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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Villa draw at Goodison to open the gap to the relegation places to two points but now have just five wins in twenty five Premier League games under Gérard Houllier.

A team that had finished 6th for the last 3 seasons sits 16th in the table, two points above relegation with seven games to play as the appointment of Gérard Houllier continues to play out in the worst way possible.

Darren Bent's point earning goals were welcome but the thought of what Martin O'Neill could have done with £25m - to both protect and improve his 2009-10 squad - rankles deeply as the unrest against the Villa hierarchy builds

Darren Bent scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 8th appearance to make it W3 D2 L3, 5 Goals and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Jean Makoun collects his 4th card on his 6th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W1 D3 L2, 3 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa open up a five point gap to the relegation places as they win for only the seventh time in twenty six Premier League games under Gérard Houllier.

James Collins scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 68th appearance (63 Starts) to make it W27 D23 L18, 5 Goals and 12 Bookings. It is Collins' Collins's first appearance at Villa Park since his part in a drunken row at a health spa last month that caused him to be fined two weeks' wages along with defensive partner Richard Dunne.

Ashley Young contributes his 60th assist for the club on his 184th appearance (180 Starts) to make it W79 D55 L50, 37 Goals, 60 Assists, 33 Bookings and 2 Red Cards.

Brad Friedel makes his 125th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W53 D37 L35, 125 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.30 goals per game, 35 Clean Sheets (28%), 2 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career. A year previously, under Martin O’Neill, Friedel had made 84 Appearances, conceded 100 goals at a rate of 1.19 goals per game and kept 27 clean sheets (32%). The downturn post O’Neill was stark with 32 Appearances so far under Houllier, 50 conceded at 1.56 goals per game and just 4 clean sheets (12.5%).

Villa record consecutive victories for the first time since January and only the second time this season to make it eight wins in twenty seven Premier League games under Gérard Houllier as they beat second from bottom West Ham to jump to ninth place, eight points above the relegation places.

The game proves to be Houllier's last as Illness forces him to relinquish the duties to which he would never return. He was not missed. 

Being given funds that his predecessor could only dream of and spending over £25m, Houllier’s team underperformed to an incredible extent as reports of player unrest at the attitude and approach of the manager became legion. 

His legacy of failure would live on in subsequent years as poor man management and player ostracism continued much to the detriment of the club he left behind.

Houllier passed away in 2020 leading to a re-evaluation of his contribution in some quarters however objectively his had been a poor appointment that undid all that had been built over the previous four seasons.

Villa win a second consecutive Premier League game for the first time since January and only the second time under Gérard Houllier to lift the team seven points clear of the relegation zone as results fall nicely for Villa. 

Villa rise to a scarcely credible 9th in the table as Gérard Houllier’s disastrous and demoralising 34 games in charge effectively came to an end. That those two wins had pushed the club to 9th when they had been languishing in 16th place just a week earlier should not distract from the fact that Houllier had turned the previous three season’s sixth placed team, and last season’s League Cup runners up and FA Cup semi finalists into a shadow of the side they had previously been. 

Emile Heskey makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (78 Appearances) to make it W31 D24 L23, 13 Goals, 5 Assists, 6 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Gabriel Agbonlahor collects his 20th booking in a Villa shirt on his 214th appearance (194 Starts) to make it W86 D63 L65, 56 Goals, 24 Assists and 20 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Post Houllier life gets underway as Villa draw caretaker Gary McAllister's first game in charge and fall back to 13th in the table, but remain seven points clear of the relegation places.

Richard Dunne makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W29 D26 L20, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 11 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Stewart Downing makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (69 Appearances) to make it W31 D22 L22, 10 Goals, 13 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.26 games played so far in his Villa career.

Having lost to Wolves at Villa Park for the first time in three decades under Gérard Houllier, his assistant and caretaker manager Gary McAllister delivers Villa’s first league defeat to Albion in a quarter of a century as the folly of the appointment is once again laid bare. 

Meanwhile one of the oddest signings in Villa’s history, Robert Pirès, makes his final appearance for Villa as a substitute aged 37 having arrived as a free agent earlier in the season. Pirès made 12 appearances for Villa, 8 as a substitute, and scored once and left with a record of W4 D0 L8.

Ciaran Clark suffers his 10th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 27th appearance (23 Starts) to make it W10 D7 L10, 4 Goals, 1 Assist and 10 Bookings. Clark has now picked up a booking every 2.70 games he has played. 

Caretaker Gary McAllister, yet to win, sees Villa fall back to 14th in the table, six points clear of the relegation zone with two games to play.

Stiliyan Petrov makes his 175th start in a Villa shirt (187 Appearances) to make it W77 D59 L51, 8 Goals, 9 Assists and 31 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Emile Heskey has a on and off pitch meltdown after a 33' confrontation with referee Mike Jones that precipitated a booking and a rearguard action by his teammates to prevent him being sent off. Heskey's ire simmered into the interval where squad members had to restrain him from Jones. Gary McAllister substituted Heskey for the second half and took the unprecedented step of sending the player home.

