Villa fail against a relegation threatened club for a second successive game to leave them with one win and four defeats in nine Premier League games under Graham Taylor but at least the new boss begins to show some interest and passion at the predicament Villa are in.

Peter Crouch, 21, makes his debut in a Villa shirt having joined from Portsmouth for a fee of £6,750,000 just a few days earlier to become the 758th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Ian Taylor scores his 40th goal in a Villa shirt on his 269th appearance (237 Starts) to make it W114 D71 L84, 40 Goals, 16 Assists, 47 Bookings and 2 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.80 games played so far in his Villa career.

Peter Schmeichel concedes 3 goals for the 7th time this season on his 34th appearance to make it W14 D8 L12, 1 Goal, 42 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.24 goals per game and 10 Clean Sheets (29%) so far in his Villa career.

Thomas Hitzlsperger contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 7th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W1 D1 L5 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Villa put in an improved performance under Graham Taylor but their run extends to one win in ten Premier League games since John Gregory's departure.

Peter Crouch scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 2nd appearance to make it W0 D1 L1 and 1 Goal so far in his Villa career.

Boško Balaban makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (2 Starts) to make it W4 D3 L3, 0 Goals and 0 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa's terrible run since the departure of John Gregory continues as they lose for the fourth time in six games under Graham Taylor to leave them with one win in eleven Premier League games as they slump to 10th in the table.

Villa make it 5 defeats in 9 games under Graham Taylor. 

Former Villa malcontents Benito Carbone and Ugo Ehiogu both score for the second time this season against their old club.

For Carbone it's his second goal against Villa and second win against his old side playing for two different sides this season. 

Goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, 38, makes his 36th and final appearance in a Villa shirt before joining Manchester City on a free transfer in July 2002. Schmeichel became the first goalkeeper to score for the club but his performances between the posts were a far cry from the days when he was considered the World’s best. Conceding 3 goals on 7 occasions and having an acrimonious relationship with Graham Taylor meant Villa saw a shadow of the player he once was and he left with a record of W14 D9 L13, 1 Goal, 45 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.25 goals per game and 10 Clean Sheets (28%).

Steve Staunton makes his 300th start in a Villa shirt (312 Appearances) to make it W129 D84 L99, 19 Goals, 35 Assists, 17 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Peter Crouch contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 3rd appearance to make it W0 D1 L2, 1 Goals and 1 Assist at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.50 games played so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the fifth time in seven games under Graham Taylor to leave them with one win and six defeats in twelve Premier League games since John Gregory's departure as the pitiful stupidity of the Ellis regime is laid bare.

Steve Staunton suffers his 100th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 313th appearance (301 Starts) to make it W129 D84 L100, 19 Goals, 35 Assists, 17 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Hassan Kachloul makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (30 Appearances) to make it W11 D11 L8, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Peter Enckelman makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (23 Starts) to make it W8 D9 L8, 21 Goals Conceded at a rate of 0.84 goals per game (1.06 in League football) and 10 Clean Sheets (40%) (38% League) so far in his Villa career.

Thomas Hitzlsperger makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (8 Starts) to make it W1 D2 L7 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Villa now have 1 win in 11 games under Graham Taylor. 

Villa stop their run of defeats with a draw at already relegated Leicester City.

Meanwhile the career of one of the strangest signings in Villa's history came to an end. Bert Kingaby (1905-06) and Gary Penrice (1991-92) had been odd signings but Boško Balaban took this to another level. What made the Balaban case more concerning than curious were allegations about fees and funds not tying up and claims of mystery beneficiaries of a transfer that was as ill-suited as it was overpriced. Three signings of this ilk in 115 years was probably not bad going but in a surprising turn of events they became a far more regular occurrence over the following decade. Graham Taylor and his successors David O'Leary, Martin O'Neill and Paul Lambert all made signings - some more than once - who rivalled Balaban in mystifying observers and who were clearly out of their depth in the top flight. Over the following decade Michael Boulding (Taylor), Eric Djemba Djemba (O'Leary), Moustapha Salifou and Habib Beye (O'Neill) and Joe Bennett and Jordan Bowery (Lambert) confounded the footballing world and led many to question the judgement of successive Villa bosses.

