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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

Villa slump to defeat against Wolves and now are just one point clear of the drop zone to leave them with just six wins in twenty four Premier League games under Gérard Houllier.

Gérard Houllier's woeful reign continued as he presides over Villa's first loss to second from bottom Wolves at Villa Park in 31 years to leave Villa just one point above the relegation places. 

Even in the darkest days of David O'Leary and the insipid return of Graham Taylor, Villa had never reached the levels of abject failure that Houllier had delivered. 

Of course a more competent Villa hierarchy would have dismissed Houllier before the turn of the year - or preferably never been so foolish as to appoint him - but with their misguided pride clearly of greater importance to them than competency, Houllier was allowed to continue his destruction of Villa that precipitated a half decade of failure.

Nigel Reo-Coker makes his 100th start in a Villa shirt (116 Appearances) to make it W52 D30 L34, 3 Goals, 5 Assists, 22 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Marc Albrighton makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (37 Appearances) to make it W14 D8 L15, 6 Goals, 7 Assists, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card.

Villa are without the suspended duo James Collins and Richard Dunne who were also fined for a drunken fracas during a player bonding break with staff members left behind by Houllier and McAllister. The staff members avoided censure.

A second string Villa side toils to an uninspired victory at home to League Two Hereford in the second round of the League Cup as Alex McLeish already faces loud demands to up the attacking tempo of his teams.

Eric Lichaj scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 9th appearance (7 Starts) to make it W5 D2 L2, 1 Goal and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Andreas Weimann makes his first appearance for a year due to injury to make it 3 substitute appearances, W2 D1 L0 and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Chris Herd makes his first appearance for five months and first under Alex McLeish to make it 8 appearances in a Villa shirt (3 Starts), W3 D1 L4 so far in his Villa career.

Midfielder Jean Makoun plays first game in 4 months and first under Alex McLeish in what is his 8th and final appearance for Villa aged 28 before moving on to Stade Rennais for a fee of £2,700,000 in July 2013. Former manager Gérard Houllier had brought Makoun to the club just 7 months before his final game spending £5,580,000 on the player who frankly looked completely out of his depth in English football regardless of the standard of opposition, and whose sole contribution was the regularity with which he accumulated cards. Makoun would leave with a record of W3 D3 L2, 3 Bookings and 1 Red Card.

Right back Habib Bèye, makes his first appearance in 13 months, his first under Alex McLeish and his final in a Villa shirt. Bèye, who was an eyebrow raising signing under Martin O'Neill had looked well below the necessary standard before being placed on Gérard Houllier's infamous 'bomb squad' of first team players not to be considered for duty during 2010-11. Bèye, 34, was released by Villa before subsequently joining Doncaster Rovers with whom he had spent a loan spell. Bèye had been bought by Martin O’Neill for £2,610,000 in 2009. Bèye left with a record of W8 D3 L7, 1 Assist, 3 Bookings and 1 Red Card across his 3 seasons with the club and, despite having spent previous seasons in English football with Newcastle, never looked of sufficient standard to play in the top flight.

Marc Albrighton contributes his 15th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 26th start (44 Appearances) to make it W17 D11 L16, 6 Goals, 9 Assists, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Stephen Ireland makes his 15th appearance in a Villa shirt (10 Starts) and first under Alex McLeish having failed in his loan spell at Newcastle (where he was shipped just 6 months after his regretted arrival at the club) and even against League Two Hereford contributed precisely nothing, just as he had done throughout his 12 months with Villa. Ireland's record stands at W3 D4 L8, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Villa suffer a second goalless draw in three Premier League games under Alex McLeish and although it extends Villa's unbeaten run to four in all competitions under the new manager few are in the mood to celebrate a solid, if underwhelming, start to the season.

The natives were already getting restless as Alex McLeish records a second goalless draw in his first three Premier League games and everything the doubters feared appeared to be coming to fruition.

Villa lose consecutive games for the first time under Alex McLeish and now have just two wins in nine Premier League games. 

How to win friends and influence people from Alex McLeish as he leads Villa to a first defeat to Albion at Villa Park in 32 years having failed to beat Wolves on home turf earlier in the season.

After a two month absence, Chris Herd is sent off on his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (5 Starts) to make it W3 D2 L5 and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa stop a run of consecutive defeats but draw for the sixth time to leave them with two wins in ten Premier League games under Alex McLeish.

