retired_amyslack

April 2005

We had another weekend off due to World Cup qualifiers so most of the players were well rested for the visit of Chelsea. The London millionaires were in 3rd place in the table, ten points off the pace being set by local rivals Arsenal. I had to rest Barry and Angel as they had both returned from their internationals looking quite jaded.

Villa v Chelsea
For the first 20 minutes we were all over the visitors, creating some great chances and taking the lead when Vassell and Mathis combined for the American to score his 4th of the season. The turning point came when an effort from Cruz struck the post and the visitors seemed to respond to their let off, scoring three times in an 8-minute period to effectively kill off the game. We worked hard but lacked the spark to retrieve the deficit and finished with a disappointing 3-1 defeat.

Villan : Sørensen – I’m afraid that I blame home for two of the goals, both shots from some way out that he should have dealt with better.
League position : 7th.


We travelled down to Crystal Palace really needing a win to get some momentum back into our campaign and I decided to pair Angel with Mathis up front to see if that would re-invigorate our attack.

Palace v Villa
A frustrating first half ended scoreless as I watched my team carve out a number of decent chances and miss all of them. But that all changed in a ten minute spell just after the restart. Bierofka put us in front when he tucked the ball away from a narrow angle and then Angel scored twice to put the result beyond doubt.

Hero : Angel – he scored two important goals and hopefully he will keep his scoring run going.
League position : 7th.


I was given an indication of the potential of some of our youngsters when the Under-18 team were crowned as league champions early in the month and I will be keeping a close eye on how the youngsters are developing.

With just five games left to play we needed to keep winning to hold on to our European place but the first match on the schedule was a toughie – a visit from Man United. Our task was made all the harder when Angel was injured in a training session so I reluctantly called Vassell back into the lineup.

Villa v Man U
Who would have believed that the much-maligned Darius Vassell would turn out to be our match winner? Not me, that’s for sure. But he scored both goals in our 2-0 win, Daniel Bierofka setting him up on each occasion. The first came after 5 minutes and the second on 83 and in between it was a pretty even encounter. United’s main chances came through shots from distance and Sørensen made three excellent stops to keep a clean sheet.

Hero : Vassell – I take it all back Darius, if only you could do that every week!
League position : 7th.


With one hurdle overcome the next obstacle was a visit to Tottenham, the team one place and six points ahead of us. A win would keep our European hopes well and truly alive but a defeat would not end them. Angel took a seat on the bench as he was still not fully fit and I crossed my fingers and hoped against hope that Vassell would deliver the goods again.

Spurs v Villa
An early goal by Jermain Defoe wasn’t exactly the start I had hoped for and for the remainder of the half we struggled to generate any kind of attacking rhythm. I made a couple of changes at the break, Solano and Angel replacing Rasmussen and Mathis respectively. This did seem to pep us up and we looked much more threatening after that. Then an injury to Vassell with 20 minutes remaining required a re-shuffle, Cruz moving up front and McCann coming on into midfield. Within minutes Gavin had squared the game, tapping in after a frantic goalmouth scramble. But with 5 minutes remaining we conceded a second, Michael Brown sending a low daisy-cutter into the bottom corner with my Great Dane looking flat-footed.

Villan : Sørensen – his inconsistency makes me weep and after playing so well last weekend he let us down today.
League position : 7th.


We welcomed the visit of Southampton fully aware that local rivals Birmingham were breathing down our necks just two points behind us. No one would be happy if the Blues overtook us and snatched our place in the UEFA Cup.

Villa v Saints
We rode our luck in the early stages and the visitors came close to scoring when a shot from Kevin Phillips came back off the post. But we gradually began to establish ourselves and even though the game was still goalless at half time we were looking like the better team. We took the lead within ten minutes of the restart, Mathis heading home from a Bierofka cross. But on the hour mark Anders Svensson scored from just outside the area and we were back to square one. However with ten minutes remaining Bierofka rounded off a fine display by scoring the winning goal to give us a priceless three points

Hero : Bierofka – the German winger has been the buy of the season for us and yet another stellar performance gave us a good win.
League position : 7th.