Boško Balaban makes his 11th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (2 Starts) to make it W4 D4 L3, 0 Goals and 0 Assists across his 8 months in and around the first team.

Thomas Hitzlsperger scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 11th appearance (9 Starts) to make it W1 D3 L7, 2 Goals and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Darius Vassell contributes his 25th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 99th appearance (40 Starts) to make it W36 D26 L37, 18 Goals, 7 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.96 games played so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it 2 wins in 12 and are now unbeaten in two games - their best run since Graham Taylor returned.

Graham Taylor continues to refuse to play Juan Pablo Ángel as Taylor's achilles heel - the clash of football cultures, 1980s vs. 2000s - becomes ever more apparent.

Darius Vassell scores a brace to collect his 20th goal in a Villa shirt on his 100th appearance (41 Starts) to make it W37 D26 L37, 20 Goals, 7 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.70 games played so far in his Villa career.

Goalkeeper Boaz Myhill, 19, makes his 12th and final squad appearance for Villa as an unused substitute before moving on to Hull City for £68,000 in January 2004.

Villa boss Graham Taylor ends the season with the worst record of any permanent manager. Taylor has achieved a win rate of 23% after winning just 3 of his 13 games in charge as he continues to struggle to deal with the vast cultural differences between 1980s football and 2000s football.

That, concerning, as it was, was not the full story. 

Taylor had lowered the average age of the Villa XI which in recent seasons had risen to alarming heights, and he had begun a more focused team selection policy than the ever changing merry-go-round under John Gregory. 

The flip side however was that Taylor made the nonsensical decision of effectively marginalising Villa’s best player, Juan Pablo Ángel, and lent on the talents of the likes of Paul Merson and Lee Hendrie far less than a progressive, attacking manager would. 

Taylor’s purchase of the likeable Peter Crouch sadly typified the stereotype of the “big man up front” to which Taylor was so wedded, however Crouch’s ability made the consequence of that decision far less impactful on the style of football than it could have been. 

Still though the wretched run under Taylor until the final three games showed that he was not the long term solution to Villa’s Doug Ellis shaped problems and that a different approach was desperately needed to help this kernel of a strong team blossom in 2002-03. 

The process towards that nucleus of a team had been begun by John Gregory as he began to marginalise, and dispose of, the troubled malcontents that had blighted Villa’s squad in recent seasons. 

A core team of Crouch, Hitzlsperger, Mellberg, Delaney, Barry and Ángel, supported by Hendrie, Samuel and Vassell with a sprinkling of old heads for experience and guidance from the likes of Merson, Stone and Dublin promised much if the right calls were made over the close season.

George Boateng makes his 125th start in a Villa shirt (133 Appearances) to make it W52 D41 L40, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 29 Bookings so far in his Villa career but is unlikely to add many more as he puts in a transfer request, allegedly in the dressing room after final whistle.

Goalkeeper Wayne Henderson, 18, makes his first squad appearance for Villa after coming through the youth ranks following his move from Cherry Orchard in 1999.

Peter Enckelman secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 28th appearance (26 Starts) to make it W10 D10 L8, 25 Goals Conceded at a rate of 0.89 goals per game (1.11 in League football) and 10 Clean Sheets (36%) (32% League) so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose in their opening Intertoto Cup game as Graham Taylor remains in charge despite a torrid few months as caretaker manager in 2001-02.

Villa face FC Zürich for the first time in competitive football, Zürich become the 148th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 32nd continental European opponents and their second from Switzerland following their meeting with FC Basel in 2001-02.