Villa sit ninth in the table on twelve points. At the same stage in 2010-11 they had sat fourteenth under Gérard Houllier.

Stiliyan Petrov contributes his 20th goal involvement on his 200th appearance in a Villa shirt (188 Starts) to make it W81 D65 L54, 10 Goals, 11 Assists and 35 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Darren Bent makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W10 D9 L46, 12 Goals and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Richard Dunne contributes his 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 91st appearance to make it W34 D33 L24, 4 Goals, 1 Assist and 14 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Alan Hutton contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 8th appearance to make it W1 D4 L3, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Meanwhile Barry Bannan misses the game as he is suspended by the club while they carry out an internal investigation into the motorway car crash that the midfielder was involved in during the early hours of Sunday morning.

Villa win a third Premier League game of the season as Paul Lambert's Norwich are beaten at Villa Park by the much maligned Alex McLeish.

Villa win for the first time in four Premier League games to climb to 8th in the table under Alex McLeish.

Midfielder Jermaine Jenas, 28, makes his belated Villa debut after injury since joining on a season long loan from Tottenham Hotspur in August 2011 to become the 839th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Darren Bent contributes his 15th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 26th appearance to make it W11 D9 L6, 14 Goals and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Stephen Warnock secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 75th appearance to make it W30 D23 L22, 2 Goals, 7 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the third time in five games as they begin to replace draw with defeats under Alex McLeish to leave them with three wins in twelve Premier League games.

Alan Hutton makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W2 D4 L4, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa draw for the seventh time under Alex McLeish to leave them with three wins in thirteen Premier League games but another disappointing result is overshadowed by the tragic passing of Gary Speed and his close connection with man of the match Shay Given.

James Collins collects his 15th booking in a Villa shirt on his 87th appearance (82 Starts) to make it W33 D32 L22, 5 Goals and 15 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Richard Dunne collects his 15th booking in a Villa shirt on his 94th appearance to make it W35 D34 L25, 4 Goals, 1 Assist and 15 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Meanwhile, off the pitch Barry Bannan is banned from driving for 18 months but avoids a custodial sentence for a drunken crash on the M1 as further signs of a lack of professionalism has infected the club from top to bottom.

Villa lose for the fourth time in seven games under Alex McLeish to make it just three wins in fourteen Premier League games but Villa remain ninth in the table six points clear of the drop zone as the safety net of seven draws keeps them afloat.

Jermaine Jenas makes his final appearance for Villa aged 28 having appeared just 3 times, 2 as a substitute, in his time with Villa to leave with a record of W1 D1 L1, 0 Goals and 0 Assists.

Brad Guzan makes his second league appearance in a Villa shirt on his 23rd appearance overall (21 Starts) after coming on as a 38' substitute for the injured Shay Given. Guzan's only previous League appearance had come 15 appearances earlier in March 2009 as a substitute following the dismissal of Brad Friedel. Unlike that appearance however, Guzan would not concede a goal and in so doing would add to his clean sheet tally to make it W12 D3 L8, 26 Goals Conceded, 7 Clean Sheets and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Shay Given concedes his 20th goal in a Villa shirt before leaving the field with injury on 38' on his 15th appearance to make it W3 D7 L5, 20 Goals Conceded, 4 Clean Sheets and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Meanwhile Charles N'Zogbia misses the game as he is suspended and find for a breach of club discipline.

Villa beat bottom of the table Bolton to secure a fourth win in fifteen Premier League games under Alex McLeish.

Stephen Warnock contributes his 10th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 79th appearance to make it W31 D24 L24, 2 Goals, 8 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Darren Bent makes his 30th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W12 D10 L8, 14 Goals and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Alex McLeish's Villa record a twelfth draw in twenty seven Premier League games this season to remain in 15th place in the table.

Carlos Cuéllar contributes his 5th assist in a Villa shirt on his 114th appearance (107 Starts) to make it W52 D30 L32, 3 Goals, 5 Assists, 16 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Alan Hutton makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (24 Starts) to make it W5 D9 L11, 2 Assists, 5 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Charles N'Zogbia makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (20 Starts) to make it W6 D11 L8, 1 Goal, 3 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Chris Herd makes his first appearance for three months to make it 17 appearances in a Villa shirt (12 Starts), W5 D5 L7, 1 Booking and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa win for the first time in six Premier League games to secure a seventh victory in twenty eight under Alex McLeish.

