Newcastle United 1-0 Aston Villa as it was tweeted..

Match Preview: Newcastle v Villa

Newcastle United

Who are we playing?
Newcastle United on Saturday 27th February at 3.00pm

Where are we playing?
St James' Park
Strawberry Place
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 4ST


Can I go?
Last we heard, there were still tickets but take your binoculars.

Easy to get to?
Pigging miles away and the trains tend to be extortionate. Best bet is the coach for this one or drive up and do a stopover.

Can I watch it on telly?
Not officially screened in the UK so dodgy web streams and pubs with overseas satellite systems are your best bet.

Timbo

Big game?
Huge.

Tim Sherwood will be fully aware of the daunting task he's taken on after his new charges were truly woeful against a weakened Stoke City team that were there for the taking.

There's no Paul Lambert to hide behind any more and these players must start taking responsibility because quite frankly, some of them aren't fit to wear the shirt if the Stoke and Hull debacles are the best they can do.

Most disappointing has been Fabian Delph who seems to be celebrating his fat contract by doing precisely fuck all. Add to this Carlos Sanchez developing what we can only assume is colour blindness seeing as he keeps passing the ball to his opponents, Gabby being a complete waste of space and Ron Vlaar looking more like blancmange than concrete and poor Tim must be wondering why he took the job on.

Debbie

Newcastle have their issues and a tanking by Manchester City will have done little to keep them happy. Many Geordies still harbour grudges about the party atmosphere at Villa Park when they were last relegated and are highly delighted to see us in the mire.

Tim Sherwood hasn't got a magic wand apparently. Maybe we should have a whipround to buy him one because we need something miraculous just now. Tim is no Paul Daniels and Kevin Mac is no lovely Debbie McGee.


Do Newcastle have any famous fans?
Well their's Brian from AC DC and of course warmonger Tony Blair.

We've got heir to the throne the Duke of Cambridge.

So we win.

Who's playing for us?
Goal machine Scott Sinclair should have done enough to keep his place while Ashley Westside must have a chance of a recall. No Vlaar thanks to him costing us the Stoke game and getting binned off in the process so young Okore should start.

Who's playing for them?
Bunch of foreigners dressed as barcodes.

Charlie

Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Newcastle have beaten us 69 times while we have 55 wins. There have been 34 draws

• Our last win up there was way back in 2005, a Juan Pablo Angel goal and two Gareth Barry penalties giving us a 3-0 win

• Last time we beat them at all was in 2011. James Collins got the solitary goal.

• Charlie Athersmith netted twice as we ran out 7-1 winners over the Geordies in our first ever encounter, a cup tie in 1895

Prediction
Expecting a Desmond (2-2)

U18 HIGHLIGHTS: Southampton 0-3 Aston Villa

Villa v Stoke City as it was tweeted...

We need to talk about Kevin

Aston Villa have appointed Kevin MacDonald as the club’s assistant manager. The 54-year-old has been plying his trade at Nottingham Forest but returns to Villa Park and becomes Tim Sherwood’s Deputy Headmaster and will be in the dugout for Saturday’s visit of Stoke.

MacDonald held various roles at Villa and was briefly caretaker manager in 2010 following the shock exit of Martin O’Neill. He joins the first-team coach, Mark Robson, and the performance analyst, Seamus Brady, as part of Sherwood’s merry men.

He's impressed at Forest as their lead professional development phase coach and took the club’s under-18 side to the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals.

Mark Robson new first team coach

Ex-Barnet manager Mark Robson has joined Aston Villa as first-team coach.

The 45-year-old is the first recruit to new headmaster Tim Sherwood's backroom boys following his appointment as Paul Lambert's successor last week.

Robson, who had been coaching at Norwich City until January, worked alongside sunglass-wearing nutter Edgar Davids at Barnet in 2012.

The former Tottenham, West Ham and Charlton midfielder replaces Scott Marshall, who was binned off on Tuesday.

Seamus Brady also joins the club as performance analyst.

Scott Marshall binned off

New headmaster at the helm

Villa's first team coach Scott Marshall has left the club.

The departure comes in the wake of Paul Lambert's removal and the installation of new Headmaster Tim Sherwood.

The move will give Sherwood the elbow room to appoint his own backroom boys.

