On This Day

• Villa's new manager finally bothers to turn up as Villa win in the League Cup third round.

• Gérard Houllier’s first game in charge came against familiar Cup foes Blackburn and despite going a goal down, Villa launched a spirited comeback with Houllier making an immediate impact with his first tactical substitution for the club as Emile Heskey scores just a minute after coming on to hand Villa the lead. 

• Despite the win, concerns were already being aired, as Houllier had actually been appointed on 8 September but elected to not take up his new role immediately. The perception that Houllier wasn’t fully committed would prove hard to shake. 

• Houllier didn't help himself by damning his match winner with feint praise as almost in an act of sinility he contradicted himself to the point of cringeworthy embarrassment whilst undermining Ashley Young's previous 4 years in a Villa shirt . 

• Centre back Curtis Davies, 25, makes his 67th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (60 Starts) before moving on to Birmingham City in January 2011 for a fee of £3,600,000. Davies joined Villa in August 2007 from West Bromwich Albion, however, over the previous twelve months Davies had barely featured due to injury would leave with a record of W32 D19 L16, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings from his 4 seasons with the club.

• John Carew secures his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 100th start and 125th appearance to make it W50 D41 L34, 48 Goals, 12 Assists and 10 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.67 starts he has made so far in his Villa career. 

• Nathan Delfouneso contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 29th appearance (22 Starts) to make it W11 D8 L10, 6 Goals, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Emile Heskey secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 61st appearance (39 Starts) to make it W25 D19 L17, 9 Goals, 4 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Villa record their first Premier League win of the season under Gérard Houllier as Wolves are beaten at Molineux.

• Gérard Houllier seems to help his cause to overturn the doubters by securing a first away League win of the season at the first attempt as Emile Heskey scores for the second game in succession as his revival under Houllier continues. Villa rise to 5th in the early Premier League table with 10 points from 6 games. 

• Yet the suitability of Houllier to the role is totally undermined when it is revealed that he is yet to sign a contract to manage Villa. Having agreed to take over in 8 September - and wilfully delayed his start - he had subsequently not signed a contract attempting to justify his actions by saying “This is not important. I think at Liverpool, I didn’t sign until November or December.” Of course anyone even on nodding terms with reality knew that this wasn’t strictly true and so Houllier simply reinforced the suspicions of many that this wasn’t a manager committed to the Villa cause.

• Stephen Warnock contributes his 5th assist and secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 49th appearance to make it W25 D13 L11, 1 Goal, 5 Assists and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Villa lose for the first time under Gérard Houllier to make it three defeats in seven Premier League games so far this season.

• Gérard Houllier suffers his first defeat as Villa boss despite taking an early lead through Marc Albrighton from an assist by an apparently revitalised Emile Heskey. Heskey would however go off injured before half time.

• Emile Heskey contributes his 15th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 63rd appearance (41 Starts) to make it W26 D19 L18, 10 Goals, 5 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Marc Albrighton scores his 1st goal and contributes his 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 16th appearance (10 Starts) to make it W6 D3 L7, 1 Goal, 4 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Ashley Young collects his 25th booking on his 159th appearance (156 Starts) to make it W71 D47 L41, 32 Goal, 51 Assists and 25 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Richard Dunne makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W22 D16 L12, 3 Goals and 9 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Stephen Warnock makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W25 D13 L12, 1 Goal, 5 Assists and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Villa record a creditable draw against leaders Chelsea as Gérard Houllier makes it a win, a draw and a defeat in his first three Premier League games in charge.

• Villa beaten 10-1 on aggregate by Chelsea in their last two meetings hold the early League leaders at Villa Park in another good performance under Gérard Houllier following defeat last time out.

On This Day

• Villa lose their 2nd game in 3 under Gérard Houllier and have won just once in the the last 6 Premier League matches, losing 3. As a result Villa fall back to 10th in the table after nine games.

On This Day

• Villa need extra time to beat Championship side Burnley in the fourth round of the League Cup.

• Marc Albrighton is sent off on his 18th appearance in a Villa (11 Starts) to make it W7 D3 L8, 1 Goals, 4 Assists, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card.

• Nigel Reo-Coker makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (87 Starts) to make it W46 D25 L29, 3 Goals, 4 Assists, 20 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• James Collins secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 46th Appearance (44 Starts) to make it W20 D15 L11, 2 Goals and 8 Bookings.