Midfielder George Boateng, 26, makes his 134th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (126 Starts) before following Gareth Southgate, Ugo Ehiogu and Benito Carbone to cash rich but success poor Middlesbrough in return for a fee of £6,210,000. Sadly, like the aforementioned, Boateng had agitated for a move throughout the season and copying the Southgate playbook had become a destabilising influence in the dressing room, something that was exacerbated with the instant underachievement seen under Graham Taylor. That the allegation remains that Boateng handed in a transfer request just after the final whistle of the final game of the season sums up the premeditated and disruptive behaviour of the Boro group. Like his fellow exiles Boateng’s career would stagnate at a succession of lower level clubs having left Villa with a record of W52 D41 L41, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 29 Bookings. As Boateng himself admitted “I didn't fancy coming to Boro …. when we played Middlesbrough I felt the games were really easy for me because when we played Middlesbrough with Villa it was always a comfortable win.” Despite his premature departure Boateng would return to Villa to join the coaching staff the following decade apparently a changed man. 

Forward Michael Boulding, 27, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from First Division Grimsby Town on a free transfer to become the 759th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football. Boulding’s signing, a surprise transfer if ever there was one, has been met with equal measures of bewilderment and anticipation to see just what player Graham Taylor might have unearthed after 23 goals in 113 appearances across 3 seasons in the lower leagues of English football and having been Grimsby’s leading scorer with 11 goals in 2001-02 as they just avoided relegation to the third tier.

Hassan Kachloul, 29, makes his 32nd and final appearance in a Villa shirt (25 Starts) to make it W11 D12 L9, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 3 Bookings across his Villa career before being released under David O’Leary in June 2004. Kachloul was just one of many players discarded by Graham Taylor despite being of significantly greater quality than their replacements and was forced to sit on the sidelines for 2 years aside from a short loan to Wolves.

Jlloyd Samuel is sent off for the 1st time in a Villa shirt on his 44th appearance (29 Starts) to make it W14 D14 L16, 3 Assists, 6 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Villa once again overturn a two goal deficit to qualify for the Intertoto semi final.

Paul Merson, 34, makes his 144th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (125 Starts). Merson, a player with ability and influence far beyond the rest of the squad, who even as a cameo substitute could deliver a power of good to the team, was discarded. As a result in one move the team was robbed of much needed creativity. Merson would join Portsmouth on a free transfer the following month as Graham Taylor prematurely called time on a player considered to be one of the most talented and charismatic to have pulled on the claret and blue of Villa. Merson left with a record of W54 D46 L44, 19 Goals, 23 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.43 games across his Villa career.

In sum then, this also ran Intertoto game, had implications far beyond the result on the pitch and signalled the huge challenges ahead for Villa.

Forward Stefan Moore, 18, makes his competitive debut in a Villa shirt after coming through the ranks of youth football to become the 760th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Swedish international forward Marcus Allbäck, 29, makes a goalscoring Villa debut after joining from SC Heerenveen for a fee of £2,700,000 earlier this month to become the 761st player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Forward Michael Boulding, 27, scores on his home debut on what is his second and final appearance in a Villa shirt 6 days after his debut and despite only having arrived at the club 26 days earlier. Boulding who had 23 goals in 113 appearances across 3 seasons in the lower leagues of English football was a curiosity, an ex-tennis player who Graham Taylor immediately promoted to first team football and who clearly was not of sufficient calibre to cut it in the top flight despite his scrambled goal in the win over Zürich. Boulding would remain at the club until the new year without making any further squad appearances and on his departure from Villa he would return to plying his football trade in tiers 2 and mostly 3. 11 years later, Jordan Bowery would make a similar transition from the lower leagues into Premier League football under Paul Lambert but this time would be afforded a full season before once again time was called on the unlikely step up.

Peter Crouch contributes his 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 9th appearance to make it W3 D2 L4, 2 Goals and 3 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.80 games played so far in his Villa career.

Mark Delaney makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (84 Starts) to make it W38 D31 L31, 1 Goal, 2 Assists, 13 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Olof Mellberg secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 37th appearance to make it W10 D14 L13, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Villa face LOSC Lille for the first time in competitive football, Lille become the 149th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 33rd continental European opponents and their third from France following their meetings with FC Girondins de Bordeaux and Stade Rennais F.C. in previous campaigns.

Villa score a crucial away goal through Ian Taylor but concede in the last minute to leave the tie in the balance. 