Earlier in the season Assistant Manager Roy Keane decided to bugger off and was never replaced.

Randy Lerner's chief henchman, Tom Fox said of Marshall, "I'd like to thank Scott for his efforts during his time at the football club and especially under difficult circumstances at the weekend when he took the team for Sunday's FA Cup victory over Leicester City.

"We wish him all the best in the future."

Match Preview: Villa v Stoke City

Who are we playing?
Stoke City on Saturday 21st February at 3pm

Where are we playing?
Villa Park


Can I go?
Tickets remain available but with a new manager in the hot seat, get in quick if you want your favourite spot.

Easy to get to?
Yep, but if you are going through town, be aware that they buggering up all the roads near Paradise Circle/Broad Street as they (painfully slowly) knock down the old library.

Can I watch it on telly?
Saturday 3 o'clocker, so not officially available on UK telly, though there are plenty of web streams and loads of pubs will screen the game live, but they can't hear you cheer on the new bloke (Come on Tim!) unless you're there

Big game?
Huge.

Stoke are still smarting from their humiliating exit from the FA Cup. Add to that their desire to be kings of the Midlands and there will be no way they'll be happy to lie down and let us do the double over them.

Hard to see Tim Sherwood being able to solve all of Villa's on field issues in a week but anything other than three points and his honeymoon period will be cut drastically short.

There was the odd glimmer of light against Leicester but there is still a massive amount to put right and some big time Charlies in our team need a rocket put under them. Tim proved at Spurs that he won't be scared to bruise egos and that big reputations count for nothing if you aren't doing it on the pitch.

Is Tim the right bloke for the job in the current circumstances? We thought Tom Fox needed to appoint a wartime consigliere (yes, I have been watching The Godfather) to get us out of the sweet and sticky. We've just got to hope that Mister Sherwood has it in him to pull the squad together rather than leave it fractured and divided.

Typical Stoke fan? A-ha!

Do Stoke City have any famous fans? 
Almost certainly not. There's Mick Hancock but is he still famous? Seems to have vanished without trace.

We've been Hunting High and Low for any others and the best we could come is Scandinavian pop combo A-ha. Watching Stoke's FA Cup exploits must have scared The Living Daylights out of them.

Mrs. Crouch

However, we've got fiddle playing scruffbox Nigel Kennedy.

So we win.

Who's playing for us?
Benteke and Vlaar returned for the Leicester game but with a new geezer at the helm, anyone might be in with a shout, so virtually everyone must be hoping for a slot and trying to avoid the crunching tackles of Mister Clark in training...

Who's playing for them?
Scared of Peter Crouch? We are. Knows where the goal is.


Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Stoke City have beaten us 31 times while we have 51 wins. There have been 30 draws.

• Our last win over Stoke at Villa Park was way back in December 2009. John Carew, who is bigger than me and you, got the solitary goal.

• Our first ever meeting with Stoke was in 1888. We won 5-1.

• Stoke hammered us 4-1 in this fixture last year after Big Chris had given us an early lead.

Prediction
Going for a 2-1 Villa win.

FA Cup: Villa v Leicester as it was tweeted..

Tim Sherwood new Villa boss

Mister Angry

Tom Fox hasn't so much flipped a coin, but rolled the dice appointing the controversial and often outspoken Tim Sherwood as the Aston Villa's new manager.

While Villa's currently situation was crying out for an established manager, Fox has picked a man who only has five months experience managing a Premier league team and a stormy five months they were too, ending with Daniel Levy wielding the axe.

Despite Sherwood's lack of managerial experience, he has been handed a lengthy contract which will stretch on to 2018.

Tim Sherwood’s Premier league record as "head coach"

P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Win %
22	13	3	6	40	30	42	59

Tom Fox

"Randy and I are really pleased that Tim has decided to join the club.

"Tim had a fantastic career at Tottenham, not only in his brief spell as first-team manager but, just as importantly, in the role he played in developing young talent.

"We are determined to build a football operation with a long-term vision and a commitment to youth development.

"We strongly believe Tim has the qualities to get the best out of our current squad and help us build and develop for the future." Tom Fox

"It is a great honour to manage one of the biggest clubs in English football.

"I can't wait to get started and I'm really looking forward to the challenge." Tim Sherwood

"While being forever conscious of the frustrations that we all suffer, we feel that a change that offers a positive, fresh approach will be very good for the club.

