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The Making Of Champions?

If you would have said to any Aston Villa fan at the start of the season that they woul dbe lying third in the league at the end of January, I am sure they would have checked you into the first available psychiatric hospital but with seven games played, seventeen goals scored and only 5 conceded, Aston Villa have now announced themselves as one of the big boys.



Although with no chance of catching Chelsea this season in the League, they are now being spoke about as future champions and why not? They have been exceptional this season and with the front four that they have in Rondon, Sterling, Glealish and Volland and that is enough to scare anyone. Add to them Dorin Rotariu, Gabby Agbonlahor and Alex Roweand Villa have some amazing skillful players that can put anyone to the sword.


Gabby Agbonlahor is back amongst the scorers at Villa

In the Premier League this month Villa had five matches and it started at home to Fulham. Goals from Gabby Agbonlahor, Tom Cleverly and Salomon Rondon all scored in the 3-1 victory. Salomon Rondo hit a grand total of eight goals this month and two of them goals came in the F.A Cup, which was the next match against Norwich who gave them a big scare too and it was averted because Rondon hit the winner from a corner in the 77th minute. Cleverly hit the other goal.

This squad is really gelling and when they came up against Forest, who seemed to be Aston Villa's bogey side and they had not won against them for 3 years and that did not change here. Villa played well but created next to nothing but fortunately for Villa Forest were awful infront of goal and got a 0-0 draw.

Then wins against Southampton, Newcastle in the F.A Cup and Huddersfield followed with Salomon Rondon picking up Man Of The Match in all three of the matches. He scored one and won a penalty against Southampton, a hat-trick against Newcastle and won a penalty again against Huddersfield in three completely amazing performances.



The last match of the month was a dress rehearsal for the F.A Cup 5th round with Villa playing host to Manchester City and they were very fortunate to win but with the return of Jack Grealish, he showed just how much Villa had missed him and what a great chance he knows Villa have got of making Champions League football next season. Rondon scored the winner yet again to take his tally in all competitions to 20 goals in 24 game, which is an incredible strike rate.




So after a great month in January, Chelsea are still top by a huge 14 points and Arsenal are in 2nd place in the table.

Aston Villa are 3 points ahead of Manchester United in 3rd and 4th respectively with Stoke, Liverpool and West Brom behind them. Stoke are still having a great season, lying in 6th and are only one point off the magic 40 point mark.

Man City are in 10th place anbd having a very, very disappointing season so far and have Fulham right on there backs with Swansea and West Ham behind them. Huddersfield are rock bottom with 7 points and looking doomed already. Nottingham Forest are 19th and Burnley are also in the relegation zone on 18 points.

Newcastle and Southampton must be looking over there shoulders now.

Villa Player Of The Month

Is this even a contest this month. Although Villa have been fantastic, Salomon Rondon wins it hands down. the Venezuelan has hit 8 goals this month and created several too. He has been awesome since signing from Tottenham Hotspur and I think it is save to say he will add to his 20 goals already this season.

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Villa Struggle But Keep Up With The Top Four

Aston Villa, for the first time this season have had a very wobbly month in February with two losses to sides that could be forgiven but then there was the Burnley result, which to all intense and purposes was awful.

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First up was one of 3 games shown on TV, against Q.P.R where Rondon carried on his red hot form with two goals in there 3-1 victory but the day belonged to Raheem Sterling, who scored his first Villa goal on the 77th minute. The Villa team played amazing and kept up there claims for the top 4 this season.

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Then though came the F.A Cup 5th round clash with Manchester City. It was dubbed Aguero vs Rondon and for the first time in a long time Villa went into the match as favourites. With Volland still out injured, big things were expected of Grealish and Sterling but it was not meant to be because Man City were very fired up but Aguero had a very quiet game because he was only on the bench! Valetin Stocker got two goals and Erik Lemela got the other one with veteran Yohann Cabaye getting the consolation but Villa manager Paul McGrath was disappointed.