Goalkeeper Stefan Postma, 26, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from De Graafschap for £2,000,000 earlier this month to become the 762nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Peter Crouch makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W3 D3 L4, 2 Goals and 3 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.00 games played so far in his Villa career.

In less positive news, Graham Taylor’s clear out of the Gregory era team continued as 30 year old midfielder Steve Stone is shown the door and follows Paul Merson to Portsmouth on a free transfer. Stone, seemingly underused by John Gregory despite his high fee signing from Forest, and then jettisoned early by Taylor, made 121 Appearances (86 Starts) across his 5 seasons with Villa to leave with a record of W42 D40 L39, 7 Goals, 13 Assists and 15 Bookings.

Villa suffer a shock outright defeat at home to Lille in the Intertoto Cup to render their away goal useless and end any European hopes before the season began.as question marks are already raised about the wisdom of keeping veteran boss Graham Taylor on for a second season.

Villa lose a second successive game under Graham Taylor but there is at least evidence of a player in his new signing Peter Crouch.

Right back Ulises de la Cruz, 28, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Hibernian FC for £2,430,000. de la Cruz excruciatingly described by Graham Taylor as the "Ecuadorian David Beckham" becomes the 763rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Alpay Özalan makes his first return to the side since injury ruled him out of the 2000-01 in December 2000 to make his first appearance under Graham Taylor and his 61st appearance in a Villa shirt. Özalan’s Villa record now stands W24 D18 L19 and 16 Bookings.

Villa lose for the 3rd consecutive game and 8th time in 15 league games under Graham Taylor as concerns mount about the season ahead. 2001-02 showed Taylor to be the wrong man at the wrong time and nothing so far makes that look like changing.

The continued trend for half time substitutions suggests one of 3 things. A lack of understanding or knowledge of the opposition’s tactics necessitating a change; panic in even the slightest adversity; or a tendency to field the wrong team in the first place. None of which give a feeling that the club is in the right hands.

Whatever is the cause the impact is disjointed performances and what seems like extreme tactical unfamiliarity for those thrown onto the pitch - not helped by the calibre of the new signings being brought into the club. 

Honest and uncomplicated attitudes may be a refreshing change but these are not additions that materially improve the playing quality of the squad and it is therefore difficult to see exactly what Taylor is trying to achieve.

Irish international midfielder Mark Kinsella, 30, makes his Villa debut after joining from Charlton Athletic for a fee of £1,040,000 in July 2002 to become the 764th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Meanwhile, off the pitch Olof Mellberg is already forced to disabuse rumours of major unrest at the direction of the club under the manager and Chairman.

Villa stop a run of three defeats as they win for the first time in five to secure their first Premier League win of the season by beating top-flight no hopers Manchester City, climbing to 13th under Graham Taylor.

Peter Schmiechel returns to Villa Park following his acrimonious departure under Graham Taylor.

Villa lose for the third time in four Premier League games under Graham Taylor and have failed to score in each of those defeats. 

This latest defeat, courtesy of Peter Enckleman conceding a second half penalty, came against bottom club Bolton as Villa tumbled back to 16th place.

Villa win for the second time in five Premier League games as Graham Taylor makes five changes in an attempt to inject life into Villa's poor start. 

Villa secure only their 5th win in 18 Premier League games under Graham Taylor but make it back to back victories at Villa Park. 

Villa score more than a single goal in a game for the first time this season.

Centre back Ronny Johnsen, 33, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after moving from Manchester United on a free transfer in July 2002 to become the 765th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Ulises de la Cruz surprises as he scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on only his 4th appearance (3 Starts) to make it W1 D0 L3 and 1 Goal so far in his Villa career.

Stefan Moore scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 3rd appearance (0 Starts) to make it W2 D0 L1, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Jlloyd Samuel makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (31 Starts) to make it W16 D15 L19, 3 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Alpay Özalan plays for the first time in a month after Graham Taylor has all but overlooked the Turkey international so far in 2002-03. Özalan secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 62nd appearance to make it W25 D18 L19 and 16 Bookings.