"I know that Tom and many others at Villa worked very hard to recruit Tim in the face of severely limited time constraints and pounding pressure.

"More importantly, I know further that internally we remain focused and committed to challenges we face, and I am deeply appreciative for that." Randy Lerner

Delph "Blame the players"

Fabian Delph appears on Football Focus today in the wake of Paul Lambert's departure.

The full interview will be on BBC One at 12:10 today

"Obviously, it's a big, big thing that's happened.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed because I had a good relationship with him and I felt like I'd progressed throughout his time here but this is football and it happens and you've gotta keep looking forward and put this behind us and concentrate on the game at the weekend and the games coming up.

"There's no one to blame for the way we've been playing apart from the players.

"Us as a team, everyone takes part in it from the bottom to the top but once you cross that white line, three o'clock on a Saturday, it's down to the players and players showing commitment, showing desire to win games and we probably ain't done that as much as we should do.

"Relegation never crosses our minds. We're confident when we look left and right in the changing room, we're confident in each other, in our own abilities and I'm 100% certain that we'll cross the line and we'll get over the line."

The General finally sticks his head over the parapet to slag Lambo

The General

American General Charles Krulak has emerged from the shadows to have a pop at sacked manager Paul Lambert and blast him for talking 'hogwash'.

Krulak, a non-executive director of the club, was known for making public proclamations in the giddy days of the O'Neill era but has been noticeably silent since things started to go tits up. His latest comment emerged under an exclusive banner on the back page of The Sun.

"This idea that Randy has not put money into Aston Villa and that Paul's hands were tied is not true. It's hogwash.

"Paul took the job knowing he had good, experienced players, Bent, N'Zogbia, Agbonlahor, even if they were expensive.

"But he argued he needed a group of fresh younger players.

"Randy backed him to bring in six to eight players in that first year or so. The club's spend during that time was the highest of any manager under Randy. That is the reality.

"Randy wants a team that - win, lose or draw - is fun to watch. But the opposite was true." General Krulak

Lambo snubs Tom Fox after being "dumped by phone"

Tom Fox "dumped Lambo by phone"

Paul Lambert has made a dignified and generous statement after being axed by Aston Villa.

However, pointedly, the former Villa boss name checks former chief exec Paul Faulkner in the statement but fails to mention Tom Fox.

Rumour has it that the elbowed Scot is annoyed because Fox broke the news that he was out on his arse by telephone.

Despite the notion that Lambert was hounded out by fan pressure, he heaped praise on Villa's support, adding, "I sincerely hope they are rewarded with the success they deserve."

LMA statement on behalf of Paul Lambert in full

I am extremely proud to have managed Aston Villa, a founder member of the Football League, and this sentiment will always remain with me.

My initial remit was to conduct a massive overhaul of the playing squad, lower the overall wage structure of the playing staff and achieve this whilst keeping the club in the Barclays Premier League.

There was also a concerted effort to purchase and develop younger players who would provide a solid footing for the football club to move forward and enhance the value of the playing squad in the future.

When I came on board the club’s owner, Randy Lerner, warned me that I was embarking on the toughest challenge of my working life and he was not wrong.

But I have never stepped away from hard work and I put my heart and soul into the job from my first day until my last.

There are many people throughout my time at Aston Villa to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude.

Firstly, I’d like to thank Randy Lerner for not only providing me with the opportunity to manage one of the most illustrious clubs in world football but also for the support and friendship he offered me throughout my time at the club.

I’d also like to place on record my appreciation to Paul Faulkner who conducted affairs at the club with unstinting integrity and constant dignity during his tenure as Chief Executive.

I leave behind some wonderful people at both Bodymoor Heath and Villa Park and express my gratitude for their dedication and loyalty. A special mention must also go to my coaching staff for their commitment.

To the players, my sincere thanks to each and every one of them. They are a fantastic group of players and I wish them every success for the rest of their playing careers. I hope to see many of them achieve great things in the game.

Finally, I pay tribute to the supporters who are among the most passionate I have ever encountered. They rightly hold huge expectations for their beloved football club and I sincerely hope they are rewarded with the success they deserve.

I completely understand their frustrations and always shared their view that the football club is too big not to be competing at the top end of the table. I hope that can happen.

