing and laughing and the Everton team were falling about. What a great craic it was!

He is now back on parade with his platoon and will still be that moment too late when it comes to standing to attention. He played a big part in what was a great show alongside his band of brothers.

Lambo should show the players the highlights of the 1970 League Cup Semi Final and tell them that if then Third Division Villa could turn them over that night with Charlton, Law, Best and even Jimmy Rimmer up against them why they cannot do the same to Rooney and Young this time.

It is high time we marked what he did for us as our manager by naming a stand after him or adding a statue outside the Holte End with the quote "do you want to bet against us" underneath it for example. It would also be great to do this when he would be fit and able to take part in the unveiling as would most of the lads who played for the club at the time. Over to you Randy... Many happy returns boss and thanks for those glory days!

I heard on BBC Radio WM tonight that their auditors have pulled out and the "club" say that will further delay the issue of their accounts. For how long will they be allowed to drag this out? Relegate them now...

Lambert's return. Can we make the semi final or will this be the end of the road?

"If we're in the shit at Christmas, I expect Randy will chuck £20-30m in." I expect he may chuck in any money we may get from selling players who are not getting games consistently MMfy such as say Bent and/or N'Zogbia. I think that would be too big a risk to take with our football club but I do think the best we can hope for would be any money from sales and say half (£10m -£15m) from his back pocket.

"It certainly is a risky ploy from Lambert not spending some of his 20million summer budget on proven PL players". I don't see he had much option AVFCTheObsession. How many decent proven players that were available would he have got with £20m? Three or possibly four. But we needed more and so he got what he was able with the money he was given. We have gone down the route of signing hungry players who will give it all and might just become experienced PL players with us. We did not have the money to sign a number of players at £7m + or to sign players with higher wage demands than we are prepared to meet. So it is a risk but for me it is Randy who is taking it and we are lucky to have a manager like PL who might just pull us out of trouble before squeaky bum time arrives on the last day of the season.

So Thailand is being speculated as the base for one of the Far East groups that are looking at buying Small Heath. Ladyboys Reunited possibly?

So he has sent us an apology saying "there had been no intention to cause offence". I fail to see how saying we "are completely useless" could cause anything other than offence unless we were "completely useless" and we unlike them are currently not. I would guess that most Rangers fans would be less than pleased with this sort of comment just now. He really does need to sort his own club out before he attempts to belittle another. I think there is a case to be made for some representation for a Scottish team in any future 2 tier super league but Celtic are now way ahead of Rangers for what would be likely to be only one place in the second league. But that would only be if such a league was to be based on geography as well as on actual or anticipated revenue. But what Villa or Rangers fan has cause for concern on the potential make up of a possible future league that neither of us would be likely to get an invitation to as things stand?

We missed out on The Olympics and I would like to think we have learned our lesson by now. I fully support bringing the Rugby World Cup to Villa Park. I for one would prefer 30 rugby players playing on our pitch than Take That and their fans on it and no prizes for guessing which event I would pay good money to watch.

Yes it is a one way street AshVilla. Production costs go down the price remains the same if they go up the cost is passed straight on to the customer. Still there may be a bonus in it for the suits and that is their primary motivation.

It has been a long time since we have seen the best of Gabby for a prolonged period. Injury and the role he has sometimes been asked to fill has played some part in this. He has had the odd game or moment in a game on occasion that he has shown us a reminder of the player he has and can be but he has reached the crossroads now. He could have been an England regular and should be a starter with us up front game in and game out but it is something you have to work to earn and wherever and whenever you get a first team appearance you have to prove to any boss that he has no alternative other than to play you in the starting line up for the following game. The ball is now firmly in Gabby's court. He has the ability and should be at his playing peak now so he needs to show the motivation and the will to prove those who may doubt him that he can be a regular scorer and a player who stays involved in games for 90 minutes or this may prove another season that passes him by.

Or run out of money?