Villa deliver a stunning performance and result to end a difficult 2011 with Alex McLeish's fifth win in nineteen games as hopes grow for a more positive 2012.

Alex McLeish, having taken Villa into the top 10, had clearly brought progress to the club yet was a figure of far greater ire than even Houllier had been, despite the latter having Villa in 15th place at the same stage the previous season. His football wasn’t likely to win plaudits but objectively Villa, however distasteful for a lot of the support, were in a better place twelve months on. The question now was whether a foundation was there for a top ten finish and more football. 

Villa have 5 Wins, 8 Draws and 6 Defeats under Alex McLeish with 19 games played to sit 9th in the table. 

12 months previously Gérard Houllier had sat 15th and had tumbled to 18th by the first weekend of January. 

Darren Bent scores his 15th goal in a Villa shirt on his 31st appearance (30 Starts) to make it W13 D10 L8, 15 Goals and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Carlos Cuéllar makes his 100th start in a Villa shirt (107 Appearances) to make it W52 D27 L28, 3 Goals, 4 Assists, 15 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career. Cuéllar had made his 100th appearance back in February 2011.

Richard Dunne makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W37 D35 L28, 4 Goals, 1 Assist and 15 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

After 16 months on Villa's books, a loan away and several periods in ostracism from first team selection, Stephen Ireland finally puts in a performance and helps Alex McLeish's Villa to their best win of the season on the final day of 2011. Stephen Ireland makes his 16th start in a Villa shirt (24 Appearances) and finally contributes something to make it W6 D7 L11, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Gary Gardner makes his Villa debut as a substitute to become the 840th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Off the pitch Stephen Ireland is sanctioned for an online image apparently showing him smoking from a hookah pipe - the latest player indiscretion of plenty this season.

Less than 12 months after facing their first ever £200m opposition (Chelsea - £200.39m), the Blues line up at Stamford Bridge having taken spending to yet new heights and field a side that had cost an astonishing £244.76m. Over a 20% increase in spending in just a year as the influx of new money continued to distort the League.

Villa beat bottom of League Two Bristol Rovers in the third round of the FA Cup.

Brad Guzan makes his 30th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (28 Starts) before being released by the club at the end of the season. Guzan would leave with a record of W15 D4 L11, 35 Goals Conceded, 8 Clean Sheets and 2 Bookings. Paul Lambert would cement his legend of incompetence by re-signing Guzan and appointing the surplus to requirements 'keeper as the club's Number 1.

Ciaran Clark scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 36th appearance (30 Starts) to make it W14 D9 L13, 5 Goals, 2 Assists and 11 Bookings so far in his Villa career. Clark has now picked up a booking every 3.27 games he has played.

Vila win in the League for the first time in 2013 as another astute Alex McLeish signing makes the desired impact to deliver a sixth victory in twenty two Premier League matches. 

Keane's brace against his old club sends Villa up two places to 11th in the table. In comparison Villa were languishing in 17th under Gérard Houllier at the same stage in 2010-11.

Robbie Keane scores his first goals in a Villa shirt on his second appearance and first start to make it W1 D1 L0 and 2 Goals so far in his Villa career.

Marc Albrighton secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 62nd appearance (36 Starts) to make it W21 D18 L23, 9 Goals, 10 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Darren Bent secures his 15th win in a Villa shirt on his 35th appearance (31 Starts) to make it W15 D11 L9, 17 Goals and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Alan Hutton secures his 5th win in a Villa shirt to make it W5 D5 L8, 1 Assist, 5 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Ciaran Clark secures his 15th win in a Villa shirt on his 38th appearance (32 Starts) to make it W15 D10 L13, 5 Goals, 3 Assists and 11 Bookings so far in his Villa career. Clark has now picked up a booking every 3.45 games he has played.

Villa lose a two goal lead as they are defeated in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

In total contrast to the disrespect that Gérard Houllier had showed Villa and the FA Cup in 2010-11 and which had caused such a furore, Alex McLeish named his strongest possible line up for the tie at Arsenal. And yet Alex McLeish was not rewarded by fortune on the pitch or favour from the stands as a two goal lead was overturned and short memories of 2011 were in full effect. 

McLeish was everything Houllier wasn’t, but he also wasn’t the manager Villa craved, even 11th place and a right good old go in the FA Cup couldn’t or more accurately wouldn’t win over the legion of doubters.