Alex McLeish's Villa secure a seventh win in twenty eight Premier League matches through a 93' injury time goal from Andreas Weimann and were now unbeaten in three. 

Villa remain in 15th place with ten games to play and sat on the exact same points total as they had at the same stage in 2010-11 under Gérard Houllier.

James Collins makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (95 Starts) to make it W38 D36 L26, 5 Goals and 16 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Andreas Weimann scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 9th appearance (0 Starts) to make it W5 D3 L1, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Alan Hutton makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (26 Appearances) to make it W6 D9 L11, 2 Assists, 5 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the first time in four to leave them with seven wins in twenty nine Premier League games under Alex McLeish but the result, the season and the struggles under the manager are rendered completely irrelevant with news that Villa's beloved captain Stiliyan Petrov is suffering from leukaemia.

By the time Villa lined up the following Saturday for their match vs. 5th placed Chelsea Petrov’s diagnosis had been confirmed. Saturday, 24 March 2012 however was the date that marked legendary Villa midfielder Petrov’ final appearance for Villa. Thankfully Petrov would ultimately recover from his illness but his football career was ended at the age of 32. Petrov had made 219 appearances (206 Starts) over his 6 seasons with Villa and beyond just his playing achievements represented everything good about football. Petrov left a record behind of W87 D69 L63, 12 Goals, 13 Assists and 39 Bookings.

Gabriel Agbonlahor suffers his 75th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 245th appearance (222 Starts) to make it W95 D75 L75, 62 Goals, 31 Assists and 25 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Stephen Ireland makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (35 Appearances) and has now gone 8 games without a goal involvement, and 31st in total to record W8 D11 L16, 1 Goal, 2 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Off the pitch Charles N'Zogbia and Alex McLeish kiss and make up after an unseemly and unecessary spat add further woe to Villa's season.

Villa suffer consecutive defeats to make it seven wins in thirty Premier League games under Alex McLeish but the out-pouring of love for Stiliyan Petrov eclipses any on pitch troubles.

Alex McLeish's Villa suffer a second successive defeat as an injury ravaged side - with nine first team players absent - respond from two goals down to equalise only for fifth placed Chelsea to score two late goals. 

After 30 games of a challenging Premier League campaign, Villa remained in 15th place, five points clear of the relegation places. A year previously, under Gérard Houllier, Villa had sat 14th, just a single point clear of the relegation places.

Marc Albrighton contributes his 20th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 68th appearance (41 Starts) to make it W22 D20 L26, 9 Goals, 11 Assists, 8 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Andreas Weimann makes his 1st start in a Villa shirt on his 11th appearance to make it W5 D3 L3, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Eric Lichaj contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 11th appearance (8 Starts) to make it W5 D2 L4, 2 Goals, 1 Assist and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Barry Bannan suffers his 20th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 47th appearance (24 Starts) to make it W14 D13 L20, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Alex McLeish's Villa face a third successive game against a top 6 side and come away with a creditable and hard fought draw to remain in 15th six points clear of the relegation places with seven games left to play. 

Villa put in their strongest performance since New Years' eve as they are held to a thirteenth draw of the season after a late Liverpool equaliser at Anfield. Villa climb to 15th in the table but are now left with just seven wins in thirty one Premier League games under Alex McLeish as relegation remains entirely possible.

Samir Carruthers makes his Villa debut aged 19 after graduating from the youth team to become the 882nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Chris Herd scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 21st appearance (16 Starts) to make it W6 D6 L9, 1 Goal, 2 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Shay Given concedes his 40th goal in a Villa shirt on his 27th appearance at a rate of 1.40 League Goals per Game to make it W5 D12 L10, 40 Goals Conceded, 6 Clean Sheets and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Barry Bannan makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (48 Appearances) to make it W14 D14 L20, 2 Goals, 4 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Stephen Ireland has now gone 10 games without a goal involvement, and 33rd in total on his 37th appearance in a Villa shirt (27 Starts) to make it W8 D12 L17, 1 Goal, 2 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa draw for the second successive game to make it fourteen stalemates for the season and just seven wins in thirty two Premier League games under Alex McLeish.

