Author: AnneMc

With Villa short of striking options, Christian Benteke was back in claret and blue for the first time since his transfer u-turn against Blue Square Premier club Luton but we will have to wait for Big Ben to strike again as he was clearly not match fit and frustrated by the high-powered Hatters. There were early signs of uncertainty in the visting Villans’ defence, which the Hatters happily took advantage of: Martin burst into space and, luckily for the Lions, shot too early and found the side netting. In the 23rd minute, Cullen was allowed to progress towards the byline…

1,800 exuberant away fans journeyed to Adams’ Park to see Paul Lambert’s injury-riddled claret and blue army, fresh from their tour of Germany, take on Wycombe Wanderers this afternoon. Okore, Tonev and Agbonlahor were all missing due to injuries while Helenius, Bennett and Albrighton, along with the so-called ‘bomb squad’ of ‘undesirables’ such as Bent, Given and Ireland, were rested against Lambert’s former club. Villa academy graduate Jack Grealish was handed his first team debut, starting in the three-pronged strike force behind Andi Weimann and alongside fellow academy star Samir Carruthers. The promising 17-year-old was somewhat unlucky not to score…

An experienced starting Aston Villa eleven failed to impress, beginning the game at a fairly low tempo. There were a few half chances in the first forty-five minutes, the most notable of which fell to the home side’s Tasaka, who wasted a good scoring opportunity by firing over the bar. A completely different Villa eleven took to the pitch for the second half and the game opened up. Just two minutes into the second half, target man Helenius glanced home a header after seizing Bacuna’s cross to put the visitors ahead. He’d taken only six minutes to score after Rodinghausen…

The season’s reached its end and the column inches need filling so there’s been plenty of talk surrounding Villa Park. The biggest focus has, unsurprisingly, been on Benteke – thanks in part to his rather vocal agent. The Belgian has been linked to clubs from Manchester to Madrid but the claret and blue faithful hope that he will stay at Villa and press on from his successful first season in the Premier League with one eye on the World Cup. With a number of well-paid players set to be offloaded this summer, reducing the wage bill considerably in the process,…

Roberto Martinez’s first game in charge of Wigan was a win over Aston Villa and, now that he’s finally relegated the Latics and with his future at the club hanging in the balance, he would no doubt have been hoping to sign off their eight year Premier League stay with another victory yesterday. But it wasn’t to be. Bennett tested Al Habsi with an early free kick and then, with five minutes played, Agbonlahor played in Bent, who was handed a rare start in the absence of the suspended Benteke. Bent reminded us all why we had paid £18 million…

Lambert’s Lions were lively from the off and their attacking approach paid dividends in the fifteenth minute when Sylla sent Benteke a fine through ball. Villa’s number 20 outwitted former Villan Cahill to squeeze a low shot past Cech’s near post, sending a packed Villa Park into raptures. The European Champions were clearly irritated and their frustration was showing: just a minute after falling behind, Ramires found himself in the book for a suspicious swipe at Benteke. As Villa Park rocked, Delph shot narrowly wide before the rapturous nineteenth minute applause in the presence of Stan himself. Guzan showed why…

Stiliyan Petrov, the bubbly, battling Bulgarian affectionately known as ‘Stan’, made his Aston Villa debut in a game against West Ham at Upton Park in September 2006. Having been there that day, I remember his impressive debut and it was therefore no surprise that Stan established himself as a fans’ favourite and an amazing ambassador for the club over six seasons. Last March, the claret and blue community was rocked by the devastating news of Stan’s diagnosis with acute leukaemia. Since then, we’ve publicly shown our support to our club captain with the applause in the nineteenth minute of each…

Norwich began strongly, with their long passing causing a sleepy Villa problems. Pilkington delivered a cross from the left that struck Lowton’s arm in the penalty area but referee Kevin Friend was unyielding. The home side continued to contain Villa and the injury to the ever-present Lowton that forced his withdrawal caused some concern but neither side had many defined chances in the first half. Just before the break, there was a chance at each end: Garrido crossed for Holt, who headed over, while, at the other end of the pitch, Agbonlahor’s cross was deflected off a Norwich player and…

Monday night’s invigorating victory over Sunderland was a tonic for the troops. Before the kick-off, I doubt that even the most battle-hardened Villan expected to see the claret and blue army net six, just as it’s safe to say that nobody envisaged ten goals in 2010 when Villa took on Blackburn Rovers in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final. Back in January 2010, practically every man, woman and child packing Villa Park anticipated a close game as Villa looked to protect their one goal lead from the first leg at Ewood Park, which came courtesy of Milner. Many…

It was a nervy start to the game from the home team with particularly poor passing from Sylla leading to a clogged midfield. The visitors had a few half-chances inside the opening ten minutes but ex-Villan Gardner couldn’t find a team-mate after he chested the ball past Guzan then Sessegnon failed to find Graham. Agbonlahor had a great chance to open the scoring in the 26th minute but somehow struck wide. Five minutes later, Villa did indeed have the lead, thanks to our skipper, Vlaar, who carried the ball from the centre circle before belting it low past Mignolet from…