A pitiful game, undeserving of another 40,000+ crowd, underlines how far individually and collectively Villa have fallen under Gerrard. But three points is better than one or none. Small crumbs.

Leander Dendoncker makes his debut as a 66’ substitute following his £13.5m arrival from Wolves on transfer deadline day to become the 982nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Ashley Young collects his 40th Booking on his 219th appearance in a Villa shirt (199 Starts) to make it W95 D62 L62, 38 Goals, 64 Assists, 40 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

16th in the table at the start of play, Villa have the chance to catapult to 9th in the table as they face newly promoted Forest who have lost five on the bounce including shipping 4 goals without reply to bottom club Leicester last time out.

Villa are looking for their first away win of the season, first away win since beating relegated Burnley in May and third League win of the season. 

FT Forest 1-1 Villa. Gerrard is booed from the pitch by the away fans. Villa sit 16th on merit. The players look like they simply have no interest.

Douglas Luiz makes his 120th appearance in a Villa shirt (103 Starts) to make it W41 D23 L56, 7 Goals, 8 Assists, 28 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez makes his 85th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W32 D16 L37, 107 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.26 goals per game, 28 Clean Sheets (33%) and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Matty Cash makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt on his first return to his former club Forest to make it W27 D12 L36, 4 Goals, 6 Assists, 18 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Ashley Young scores his only goal of his second spell with Villa on his 221st appearance (201 Starts) to make it W95 D64 L62, 39 Goals, 64 Assists, 40 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa dominate proceedings from 50’ to 65’ before Chelsea’s first attack of the second half ends in the back of the net. Villa, now with Coutinho on the pitch, revert to Gerrard-ball and what had started as positive showings of improvement ends in a half empty stadium, a chorus of boos and a final ten minutes that saw a team simply resigned to their fate.

Hopefully the day we are finally put out of the Gerrard misery. Gerrard’s loss rate sits at 47.50% after 39 games in charge of Villa with a record of W13 D8 L19 at a win rate of 33.33% delivering 1.21 points per game so far in his Villa management career.

Dean Smith had been relieved of his duties in November 2021 with a record of 1.41 points per game, a win rate of 40.29% and a loss rate of 39.57%.

HT Fulham 1-0 Villa. A dreadful first half performance from Villa, Gerrard booed and jeered mercilessly as he walks to the tunnel, the folly of playing Konsa at right back is just one of the many failings in the first 45’. Genuinely he could be shown his cards at half time.

FT Fulham 3-0 Villa. So bad it is indescribable, don’t be fooled though, the red card and own goal made no difference to the result, Villa were defeated from the first minute with Gerrard’s idiotic defensive change. The issue now is not sacking Gerrard, it’s how toxic their continued dallying causes the fan base to turn on the owners. They are failing us by having not acted, make no mistake we are throwing away points we can never earn back. This is our easy run ended, we have nothing to show for it because of their inaction. The fight is to avoid relegation by any means possible. NSWE are now just as culpable as Gerrard and Purslow. They must act tonight.

Gone, forgotten, over, 40 games, utter despair, wasted 12 months. New start. UTV.

Steven Gerrard is finally relieved of his duties after 40 games in charge of Villa having recorded W13 D8 L19 at a win rate of 32.50%, a loss rate of 47.50%, delivering 1.18 points per game. Only Alex McLeish (2011-12) and Billy McNeill (1986-87) had a worse points per game record after 40 games.

Jacob Ramsey makes his 75th appearance for the club (49th Start) to make it W27 D13 L35, 7 Goals, 3 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz is sent off for the second time in a Villa shirt on his 122nd appearance (105 Starts) to make it W41 D23 L58, 7 Goals, 8 Assists, 29 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Jan Bednarek makes his first start for Villa (2nd Appearance) and it proves a total disaster to leave a record of W0 D1 L1 so far in his Villa career. 

Aaron Danks, appointed assistant manager under Dean Smith, makes his bow as caretaker Villa boss after the sacking of Smith’s successor. 

HT Villa 3-0 Brentford. A breathtaking first 45’ from Villa, what a difference.

Emiliano Buendía makes his 50th appearance for Villa (28th Start) since being signed from Norwich by Smith for £34.56m in July 2021 to make it W15 D10 L25, 5 Goals, 7 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Danny Ings scores his 10th and 11th goals for the club on his 43rd appearance (30 Starts) to make it W15 D6 L22, 11 Goals, 7 Assists and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Belgian international midfielder Leander Dendoncker makes his first start for the club (5 Appearances) since his £13.5m move from Wolves in September 2022 to make it W2 D1 L2.

