Villa make it 4 games unbeaten under David O’Leary as a Nobby Solano inspired side see off Championship side QPR to progress to the League Cup third round.

Lee Hendrie contributes his 26th assist in a Villa shirt on his 260th appearance (208 Starts) to make it W105 D67 L88, 26 Goals, 26 Assists, 50 Bookings and 3 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 5.09 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Midfielder Mathieu Berson, 24, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from FC Nantes for £2,070,000 in July 2004 to become the 778th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Nolberto Solano scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt and contributes his 5th assist on his 16th appearance to make it W8 D5 L3, 1 Goal, 5 Assists, 1 Booking and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.67 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Peter Whittingham makes his 1st start in a Villa shirt in 17 games after being relegated to the role of substitute by David O’Leary in January. Before that point Whittingham had made 26 starts in his first 31 Appearances but was now left with a record of 48 Appearances (27 Starts), W19 D14 L15, 1 Goal, 4 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa bounce back from defeat last time out to draw their seventh match in sixteen Premier League games under David O'Leary, But David O'Leary's praise for the opposition and his talking down of his own team post match overshadows another decent showing from 6th placed Villa.

Nolberto Solano contributes his 10th goal involvement on his 26th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W12 D9 L5, 5 Goals, 5 Assists, 2 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.60 games he has played so far in his Villa career. 

Villa fall to ninth in the table as despite an improved performance they suffer a third defeat in four winless Premier League games under David O'Leary.

Juan Pablo Ángel makes his 100th start in a Villa shirt (122 Appearances) to make it W48 D30 L44, 48 Goals, 12 Assists and 8 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.67 starts so far in his Villa career.

Thomas Sørensen concedes his 75th goal in a Villa shirt on his 64th appearance to make it W27 D18 L19, 75 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.17 goals per game and 23 Clean Sheets (36%) so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the fourth time in five winless games as they are beaten at Stamford Bridge to leave them 10th in the Premier League under David O'Leary having sat 5th five games earlier.

Ulises de la Cruz makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (56 Starts) to make it W30 D19 L26, 2 Goals, 6 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Mathieu Berson makes his 1st start in a Villa shirt (4 Appearances) to make it W1 D1 L2 so far in his Villa career.

Villa end 2004 with a fifth defeat in six winless games to leave them eleventh in the table but the fact they put in an improved performance is overshadowed by David O'Leary taking the concept of damning with faint praise to a new level.

As a result Villa end 2004 moving in a very different trajectory than 2003 but one consistent is David O'Leary continuing to belittle his charges in post match interviews. 

Stefan Moore, 21, makes his 30th and final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Queens Park Rangers on a free transfer in July 2005 leaving with a record of W14 D6 L10, 2 Goals and 2 Bookings.

Villa's miserable run under David O'Leary continues as they lose for the seventh time in nine games, this time to League One side Sheffield United in the FA Cup.

Villa’s latest defeat makes it 7 losses in 9 games under O’Leary.

Luke Moore makes his 20th start in a Villa shirt (21 Appearances) to make it W9 D5 L7, 0 Goals, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa win for the second time in three Premier League games but only for the second time in ten in all competitions under David O'Leary as they see off relegation threatened Norwich at Villa Park.

Olof Mellberg secures his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 144th appearance to make it W50 D40 L54, 5 Goals, 5 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Luke Moore secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 22nd appearance (1 Start) to make it W10 D5 L7, 0 Goals, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Juan Pablo Ángel secures his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 106th start (128 Appearances) to make it W50 D30 L48, 48 Goals, 13 Assists and 8 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.74 starts so far in his Villa career.

Liam Ridgewell secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 23rd appearance (12 Starts) to make it W10 D4 L9 and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Thomas Sørensen keeps his 25th clean sheet in a Villa shirt on his 70th appearance to make it W29 D18 L23, 82 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.17 goals per game and 25 Clean Sheets (36%) so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the eighth time in eleven games in all competitions under David O'Leary and drop to 11th in the Premier League table as a result as O'Leary's second season descends into disjointed disaster on and off the pitch.

Villa miss two penalties and concede an injury time equaliser to draw with Fulham and leave them with two wins in their last eleven Premier League games under David O'Leary. 

Meanwhile, O'Leary again ducks the post match press conference once again to leave Roy Aitken to hang Juan Pablo Ángel out to dry. A curious motivational policy as a manager who has bemoaned his lack of 'firepower' all season.

