Villa lose in Division One for the first time in six games as they fall back to 5th place in the table under Graham Taylor.

Villa lose to a vibrant Norwich side at Carrow Road as the Birmingham Evening Mail plays the age old card of building them up to knock 'em down.

The Evening Mail, champions of every negative thought about Villa and eager to drain any semblance of optimism surrounding the club were at it again. Like wild animals to fresh meat, a defeat away to a top 6 rival was too juicy to ignore. How could they? This was their bread and butter with a slice of sizzling steal. 

After having called Villa’s relegation as early as the fourth game of the season, then damning Taylor’s side with the faintest of praise - whilst inflating the credentials of just about every opposition team - a defeat in the League Cup in the previous game was just too salivating. 

The defeat to West Ham was not “unlucky” but “embarrassing”. If that was an over-reaction and mis-reading of a cold night in East London, just days needed to be waited for them to fire up another damning indictment on B6’s pretensions. 

No longer tipping Villa for relegation they were certainly “still not fooled” by Villa’s achievements in 1989-90 and now could proudly confine a title challenge to the waste bin besides their cigarette smoke infested desks. 

One defeat, a first in six League games that had seen Villa climb to fourth, was enough to set the poison pen letters to B6 ablaze once again. 

We were told Villa’s “strengths were exaggerated” and “weaknesses” ignored. 

If that wasn’t enough we were reliably informed Villa didn’t score enough. Despite having failed to score in the League for the first time in seven games and only the second time this season and no matter that in the last six League games Villa had scored twelve goals. No matter that Villa had won five of those six games. 

Worse was to come.. the goals conceded “were a joke”. Was that irony? Did they mean they were literally laughably unfortunate? or were they serious when they claimed Villa’s internationals were more bothered about playing Malta and Romania than winning the League? 

Yet the contradictions abounded with their own goal descriptions of “dreadfully unlucky” and “going into the net off the centre-half’s backside” simply did not chime with all the vitriol that followed. 

Was it wilful contradiction or just an inability to ever say anything positive about the club they were paid to follow? Just what were these self appointed ‘Judges’ watching? What were they thinking? Why report on a club when any potential objectivity, or even support, or - whisper it quietly - partisan tribalism, as displayed by the Liverpool Echo or Manchester Evening News, was total anathema to them? 

Doubtless in time they came to love the club in their strange way. Doubtless they soon told us how they believed in Villa all along and had played an instrumental ‘tough love’ role in driving them to a top two berth once again. 

But supporters? Never. The sad fact is it didn’t start in November 1989 and neither did it end. They had form through good times and bad. Always unhelpful, always prompting a new ‘crisis’. 

This, not the worst example or the most vicious, was certainly the most detached from reality given what supporters had witnessed over the last three months under Graham Taylor. 

Promoted the previous season to successfully fight for survival, just 12 months later the same team were troubling the top 6 of the League but even then we couldn’t count on the Evening Mail’s support and encouragement. Shameful.

Centre forward Ian Ormondroyd extends his goalless streak to 18 games to make it 21 Appearances, 12 Starts, W4 D5 L11, 1 Goal and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

• Derek Mountfield makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (48 Starts) to make it W18 D11 L21, 6 Goals and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.