A bad day at the office for Villa but nowhere near as bad as some under the previous manager, despite the scoreline. Villa taught Newcastle a footballing lesson in the first half, Newcastle taught Villa a lesson in capitalising on your luck in the second.

Lucas Digne makes his 25th appearance for the club, and first as substitute, to leave a record of W8 D5 L12, 1 Goal, 4 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Unai Emery, 51, takes charge of Villa for the first time since his appointment on a four and a half year contract with the club. 

Villa already look like they are in their pomp.

Douglas Luiz, 24, makes his 125th appearance in a Villa shirt (108 Starts) since joining from Manchester City for £15,120,000 in July 2019 to make W43 D23 L59, 7 Goals, 9 Assists, 29 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Martínez, 30, makes his 90th appearance in a Villa shirt since joining from Arsenal for £19,580,000 in September 2020 to make it W34 D16 L40, 113 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.26 goals per game, 30 Clean Sheets (33%) and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Matty Cash, 25, makes his 80th appearance in a Villa shirt since joining from Nottingham Forest for £14,180,000 in September 2020 to make it W29 D12 L39, 4 Goals, 6 Assists, 18 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Jacob Ramsey, 21, makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (78 Appearances) since making his debut in February 2019 to make it W29 D13 L36, 8 Goals, 4 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Buendía, 26, makes his 30th start in a Villa shirt (52 Appearances) since joining from Norwich City for a club record fee of £34,560,000 in July 2021 to make it W16 D10 L26, 5 Goals, 7 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Lucas Digne, 29, makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (26 Appearances) since joining from Everton for £27,000,000 in January 2022 to make it W9 D5 L12, 2 Goals, 4 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Morgan Sanson, 29, makes his 21st appearance in a Villa shirt (7 Starts) and his first since April 2022 to make it W7 D5 L9, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career. 

Clear organisation. Focus. Commitment. Passion. Football. Another 3 points. 

Villa survive a dreadful refereeing performance from the first seconds onwards, totally losing control of a game that didn’t change in its format from kick off - Brighton foul, often cynically and often collectively with barely any focus on cohesive football. Quite why then his eight card flurry after 75’ happened is a mystery.

Ezri Konsa makes his 115th appearance and 110th start for Villa to make it W42 D22 L51, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 16 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Douglas Luiz contributes his 10th assist for Villa on his 127th appearance (110 Starts) to make it W44 D23 L60, 7 Goals, 10 Assists, 30 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa suffer their first League defeat under Unai Emery as an early goal derails post World Cup hopes of a third successive Premier League victory.

Villa are held at home by lowly Wolves as Unai Emery draws for the first time as Villa boss, despite the setback Villa are unbeaten in four of six outings under Emery and climb to 11th in the table.

Douglas Luiz makes his 130th appearance in a Villa shirt (113 Starts) since joining aged 21 in 2019 to make it W45 D24 L61, 8 Goals, 11 Assists, 30 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa fail to attract a 40,000+ crowd to Villa Park for the first time since beating Millwall in the Championship in April 2019. The 39,978 crowd, around 1,500 less than a typical VP attendance had to deal with ongoing train strikes for a late, midweek match in the first week after Christmas amidst a cost of living crisis. That Villa chose to charge £59 on the gate hardly helped. 

With League Two Stevenage in the FA Cup next, a televised match, Villa could record consecutive sub 40,000 crowds for the first time in five seasons.

Villa’s second string fail miserably and underline the desperate need for major investment and turnover in personnel outside Emery’s first XI.

Villa face Stevenage for the first time in competitive football, Stevenage become the 163rd team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football.

Matty Cash makes his 85th appearance for Villa since signing from Forest in September 2020 and now has a record of W31 D13 L41, 4 Goals, 6 Assists, 19 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Leander Dendoncker receives his first card of any colour on his 11th appearance for Villa and it's a red. Dendoncker's Villa career now reads W4 D2 L5, 0 Goals, 0 Assists and 1 Red Card.

Morgan Sanson scores his sole goal for the club on his 22nd Appearance (8 Starts) to make it W7 D5 L10, 1 Goal, 0 Assists and 3 Bookings.