I was pleased to see Birmingham drop a point in a 2-2 draw at relegated Norwich and one more win from our final two games would seal a 7th place finish.

retired_brinker317

This is excellent Bob - not a bad first season either, if you scrape 7th.

retired_amyslack

Cheers Stu

May 2005

We could make sure of a place in the UEFA Cup with a win at Middlesbrough in our penultimate game of the season.

Boro v Villa
It was a great match for the neutral but it certainly didn’t do my blood pressure any good! Boro striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink may have had a public falling out with his manager but it doesn’t seem to have affected his form and he fired his team ahead early on with a trademark howitzer. They doubled their advantage shortly before half time through Karagounis to send us into the changing rooms with a mountain to climb. Rasmussen was struggling with a knock so I sent out Solano for the second half and what an impact he made, scoring twice in six minutes to square the game. But the excitement was far from over as the home side re-took the lead through Zenden on 83. We weren’t dead yet though and in stoppage time Bierofka scored a beauty on the break to snatch an invaluable point.

Hero : Solano – Nobby may be set on leaving the club but I was very impressed with his contribution today.
Villan : Sørensen – another confidence-lacking display left me tearing my hair out. He has the ability but in my opinion he lacks the mental strength required of a top-class keeper.
League position : 7th.


Crunch time – the last game of the season, at home to Newcastle knowing that a draw would likely be enough for European qualification. The Mags have had a good season under Graeme Souness, sitting 5th in the table and having won the League Cup on penalties against Man United. They need a win to guarantee 5th place and I expected a hard game. I took the decision to drop Sørensen as I felt that his confidence was shot and so Postma would play his final game for the club before his summer move.

Villa v Mags
We must be Newcastle’s bogey team – having beaten them 4-0 at St. James’s Park in December we repeated that scoreline at Villa Park today. Angel scored a very early goal and we held our lead right up to the break. In the second half we really blitzed them, Angel scoring his second and Cruz and Rasmussen both finding the net. My decision to play Postma was vindicated as he made some fine saves to bow out with a clean sheet.

Hero : Angel – with 21 goals for the season Juan Pablo has been a key player for us.
League position : 7th.


What a great way to end the season! Our final position of 7th brings with it over £8M in prize money. A dramatic finale to the season saw long-time leaders Arsenal overtaken at the death by Chelsea with Bolton and Crystal Palace joining Norwich in the relegation places. But I have been guilty of counting my chickens before they were hatched as far as Europe is concerned. I had overlooked the fact that the FA Cup Final would feature Arsenal and West Brom. With the Gunners already secure in the Champions League, the Baggies defeat in the final was small compensation to our fans as they took our UEFA Cup place anyway. The final qualifiers were

Champions League – Chelsea, Arsenal, Man United, Tottenham
UEFA Cup – Liverpool, Newcastle (League Cup winners), West Brom (FA Cup runners-up)
Inter-Toto – Villa, Birmingham

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Chelsea | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 68 | 33 | +35 | 75 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 2nd | | Arsenal | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 80 | 38 | +42 | 74 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 3rd | | Man Utd | 38 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 73 | 38 | +35 | 70 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 4th | | Tottenham | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 53 | 37 | +16 | 70 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 5th | | Liverpool | 38 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 51 | 29 | +22 | 67 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 6th | | Newcastle | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 49 | 41 | +8 | 66 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 7th | | ASTON VILLA | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 66 | 38 | +28 | 61 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 8th | | Birmingham | 38 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 55 | 42 | +13 | 57 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 9th | | Blackburn | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 43 | 47 | -4 | 51 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 10th | | Portsmouth | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 47 | 49 | -2 | 50 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 11th | | Fulham | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 53 | 50 | +3 | 49 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 12th | | Everton | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 47 | 46 | +1 | 48 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 13th | | Man City | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 53 | 56 | -3 | 46 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 14th | | Southampton | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 47 | 54 | -7 | 45 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 15th | | West Brom | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 42 | 61 | -19 | 44 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 16th | | Middlesbrough | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 48 | 69 | -21 | 42 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 17th | | Charlton | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | 40 | 67 | -27 | 36 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 18th | R | Crystal Palace | 38 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 42 | 72 | -30 | 34 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 19th | R | Bolton | 38 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 37 | 71 | -34 | 34 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| 20th | R | Norwich | 38 | 5 | 4 | 29 | 22 | 78 | -56 | 19 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>
There have been some very good performers for us this season with most of the new signings doing well and several of our established players showing their value to the team. Overall I was disappointed with keeper Sørensen and though his stats looked good – he conceded 37 goals in 40 games and had 18 clean sheets – I felt that he let us down on some key occasions and my feeling is that he is not mentally tough enough. I certainly want to bring in a new first choice for next season.