On This Day

• Villa fail to score for the third successive League game under Gérard Houllier and and are winless in four. 

• After 10 Premier League games Villa have a record of P10 W3 D3 L4 as they fell back to 14th in the table - their lowest position of the season. 

• Villa fail to beat Birmingham for the first time in 7 matches but make it 12 wins and 3 draws in their last 19 meetings with their neighbours dating back to 1987.

• Steve Sidwell, 27, makes his final appearance for Villa before moving on to Fulham for a fee of £540,000 in January 2011. Villa had paid Chelsea £5,670,000 for Sidwell’s services in July 2008 from where he had delivered W36 D17 L11, 4 Goals, 3 Assists, 11 Bookings across his 2.5 seasons with the club before leaving for less than 10% of his original purchase fee.

On This Day

• Villa score for the first time in four League games are now winless in five under Gérard Houllier as they concede a 94' equaliser to remain 14th in the table.

• Brad Friedel makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W45 D31 L24, 119 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.19 goals per game, 33 Clean Sheets (33%), 1 Booking and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Barry Bannan contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 9th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W3 D3 L3, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 1 Booking.

• Meanwhile, Gérard Houllier picks another fight, this time with John Carew.

On This Day

• Villa win for the first time in six Premier League games under Gérard Houllier to help Villa climb to tenth in the table.

• Villa reverse the script and after seeing an injury time equaliser rob them of a win last time out, an 89' James Collins goal earns Gérard Houllier a first win in six. 

• Dig a little deeper though and visitors Blackpool made ten changes and almost forced a draw as concerns mounted that at team - minus only James Milner - sat 10th in the table with 16 points after 12 games having sat fifth with 21 points 12 months previously under Martin O'Neill.

• Gabriel Agbonlahor secures his 80th win in a Villa shirt 192 appearances (176 Starts) to make it W80 D57 L55, 52 Goals, 23 Assists and 15 Bookings.

On This Day

• Villa extend their unbeaten Premier League run to four winning once under Gérard Houllier as they climb to 9th in the table.

• But Villa throw away a two goal League to miss out on a second successive League win over Manchester United after last season's victory at Old Trafford under Martin O'Neill.

• Villa now have 1 League win in 7 under Gérard Houllier.

• Midfielder Chris Herd makes his debut in a Villa shirt having graduated from the youth team to become the 829th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• James Collins makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (48 Starts) to make it W21 D18 L11, 3 Goals and 8 Bookings.

• Stewart Downing makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (47 Starts) to make it W23 D16 L11, 8 Goals, 8 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.12 games played so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Villa lose for the first time in five but now have just one win in eight Premier League games under Gérard Houllier after failing to score for the fourth time.

• Robert Pirès makes his Villa debut aged 37 after joining Villa as a free agent earlier this month. Pirès, a surprising signing, becomes the 830th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football despite having already retired from first class football.

• Brad Friedel concedes his 125th goal in a Villa shirt on his 103rd appearance to make it W46 D32 L25, 125 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.21 goals per game, 33 Clean Sheets (32%), 1 Booking and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Luke Young makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (73 Starts) to make it W32 D21 L22, 2 Goals and 12 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Ciaran Clark collects his 3rd Booking in a Villa shirt on just his 11th appearance (8 Starts) as it begins to become apparent that there may be disciplinary issues with the otherwise impressive youngster. Clark's record of W6 D3 L2 is tempered by his receiving of a caution every 3.67 games in his nascent Villa career.

• Stephen Ireland makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (7 Starts) and has contributed precisely nothing over the period save for 1 booking. Ireland's record stands at W2 D3 L5, 0 Goals and 0 Assists so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Villa's awful run under Gérard Houllier continues as they lose for the second successive game and now have just one win in nine Premier League games 

• Gérard Houllier mystifyingly hands a start to Robert Pirès - a player who not only has not been playing regular football but who has also been without a club to keep match fit - unsurprisingly he lasts just 45' by which time Villa were two down and heading for a heavy defeat. Pirès' record is W0 D0 L2, 0 Goals and 0 Assists so far in his unexpected Villa career.

• Ciaran Clark makes the scoreline more respectable with his first goals in a Villa shirt on his 12th appearance (9 Starts) however he picks up another caution to make it one booking for every 3 games played and W6 D3 L3 so far in his Villa career.