We were not at our best today and I feel for the fans, so in light of that the players would like to offer full refund to every fan that travelled to watch the side and we expect to perform to the best of our ability next season.

Despite Arsenal defeating Villa 2-1, the day belonged to youngster Alex Rowe who scored in the 74th minute with a fantastic solo effort. Aston Villa though needed a big result against Everton because they were falling into the clutches of the teams chasing that top 4 spot.


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Caulker hit a great goal for Villa this month


They did though and thanks to Salomon Rondon again, they won 2-1 with Caulker getting the second goal to put it beyond doubt. Villa though lost Micah Richards, Gino Peruzzi AND Alessio Ramognoli to injury which lead some pundits including Gary Lineker to suggest that Everton were too aggressive and the defeat is no more than they deserved.

Burnley they defeated Villa in what can only be described as a abject performance but Villa were without so many first teamers it was unreal and Burnley took advantage.


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Chelsea would have to have a horrible end of the season to lose the title now being 15 points clear at the top of the table. Five points cover Arsenal Man Utd and Aston Villa in 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. Spurs are ready to capitalise on any slip up by the top 4 with Man City, Everton and Liverpool now ahead of Stoke.


Harry Redknapp is still unable to save Huddersfield as they are still rooted at the bottom of the table with Nottingham Forest just ahead of them and Burnley and Newcastle are on 23 points and the league is still exciting even with Chelsea way out front at the top.

Aston Villa Player Of The Month

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Fabian Delph has been fantastic this month for The Villans. He is from one end of the pitch to the other and is continuously on the radar of England manager Unai Emery. It is a team effort but in Delph you have someone that would throw himself in front of any shot at goal.

The Month Ahead

There are just TWO games this month and they are both midlands derbies. Home to West Brom on Channel 5 and away to Stoke City and these two game we think will decide if Villa can claim Champions League football or not.

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Player Watch: Salomon Rondon

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José Salomón Rondón Giménez (born 16 September 1989) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays for English club, Aston Villa in the EE Premier League.

Born in Caracas, Rondón made his debut in the Venezuelan first division at the age of 17, appearing for Aragua FC against Carabobo FC on 8 October 2006. On 8 April of the following year he scored his first goal(s) for the club, in a 2–2 draw against Caracas FC.

In the summer of 2008 Rondón was signed by UD Las Palmas in Spain, and made his official debut on 5 October in a 1–2 away loss against Deportivo Alavés for the second division championship. Almost one year after his arrival, on 2 September 2009, he netted his first goal, in a Copa del Rey match against Cádiz CF becoming the youngest foreign player to ever score for the club, at the age of 19 years, 11 months and 17 days and finished the 2009–10 season with ten goals in 36 games, as the Canary Islands side barely avoided relegation.

On 19 July 2010, Málaga CF signed Rondón for a record transfer fee of €3.5 million. He scored his first goal for the Andalusians exactly two months later, in a 1–2 home defeat against Sevilla FC in La Liga. Four days later, he opened the score in a 2–0 win at Getafe CF, adding a third the following week in a 2–3 home loss to Villarreal CF.

In August 2012 Rondón signed for Russian Premier League team FC Rubin Kazan, for a reported fee of €10 million which made him the most expensive Venezuelan player in history. He made his league debut on the 12th in a 2–0 home win over FC Dynamo Moscow, and he scored his first goal against FC Terek Grozny on 1 September, albeit in a 1–2 home defeat.

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Rondon in his Ruban days

On 10 March 2013, following the winter break in the Russian Premier League, Rondón scored the only goal of the game as Rubin claimed a home victory over reigning champions FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. In continental competition, he opened up the scoring in the 100th minute of the round-of-16 clash against Levante UD, latching on to a cross from Bibras Natkho as the hosts won it 2–0 in that game and on aggregate.

On 31 January 2014, Rondón joined fellow league club Zenit Saint Petersburg for a fee believed to be around the area of £15.8 million. He played his first game for his new team on 25 February, scoring in an eventual 2–1 away win against Borussia Dortmund for the UEFA Champions League's round of 16 second-leg (4–5 aggregate defeat).