The back four were excellent – Delaney and Barry are a good full back pairing and the Mellberg/Laursen combination in the centre was strong. Eric Djemba Djemba became a fixture as our holding midfielder, proving my pre-season opinion of him to be just plain wrong. Rasmussen and Bierofka were outstanding on the wings and Cruz was highly effective playing “in the hole”.

I can’t help being a bit disappointed with the strikers. A return of 21 goals from Angel was certainly respectable and had Cole not suffered a broken leg he would surely have added to his 15. But Vassell proved to be as ineffective as I had feared and Mathis, whilst he has his strengths, is not a natural goalscorer.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Name | Apps | Gls | Ast | MoM | Pas | Tck | Drb | Sh T | Av Rat| | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Daniel Bierofka | 30 | 7 | 13 | 5 | 78% | 1.93 | 4.33 | 39% | 7.90 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Carlton Cole | 20 (1)| 15 | 1 | 3 | 83% | 1.07 | 3.56 | 55% | 7.86 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Juan Pablo Angel | 34 (5)| 21 | 15 | 5 | 83% | 0.60 | 1.99 | 58% | 7.74 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Julio Ricardo Cruz | 32 (3)| 17 | 6 | 4 | 81% | 1.54 | 1.26 | 54% | 7.69 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | David Rasmussen | 27 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 72% | 3.21 | 4.24 | 14% | 7.56 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Eric Djemba Djemba | 37 (1)| 3 | 2 | 3 | 80% | 4.26 | 0.79 | 40% | 7.53 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Mark Delaney | 37 | - | 2 | 1 | 77% | 3.32 | 1.16 | - | 7.49 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Gareth Barry | 41 | - | 4 | - | 80% | 2.40 | 0.76 | - | 7.44 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Ulises de la Cruz | 7 | - | - | - | 71% | 3.55 | 0.82 | - | 7.43 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Peter Whittingham | 12 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 78% | 3.04 | 2.03 | 45% | 7.42 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Olof Mellberg | 40 | - | 2 | - | 75% | 1.63 | 0.28 | - | 7.40 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Nolberto Solano | 15 (8)| 5 | 5 | 1 | 78% | 3.15 | 1.73 | 47% | 7.35 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Martin Laursen | 37 | - | - | 1 | 70% | 2.31 | 0.14 | - | 7.32 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Thomas Sørensen | 40 | - | - | 1 | 51% | - | 0.07 | - | 7.25 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Stefan Postma | 4 | - | - | - | 56% | - | - | - | 7.25 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Clint Mathis | 13 (9)| 5 | 4 | 1 | 82% | 0.76 | 1.22 | 41% | 7.23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Fatmir Vata | 12 (9)| 2 | 7 | - | 82% | 2.06 | 2.00 | 43% | 7.19 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Jlloyd Samuel | 5 (1) | - | - | - | 85% | 2.55 | 0.55 | - | 7.17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Darius Vassell | 18 (1)| 5 | 5 | - | 84% | 1.11 | 2.66 | 56% | 7.11 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Lorenzo Amoruso | 10 (1)| 1 | - | - | 74% | 0.98 | 0.10 | - | 7.09 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Vaclav Drobny | 1 (1) | - | - | - | 78% | 0.67 | - | - | 7.00 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Luke Moore | 2 (8) | 1 | 1 | - | 78% | 0.66 | 2.31 | - | 6.80 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Gavin McCann | 4 (13)| 1 | - | - | 77% | 3.74 | 0.58 | - | 6.76 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_embartl

back to normal for the Villa then - about where we used to finish almost every year - :thup: Good finish - strikers did well! A couple of my favourite ever live matches came in the Intertoto