You never stop learning in football management and I certainly believe the invaluable experience from my time as Villa manager will prove hugely beneficial in the next stage of my managerial career.

Match Preview: FA Cup 5th Round: Aston Villa v Leicester City

Who are we playing?
 Leicester City on Sunday 15th February at 12.30pm

Where are we playing?
Villa Park

Can I go?
Tickets are dirt cheap and plentiful


Easy to get to?
Should be an absolute doddle, though the trains can be shite on Sundays

Can I watch it on telly?
Live on BBC One no less, hence the ludicrously inconvenient kick off time,

Nigel can be very "hands on"

Big game?
Massive.

Both teams are struggling big time in the league and some might say could do without the distraction of a cup run as they fight tooth and nail for Premiership survival.

That said, we're just two games from Wembley and who wouldn't want to get to a quarter final?

The game is being played in the shadow of Paul Lambert's departure while Nigel Pearson has also been the focus of much discussion, Sky even reporting last weekend that he'd been axed.

It's going to be difficult for rudderless Villa to steer a way through this one. Leicester battered us up at their place. Tom Fox will be hoping that his temporary management team can marshall Villa's players to victory. (See what we did there?)

Noddy wouldn't pay the ransom

Do the Foxes have any famous fans? 
Well there's jug-earred goalhanger Gary Lineker, Engelbert Humperdinck and quite possibly Roy Cropper off of Corrie. You know, all the cool dudes...

We've got fiddle playing scruffbox Nigel Kennedy.

So we win.

Who's playing for us?
No idea, but caretaker managers can think short term so we should in theory see a strong line up. We'd fully expect to see the restoration of Ron Vlaar and Big Chris Benteke while Carlos Sanchez may even have a shout.

Who's playing for them?
They may well rotate.

He Said She Said
"The players have remained very single-minded and their ability to deal with either criticism of themselves or destabilising news has been exceptionally good all season. It's been an unusual few days but there we are, I suppose that's the type of scrutiny that you can be under at this level and you've got to deal with it."  Nigel Pearson

"Is that the Job Centre?" Paul Lambert (possibly)




Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Leicester have beaten us 40 times while we have 32 wins. There have been 23 draws.

• Our first FA Cup meeting with Leicester Fosse was in 1905. We won 5-1 with Joe Bache bagging two goals

• Our last FA Cup encounter was 2001, Arnar Gunnlaugsson getting a late winner for the Foxes after Julian Joachim's goal had got us back into the tie.

• Leicester's last Villa Park was in the Carling Cup in 2007. Matt Fryatt got the solitary goal.

Prediction
Going for a 3-1 Villa win...

BREAKING NEWS: Paul Lambert kicked out on his arse finally

Paul Lambert has finally been given the boot from Aston Villa, after his team's woeful display at Hull City proved to be the last straw.

First-team coach Scott Marshall and goalkeeping coach Andy Marshall will be in temporary charge for Sunday's FA Cup tie with Leicester City at Villa Park.

Linda Block next?

A terse statement on the club's official site said "The club would also like to place on record its thanks to Paul and take this opportunity to wish him every success in the future."

Earlier in the evening, Peter Withe threw his hat into the ring, offering to work for the club for nothing and stating it had long been his ambition to manage Villa.

Tim Sherwood, Alan Curbishley and Michael Laudup have all been linked with the post as has Linda Block, once of Harchester United...

Match Report sort of: Hull 2-0 Villa as it was tweeted...

Match Preview: Hull City v Aston Villa

Who are we playing?
Hull City on Tuesday 10th February at 7.45pm

Where are we playing?
KC Stadium, The Circle, Walton St, Hull, HU3 6HU

Can I go?
Last we heard, there were still tickets despite a tiny allocation...

Easy to get to?
Not on a Tuesday night. Drive if you can or get the coach up.

Can I watch it on telly?
Not offically screened in the UK so dodgy web streams and pubs with overseas satellite systems are your best bet.

Steve Bruce

Big game?
Huge.

Hull are probably the worst team we've faced this season and we are definitely in a relegation scrap with them. Who knows, it could well be the result of this one that ultimately determines our fate.

WE HAVE TO WIN,  NO MATTER WHAT!!!!!!!