Robin Olsen concedes his 16th goal in a Villa shirt on his 6th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W1 D0 L5, 16 Goals Conceded at a rate of 2.67 goals per game and 1 Clean Sheet (17%) so far in his Villa career.

Ludwig Augustinsson makes his 4th and final appearance for Villa (3 Starts) before having his loan terminated early by Unai Emery and leaving with a record of W1 D2 L2, 1 Booking.

Fellow surprise signing Jan Bednarek also suffers an early termination and leaves with a record of W1 D1 L2.

Villa record consecutive sub 40,000 crowds for the first time in five seasons with an attendance of 32,343 following a 39,978 gate in the previous fixture.

Villa win their fifth League game in seven under Unai Emery.

Villa record successive wins for the first time this season.

Villa securing their third consecutive away win under the new boss. 

Emery has now added 16 points in seven games (2.30 points per game) having inherited a squad who had delivered 12 in 13 (1.1 points per game) under the former manager. 

Ezri Konsa makes his 120th appearance for the club (115 Starts) to make it W45 D23 L52, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 17 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Buendía chalks up his 60th appearance in a Villa shirt (36 Starts) to make it W20 D11 L29, 7 Goals, 7 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

A game littered with Villa mistakes lets a struggling Leicester side take 3 points. A missed opportunity, but whatever the result, the squad is at least shorn of the mediocrity of many of the former manager's misguided signings.

Ashley Young, 37, makes his 235th appearance in a Villa shirt (212 Starts) to make it W101 D65 L69, 39 Goals, 64 Assists, 42 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Jhon Durán, 19, makes his Villa debut having joined from Chicago Fire for a fee of £14.10m in January 2023 and becomes the 986th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

"Arsenal score twice in stoppage time to beat Villa"

Fresh from signing a new 4-year deal with the club, Tyrone Mings makes his 150th appearance for Villa since joining the club January 2019. Mings' full record now reads W59 D28 L63, 7 Goal, 8 Assists, 34 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it five unbeaten with four wins as Chelsea are the latest victims of the tactical management of Unai Emery.

Ollie Watkins makes his 100th start for the club (106 Appearances) since joining in September 2020, scoring his 38th goal and hitting double figures for the third successive season. Watkins' Villa record is now W42 D17 L47, 38 Goals, 11 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.16 games played so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins also becomes the first Villa player to score in five successive away games in the Premier League (since 1992-93). 

18 year old goalkeeper James Wright makes his first ever squad appearance for Villa. 

Emiliano Martínez sets a new club record for most clean sheets in their first 100 Premier League games for Villa at 34 eclipsing the previous best of 33 set by Mark Bosnich and equalled by Brad Friedel. As a result Martínez makes it 102 Appearances in a Villa shirt, W41 D18 L43, 128 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.25 goals per game, 35 Clean Sheets (34%) and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Sixth place after 30 games for the first time since 2009-10, seven unbeaten, six wins, four consecutive victories, another clean sheet, and Ollie Watkins' ninth in eleven. Special times, special manager, special club.

Ashley Young, 37, makes his 240th appearance in a Villa shirt (216 Starts) since first joining in January 2007 to make it W104 D66 L70, 39 Goals, 64 Assists, 42 Bookings and 2 Red Cards.

John McGinn makes his 175th appearance in a Villa shirt (168 Starts) since joining in August 2018 to make W68 D37 L70, 17 Goals, 20 Assists and 43 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ezri Konsa makes his 130th appearance in a Villa shirt (125 Starts) since joining in July 2019 to make it W51 D24 L55, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 19 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Emiliano Buendía makes his 70th appearance in a Villa shirt (45 Starts) since joining in July 2021 to make it W26 D12 L32, 9 Goals, 8 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Bertrand Traoré scores his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 52nd appearance (33 Starts) since joining in September 2020 to make it W19 D10 L23, 10 Goals, 6 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.06 starts so far in his Villa career.

Leon Bailey makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (31 Starts) since joining in August 2021 to make it W20 D5 L25, 6 Goals, 6 Assists and 8 Bookings so far in his Villa career at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.58 starts so far in his Villa career.

Ollie Watkins scores his 40th goal for the club on his 108th appearance (102nd Start) joining Jackie Sewell (1955-60), Davy Walsh (1950-55) and Billy Cook (1926-29) on 40. Watkins' record is now W44 D17 L47, 40 Goals, 11 Assists, 12 Bookings, 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.00 starts so far in his Villa career.