Such a wonderful bonus to see Bolton relegated too :thup:

retired_amyslack

Thanks Bri

June 2005

With the players released for a well-deserved break it was time for me to start planning for next season. One of the first things I did was to offer Loernzo Amoruso a new 1-year deal as his current contract would expire at the end of the month. Although big Lol didn’t feature much last season as my first choice pairing stayed relatively injury free I felt that the Italian was still a good backup player to have available.

An important task that I wanted to complete over the summer was to evaluate the youngsters in the squad and take a view on who could potentially make the step up to the first team. This would also involve releasing some players too as I made a judgement on who would not make the grade. On the goalkeeping front I wasn’t too excited about any of the lads – only 17-year-old Stephen Henderson looked like he was worth keeping so he was offered a deal. I was quite excited about a couple of young centre backs however. 17-year-old Dane Magnus Troest had played well for the Under-18s and I was tempted to move him into the reserves. I was definitely going to move Liam Ridgewell into the first team squad as the 20-year-old had done well in the reserves. All in all I released 12 youngsters that had no place in my future plans.

I also acted on my concerns regarding our goalkeeping and striking positions by agreeing two deals, both of which would conclude at the start of July. 25-year-old Brazilian keeper Julio Cesar would join from Inter for £1.5M and Crystal Palace striker Andy Johnson agreed a £3.4M move. Despite making a healthy profit and getting an improved sponsorship deal, Deadly Doug gave me a transfer budget of £4.8M and I needed to find some way of bridging the small shortfall if both deals were to complete. The sale of 21-year-old keeper Wayne Henderson to Leeds for £325K proved to enough to tip the balance.

I was notified that we had been seeded in the Inter-Toto and that we would enter the competition in the 3rd round, which would be played in mid-July. Based on that I decided to bring the players back for pre-season training at the end of this month.

The Youth Academy produced no less than 21 graduates at the end of the summer and it will take some time for the coaching staff to evaluate the new boys but it is very encouraging to see so many new faces. This is particularly important given the fact that obtaining a decent transfer budget from my tight-fisted Chairman is akin to getting blood out of a stone.

retired_amyslack

Season 02

July 2005

Our first Inter-Toto tie would be against Northern Irish side Coleraine. Neither of my new signings would be eligible as they had arrived at the club after player registration had been completed. I had decided to try out a slightly different formation this season to take advantage of my strength in midfield. I kept a back four and still wanted a holding player in midfield but I went with a single striker and four attacking minded midfielders to try to compensate for my lack of firepower.

I wrote down the following as my preferred starting eleven.

GK – Julio Cesar
DR – Mark Delaney
DL – Gareth Barry
DC – Olof Mjellberg
DC – Martin Laursen
DMC – Eric Djemba Djemba
MC – Lee Hendrie
MC – Julio Ricardo Cruz
AML – Daniel Bierofka
AMR – David Rasmussen
SC – Andrew Johnson

Not that I could use that selection against Coleraine as Cesar and Johnson were ineligible and Rasmussen had a minor injury so Sørensen, Angel and Solano would substitute. You may be surprised to see the inclusion of the orange Mr. Hendrie but I felt that with the new formation requiring an extra midfielder then he had something to offer, although he would probably be fighting it out with Nobby for a regular start.

Coleraine v Villa
The new formation worked like a charm at Coleraine and with Cruz scoring four goals and Angel and Bierofka also on the scoresheet, our 6-0 win made the return leg a formality.

Hero : Cruz – his four goals set a new club record.


An injury to Mark Delaney in training meant that Ulises de la Cruz would start at right back for the return leg. I also decided to give McCann and Whittingham a run out to rotate the players a little.