Villa recover from their St Andrew's embarrassment to beat Everton and record their third win in seven Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Villa win just their 6th League game in 20 under Graham Taylor (losing 10) but make it 3 successive home wins to climb to 10th in the early table.

Öyvind Leonhardsen, 32, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after signing on a free transfer from Tottenham Hotspur in July despite Graham Taylor believing the player had already retired. The latest leftfield, underwhelming and questionable Taylor signing becomes the 766th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Darius Vassell contributes his 30th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 109th appearance (48 Starts) to make it W40 D27 L42, 22 Goals, 8 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.63 games played so far in his Villa career.

Lee Hendrie secures his 80th win in a Villa shirt on his 193rd appearance (148 Starts) to make it W80 D51 L62, 22 Goals, 17 Assists, 32 Bookings and 3 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 5.03 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the 5th time in 8 Premier League games under Graham Taylor as they are beaten by second from bottom Sunderland.

Villa fail to score for the 5th time in 8 League games under Graham Taylor.

Villa now have 11 losses in 21 Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Villa put in their best performance of the season, unrecognisable from recent fare, but are held at the last at Old Trafford to leave them with just three wins in eleven Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Villa score for the 1st time in 3 games under Graham Taylor.

Villa now have 6 Premier League wins in 24 under Graham Taylor.

Olof Mellberg scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 51st appearance to make it W14 D17 L20, 1 Goal, 3 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Mark Kinsella contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 11th appearance to make it W4 D2 L5, 0 Goals, 1 Assist and 0 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Stefan Moore makes his 1st start in a Villa shirt on his 7th appearance to make it W4 D1 L2, 1 Goal and 2 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Villa record their 3rd draw in 5 winless games to make it just 3 wins in 12 Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Villa fail to score for the 8th time in 12 games under Graham Taylor.

Villa now have 6 wins in 25 Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Peter Enckelman keeps his 10th Premier League clean sheet on his 44th appearance (31 League Games) to make it W15 D13 L6, 40 Goals Conceded at a rate of 0.91 goals per game and 16 Clean Sheets (36%) (32% League) so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the first time in four games and have now failed to score in 12 of their last 24 Premier League matches. 

Graham Taylor now has a record of 17 defeats in 37 Premier League games since returning to Villa.

Villa lose for the second time in four games to make it ten wins in twenty seven Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Villa lose for the second successive game and have now failed to score in 13 of 28 league matches under Graham Taylor this season.

As the fans finally lose patience, Graham Taylor records a 19th Premier League defeat in 41 games.

Alpay Özalan features for the first time in over 4 months and for only the 5th time in 50 games under Graham Taylor to belatedly make it 65 appearances in a Villa shirt, W25 D18 L22 and 17 Bookings. Özalan would not feature under Taylor again.

Alan Wright suffers his 100th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 326th appearance (321 Starts) to make it W140 D86 L100, 5 Goals, 26 Assists and 23 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the 3rd successive game having failed to score in 14 of 29 league matches under Graham Taylor 

Villa are beaten for the 20th time.in 42 Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

The once venerated manager is no longer the subject of deference as his defeatist, dismissive and self absorbed response to defeat exacerbates the chasm that this most torrid of seasons had begun to create.

Villa lose home and away to Birmingham for the first time since 1978.

Dion Dublin is sent off for the 2nd time in a Villa shirt on his 156th appearance (130 Starts) to make it W58 D43 L55, 54 Goals, 18 Assists, 15 Bookings and 2 Red Cards at a goal involvement 

Joey Guðjónsson is sent off for the 1st time in a Villa shirt on his 5 appearance to make it W2 D0 L3, 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a rate of a card every game he has played so far in his Villa career.

Villa stop a run of four consecutive defeats to draw with Southampton but now have just 13 wins in 44 Premier League games under Graham Taylor. 

Without a goal in 18 games, Peter Crouch makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (18 Starts) to make it W6 D6 L13, 2 Goals, 4 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.17 games played so far in his Villa career as life under the struggling Graham Taylor proves more difficult than most for Crouch. This would prove to be Crouch's final appearance under Taylor with the player having to wait 4 months and for the arrival of David O'Leary before he would pull on a Villa shirt again.