Stiliyan Petrov makes his 200th start in a Villa shirt (213 Appearances) to make it W86 D67 L60, 12 Goals, 12 Assists and 36 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Robbie Keane contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his third appearance (2 Starts) to make it W1 D1 L1, 2 Goals and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Darren Bent contributes his 20th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 36th appearance (35 Starts) to make it W15 D11 L10, 18 Goals and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Richard Dunne scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 105th appearance to make it W39 D36 L30, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 17 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose in the Premier League for the first time in four to make it six wins in twenty four under Alex McLeish as they fall back to 13th in the table.

Robbie Keane scores his 3rd goal in a Villa shirt on his 5th appearance (4 Starts) to make it W1 D2 L2, 3 Goals and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Ciaran Clark suffers his 15th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 41st appearance (35 Starts) to make it W15 D11 L15, 5 Goals, 3 Assists and 11 Bookings. Clark has now picked up a booking every 3.73 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Stephen Ireland swears at Alex McLeish when he was censured for failing to cut out the cross which prompted Newcastle's opening goal, 

Whilst after the game Charles N'Zogbia tweeted his displeasure at being replaced by Emile Heskey.

Villa lose a second successive match under Alex McLeish and drop to 15th in the table as a result - their lowest position of the season.

Villa record a fifth goalless game and eleventh draw under Alex McLeish to make it just six wins in twenty six Premier League games as the patience from the stands finally breaks out into open warfare on the manager.

Alex McLeish's Villa stop a run of two defeats with an eleventh draw of the season but the fans aren't happy and let the manager know it in no uncertain terms as the draw with bottom club Wigan keeps Villa in 15th place. 

Emile Heskey makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (65 Starts) to make it W37 D33 L30, 14 Goals, 5 Assists, 9 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Shay Given keeps his 5th clean sheet on his 22nd appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W4 D10 L8, 31 Goals Conceded, 5 Clean Sheets and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Robbie Keane plays the last game of his 7 Games (5 Starts) of his 2 month loan from LA Galaxy, during which time he recorded W1 D3 L3, 3 goals and 1 Assist.

Off the pitch, Villa announce record losses of £54m for 2010-11 after allowing players to leave far below their true value in recent seasons.

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.

Alex McLeish's Villa face a fourth game against a top 6 side in five matches as they face off against Ashley Young equipped League leaders Manchester United. The defeat - their first in three - leaves Villa in 15th six points clear of the relegation places with five games left to play.

Villa suffer a heavy defeat to end a run of successive draws as Alex McLeish calls for "three home Cup finals" to avoid relegation after posting just seven wins in thirty three Premier League games under his leadership.

James Collins makes his 100th start in a Villa shirt (105 Appearances) to make it W38 D38 L29, 6 Goals and 18 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Barry Bannan makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (27 Starts) to make it W14 D15 L21, 2 Goals, 4 Assists and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Gary Gardner collects his first booking in a Villa shirt on his 14th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W4 D4 L6, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 1 Booking 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.

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 open the season with defeat to a newly promoted side as Paul Lambert - the fans choice to take over from Alex McLeish - loses his first game in charge of Villa.

Villa have now failed to win their last 9 Premier League away games. 

Villa players did not find a single teammate with any of their 10 crosses against promoted West Ham. 

Centre back Ron Vlaar, 27, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Feyenoord for £3,420,000 to become the 843rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Karim El Ahmadi, 27, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Feyenoord for £2,520,000 to become the 844th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Winger Brett Holman also makes his debut in a Villa shirt aged 28 after joining from AZ Alkmaar on a free transfer in July 2012 to become the 845th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Right back Matt Lowton, 23, makes his debut in a Villa shirt following his move from League One side Sheffield United for a fee of £3,380,000 in July 2012 to become the 846th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Fabian Delph makes his 1st appearance in a Villa shirt since December 2011 to make it 35 appearances (26 Starts) W13 D10 L12, 1 Goal and 9 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa end the season safe from relegation as ‘Petrov day’ celebrates the career and retirement of Villa great Stiliyan Petrov.

Villa end this most difficult of campaigns with a draw at relegated Wigan to leave them with a stack of unwanted records and with a host of players either exiled or underperforming by this most bewildering of regimes. 

It would be difficult to imagine that a season without relegation could have been much worse. 