Villa v Coleraine
Lee Hendrie scored twice in a very comfortable 4-0 win with Solano and Angel also featuring in the goals.

Hero : Hendrie – he was outstanding in midfield and if he can turn it on against top-class opposition he will have no trouble in keeping his place.

Rivals Birmingham had entered the competition in the 2nd round and had overturned a 1-0 deficit against Partizani of Albania before qualifying 3-1. They struggled in their 3rd round tie with Greek side Aigaleo, eventually winning after extra time.


We drew Israeli side Hapoel Tel-Aviv in the semi final but before we welcomed them for the 1st leg I concluded two free-transfer deals - former Juventus defender Igor Tudor and ex-Liverpool keeper Sander Westerveld. I was very happy with both of these signings and I felt that they would give me greater strength in depth.

Villa v Hapoel
It took us 55 minutes to penetrate a stubborn Tel-Aviv defence when Cruz headed home and his goal proved to be our only success of the evening.

Hero : Cruz – I would have liked a bigger cushion to take to Israel but at least we didn’t concede.

We had the satisfaction of hearing that neighbours Birmingham lost their 1st leg 1-0 at home to Bochum.

retired_amyslack

August 2005

The month started with some very surprising news – Deadly Doug had unlocked his wallet and made an extra £8M in transfer funds available. At present I had no plans to spend any of his cash but it was good to know that I had some options in the winter transfer window.

Hapoel v Villa
This was a hard struggle as the home side threw everything at us in an attempt to turn the tie around. Sørensen made some stunning saves to keep a clean sheet and Lee Hendrie saw us through with a goal in the 77th minute.

Hero : Sørensen – when his confidence is up then the Dane is a good keeper as he proved tonight.

It was sad to see Birmingham bow out of the competition, losing 2-0 on aggregate (not!!).


We were drawn against German side HSV in one of the three Inter-Toto finals and the first leg in Germany would be played three days before the start of the league campaign. But in the approach to that game we were hit with a significant injury problem when de la Cruz suffered torn ankle ligaments. After consulting a specialist the decision was taken to send him for surgery to correct the problem meaning that he will be sidelined for at least 4 months. Delaney was fit enough to play but this left us with no cover at right back in the first team squad.

HSV v Villa
We returned from Germany with a very useful 3-1 lead to protect in the 2nd leg after a real quality performance. David Rasmussen was at the heart of our win, creating two of our goals. Angel and Solano were our goalscorers and the home side chipped in with an own goal into the bargain.

Hero : Rasmussen – An excellent performance by the Danish winger put us in a strong position to make it to the UEFA Cup proper.


Our league campaign got underway with a visit from newly promoted Leeds and I took the opportunity to give Andy Johnson a start.

Villa v Leeds
It’s always nice to start the league season with a win and I must say that I was very impressed with our 5-0 drubbing of the Premiership new boys. Cruz scored an excellent hat trick with Hendrie and Johnson also on target.

Hero : Cruz – another hat trick for our in-form attacking midfielder.
League Position : 1st


A visit to an in-form Arsenal team would present a big challenge and give a good indication just how competitive we could be this season. The Gunners had been drubbed 4-1 by Chelsea in the Community Shield a fortnight earlier but last weekend they gained sweet revenge by reversing that scoreline at Stamford Bridge.

Gunners v Villa
Our 2-1 defeat showed me that there is still quite a gulf between Villa and the big three or four. We did have the handicap of both full backs having to play on with minor knocks but it took another fine display by Sørensen to keep us in the game. Angel came off then bench to score a stoppage-time consolation but the game was lost by that point.

Hero : Sørensen – it’s five clean sheets in seven games for our rejuvenated keeper.
League Position : 2nd


I had to make extensive changes to the starting eleven for the visit of HSV in the 2nd leg of our Inter-Toto Final. Full backs Barry and Delaney were both injured and with de la Cruz unavailable, young James O’Connor was called up from the reserves to fill in at right back. Several other players were ineligible and a few more were rotated to keep them fresh.

