Graham Taylor's Villa win for the first time in five in all competitions as they hammer second division Ipswich in the League Cup 4th Round as Alan McInally hits his fifteenth of the season and David Platt scores four.

Graham Taylor's Villa fail to score for the fourth successive game and have now lost seven of their last nine League games. As a result they sit 16th in the table, one point off the drop zone in a tight Division One table.

Graham Taylor’s Villa draw for the second consecutive game at the start of the campaign as defender Andy Comyn made his debut aged 21 after moving from Alvechurch for £34,000 earlier this month.

• 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.

• Villa bounce back from their Norwich defeat to hammer an ill-disciplined Coventry who are still yet to win at Villa Park in 53 years of trying.

• Villa make it six wins in the last seven and 3rd place in the table under Graham Taylor.

• Kent Nielsen contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 15th appearance (12 Starts) to make it W6 D4 L5, 1 Goal and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

• Centre forward Ian Ormondroyd scores his second goal in a Villa shirt and for the first time in 19 games to make it 22 appearances (13 Starts), W5 D5 L12, 2 Goals and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

• Villa are kicked all over the park and are muzzled by Millwall's aggression as a lenient refereeing performance offers no protection.

• Villa suffer a first League defeat in six as they lose to 17th place Millwall, as a result Villa fall to joint third alongside Norwich and are now three points behind Liverpool and five points behind leaders Arsenal.

• Gordon Cowans makes his 400th start in a Villa shirt (417 Appearances) to make it W187 D100 L130, 55 Goals and 69 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.36 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

• Villa play on a Friday to get the wasteful ZDS fixture out of the way but win through after a dynamic second half performance before a crowd of just 6,500.

• Graham Taylor’s Villa win in the 3rd Round of the latest incarnation of the Full Members Cup.

• Villa hammer Manchester United at Villa Park with a superlative performance as David Platt scores his 15th of the season before a 41,247 capacity crowd.

• Villa make it 9 first division victories in 12 games under Graham Taylor as they crush Manchester United in a Boxing Day spectacular. Villa are now two points behind second place Arsenal and four behind new leaders Liverpool.

• Paul McGrath secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 21st appearance to make it W10 D5 L6 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

• Villa make it ten first division victories in thirteen games as they beat the thuggish play of second placed Arsenal to leapfrog them in the table and sit four points behind leaders Liverpool.

• Derek Mountfield contributes his 10th goal involvement to help secure his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 59th appearance (57 Starts) to make it W25 D12 L22, 9 Goals and 1 Assist at a goal involvement rate of one for every 5.90 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Graham Taylor’s Villa make it eleven first division victories in fourteen games as they hammer Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The result could have been even more convincing had the referee not blown his whistle for half time as the ball was mid flight from a David Platt overhead kick before it hit the back of the net. Regardless, Villa remained second and close the gap to leaders Liverpool to two points.

• Villa are held at Ewood Park by second tier Blackburn in the third round of the FA Cup.

• Kent Nielsen makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (22 Starts) to make it W13 D6 L6 and 1 Goal and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

• Villa win in the third round of the FA Cup at the second attempt as Tony Daley runs Second Division Blackburn ragged at Villa Park.

• Tony Daley scores his 20th goal in a Villa shirt on his 146th appearance (118 Starts) to make it W48 D38 L60, 20 Goals and 20 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.65 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

• Paul McGrath makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt and makes it W13 D6 L6 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

• Ian Ormondroyd scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 33rd appearance (24 Starts) to make it W13 D7 L13, 5 Goals and 3 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.13 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

• Villa bounce back from consecutive league defeats to beat Luton and climb back to first in the table two points clear of Liverpool but having played a game more. 

• Villa win for the first time in three League games to make it sixteen first division victories in twenty one games so far rhis season under Graham Taylor.

• Meanwhile the Birmingham Evening Mail, presumably with nothing to bitch and moan about Villa, brand fans fickle for understandable top of the table nerves.

• Gordon Cowans secures his 200th win in a Villa shirt on his 435th appearance (418 Starts) to make it W200 D101 L134, 55 Goals and 76 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.32 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

• Villa beat Millwall for their third 1-0 victory in their last four.

• Villa make it twenty first division victories in twenty eight games as they remain second, five points behind leaders Liverpool with two to play. 

• Villa need to win both their final two games, and Liverpool lose both of theirs to win their first League title in nine years.

• Kent Nielsen contributes his fifth assist to help secure his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 46th appearance (43 Starts) to make it W25 D7 L14, 2 Goals and 5 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 6.57 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

• Villa end the season with a thrilling draw at Everton that should have been victory but for another deeply suspect refereeing performance from George Courtney. Those shenanigans however cannot take the shine off for the 5,000 Villa fans, players and staff who celebrate the end of a fine season on and off the pitch at Goodison Park. Sadly it would prove the end of an era too.

• Graham Taylor’s Villa end the season with a second successive three-all draw to finish second, nine points behind eventual title winners Liverpool. 

• The match however will long be remembered for the huge celebrations at Goodison Park as Villa’s fans and players gathered to thank one another and to wish outgoing boss Graham Taylor well in what would prove his final game before his move to the role of England manager. Taylor had brought smiles and belief back to Villa and laid the foundations for the next two decades. To this day the song ‘Spinksy and Birchy, Alan McInallyyyy’ resonates wherever Villa play in testament to the players Graham Taylor brought to the club and nurtured to new heights in his all too short reign of three seasons and 150 games. Sadly for Taylor he would never again achieve such success, including his return to Villa in the 2000s, but he will always be fondly remembered for his time with Villa between 1987 and 1990.

• Mark Blake contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 10th appearance (6 Starts) to make it W5 D2 L3 so far in his Villa career.