There was the odd encouraging sign in a game against Chelsea in which we certainly showed a will to get something out of the game. Good intentions win you nothing though and in a relegation dog fight, we need to scrap for absolutely everything.

Benchwarming

Certainly, dropping Christian Benteke was something that needed doing. There are still many fans who think Benteke's malaise is simply down to lack of service, but a forward also has a responsibility to provide the movement that creates attacking opportunities. The Big Chris we all fell in love with was all hustle, bustle and energy. New Benteke looks like he's waiting for a bus.

He needed a kick up the arse. hope it's worked.

Typical Hull City fan

Do Hull have any famous fans?
Well there's Omar Sharif (ask yer Gran kids) and of course 80's pop starlet Sinitta, though she also follows Chelsea.


We've got heir to the throne the Duke of Cambridge.

So we win.

Who's playing for us?
The quick turnaround from the Chelsea game to this one might tempt Lambert to use the odd pair of fresh legs. It must be hugely tempting to put Big Chris back in while Ron Vlaar will be hoping to get back in.

Who's playing for them?
Can't see Steve Bruce wanting to make many changes after his team's heroics in very nearly pulling off an unlikely win at Manchester City.

Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

Weimann scores a rare goal

• Hull City have beaten us 5 times while we have 18 wins. There have been 7 draws

• Hull haven't beaten us since way back in 1987. Warren Aspinall scored for Villa as we went down 2-1 

• We've won ten of our last eleven games with the Tigers, the other game finishing nil-nil

Prediction
Praying for a 1-0 Villa win

Match Report thingy: Villa 1-2 Chelsea as it was tweeted...

Match Preview: Aston Villa v Chelsea

Jose hates playing at Villa Park

Who are we playing?
Chelsea on Saturday 7th February at 3pm

Where are we playing?
Villa Park

Can I go?
Tickets remain available but (amazingly given the circumstances) they are selling fast, so get in quick if you want your favourite spot.

Randy Lerner

Easy to get to?
Yep, but if you are going through town, be aware that they buggering up all the roads near Paradise Circle as they (painfully slowly) knock down the old library.

Can I watch it on telly?
Saturday 3 o'clocker, so not officially available on UK telly, though there are plenty of web streams and loads of pubs will screen the game live, but they can't hear you boo unless you're there


Big game?
Huge.

Paul Lambert might have got away with losing at Arsenal but getting thumped by five and then going into denial about how abject his side were, well that is unbelievable. May be we could get him relieved on medical grounds because he's clearly living on a different planet to the rest of us.

The really annoying thing about how much we are struggling is that we are doing it in a pretty poor Premier League. Chelsea are one of the better teams but still can be suspect defensively at times and it'd be worth throwing the kitchen sink at them, just to see a league goal again, even if we do get beat in the process.

Why not start both Carles Gil and Scott Sinclair and see how they get on? If we're rampaging towards the Holte End, it'll quickly get the crowd back on side. Much more "sideways, backwards"  football though and the booing will only get worse, even if there are fewer of us in the ground to do it.

Chelsea have multiple attacking threats and are highly unlikely not to score, so let's trying to at least get on the scoresheet eh?

Once we get one, we'll get more.

Lovely Aubergines

Do Chelsea have any famous fans? 
Well there's Tim Lovejoy, Lord Coe off of the Olympics and of course Nigella Lawson. There's nothing better we like than to watch Nigella drizzle olive oil over her aubergines...

However, we've got fiddle playing scruffbox Nigel Kennedy.

So we win.

Who's playing for us?
Lambo isn't  really in a position to make sweeping changes but Westwood must be knocking on the door for a recall, especially given how inept Carlos Sanchez performed at Arsenal and how anonymous Tom Cleverley seems to be.



Who's playing for them?

Cesc Fabregas might not be be fit,  which could open the door for new signing Juan Cuadrado to make his  debut.  Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho  is already without suspended striker Diego Costa.


Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

Get yer cards out for the lads

• Liverpool have beaten us 58 times while we have 57 wins. There have been 34 draws.

• Staggeringly, Jose Mourinho has yet to win a match at Villa Park

• Our last win over Chelsea was at Villa Park in March last year, Fabian Delph nicking the winner in a fiery encounter that saw Willian and Ramires sent off 

• Chelsea's last Villa Park win was in May 2013, courtesy of two Frank Lampard goals after Big Chris Benteke had given us the lead.