Midfielder Eric Djemba Djemba makes his debut in a Villa shirt after his barely credible signing from Manchester United for a fee of £2,290,000 in January 2005. Djemba Djemba had been a figure of mirth at his previous club but somehow David O’Leary not only took Alex Ferguson’s word that the player had qualities but actually got the club to pay for his services. Anyone who had seen Djemba Djemba play would attest to the fact that the player was not endowed with any such talent and the acquisition was met by most fans with head in hands. That Djemba Djemba had neither scoring ability or the quality to perform was shown to be all the greater a folly given Villa already boasted the likes of Gareth Barry, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Steven Davis, Gavin McCann, Lee Hendrie and Mathieu Berson ahead of the Cameroonian chancer.

Lee Hendrie makes his 225th start in a Villa shirt (277 Appearances) to make it W110 D71 L96, 31 Goals, 29 Assists, 55 Bookings and 4 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.69 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Thomas Hitzlsperger makes his 75th start in a Villa shirt (104 Appearances) to make it W41 D26 L37, 11 Goals, 16 Assists and 9 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Liam Ridgewell makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (14 Starts) to make it W10 D5 L10 and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the ninth time in thirteen games in all competitions under David O'Leary but remain 11th in the Premier League table.

Juan Pablo Ángel scores his 50th goal in a Villa shirt on his 109th start (131 Appearances) to make it W50 D31 L50, 50 Goals, 13 Assists and 9 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.73 starts so far in his Villa career.

Luke Moore remains without a goal on his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (2 Starts) to make it W10 D6 L9, 0 Goals, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Mathieu Berson makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (5 Starts) to make it W2 D2 L6 and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa win for the second time in five Premier League games to make it three wins in thirteen under David O'Leary but move up to 10th in the table.

Eric Djemba Djemba makes his 2nd start in a Villa shirt (3rd appearance) and is witnessed to be utterly bewildered in midfield, stationary, with wide eyed panic unable to receive the ball with his new team-mates seemingly unwilling to pass to him. Djemba Djemba was proving worse than even the most committed naysayers predicted.

Villa's curious yo yo form continues as they beat Boro to record just their 5th win in 16 games under David O'Leary to climb to 10th in the table. 

Villa win for the third time in seven Premier League games and second time in three having lost ten in fifteen but any positivity is wrenched asunder by more demoralising dribbles of drivel from David O'Leary.

O'Leary's continued his bizarre proclamations that seem designed to denigrate the club whilst distancing himself from any responsibility. Whether that was having an effect on the dressing room wasn't clear but something had affected the same set of players who had evidently overachieved to such a high degree the previous season according to O'Leary.

Martin Laursen scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 4th appearance having not played since August 2004 due to injury, in so doing Laursen makes it W2 D1 L1, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Luke Moore scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 28th appearance (4 Starts) to make it W12 D6 L10, 1 Goal, 2 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Nolberto Solano contributes his 15th goal involvement on his 40th appearance in a Villa shirt (39 Starts) to make it W16 D10 L14, 8 Goals, 7 Assists, 5 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.67 games he has played so far in his Villa career. 

Olof Mellberg makes his 150th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W52 D41 L57, 5 Goals, 5 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Jlloyd Samuel secures his 60th win in a Villa shirt on his 162nd appearance (142 Starts) to make it W60 D42 L60, 3 Goals, 9 Assists, 22 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

David O'Leary fails against Birmingham once again to record Villa's eleventh defeat in sixteen Premier League games. 

To make matters worse O'Leary has the audacity to claim a "voodoo" against a side who had beaten Villa four times in eleven games across eighteen years.

Villa lose home and away to Birmingham for the second time in three seasons and now are winless in their last 6 games against their neighbours despite having won their previous 6 meetings by an aggregate of 17 goals to 1.

At 6 games the 4 defeats and 2 draws is now Villa's longest winless streak against Birmingham.

Only once before have Villa failed to win in 6 successive matches against their neighbours - in 1933-35 when they had a run of 4 draws and 2 defeats.

Midfielder Mathieu Berson, 25, makes his 13th and final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Levante Unión Deportiva for a fee of £225,000 in July 2006. Villa had paid FC Nantes £2,070,000 for Berson's services in July 2004 allegedly to recreate a midfield that had featured for the French club consisting of Berson and Eric Djemba-Djemba. They played together twice at Villa, never starting together, and both failed to make the grade at Villa Park with Berson leaving with a record of W4 D2 L7, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 3 Bookings.