On 6 April 2014, again as a second-half substitute, Rondón helped to a 6–2 home demolition of former team Rubin, scoring three goals. On 20 September he added another three, in a 5–0 win at FC Rostov.

Rondón made his first appearance in the UEFA Europa League against Inter Milan, and he scored once in a 2–2 group stage away draw, also playing the entire match. In the second game between the two sides he netted a brace in the final three minutes, helping his team to a 3–0 win.

Rondon then moved to Tottenham in the 2015/16 season for a reported £15m and in the one season where Spurs did awful he bagged 25 goals and a move at the end of the season to Aston Villa.

Rondon is now into his second season at Aston Villa and with 17 goals in season one and already 23 goals in 32 appearances this season he is already turning into the ideal signing for McGrath, proving it will be £39.5m well spent.

Aston Villa Back On Track

So Aston Villa only had two games this month and it was a great display in both matches from Villa as they scored NINE goals in both matches.



The first match was a Monday Night Football special where West Brom had to admit that they were fortunate to only lose by four goals! Things started well as Raheem Sterling got bought down in the box, to which Cabaye scored the resulting penalty and Sterling got the second goal.

After half time Volland also scored for The Villans and then Sterling was bought down......again and this time Stones dispatched the penalty. The game was finished off by Grealish for a 5-1 victory.


Dorin Rotariu in action

Aston Villa then followed it up with a 4-1 win away to Stoke and that game was all over by the 18th minute when Rondon, who capitalised on a mistake by Ryan Shawcross to score and Davide Santon then scored a rare goal to send Villa in at half time 2-0 up. Rondon then hit his 25th goal of the season to make it 3-0 and then after Stoke for a consolation goal Romanian wonderkid Dorin Rotariu got the 4th goal to give Villa a 100% record in March.




Chelsea are still 18 points clear at the top of the EE Premier League. Arsenal, Villa and Man Utd are all on 60 points in 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. They are 6 points clear of Man City in 5th place with Spurs just behind them.

Huddersfield & Forest are in the drop zone but it is Newcastle who might be going down as they are now in the bottom 3 with Burnley just outside the drop zone.

Aston Villa Player Of The Month

Raheem Sterling really came good this month! The attacking midfielder, who signed for Villa from Liverpool for £39,500,000 won two penalties, scored 1 goal and assisted in 5 of the nine goals was without doubt the player of the month for Villa this month.

Upcoming Fixtures The Month

This is the month where Villa will find out if they can get Champions League Football or not. Matches against Swansea, Newcastle, Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool is a very tough schedule but if they can get 3 wins from that, then it should be enough for the most of unlikely top 4 finishes.

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Grealish: A Legend In The Making

Grealish Hits 100 appearances

When Jack Grealish made his breakthrough into the Aston Villa starting line-up he was aged just 17 and Paul Lambert was in charge. The match was Manchester City and it was on the back of a very successful spell on loan at Notts County.

After that season however Paul McGrath took over and Grealish became a regular making 33 league appearances and scoring 6 goals with 5 assists and 4 man of the match awards. Grealish was rewarded with a new contract.

The second season when McGrath was in charge, Grealish missed just one of the 38 games and hit 12 goals in with 8 assists and 4 man of the match awards. Grealish also picked up a lot of player of the weeks and also claimed the Villa's player of the year award.

This season however, Grealish has only missed two matches this season through injury and in the 3-0 vicotry against Swansea made his 100th league appearance for Aston Villa. This is not bad for a player who is only 21 meaning he has a very good chance to become a Villa legend.

Aston Villa are in my heart and I can never think of leaving them. We are in a great place at the moment and I can not wait to be apart of the squad that hopefully can claim Cup wins and most of all win the Premier League said Grealish.

Manager Paul McGrath also said To work with a player as good as Jack is at such a young age is a privilege, it is why we make sure he also has a contract to keep him happy. I hope he goes on to make 200 appearances, 300 and maybe even 500 appearance for this great club.