Prediction
Going for a 3-0 Chelsea win.

Boris: Enough Is Enough

by Boris 

The first blog from our new contributor: "Boris"

After the constant rewinding and reminding of Sunday’s Villa game on telly and radio, I’ve been slowly stewing over the last 6 hours to a point where I feel the need, for the first time in my life, to get something down on page. 

Having not witnessed it first hand or even watched it on telly (Defence mechanism…oh, and wife’s birthday! ), I couldn't help but follow proceedings through snippets on Talk Sport and Facebook Twitter feeds.  Unfortunately, this alternative course of action didn't help my state of mind  as hearing phrases like ‘..it’s a shambles…’ just reaffirmed my initial fears and, so, it was finally time to stop bottling up the disgust, anxiety and basic nausea which has been gestating in my stomach for the past couple of seasons and let it out!!   

Enough is enough!

As a lifelong Aston Villa fan, I’ll have to admit that I've probably experienced more lows than I have highs in my football supporting career and that’s something I accept.  It’s one of the reasons why I love my club.  The satisfaction you get by winning away from home could never be matched by that of a… say…Chelsea fan, unless they happen the win the FA Cup or something similar.  I also love the fact that, as a club, we are always thought of very highly by other fans, especially those who come to visit Birmingham on match days and who I regularly chat to outside the Old Royal in town.  These are supporters who are genuinely fond of coming to Villa Park each season.  (Well, you can understand why over the last few!) 

However, through all the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations, the Bosko Balabans and Ulises de la Cruz’s, I can honestly say that I've never felt so angry, embarrassed and helpless , as a supporter, than I do at this very moment.  Personally, I feel that our current crisis boils down to three basic home truths; the owner doesn’t seem to want to do anything about it, the manager doesn't seem to be able to do anything about it and the players don’t seem to have the motivation to do anything about it.  Someone has got to do something… anything!!!!

For the last 3 or 4 months, I've read and listened to all sorts of people stating who they think is at fault.  Pundits, fans, journalists, fans, ex-players, fans, ex-managers, fans and finally fans!  And to whom do I feel the Villa’s ownership and management teams currently seek advice from, definitely not the most vocal, passionate and important groups of people, that’s for certain?  But then football fans stopped being listened to years ago, around the same that Sky Sports and the Premier League took over football in this country but that’s a discussion for another time. 

‘The owner is the problem…no, it’s the manager…the players need to take some of the blame…’  Wherever a fan may think the problem lies, the shape of the argument is obvious, that of a circle and an extremely vicious one at that!

The owner has lost interest, even if Mr Fox claims otherwise and so he’s stopped pumping his money into the club and is trying to sell up.  That’s his choice and we have to accept it.  He took the wrong advice and had his fingers and wallet well and truly burned.   As a marginally level headed football fan, even I knew that, unless you’re a multi-billionaire, you need to regenerate a professional football club slowly and gradually.  Unfortunately, he allowed managers to buy players as if they were reliving their childhood at the local cinema’s Pick ‘n’ Mix.  But now we are at the clearest ‘turning point’ in the clubs recent history where I feel he needs to make a vital decision, one that he obviously doesn't want to.  The decision he made 4 games into the season has obviously have had a major effect on this.

I don’t dislike the manager.  I don’t boo at games, slate him on social media and, to be honest, have been more critical of previous managers more often than I have of Paul Lambert.  Why?  I actually feel sorry for him.  Not because, he has had to slash the wage bill and has received little transfer funds this season.  All in all, he’s received plenty of money during his tenure compared to other teams in an around our current league position.  Crystal Palace, West Bromwich Albion and the newly promoted Burnley would be very jealous of the money which Lambert has spent (£22 million, £22 million and £9 million…approximately).  My sorrow emanates from the basic fact that Lambert doesn’t seem to be able to coach the tactics and style of play which will take us out of this position and push the team up the table.  Basically, it doesn't look like he’s good enough.    

He arrived at Villa Park with the initial plan of playing counter attacking football, something which eventually paid dividends in the second half of his first season.  Hopes were high going into his second season but just as other league teams figured out Stoke City’s tactics (pre Mark Hughes), they similarly adjusted their play to counter Villa’s insistence on hitting on the break.  The result being that teams of a similar level allowed us to keep possession and the realisation started to set in that we couldn't play a creative, expansive and pressurising  style of football. 

