Author: James Prior

11 o’clock last night brought this season’s summer transfer window, which saw Premier League clubs collectively spending more than £1 billion on signings for the first time, to a close. At Aston Villa, records were also broken while the manager completed an almost full clear out of the dead wood that brought us down in the first place. Dr Tony Xia, Keith Wyness and Roberto Di Matteo have shown the fans that they mean business and want to fight to get this club back to the Premier League. Despite huge amounts of money being spent by Aston Villa during this…

This week, it has been reported that Micah Richards, our captain last season, could be making the move to newly promoted Hull City. It was reported in The Daily Mirror that Richards’ services are being sought to boost the Tigers’ threadbare squad. Considering that Richards can’t get into a relegated Aston Villa side, it’s hard to believe that he would fit into a Premier League one. However, it seems that Richards, who is thought to have a £5 million release clause in his current contract, has been given a perfect opportunity to restart his career with Hull City. It’s a…

Aston Villa’s display last night against Huddersfield Town was promising until the last ten minutes when we conceded a freak goal, which meant we could only draw the game. It just goes to show that teams need to win matches as soon as possible; they will rue missing vital chances like we did. Moving on to Saturday’s game, it is set to be another big encounter. Derby County, with Nigel Pearson at the helm, will be hoping to kick-start their season and take a step in the direction of promotion. Before this game, the Villans might be saying goodbye to…

Sunday’s game against Sheffield Wednesday and last night’s debacle against Luton Town have given everyone at the club a chance to realise that, despite being one of the favourites to be promoted, the Villans may struggle to achieve what is expected of them this season. Although losing to Sheffield Wednesday was hard to take, it’s perhaps no real surprise that we lost to a team of the Owls’ quality. When you consider how close they came to being promoted last season, beaten in the play-off final by Hull City, they are of course going to be one of the favourites…

After watching the Bristol Rovers game last Wednesday, I found myself thinking ‘same old Villa’. We were brilliant at passing the ball sideways and keeping it at the back but, whenever we wanted to go up field and attempt an attack, nothing was being created. It just felt like we were watching Villa from last season and the fans were chanting for Roberto Di Matteo to sign a new, creative striker. While a proven striker is needed, we have at our disposal rising star Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, who is already putting his mark on the team. The game against Cambridge United…

After last night’s draw with Bristol Rovers, Roberto Di Matteo will have a clearer idea of some of his senior players’ abilities. One senior player the new manager has not been able to assess has nevertheless been in the spotlight. According to The Telegraph, Guzan is to be allowed leave Aston Villa on a free transfer. John Percy of The Telegraph wrote on Tuesday that “Aston Villa are ready to grant Brad Guzan a free transfer in a bid to speed up his move to Middlesbrough.” Whoever came up with this idea should be given a medal: it is good to see…

Unofficially, the Villans played their first friendly of the season last weekend, which resulted in an emphatic 0-8 win against GAK 1902 whilst at the training camp in Austria. Looking back at the highlights, it was a very easy game but I could see some new tactics and skills being used by the players including Jack Grealish chipping in with a lovely heal-flick on the edge of the penalty area leading up to a goal. Nevertheless, this was a game that we were expected to win comfortably and so the attention now turns to the more important pre-season games. Tomorrow…

This week, the Aston Villa players made their way back at Bodymoor Heath, with fans hoping they can show their potential in the Championship. Alan Hutton is one player I thought may have bitten the bullet after last season’s performances. Is there a way back for the Scotland international under Di Matteo? When I speak of Alan Hutton, I see him as the player bought by Alex McLeish all those years ago along with Charles N’Zogbia when I formed less than positive opinions of the Scot in claret and blue. Once Paul Lambert had taken the hot seat, it appeared…

Yesterday saw the announcement of Aston Villa’s Championship fixtures for the 2016-17 season. With twenty-four teams in the Championship compared to the twenty in the Premiership, the boys in claret and blue will be kept busy throughout the season even before other competitions are considered. The Villans won’t have faced many of the Championship teams recently and some will be completely new opponents. It’s interesting to look at the months that could be seen as tricky or potentially important for our team. It seems that we will be playing more than four games per month (except in November). The current…

Finally, after weeks of uncertainty in some quarters regarding the takeover, we have confirmation of Dr Tony Xia as our new owner and chairman to add the appointment of Roberto Di Matteo. Keith Wyness is expected to be announced as the new chief executive and he will work alongside the new owner, Di Matteo and his experienced background staff that includes Steve Clarke. Seeing these appointments, Xia’s story at Aston Villa has already hooked the readers. The opening of any story is important. From his words, it seems that Dr Tony Xia has boosted most fans and will enjoy a…