Off the pitch there was chaos and recrimination with the infamous Bomb Squad of first team players not to be considered for duty robbing Villa of crucial experience, whilst players and systems were constantly changed leaving an incoherent manager presiding over an incoherent style of play. 

Record defeats, lower league humiliation, sub par players and performances, the banishment of effective first teamers and a malevolent discontent meant that in normal circumstances Paul Lambert would have been another one term manager consigned to the dustbin of failure. 

These weren’t normal times however as a distracted and disconnected Chairman seemed to accept and encourage this most bewildering of management regimes. 

In truth Villa’s form throughout the season meant they should have been relegated. Villa though avoid relegation under Paul Lambert at the last thanks to the goals of Christian Benteke and latterly Gabriel Agbonlahor without which a first relegation since 1986 was inevitable. 

Perhaps that end to the season bred over confidence, if true it’s difficult to understand the chutzpah of forgetting the other 40 odd games of mostly ineptitude. 

Whatever it was, this most undeserving of managers got an apparently emboldened endorsement for a second season. 

Consider the statistics: 

Paul Lambert has now led Villa to 16 defeats in 38 games in the 2012-13 season. 

Much maligned Alex McLeish delivered 14 defeats across the entire 2011-12 season. 

Lambert had hit that total in just 28 games. 

Villa have conceded 3 or more goals on 9 occasions across 38 Premier League under Paul Lambert.

McLeish had suffered four such games over the 38 game 2011-23 season. 

In his first season as manager of the club, Paul Lambert delivered the biggest defeat in Villa’s history, 0-8 to Chelsea.

In his first season as manager of the club, Paul Lambert set the record for the most goals conceded in successive games in Premier League history. 

Villa secured 5 wins in 25 League games under Paul Lambert. The five wins in the final ten games that effectively saved Villa came against Reading (19th, relegated), Queens Park Rangers (20th, relegated), Stoke City (13th, one point above Villa), Sunderland (17th) and Norwich. 

McLeish had delivered that many by New Years Eve 2011. 

Villa were never out of the bottom five under Paul Lambert in 2012-13, spending most of the season in 17th and 18th until the six-pointers against relegation rivals at the end of the season lifted them to a barely believable 15th placed finish.

McLeish’s Villa never dropped lower than 15th until the final two games of the season when they fell to 16th after finishing without a win in ten. 

Yet Lambert was not only still feted by a section of the support to the same degree as McLeish was hated, he was confirmed as manager of the club for 2013-14 even before the final placings had been realised. 

Darren Bent scores his 25th goal in a Villa shirt on his 63rd appearance (51 Starts) and had now been substitute in 11 of his last 17 games, starting just three League games, having only been a sub once in his first 46. Bent's record now stood at W24 D18 L21, 25 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings having scored 6 times in 23 games under Lambert - with 3 of those goals coming against lower league cup opposition - compared to 19 in 40 under his predecessors (1 Cup Goal against Premier League opposition). This would prove to be Bent’s last game in a Villa shirt for 43 games as Lambert would exclude the player from selection for the entirety of the 2013-14 season for no apparent reason.

Forward Simon Dawkins makes his 4th and final appearance for Villa (0 Starts) aged 25 before returning to Tottenham Hotspur at the end of his loan spell. Dawkins, never looking a Premier League player during his 5 months with Villa, left with a record of W1 D1 L1, 0 Goal, 0 Assists and 0 Bookings from his 71 minutes on the field for Villa.

Brad Guzan concedes his 100th goal in a Villa shirt on his 67th appearance (65 Starts) to make it W26 D15 L26, 100 Goals Conceded, 14 Clean Sheets, 1.68 Goals per League Game and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Fabian Delph makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (66 Appearances) to make it W24 D18 L24, 2 Goals and 20 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Roberto Di Matteo’s leads Villa for the first time.

This is Villa’s first game in the second tier of English football for 29 years.

Goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini, 21, drops a clanger on his Villa debut to gift Wednesday the win after joining from Hellas Verona for a fee of £4,500,000 in July 2016 to become the 889th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Centre Tommy Elphick makes his Villa debut aged 28 after joining from AFC Bournemouth for a fee of £3,510,000 in July 2016 to become the 890th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Aaron Tshibola makes his Villa debut aged 21 as a 70’ substitute after his inexplicable signing from Reading for a fee of £5,310,000 in July 2016 to become the 891st player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football. Tshibola's arrival had strong echoes of that of Michael Boulding in 2002 where a player of clearly insufficient quality was brought into the club, unlike Boulding however, Tshibola cost big money. The idiocy of the previous regime was clearly not completely over.