At this point, it seemed Lambert realised what the problem was and tried to remedy it by bringing in players to overcome the difficulties he and therefore the team were having.  Tom Cleverly didn't work.  Charles N’Zogbia would take a long time to rediscover any type of form, time we didn't have.  To further remedy this, Lambert went to see his mate Pep and watch a giant of European football train, Bayern Munich.  The result being a greater deal of possession and little else, well nothing else!

At this point, I’m sure I could start discussing his team selections and formations in more detail but I think I’d upset myself even more.  Mr Lambert’s best signing could have been in the form of a attack minded number two, not a defensive midfielder who has struggled at every club he’s been at (In a coaching capacity that is!).  I feel this was Lambert’s best chance of salvation.  Alas, no, and I’m afraid it’s time to do the honourable thing and admit that your coaching skills and ability don’t match the ability of the players currently on the payroll.  Allow someone else to come in and breathe new life, any life into the players, who, on paper, I feel are easily good enough to finish in mid table. 

I realise the following phrase may not reflect the athleticism of several of our players at present, but I feel ‘they’re all over the place’ at the moment, quite literally.  We have 2 full backs who have been asked to single-handedly terrorize the wings when, deep down, they know ‘I’m no Ryan Giggs!’.  It’s a real pity as, I feel, we finally have two steady and sound players in Hutton and Cissoko who have tightened up the defence and are relatively comfortable on the ball.  What these two are required to do then has a knock on effect on the rest of the team; neither of the 2 deeper midfielders dare wander up the park and make themselves available just in case we lose the ball in wide positions.  

I could go on but I don’t need to as I’m sure other fans already know the deficiencies of some of other players at present.  How do they know?  Because football fans do have footballing intelligence which, as usual, is ignored.   And I’m sure all Villa fans, regardless of player preferences, will admit that the current players are good enough to ensure safety for Aston Villa.

So where do we start?  Do the players have to kick start themselves?  Do we need a lucky break?  Does the owner have to sell up?  Does the owner have to sack the manager?  Does the manager have to resign?  Again, this circle is vicious and I honestly don’t know where the chain reaction is going to start within the club.

Going back to my initial statement; someone has got to do something!  It’s easy for non-season ticket fans to call on supporters to boycott the club.  That’s not going to happen.  These people work hard to earn the cash to buy tickets and they have every right to watch the whole game.  However, I did understand and admired the idea of the 8 minute boycott of the Liverpool game. 

It was interesting and somewhat exhilarating to see the response of many fans towards this campaign which in my opinion was perfect!  They boycotted the boycott.  To me, it was a victory for the fans.  The fans aren’t happy but the fans will stand by and support our club.  It was important to not allow the club to make excuses due to spectator discontent and this was a chance the supporters were giving them.  It was now up to the club to take the chance and show the supporters they are determined to make things right.  Don’t get me wrong, in no way am I criticizing the initial idea, far from it!  You can’t knock fans who want to make a stand and, unfortunately, it might be the only tool that can be used to ignite some change before it’s too late.

I’m not here to say what that ‘stand’ or ‘message’ might be?  Another 8 minute boycott at the start of the game could work this time as fan disillusionment gains momentum.  An 8 minute boycott at the end definitely wouldn't as many people have already and understandably trooped down the pub or caught the early train.

  

Banners apparently don’t help the ‘players’, experts and pundits tell us.  Could it be a complete boycott on the purchase of programmes or half time refreshments instead?  Although that wouldn't be much of a problem for me as the standard of beer in the Doug Ellis is pitiful.   Whatever the stand fans make, I feel someone, somewhere has to do something.  My inner demons keep saying relegation might help kick start the club but, in all honestly, I don’t won’t to go down that route.  The Championship scares the living daylights out of me!  But someone has got to act and act now before it’s too late.  And there’s only one element of the club can do it!  Fans, it’s over to you…      

BORIS

SEASON TICKET HOLDER

FIRST VILLA GAME: Aston Villa vs Manchester City, 1986, terrible 0-0 draw and fighting in the Trinity Road.  Very memorable!