Villa v HSV
This was clearly our best performance of the season so far and even with the enforced changes we played very well. 3-0 up at the break, we added a 4th shortly after the restart for a comfortable 4-0 win on the night and a 7-1 aggregate scoreline. Whittingham scored twice and Olof Mellborg got his first of the season and just his 3rd in four years at the club.

Hero : Whittingham – a super performance from the youngster who is pushing hard for a regular starting place.

Before the end of the month we concluded the free transfer of Colombian winger Freddy Grisales and he was granted a conditional work permit that would allow him to arrive from South America when his contract expired at the end of January next year. We also received notification that we would play Hajduk in the 1st Round of the UEFA Cup and the 1st leg would be played at home. We also found out that we would face nearby Coventry in the League Cup 2nd Round.


Centre back Martin Laursen was out with a knock for the trip to Middlesbrough so Igor Tudor was handed his debut.

Boro v Villa
The home side pressured us early and late in the game, but in between times we were in charge. We survived an early scare when a Gareth Southgate header hit the post but we quickly broke upfield and Cruz scored with a wicked shot. Andy Johnson put us two up just before half time but in the last 15 minutes we were pulverised. Centre back Chris Riggot pulled a goal back and Sørensen made two or three fine stops to keep us in front.

Hero : Cruz – he’s in the form of his life at present and is averaging a goal a game from midfield.
League Position : 7th


A hectic month concluded with a visit from Chelsea and once again a few changes were necessary due to tiredness and general bumps and bruises.

Villa v Chelsea
The visitors turned up with nearly £85M worth of new talent in the squad, to add to the £60M that they spent last season. Lucio, Steven Gerrard and Dimitar Berbatov, who cost the best part of £65M between them, were all in the starting eleven and for 35 minutes they battered us. Berbatov missed a penalty and Sørensen made some fine saves. Mark Delaney dealt brilliantly with the threat of Arjen Robben and we kept the game scoreless. We took the lead on 35 minutes when Whittingham broke down the left and crossed for Hendrie to fire home. A minute before halftime we did it again, Whittingham feeding Angel this time. We continued to withstand significant pressure after the restart and on 75 minutes Robben scored a deserved goal. I feared the worst when Delaney hobbled off a minute later as I asked Tudor to deputise at right back but a minute after that another break from midfield saw Cruz and Hendrie combine to create Angel’s second to secure a brilliant 3-1 win.

Hero : Hendrie – a tough call with so many good performances but now that he has been given a clear role in the team the little orange fella is revelling in it.
League Position : 4th

A very satisfactory month has seen outstanding performances from most of the team. The tactical switch seems to have paid dividends and the squad is stronger than last year. I am particularly pleased by the way that Thomas Sørensen has responded – bringing in two new keepers seems to have re-invigorated him and he has risen to the challenge superbly. His confidence is sky-high and if he can keep us this level of performance then the number one shirt is his for the season. It was pleasing to see Cruz pick up the Player of the Month award, the first time that he has been recognised in this way.

retired_amyslack

September 2005

After a bit of a break for World Cup qualifiers we are off to the City of Manchester Stadium for a Monday night televised game.

Man City v Villa
Maybe the lads were a bit rusty after their layoff but whatever the reason it took us 45 minutes to get into our stride and by that time we were two goals down, Distin and Wright-Phillips scoring within three minutes of one another. We looked a lot better after the break, especially when I threw Andy Johnson on after 65 minutes. He made all the difference and with the midfield starting to pass their way through the City defence, the 24-year-old striker scored twice in the last ten minutes to grab an unlikely point.

Hero : Johnson – Two great goals rescued a valuable point.
League Position : 3rd


We had just two days rest before our 1st Round UEFA Cup tie at home to Hajduk but I decided against making any changes to the starting eleven.

Villa v Hajduk
This was another confident performance and the 4-0 scoreline was a fair reflection of our dominance. Bierofka gave us the boost of an early goal and Cruz scored twice in a minute to put us 3-0 ahead inside 15 minutes. But we didn’t ease up and we also maintained concentration at the back, which is just what we want in a two-legged tie where away goals are so important. Angel scored our 4th on the hour to seal in impressive win and put us in pole position for the return.