Forward Ross McCormack makes his Villa debut aged 29 after joining from Fulham for a fee of £12,870,000 earlier this month to become the 892nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Alan Hutton makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (93 Starts) to make it W18 D25 L57, 1 Goal, 4 Assists, 25 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Leandro Bacuna makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (78 Starts) to make it W27 D20 L53, 6 Goals, 6 Assists and 17 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ashley Westwood loses for the 75th time in a Villa shirt on his 140th appearance (134 Starts) to make it W37 D28 L75, 5 Goals, 12 Assists and 24 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Former Villa midfielder Barry Bannan lines up for Wednesday.

Villa make it two defeats from two in all competitions as questions are asked once again and suspicion abounds.

Villa’s earliest entry into the League Cup ever and consequently their earliest ever exit from the competition since its inauguration in 1960.

Mark Bunn concedes his 25th goal in a Villa shirt on his 13th appearance to make it W3 D4 L6, 25 Goals Conceded, 4 Clean Sheets and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ross McCormack collects his first booking in a Villa shirt on his 2nd appearance to make it W0 D0 L2, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Despite having refused to play for Villa again just 5 months earlier, troublesome centre back Jores Okore makes his 47th and final appearance for Villa (43 Starts) aged 24 before moving on to FC Copenhagen on a free transfer later this month. Villa had paid FC Nordsjaelland £4,230,000 for Okore’s services in July 2013 and following a controversy and injury ravaged spell across his 3 seasons with the club left with a record of W13 D11 L23, 1 Goal, 8 Bookings and 1 Own Goal. Okore's own goal came on what would prove to be his final appearance, with an easily avoidable error, that led to incredulity from his teammates during the match amd that attracted comment during and after the game as Villa fell to lower league opposition seemingly without a fight. Okore would later be accused of match fixing at Aalborg Boldspilklub.

Jordan Ayew suffers his 25th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 38th appearance (32 Starts) to make it W5 D8 L25, 8 Goals, 8 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa secure their first second tier win since beating Bradford City 1-0 on Monday, 2 May 1988.

Centre back James Chester makes his debut for Villa aged 27 after joining from West Bromwich Albion for a fee of £8,370,000 earlier his month to become the 893rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Jack Grealish scores his 2nd goal in a Villa shirt on his 49th appearance (24 Starts) to make it W16 D4 L29, 2 Goals, 5 Assists, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Pierluigi Gollini keeps his first clean sheet in a Villa shirt on his 2nd appearance to make it W1 D0 L1, 1 Goal Conceded, 1 Clean Sheet so far in his Villa career.

Winger Adama Traoré made his final appearance for Villa aged 20 before moving on to Middlesbrough for a fee of £7,430,000 later this month. Traoré made 1 start, 11 substitute appearances and scored once. Villa had paid Barcelona a scarcely believable £9,000,000 for Traoré’s services a year earlier in August 2015. Villa wouldn’t be the last club to spend big on this most ineffective and disruptive of players who left with a record of W2 D1 L9, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 1 Booking.

Ross McCormack’s first three games following his £12,870,000 move have now contributed no goals, one assist, two bookings and a half time hook to leave a record of W1 D0 L2 so far in his Villa career.

Aly Cissokho contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 48th appearance (47 Starts) to make it W10 D9 L29, 1 Assist, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it one defeat, a win and a draw in Roberto Di Matteo's first three Championship games.

The game is overshadowed by the news that legendary Villa centre forward Dalian Atkinson has been murdered by police officers outside his father's house. 

Jack Grealish makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (25 Starts) to make it W16 D5 L29, 2 Goals, 6 Assists, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Ross McCormack scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 4th appearance to make it W1 D1 L2, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Former Villa midfielder Jonathan Hogg lined up for Huddersfield.

Villa record a second successive draw as their Championship campaign under Roberto Di Matteo gets off to a slow start.

Aly Cissokho makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt on his (49 Starts) to make it W10 D11 L29, 1 Assist, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Roberto Di Matteo has delivered two draws, a win and a loss in his first four league games as well as a first round exit from the League cup with Villa clearly taking time to settle in the second tier and under the new manager’s methods. 

