Villa Improve As Volland and Jovic Presented
Lately some pundits like Paul Merson and Jamie Carragher had been questioning Paul McGrath because of awful form, however this all changed when McGrath managed to pluck the signing of Kevin Volland out of nowhere and since that deal was announced Villa finished December in excellent fashion. December, though started awfully as Jack Grealish, who scored again was on the losing side again after scoring as Villa went down 1-0 to Swansea.
Then came two of the most abject performances we had ever seen when first Manchester City won 2-0 and Q.P.R then followed it up with a 2-0 win too. Lets start with the Man City one, the only reason that Aston Villa did not lose by 9 or 10 with the performance of young Serbian keeper Marek Rodek. He was saving everything as the Villa defence parted like the red sea but Villa could not hold on.
The Q.P.R match was absolutely appalling and after that match where Villa lost 2-0 again it is understood that McGrath and Roy Keane laid into the team so much that they made Andi Weimann cry!
The next match against Liverpool was a lot better and they left empty handed but had found there fight again. Daniel Sturridge was absolutely amazing and hit a hat-trick with Stirling getting a forth but Villa faught back big time with the aid of two own goals from Mignolet and Wanyama. Joel Obi got the third but it was not enough for Villa but they went down with a fight.
Next though were three great matches for Aston Villa. First up were Spurs and Villa were that out of form you could have got 11/1 for them to win! If you had that then you were great because Jack Grealish ran the show and on the 50th minute he tore apart the team from London. Picking the ball up on his own 18 yard box he found a searching ball out to Rotariu, who fed Castaignos and back into Grealish who had run 40 yards now, he carried on with the ball and skinned 4 players and the the Republic of Ireland international drilled the ball home to give Villa there first win in six matches.
If Grealish was impressive it was Ron Vlaar and Ruben Garcia who were really running the show. Vlaar, who has said he wants to finish his career off at Aston Villa both lined up for the West Brom match with one goal in mind. Shove the comments of Gus Poyet up his arse! Poyet said that Villa were extremely poor and relied on good fortune rather than skill and although Grealish had yet another excellent match it was Garcia who shone. He got the assist for Grealish, who had now put 4 goals in, in this season alone won another match for Villa and it was the defence that had tightened up. Grealish and Garcia's quick feet however had got the 4th man sent off against this this season in Mulumbu which helped to the victory and two in a row for Villa since October.
Joel Obi has performed well this month
If the last two matches where impressive they then went and made it three wins in a row against a Charlton very hard to break down usually but not today as Villa started like a train and out of nothing in 53 seconds Mike Williamson, formally of Newcastle United scored an o.g. Grealish then hit his third in three matches to make it 2-0 and Vlaar made it 3-0 from a headed corner goal before half time.
Then two subs scored the forth and fifth goals in Tom Cleverley and Joel Obi. Cleverley's was a crisp strike to the left hand corner and Obi, who has signed a new 5 year contract worth £6m over that five years scored a delightful chip to defeat Charlton 5-1.
Arsneal still lead Everton in the EE Premier League by 2 points with Everton showing that last season's position was no fluke. Stoke have dropped from 4th to 8th and Villa make it back into the top 10 . Wigan, Leicester and Southampton are still in the bottom three as January will be a key month.
Villa Player Of The Month
There were three possibilities this month. Jack Grealish, Ruben Garcia and Ron Vlaar. Jack Grealish goalscoring wise was awesome this month but the other two had just better months in my view. Ruben Garcia is going to be rated as one of the signings of the season for Villa with his industrious technique and his crossing ability, let alone his scoring ability but they have been trumped this month by Ron Vlaar. The 30 year old Villa Captain has been a rock in defence with either Richards or Ramognoli so therefor deserves the praise he is getting.
New Signings Paraded
Jovic Is In at Villa
The two new signings and from Paul McGrath's perspective the only ones that will come to Villa were paraded at the end of the Charlton match. Luca Jovic, an 18 year old super talent from Red Star Belgrade comes in after being bought in the summer but staying there on loan until now with a big reputation as a goalscorer and although he will need to adapt to the English game a little bit will definitely look to make an impact.
Volland has now arrived in England to play for Villa
The second signing is just out of the world as Kevin Volland got a rapturous round of applause after signing for £27,000,000 from Hoffenheim and the fans will no doubt be trying to get his name on the back of the new shirts next season. Volland, who will make his debut in the F.A Cup against Aldershot will no doubt be a hit while he is at Villa and it will be interesting to see if he can turn the club into a team challenging for trophies.