Hero : Angel – there were a lot of excellent performances today but I will highlight the contribution of Juan Pablo who scored one and made one. He is another player who seems to have responded positively to the added competition that a new signing brings and he seems very well suited to playing as a lone striker.


We were spared league action at the weekend but had a Tuesday night League Cup tie at Coventry to contend with. Olof Mellberg had picked up a training niggle so I brought big Lol in to central defence.

Coventry v Villa
We didn’t have it all our own way in a tough midlands derby but to give the boys credit they stuck to their task and we scored in stoppage time at the end of each half. Bierofka showed great determination to dispossess a defender and score the opener and substitute Gavin McCann bundled in a scrappy effort at the end.

Hero : Bierofka – not just a classy winger but also a tenacious lad.


Before our trip to Southampton in the league we discovered that we would face Sheffield United in the next round of the League Cup. Newly promoted to the Premiership they were struggling in the league but would be no walkover, even with home advantage. Mellberg was still not fully fit but he travelled to St. Mary’s and took a seat on the bench with Tudor getting a start in the centre of defence.

Saints v Villa
What a frustrating game this can be sometimes! Despite making more chances than the home side we ran up against an inspired keeper whose goal seemed to live a charmed life. Having conceded the opening goal midway through the first half we squared the game through Hendrie before half time. We should have had the game won in the second period but instead allowed the Saints to score twice in the last three minutes for a poor 3-1 defeat. To make matters worse Mark Delaney was diagnosed with a shoulder injury after the game and he could miss our next couple of matches.

Villan : Antti Niemi – the Finn was inspired between the sticks and gave his team three points.
League Position : 8th


We travelled to Croatia with James O’Connor filling the right back position, Mellberg back in defence and Solano giving Hendrie a rest in midfield.

Hajduk v Villa
This was a pretty comfortable win to be honest and a goal in each half from the excellent Angel concluded a 6-0 aggregate victory.

Hero : Angel – two more goals for our Colombian striker, although he still needs to get a haircut.

The win took us to the group stages of the competition and we were placed in Group F alongside Dortmund, Sporting, Basel and Dnipro. I figured that two wins would see us through and hopefully they would come at Basel and at home to Dnipro.

Mike..

Despite your attitude toward 'The Hammer' I'll still drop in and commend your work, both on th etraining ground and in presentation :p

retired_amyslack

Cheers flip - when I sold him I felt that he didn't fit into my tactical plans but now that I have changed my formation I realise that he would have been ideal in the new shape. My loss I suppose.

October 2005

We welcomed the visit of Blackburn hoping to improve our league form and get a win under our belts. I was loath to chop and change the starting eleven at this early part of the season and whilst I welcomed back Delaney I lost Djemba-Djemba who picked up a knock in the game in Croatia. The final change was to restore Hendrie to midfield and move Nobby back to the bench.

Villa v Blackburn
An ill tempered and scrappy first half was enlivened in the 38th minute when Angel scored an absolutely stunning opening goal, sending the ball into the top corner of the net from fully 40 yards out. Two minutes later he added a second with a simple tap-in after good work by Solano, on for the injured Rasmussen. He completed his hat trick midway through the second half to give us a fine 3-0 win.

Hero : Angel – a great hat trick inspired a very welcome win and his opener must be a contender for the goal of the month, if not the season.
League Position : 5th


There was little time to reflect on our win before we were in action again with a midweek game at Charlton. Rasmussen was struggling after his injury at the weekend and was replaced by Solano and with McCann not match fit and Eric DD still recovering I played Tudor as the holding midfielder.

Addicks v Villa
We just can’t seem to build up a head of steam in the league and after a good win at the weekend we let ourselves down tonight with a mediocre performance and lost 2-1. Having taken an early lead through Lee Hendrie we created enough chances to have gone on and taken the three points but some wayward finishing and inspired goalkeeping cost us. We also picked up an injury worry as Cruz has sustained a back problem and looks like being out for several weeks.