Villa make doubly sure of their top flight safety as record signing Darren Bent scores a brace to earn Gary McAllister his first win as caretaker boss and lift Villa to 13th in the table six points above the drop with one to play.

Caretaker Gary McAllister records his first win at the fourth attempt and Villa score a victory as welcome as it was unexpected to render them safe from relegation with a game to spare. As a result Villa rise to 13th in the table, six points clear of the relegation places with one to play.A

Ashley Young contributes his 100th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 189th appearance (185 Starts) to make ir W81 D57 L51, 38 Goals, 62 Assists, 35 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Kyle Walker contributes his 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 17th appearance (16 Starts) to make it W6 D6 L5, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.40 games played so far in his Villa career.

Richard Dunne secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 78th appearance to make it W30 D27 L21, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 12 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Fabian Delph secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 22nd appearance (14 Starts) to make it W10 D4 L8, 1 Goal and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa end a season littered with turmoil with successive wins to lift them to a scarcely believable ninth placed finish nine points above the relegation places.

Caretaker Gary McAllister confounds all expectations and ends the season on a high with a second successive win against a top 6 side to rise to 9th in the table nine points clear of the relegation places. 

Although the final placing flattered a Villa side that under Gérard Houllier looked to be free falling towards relegation, the final five games with a galvanising focus on tight and consistent team selection, suggested the capability had been there all along and that a better managerial appointment would have extracted the optimum out of a set of players who often seemed distracted and below par. 

Sadly the mess that the Villa hierarchy had made of the appointment and the struggles the club faced left a number of players of the mindset that they were better off out of the club they had served so well. 

Gérard Houllier had already shipped out John Carew, Steve Sidwell and Curtis Davies during his short, disastrous tenure; he had also ostracised Stephen Warnock for no apparent reason. Now, the exodus would continue.

The loanee Kyle Walker would of course leave, but so would the excellent Brad Friedel, Stewart Downing and most critically Ashley Young. 

Few sides could survive that number of squad losses, let alone players of the quality of Carew, Friedel, Downing, Young and Warnock. But Lerner, Houllier and Faulkner had set the rot in progress and few could have any complaints that a player of the talent and commitment of Ashley Young - who had arguably wasted a season - looked elsewhere to take his career to the level it had once seemed possible with Villa. 

It would be almost a decade before Villa saw players of a similar quality return to the club as one of the most challenging periods in Villa’s history that had begun with Houllier accelerated in earnest over the following few seasons. 

Winger Ashley Young makes the 190th and final appearance of his first spell with Villa (186 Starts) aged 25 before moving on to Manchester United for a fee of £16,200,000 in July 2011. Young leaves with a record of W82 D57 L51, 38 Goals, 62 Assists, 35 Bookings and 2 Red Cards. Young would return to Villa a decade later under Dean Smith to take his total appearances in a Villa shirt to 247.

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel, 40, makes his 131st and final appearance for Villa before moving on to Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer in July 2011. Friedel would leave with a record of W56 D39 L36, 160 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.29 goals per game, 36 Clean Sheets (27%) 2 Bookings and 1 Red Card across his 3 seasons with Villa. That would, however, only tell half the story. Friedel’s first two seasons under Martin O’Neill would deliver 88 Appearances, W41 D27 L20, 104 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.18 goals per game and 29 Clean Sheets (33%). In stark contrast, under the post O’Neill management Friedel’s record was 43 Appearances, W15 D12 L16, 65 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.51 goals per game and 6 Clean Sheets (14%).

Midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker, 27, makes his 124th and final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Bolton Wanderers in July 2011. Villa had paid £11,250,000 for Reo-Coker’s services in the Summer of 2007 and despite a record of W56 D33 L35, 3 Goals, 5 Assists, 24 Bookings and 1 Red Card across his 4 seasons with Villa was released on a free transfer.

Winger Stewart Downing, 26, makes his 79th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (73 Starts) before a surprise move to Liverpool for a fee of £20,520,000 in July 2011. Downing had arrived for £11,700,000 in July 2009 and delivered W33 D23 L23, 11 Goals, 13 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.29 games played over his 2 seasons with Villa. 

Right back Kyle Walker, 21, makes his 18th and final appearance for Villa before returning to Tottenham Hotspur at the end of his loan spell. Walker was the sole transfer success under Houllier and his loss to the team was keenly felt as it was clear that Villa were no longer a destination for such top talent. Walker would predictably go on to have a stellar career as arguably the best right back in the World collecting a trophy cabinet bursting at the seams - needless to say none of that happened at his parent club Tottenham. Over his 5 months with Villa, Walker’s record in a struggling team was a healthy W7 D6 L5, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 3 Bookings.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, midfielder Michael Bradley, 23, makes his 4th and final appearance in a Villa shirt before returning to Borussia Mönchengladbach at the end of his loan spell having made just 4 appearances, 3 as a substitute, over his 4 months with Villa. Bradley left with a record of W2 D1 L1, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 0 Bookings.

James Collins secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 74th appearance (69 Starts) to make it W30 D25 L19, 5 Goals and 12 Bookings so far in his Villa career.