• Richard Dunne contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 58th appearance to make it W23 D20 L15, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 9 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Gérard Houllier's messy reign continues as Villa lose to their neighbours in a Cup game for the first time since 1963.

• Fresh from his first goals in a Villa shirt Ciaran Clark contributes his 1st assist on his 13th appearance (10 Starts) to make it W6 D3 L4, 2 Goal, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings.

• James Collins makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (52 Appearances) to make it W21 D18 L13, 3 Goals and 9 Bookings.

• Stewart Downing makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (53 Appearances) to make it W23 D16 L14, 8 Goals, 8 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.31 games played so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• The sheer folly of appointing Gérard Houllier is laid bare at Anfield as Villa are defeated for a fourth successive game, fail to score for the fifth time in ten Premier League games having won just once. A team that had finished six for three consecutive seasons under Martin O'Neill was now languishing in 16th place, just two points above the relegation places as the divisive Houllier continued to strip any semblance of competence from the club.

• Gérard Houllier's unreciprocated Liverpool love in on his return to Anfield was as unhelpful as it was embarrassing. Touching the "This is Anfield' sign was beyond the pale, the fact that the Liverpool fans only sang Houllier's name once they were three goals to the good was beyond excruciating. A lover unrequited passed over for something new, something he didn't really feel affection for but was with nonetheless. And his new flame couldn't stand him. Put us out of this misery.

• Ciaran Clark collects his 5th booking in a Villa shirt on his 14th appearance (11 Starts) to make it a caution every 2.80 games and W6 D3 L5, 2 Goals and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

• Luke Young makes his 75th start in a Villa shirt (78 Appearances) to make it W32 D21 L25, 2 Goals and 12 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Villa win for only the third time in eleven under Gérard Houllier as he remains deeply unpopular for his ill-judged comments following the Liverpool defeat.

• Villa's win is their first in 6 matches under Gérard Houllier but all the focus was on his idiotic comments after the Liverpool defeat and the growing demands for his immediate dismissal. 

• Meanwhile, although a large swathe of senior players also felt the same way the spineless nature of the Villa boardroom saw no such action and instead they launched a public show of support despite widespread criticism.

On This Day

• Villa lose for the fourth time in five Premier League games to make it three wins in twelve under Gérard Houllier as they slump back to 15th in the table.

• Whilst the defeat was chastening what was more concerning was that the gap of 15 days since the last game - Villa’s victory over Albion, which had been overshadowed by Houllier’s idiotic Liverpool comments - had been filled with further acrimony within the squad towards the manager. 

• 17 December 2010 “I’ve read about dissent in the squad over training methods but it is not true. “I know it is different to what it was before but it is not true and the players will adapt gradually. “We do a lot of work with the ball, we play a lot of games, we do some tactics as well. “Do people have to adapt to a new manager and methods? In a way, yes. You adapt or you die. We are changing a lot of things and that upsets the comfort of some players. “I am not going to talk about the players who are dissenting and not happy. Any manager who runs a team knows the players who are playing are happy, and the players who are not playing are not happy. “They think the methods are not good and they think the manager is not the right person but we have to live with that. “We know that we are changing things, we know that sometimes people are whingeing and moaning but they have a fantastic job. “They are paid high wages to play and enjoy football. This is a fantastic job and sometimes you forget that.” Gérard Houllier

• Fabian Delph makes his 1st appearance in a Villa shirt since April to make it 16 Appearances (11 Starts), W8 D4 L4, 1 Goal and 6 Bookings.

• Jonathan Hogg, 22, makes his 7th and final appearance for Villa before moving on to Watford on a free transfer in August 2011. Hogg had made his debut earlier in the season and recorded W1 D2 L4 and 2 Bookings during his 4 months in first team contention. 

On This Day

• Villa lose for the fifth time in six Premier League games to make it three wins in thirteen under Gérard Houllier as they remain 15th in the table with the unpopular boss admitting Villa are in a relegation fight as that was an entirely normal experience for a club that had finished sixth for three successive seasons.

• Something needed to change and fast, Villa were in total free-fall under Gérard Houllier and there were absolutely no positives to take from his first 17 games in charge. 

• Even the much derided David O'Leary had bled youngsters of quality, whilst the mess of Graham Taylor's second reign had at least seen the average squad age slashed but for Houllier though there was no such context.

• Although the season had only just reached its half way stage, on current form, relegation looked inevitable. 