Villa are now without a home win in five months.

Gabriel Agbonlahor makes his 225th start in a Villa shirt (248 Appearances) to make it W95 D77 L76, 62 Goals, 31 Assists and 25 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Stephen Ireland contributes his first goal involvement in 11 games on his 38th appearance in a Villa shirt (28 Starts) to make it W8 D13 L17, 1 Goal, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa record a sixth goalless game and fifteenth draw under Alex McLeish to make it  seven wins in thirty four Premier League games as Villa sit 15th in the table six points clear of relegation with four to play as Martin O'Neill makes his first appearance at Villa Park since his moonlight flit in August 2010. 

Gabriel Agbonlahor makes his 250th appearance in a Villa shirt (227 Starts) to make it W95 D78 L77, 62 Goals, 31 Assists and 25 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

With relegation just a disappointing mathematical possibility the game before, Alex McLeish contrives to lose to Bolton at Villa Park to leave Villa just three points above the drop with three to play and in the worst form in the League - without a win in seven - and with only seven wins in thirty five this season. 

Even under Houllier in 2010-11 Villa were 6 points clear with 35 games played and in 13th place with 41 points.

Charles N'Zogbia contributes his 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 30th appearance (23 Starts) to make it W7 D13 L10, 1 Goal, 4 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Eric Lichaj collects his 5th booking in a Villa shirt on his 16th appearance (13 Starts) at a rate of 1 card for every 3.2 games he has played to make it W5 D5 L6, 2 Goals, 1 Assist and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa record a seventh goalless game under Alex McLeish to make it seven wins in thirty six Premier League games.

Villa are now winless in the last 8 games under Alex McLeish.

Villa record their 16th draw in 36 matches under Alex McLeish.

Villa remain 15th, three points clear of the drop zone but with a vastly superior goal difference to the clubs around them. Relegation therefore looks unlikely but at least another point is needed to make certain. 

Samir Carruthers makes his final appearance for Villa aged 19 before moving on to MK Dons in August 2014 for a fee of £225,000. Carruthers had made a total of 3 substitute appearances for Villa all of which came in March and April 2012 leaving with a record of W0 D2 L1 and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Chris Herd makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (20 Starts) to make it W6 D9 L10, 1 Goal, 2 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Emile Heskey collects his 10th booking in a Villa shirt on his 108th appearance (69 Starts) to make it W37 D37 L34, 14 Goals, 5 Assists, 10 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Alex McLeish's Villa draw for the seventeenth time in 37 Premier League games but it is enough to ensure that, despite dropping to 16th in the table, Villa secure top flight football for 2012-13 with a game to spare, just as they had done in 2010-11.

Villa set an unwanted club record with only four wins all term.

A victory at Norwich next weekend will not prevent Villa recording their lowest points tally in 20 years as members of the Premier League.

Stephen Warnock makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (99 Starts) to make it W35 D33 L32, 3 Goals, 8 Assists and 17 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Charles N'Zogbia contributes his 5th assist on his 25th start in a Villa shirt (32 Appearances) to make it W7 D15 L10, 1 Goal, 5 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Off the field, James Collins, Chris Herd and Fabian Delph are punished for a nightclub 'fracas' following the end of season awards event.

Villa end a most difficult season with just seven wins in thirty eight Premier League games as Alex McLeish's tenure ends exactly as many predicted but no one wanted.

Villa end the campaign without a win in ten games under Alex McLeish.

Villa end the season on their lowest points tally since another unpopular Scot, Billy McNeill, took Villa down in 1986-87. 

McLeish had masterminded 14 losses and 18 draws in a 38 game season. 

The irony however was that up until April 2012 McLeish’s record was actually better than that of his predecessor however the last eight games of the campaign - having lost skipper Stiliyan Petrov - were simply torrid and a respectable 15th, in a more competitive League than 2010-11 and with the same points gained as under Gérard Houllier, became 16th, no win in eight and once again an escape from relegation on the penultimate game of the season. 

Nobody would chose to be in a second successive relegation fight of course, however, from an objective point of view up until April the campaign had been an improvement. A manager who, in total contrast to his predecessor, wanted to be there - however much a huge swathe of fans understandably didn’t, oversaw a partial rebuild and galvanisation of a squad recovering from the destruction of the previous manager. That Villa had to deal with a huge injury list not only in numbers but also in influence and quality was just another reason to have cut some slack. 