Ross McCormack picks up his third booking in five games.

Former Villa ‘keeper Scott Carson lined up for Derby with former Villa record signing - centre forward Darren Bent - coming on as a 77’ substitute for the Rams.

Villa, without a win in four Championship games, draw for the third time under Roberto Di Matteo and slump to 17th in the league. 

Centre forward Jonathan Kodjia makes his Villa debut aged 26 after joining from Bristol City for a fee of £11,610,000 in August 2016 to become the 896th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Jordan Ayew contribute his first assists in a Villa shirt on his 43rd appearance (37 Starts) to make it W6 D11 L26, 8 Goals, 2 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Future Villa midfielder Henri Lansbury scored Forest’s 87’ equaliser whilst former Villa defender Eric Lichaj lines up for them.

Villa draw for the fourth time in five winless Championship matches as the concerningly slow start to life in the second tier under Roberto Di Matteo continues.

New signings Mile Jedinak and Jonathan Kodjia combine for the latter to score his first goal for the club but it’s not enough to beat future Villa boss Dean Smith’s Brentford as Roberto Di Matteo’s side make it one win in eight games.

Jonathan Kodjia scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 2nd appearance to make it W0 D2 L0 and 1 Goal so far in his Villa career.

Mile Jedinak contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 2nd appearance to make it W0 D1 L1 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Record signing Ross McCormack is taken off at half time for the second time in 7 games. 

Gary Gardner makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (9 Starts) to make it W5 D10 L10, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Future Villa forward Scott Hogan lines up for Brentford.

Villa win for the 1st time in 11 games as Steve Bruce starts his tenure unbeaten in 2.

Jonathan Kodjia secures his first win in a Villa shirt after 8 appearances to make it W1 D6 L1, 3 Goals and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Albert Adomah contributes his first assist in a Villa shirt on his 6th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W1 D4 L1 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Jordan Ayew scores his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 49th appearance (42 Starts) to make it W7 D15 L27, 10 Goals, 3 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa win their second game of the season at the eleventh attempt as Steve Bruce secures his first win.

Another of the relegation mob bites the dust as left back Aly Cissokho makes his final appearance for Villa aged 29 before moving on to Yeni Malatyaspor in August 2017 on a free transfer. Villa had signed Cissokho under Paul Lambert in August 2014 from Valencia CF for a fee of £2,250,000 and he made 58 appearances (2 Starts) in his 3 seasons with the club to leave with a record of W11 D16 L31, 1 Assist, 5 Bookings and 1 Red Card.

Meanwhile, in a surprise to nobody, another one of the culpable party, Micah Richards’ first start in 6 months results in an injury and subsequent absence from the squad. 

Villa win consecutive games for the first time this season as Steve Bruce makes an excellent start to his Villa career.

Jordan Ayew makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (43 Starts) to make it W8 D15 L27, 10 Goals, 3 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Jonathan Kodjia scores his third goal in as many games to make it P9 W2 D6 L1, 4 Goals and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Alan Hutton secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 105th appearance (96 Starts) to make it W20 D26 L59, 1 Goal, 4 Assists, 27 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Leandro Bacuna secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 110th appearance (87 Starts) to make it W30 D26 L54, 6 Goals, 7 Assists and 22 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Steve Bruce returns to the club that once idolised him and extends Villa's unbeaten run under his stewardship to four.

Villa extend their unbeaten League run against Birmingham to 9 games to make it 13 wins and 5 draws in their last 23 meetings with their neighbours dating back to 1987.

Mile Jedinak makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W2 D6 L2, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Gary Gardner scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 28th appearance (12 Starts) and runs the length of St Andrew's to celebrate with the away fans and make it W7 D11 L10, 1 Goal and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Gabriel Agbonlahor in an excellent example of Villa trolling makes his first appearance of the season after coming off the subs bench on 81'.

Steve Bruce's Villa are unbeaten in five and Villa have now lost just one game in the last eleven as they rise to 14th in the Championship table.

Jonathan Kodjia scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 11th appearance to make it W4 D7 L1, 6 Goals and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ross McCormack collects his 5th booking in a Villa shirt on his 14th appearance (10 Starts) to make it W4 D6 L4, 2 Goals, 1 Assist and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.