• With only James Milner the difference, after 19 games in 2009-10, Martin O’Neill’s Villa sat joint third with 35 points. In contrast Houllier had taken Villa to 15th on 20 points.

On This Day

• Villa snatch a late draw but now have just three wins in fourteen under Gérard Houllier as more ill-judged comments and question marks over honesty and integrity overshadow a well earned point.

• A rare battling performance under Gérard Houllier - a tenacity seemingly lost since O'Neill left - earned Villa a draw at top four chasing Chelsea in the opening game of 2011. 

• In doing so Villa had broken a run of six defeats in seven to hold onto 15th place in the Premier League table, two points off the relegation places and just three off last place. 

• But yet again the performance is overshadowed by Houllier’s comments as he effectively admits to have misled fans in previous comments about dressing room unrest. 

• Gérard Houllier 11 December 2010 “There was not an incident with Richard Dunne [an angry reaction and argument to being dropped for today’s game and stripped of the club captaincy by Houllier]. Not at all. I took a football decision not to play him.”

• Gérard Houllier 17 December 2010 “I’ve read about dissent in the squad over training methods but it is not true.”

• Gérard Houllier Saturday, 1 January 2011 “Dunne is back because his performances have improved in training, “He [Dunne] had a word which lasted half a second with Macca [McAllister]. I took him out of the team because he was under performing and he was not the only one. “I have watched all the training he has done and I think I’ll give him the chance. “With Stephen [Ireland], we will see. I have been pleased with him. He has a different attitude to the beginning so he will soon be back.” 

• Marc Albrighton contributes his 10th goal involvement on his 26th appearance in a Villa shirt from the bench (18 Starts) to make it W9 D6 L11, 4 Goals, 6 Assists, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card.

• Ciaran Clark scores his 3rd goal on his 15th appearance in a Villa shirt (12 Starts) but also picks up yet another yellow card to make it a caution every 2.50 games and a record of W6 D4 L5, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 6 Bookings.

• Nigel Reo-Coker contributes his 5th assist in a Villa shirt, 66 games after creating his 4th, his latest comes on his 105th appearance (91 Starts) to make it W47 D28 L30, 3 Goals, 5 Assists, 22 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Meanwhile, Villa face their first ever £200m line up, just a game following their match against Manchester City's £197m side. By contrast, Villa's line up is just shy of £70m worth.

On This Day

• Villa's dreadful season under Gérard Houllier continues as they lose for the sixth time in eight Premier League games to make it three wins in fifteen and leave Villa stranded in 18th place in the table.

• Villa drop to 18th in the table as the Houllier disaster continues. One win in ten games and eight losses surely means this most misguided of appointments needs to be terminated. 

• Whatever the current struggles it needs to be remembered that the squad Houllier was incapable of motivating had spent almost the entirety of the previous campaign in the top 6.

• Gabriel Agbonlahor makes his 200th appearance in a Villa shirt (184 Starts) to make it W80 D59 L61, 53 Goals, 23 Assists and 18 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Emile Heskey is sent off on his 70th appearance (47 Starts) to make it W28 D21 L21, 13 Goals, 5 Assists, 6 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Richard Dunne collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 62nd appearance to make it W23 D21 L18, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Villa beat Championship side Sheffield United in the third round of the FA Cup as they receive some respite in a torrid season under Gérard Houllier.

• Kyle Walker makes a goalscoring debut for Villa against his hometown club after joining on loan for the rest of the season from Tottenham Hotspur. Walker becomes the 831st player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Marc Albrighton scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 29th appearance (19 Starts) to make it W9 D6 L12, 5 Goals, 7 Assists, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card  so far in his Villa career.

• Ashley Young receives the second red card of his career on his 173rd appearance in a Villa shirt (170 Starts) having previously been sent off in the 2008-09 season at Sunderland to make it W75 D52 L46, 34 Goals, 56 Assists, 30 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

• Stiliyan Petrov contributes his 15th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 174th appearance (165 Starts) to make it W72 D55 L47, 8 Goals, 7 Assists and 28 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Stewart Downing secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 60th appearance (56 Starts) to make it W25 D17 L18, 9 Goals, 9 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.33 games played so far in his Villa career.

• Meanwhile, off the pitch, Robert Pirès and Stiliyan Petrov reveal life under Houllier.

On This Day

• Villa's woeful League form under Gérard Houllier sees Villa draw with their near neighbours for the second time this season to show just how far they had fallen since Martin O'Neill's departure on the eve of the campaign.