At a time when Villa desperately needed quality, experience and leadership, left back Alan Wright, 31, makes his 329th and final appearance in a Villa shirt before being the latest player to move to Middlesbrough, this time on a free transfer in June 2003. An unsung hero of Villa, Wright had spent 9 seasons at the club and left with a record of W140 D87 L102, 5 Goals, 26 Assists and 24 Bookings.

Darius Vassell contributes his 40th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 133rd appearance (68 Starts) to make it W47 D31 L55, 31 Goals, 9 Assists, 12 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.33 games played so far in his Villa career.

New boss David O'Leary takes charge of his first Villa game and although the Irishman is far from a universally welcomed appointment hopes exist that a repeat of the dreadful 2002-03 campaign can be avoided given his summer signings are significantly greater quality than other recent imports. 

Goalkeeper Thomas Sörensen, 27, makes his Villa debut after joining from Sunderland in July 2003 for a fee of £2,700,000 to become the 771st player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Gavin McCann, 25, makes his Villa debut after joining from Sunderland in July 2003 for a fee of £3,040,000 to become the 772nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Mark Delaney makes his 100th start in a Villa shirt (116 Appearances) - and his first in 6 months - to make it W43 D35 L38, 1 Goal, 2 Assists, 14 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Lee Hendrie suffers his 75th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 220th appearance (170 Starts) to make it W88 D57 L75, 24 Goals, 20 Assists, 39 Bookings and 3 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Peter Crouch comes off the bench to play his first game in 5 months to make it 26 appearances (18 Starts), W6 D6 L14, 2 Goals, 4 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Juan Pablo Ángel inspires Villa once again to deliver a 5th consecutive home win under David O’Leary and a secure a place in the League Cup semi finals for the first time since 2000.

Juan Pablo Ángel contributes his 40th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 66th start (83 Appearances) to make it W33 D19 L31, 31 Goals, 9 Assists and 7 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.65 starts so far in his Villa career.

Peter Crouch comes off the bench to play his first game in 4 months under David O’Leary to make it 27 appearances (18 Starts), W7 D6 L14, 2 Goals, 4 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Villa are now unbeaten in 5 Premier League games, winning 4 under David O’Leary and rise to 9th in the table.

Olof Mellberg makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W32 D29 L39, 1 Goal, 4 Assists and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Jlloyd Samuel secures his 40th win in a Villa shirt on his 113th appearance (93 Starts) to make it W40 D30 L43, 1 Goal, 8 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Thomas Sørensen makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W11 D6 L8, 27 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.08 goals per game and 10 Clean Sheets (40%) so far in his Villa career.

Peter Crouch comes off the bench to play in his first League game in 5 months under David O’Leary to make it 28 appearances (18 Starts), W8 D6 L14, 2 Goals, 4 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose a second successive game but title chasing Arsenal need all the luck in the world to overcome a very different Villa outfit from the one they had faced earlier in the season. 

Villa, victims of more questionable refereeing, drop to 12th in the table.

Peter Whittingham makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (30 Appearances) to make it W11 D7 L12, 1 Goal, 4 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Despite going a goal up early on with all the signs that Villa would secure a famous comeback, Gavin McCann's first half sending off, and an inability to score a second until the dying stages meant a brave Villa performance ended in a victory although not enough to earn another League Cup final appearance.

Gavin McCann is sent off for the 2nd time in a Villa shirt on his 26th appearance to make it W12 D6 L8, 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 7 Bookings and 2 Red Cards at a rate of a card every 2.77 games so far in his Villa career.

Thomas Hitzlsperger contributes his 15th goal involvement and secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 68th appearance (49 Starts) to make it W25 D14 L29, 7 Goals, 8 Assists and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Jlloyd Samuel contributes his 10th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 117th appearance (97 Starts) to make it W41 D30 L46, 2 Goals, 8 Assists, 12 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Mark Delaney makes his 125th start in a Villa shirt (141 Appearances) to make it W53 D41 L47, 1 Goal, 4 Assists, 19 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.