Villan : Sørensen – this was probably his worst game of the season and his confidence seems to have been shaken again.
League Position : 9th


After two rounds of World Cup qualifiers, Cruz was joined in the treatment room by Solano who suffered a groin strain in Peru’s game against Brazil and would miss at least a fortnight. Angel, Vata and Mathis all returned from their games slightly worse for wear so we prepared to face Newcastle with quite a selection conundrum. At least I got Eric DD and Rasmussen back from injury so they were returned to the lineup. I brought Johnson in up front and decided to play Whittingham in place of Cruz. I was anxious to get some kind of consistent form in the Premiership. Arsenal had opened the season with nine straight wins and were clearly the team to catch. But between 2nd place Everton and 11th place Charlton there was just six points so any team that could get a run of wins could really start to climb the table.

Villa v Mags
The referee didn’t make himself many friends at Villa Park today but I can’t say that we did ourselves many favours either. Having fallen behind to Lauren Robert’s first goal of the season after 18 minutes we got back on terms through Hendrie before the interval. The wheels really came off in the second half though. Ten minutes after the restart Delaney was sent packing after the ref judged that his foul on Kluivert had prevented a clear scoring opportunity. I decided to stick with an attacking formation to try to rescue the game and moved DD to right back. In retrospect this was a tactical error as I would have been better taking a striker off and trying to hold on to the draw. Kevin Kuranyi, a big-money signing from Stuttgart last season, went on to score a hat trick, the last of which came from the penalty spot after the ref gave a soft decision in stoppage time. We also lost Whittingham with a nasty gash in his leg and he could miss a week or so.

Villan : The Manager – I have to hold my hand up here as I definitely got it wrong still trying to chase a win when we were a man short.
League Position : 10th


Before our UEFA Cup match at Dortmund, Clint Mathis joined the injured list when he damaged his knee in training and I ended up giving Gavin McCann a start in midfield.

Dortmund v Villa
This game underlined the gulf in class between ourselves and the best teams in Europe as we were rolled over and took a 4-1 battering. We were up against it from the start, conceding the first goal in under two minutes and we were three down before the break. The defeat has not helped our morale and it could be an uphill struggle to qualify for the knockout stage.

Villan : I don’t want to single out an individual player as our defeat was down to the superiority of the opposition rather than individual mistakes.
Group position : 5th


Having conceded four goals in each of our previous games I felt that it has time to make a change of keeper and with Julio Cesar impressing in the reserves he was given the number one shirt for the trip to local rivals West Brom and Peter Whittingham was recalled to midfield after his injury. We also had Mark Delaney suspended so James O’Conner filled in at right back.

Baggies v Villa
Having taken the lead midway through the first half we should have gone on to win but we let our neighbours back into the game with 20 minutes remaining and had to settle for a disappointing 1-1 draw.

Hero : Angel – our goalscorer had another good game but he didn’t get enough support from midfield.
League Position : 10th


For our midweek League Cup tie at home to Sheffield United I took the opportunity to give young Gabriel Agbonlahor a start up front.

Villa v Blades
Agbonlahor lasted until half time in his debut before retiring injured but he didn’t look overly impressive. We took the lead just before the break thanks to a fortunate cross-come-shot form Bierofka and made sure of the win near the end through substitute Andy Johnson. But if the visitors had shown a bit more composure in front of goal then we could easily have lost the tie.

Hero : Johnson – played well when he came off the bench and scored our crucial second goal.


By now both Cruz and Solano were back in full training but neither were fit enough to be included in the match squad for the visit of Tottenham.

Villa v Spurs
The promise of our early season form seems to have vanished and once again we struggled to get our attacking game going as an early goal consigned us to a 1-0 defeat. We seem to be unable to find that killer final ball and with Sørensen seeming to have lost his confidence and Julio Cesar not stepping up to the plate yet, we are just far too easy to beat.

Villan : Julio Cesar – an uncertain display from the Brazilian means that I just don’t know who my number one keeper is at the moment.
League Position : 12th