• Villa are held by club with four names to leave them with three wins in sixteen Premier League games under Gérard Houllier. 

• Villa are now out of the relegation places in 17th place solely on alphabetical ranking.

• Villa extend their unbeaten League run against Birmingham to 8 games to make it 12 wins and 4 draws in their last 21 meetings with their neighbours dating back to 1987.

• Villa’s legendary centre forward John Carew makes his final appearance for Villa aged 31 before moving on to West Ham United on a free transfer in August 2011. Carew was a bona fide club legend during his time with Villa but has only enhanced his connection with the club since his unwarranted departure. Treated shabbily by Houllier he was underused and shown the exit door prematurely but that would not stop him identifying with and supporting the club who had so readily taken him to their heart. For a guy who contributed a goal involvement every 1.60 starts in his first 120 games it speaks volumes that he did not score or create an assist in his final 11 games following Martin O'Neill's departure. Like Olof Mellberg, Martin Laursen and Stiliyan Petrov, Carew connected with the club on a level that few footballers do. That he was also an entertaining and maverick personality only added to the mutual appreciation. Carew made 131 appearances for Villa (103 Starts) to leave with a record of W50 D44 L37, 48 goals, 12 Assists and 10 Bookings from his 5 seasons with the club and boy did Houllier need someone like that right now.

On This Day

• Villa win for the first time in six Premier League games thanks to record signing Darren Bent's debut goal to leave Gérard Houllier with four wins in seventeen.

• Take a step back for a moment and consider this. 

• Summer 2010: Villa had finished sixth for the third consecutive season, reached the League Cup final and FA Cup semi final and the manager was told there was no more money to spend. 

• Less than 8 months later: A new manager, who had taken the club into the relegation zone was gifted £20m to make the club’s record signing almost by a factor of two. 

• Now imagine having been told in the Summer of 2010 that there was not only no money to spend on improving the squad but that the existing squad needed to be sold to raise funds. 

• He had his faults did Martin O’Neill but boy did he have a point about Lerner and the Villa hierarchy. 

• It wasn’t Darren Bent’s fault of course that he arrived in such circumstances and the £19,350,000 was money well spent within 18’ of debut but Villa never needed to be in this situation in the first place. 

• Darren Bent makes a goalscoring debut in a Villa shirt following his club record £19,350,000 move from Sunderland this month to become the 832nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Richard Dunne secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 65th appearance to make it W25 D22 L18, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 11 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Marc Albrighton secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 30th appearance (21 Starts) to make it W11 D7 L12, 5 Goals, 7 Assists, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Ciaran Clark collects his 8th caution on his 16th start in a Villa shirt (19 Appearances) at a rate of a yellow card every 2.38 games to make it W8 D5 L6, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 8 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Meanwhile, four games after facing their first £200m opposition, Villa square off against Manchester City's £206m outfit and come out on top despite a £132m difference in transfer fee outlay.

On This Day

• Villa win consecutive Premier League matches under Gérard Houllier as back to back wins give Villa critical breathing room to climb to 13th and six points clear of the drop zone.

• Gérard Houllier fields a second new signing in consecutive games as Jean Makoun, a £5.58m from Olympique Lyonnais, taking Villa's investment in Houllier to just shy of £25m.

• Jean Makoun makes his debut after his £5.58m move from Olympique Lyonnais to become the 833rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Nathan Baker makes his Villa debut after coming through the youth ranks to become the 834th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Ashley Young makes his 175th appearance for the club (172 Starts) to make it W77 D52 L46, 35 Goals, 57 Assists, 30 Bookings and 2 Red Cards  so far in his Villa career.

• Nigel Reo-Coker secures his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 110th appearance (95 Starts) to make it W50 D29 L31, 3 Goals, 5 Assists, 22 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• James Collins secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 62nd appearance (59 Starts) to make it W25 D20 L17, 4 Goals and 12 Bookings  so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Gérard Houllier delivers three consecutive wins for the first time as they beat Blackburn in the FA Cup fourth round.

• Nikola Kalinić scores his fifth goal in five games against Villa. 

• Roberts Pirès scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 8th appearance (3 Starts) to make it W2 D0 L6 and 1 Goal so far in his Villa career.