But equally the football was often poor and overtly negative even in the better days and the manager’s provenance was never forgiven. It was right to part ways of course but the season itself deserves an objective re-evaluation away from the knee-jerk reaction to an unpopular appointment. 

The final eight games were inexcusably bad, and a season of standing still became a season of unwanted broken records of failure. However, taken as a whole, what had come immediately before and what would soon be upon Villa was immeasurably worse. 

Off the field an increasing culture of disconnection grew between the leadership of the club and the fan base and had led to two successive appointments of the wrong managers, at the wrong time, for the wrong club. The Villa hierarchy then simply couldn’t get a third successive managerial appointment wrong and a significant chunk of Villa fans had already made clear their favoured candidate sat in the opposition dug-out. 

Centre back Richard Dunne makes his final appearance for Villa aged 32 before moving on to Queens Park Rangers on a free transfer in July 2013. Dunne would miss the entire 2012-13 season through injury having made 111 appearances and leaving with a record of W39 D39 L33, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 19 Bookings.

Centre back James Collins makes his final appearance for Villa aged 28 before returning to West Ham United for £2,880,000 in August 2012. Collins made 108 appearances (102 Starts) during his 3 seasons with Villa but would be sold by Paul Lambert on his arrival as Villa’s new boss despite a record of W38 D40 L30, 6 Goals and 18 Bookings and without a suitable replacement coming in. 

Centre back Carlos Cuéllar makes his final appearance for Villa aged 30 before moving on to Sunderland on a free transfer in July 2012. Cuéllar made 121 appearances (114 Starts) during his 4 seasons with Villa but would be sold by Paul Lambert on his arrival as Villa’s new boss despite a record of W53 D33 L35, 3 Goals, 5 Assists, 16 Bookings and 1 Red Card and without a suitable replacement coming in. 

Centre forward Emile Heskey makes his final appearance for Villa aged 34 before retiring from football. Heskey made 110 appearances but only 71 starts during his 4 seasons with Villa but would be sold by Paul Lambert on his arrival as Villa’s new boss. Heskey had contributed 19 goal involvements across his first 54 starts (83 Appearances) up to August 2011 but thereafter things dried up and Heskey was left without a goal in 27 games and without an assist in 47 to leave with a record of W37 D38 L35, 14 Goals, 5 Assists, 10 Bookings and 1 Red Card.

Right back Stephen Warnock makes 100th start and his 101st and final appearance for Villa aged 30 before moving on to Leeds United on a free transfer in January 2013. Warnock was a solid player who served Villa well over his 3 seasons and 101 appearances, however he was treated abominably by Gérard Houllier and later by Paul Lambert both of whom ostracised Warnock from first team consideration and considerably weakened the defensive options of the team. Warnock would depart with a record of W35 D33 L33, 3 Goals, 8 Assists and 17 Bookings.

Shay Given concedes his 50th goal in a Villa shirt on his 34th appearance at a rate of 1.41 League Goals per Game to make it W5 D16 L13, 50 Goals Conceded, 8 Clean Sheets and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Villa are well beaten at home to make it two defeats from two games under Paul Lambert as the great hope already looks less than was promised.

Paul Lambert's Villa, three goals down by half time, suffered a second successive defeat as they were dispatched with ease by Everton at Villa Park. Two games into the reign of the effectively 'fan appointed' Lambert and things were already looking less than rosy with the newly installed Villa boss already talking of the relegation battle ahead. 

Villa have now gone 12 top-flight games without a win for the first time since 1986-87 when they were relegated under Billy McNeill. 

Nathan Delfouneso - having been called up by Lambert to make his first start in over 9 months - was substituted by Lambert at half time in what would prove to be his final appearance for Villa aged 21 before moving on to Blackpool on a free transfer in July 2014. In total Delfouneso made 51 appearances, 37 as substitute and left with a record of W15 D14 L22, 9 goals, 2 Assists and 2 Bookings from his 5 seasons with the club.

Karim El Ahmadi scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 2nd appearance to make it W0 D0 L2, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Barry Bannan suffers his 25th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 55th appearance (28 Starts) to make it W14 D16 L25, 2 Goals, 4 Assists and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.