• Nathan Baker is sent off on only his second appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W2 D0 L0 and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Nathan Delfouneso contributes his 10th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 42nd appearance (10 Starts) to make it W14 D12 L16, 8 Goals, 2 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Carlos Cuéllar secures his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 99th appearance (94 Starts) to make it W50 D25 L24, 3 Goals, 4 Assists, 14 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Villa lose for the first time in four Premier League games but now have just five wins in nineteen under Gérard Houllier as the gap to the drop zone closes to five points.

• Brad Friedel concedes his 150th goal in a Villa shirt on his 117th appearance to make it W51 D34 L32, 152 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.30 goals per game, 34 Clean Sheets (29%), 2 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career. A year previously, under Martin O’Neill, Friedel had made 70 Appearances, conceded 74 goals at a rate of 1.06 goals per game and kept 25 clean sheets (36%). The downturn post O’Neill was stark with 24 Appearances so far under Houllier, 29 conceded at 1.21 goals per game and just 3 clean sheets (12.5%).

On This Day

• Villa are held at home by Fulham to leave them with just five wins in twenty Premier League games under Gérard Houllier.

• Stephen Ireland makes his 14th appearance in a Villa shirt (9 Starts) having contributed precisely nothing over the period save for 1 booking. Patience is already worn out. Ireland's record stands at W2 D4 L8, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career and he is shipped out to Newcastle on loan just 6 months after his regretted arrival at the club.

• Jean Makoun collects his 2nd booking on his 3rd appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W1 D1 L1 and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Villa are held for the second successive game and drop back to fifteenth in the table, three points clear of the relegation zone with five wins in twenty one Premier League games under Gérard Houllier.

• Villa make it 1 defeat in 8 League and Cup games under Gérard Houllier.

• Michael Bradley makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining on loan to the end of the season from Mönchengladbach to become the 835th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

• Carlos Cuéllar makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (95 Starts) to make it W50 D26 L24, 3 Goals, 4 Assists, 14 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Darren Bent contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 4th appearance to make it W2 D1 L1, 2 Goals and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

• Jean Makoun is sent off on his 4th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W1 D2 L1, 2 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Villa score more than two goals in a game for only the third time in twenty eight games under Gérard Houllier and record just their sixth win in twenty two Premier League games.

• Gérard Houllier's Villa win for the first time in four and climb to 12th - their highest position since November

• A curious incident happened on 76' when club captain Stiliyan Petrov refused the armband following his arrival as substitute. It was probably nothing but in the atmosphere Houllier had created any detail was being looked for to try and fathom the off-field dynamic.

• Emile Heskey secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 75th appearance (48 Starts) to make it W30 D23 L22, 13 Goals, 5 Assists, 6 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

• Ciaran Clark secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 24th appearance (21 Starts) to make it W10 D7 L7, 4 Goals, 1 Assist and 8 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

• Stiliyan Petrov secures his 75th win in a Villa shirt on his 180th appearance (169 Starts) to make it W75 D57 L48, 8 Goals, 8 Assists and 29 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

On This Day

• Villa lose in the FA Cup fifth round as Gérard Houllier fields a weakened team.

• Ciaran Clark makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (22 Starts) to make it W10 D7 L8, 4 Goals, 1 Assist and 9 Bookings. Clark has now picked up a booking every 2.78 games he has played. 

• Playing a weakened team in a Cup game was nothing new in recent years but not making a substitution, despite glaring deficiencies, until Villa were three down took concerns about Houllier to new levels. Perhaps it was preference to focus on the League competition - where Houllier had conspicuously failed to date - but for sure it was clear that despite claims to the contrary Houllier didn't "understand the ethos of our club and shares our core values."

On This Day

• Villa compound the misery of FA Cup surrender to lose to Bolton and leave them just three points off relegation having won just six in twenty three Premier League games under Gérard Houllier.

• Stewart Downing contributes his 22nd goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 70th appearance (64 Starts) to make it W29 D20 L21, 10 Goals, 12 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.18 games played so far in his Villa career.

• Kyle Walker contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 9th appearance (8 Starts) to make it W3 D3 L3, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

• Ciaran Clark collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 26th appearance (23 Starts) to make it W10 D7 L9, 4 Goals, 1 Assist and 10 Bookings. Clark has now picked up a booking every 2.60 games he has played. 

• Fabian Delph makes his 20th appearance in a Villa shirt (13 Starts) to make it W9 D4 L7, 1 Goal and 6 Bookings.