The Lions of Aston Villa - Becoming King of the Jungle Once More....

2012-12-04 18:11#70898 Jamesg237 : Do you not think you over paid on Tiote, especially as his side got relegated? I think you have spent a bit too much personally...

yeah it was quite a hefty few but he finished with an AR of 7.23 which was good despite them going down. I bid £12m but Benfica went in at £19m when the asking price was £19.25m, so had to keep it high as I needed a strong DM to help the defence out. I think he'll be worth it

Villa travel to Norway for the second leg of their tie with Aalesunds.

Leading 2-0 from the first leg at Villa Park, Jason Connolly rests a few players and the game fizzles out in to a bore 0-0 draw, with Villa advancing 2-0 on aggregate.

Connolly's men are paired with Russian side FC Krasnodor in the Play Off Round.



"We struggled a bit tonight but we got the result we needed. All the boys are looking forward to the next round and hope to qualify for the competition proper."
Darren Bent

"The Premier League is back on Sky and this first Super Sunday of the season sees last season's surprise package Aston Villa entertain Chelsea at Villa Park. All the action LIVE!!"
Martin Tyler

Match Report



"The lads were top drawer today, we should have been 3-0 up at half time, and going in 1-1 at the break wasn't a fair reflection on the game. I got Eric down to give the players a motivational speech but when he got to the dressing room, he just stood at stared in Victor Wanyama's face without speaking. Or blinking. Victor went out and played the best game since he's been here, so who am I to question Eric's methods?"
Jason Connolly

Great result against Chelsea! Keep it going Jason!

Still my favorite story, keep up the good work in the EPL

2012-12-05 02:55#70965 The Madrista : Still my favorite story, keep up the good work in the EPL

Cheers Rookie and Madrista

Im thinking about maybe cashing in on Bent now that he's pushing 30 as Benteke is banging them in and could work well with Andy Carroll.... What do you guys think?

ASTON VILLA 2-0 KRASNODOR

The Europa League play-off first leg was a walk in the park for Villa, with goals from Christian Benteke and Darren Bent sealing a routine 2-0 victory ahead of the second leg.

MANCHESTER CITY 3-1 ASTON VILLA

Villa fail to build on their impressive 3-1 win over Chelsea at the Etihad. Sergio Aguero hits a first half brace and Yaya Toure makes it 3-0 just after the break. Benteke has a goal wrongly disallowed before Bent grabs a consolation on 74 minutes.

KRASNODOR 0-2 ASTON VILLA
Villa win 4-0 on aggregate

Villa failed to find even first gear against a poor Krasnodor in the first half before a half time rollicking turns it round. Christian Benteke opens the scoring with an away goal on 52 minutes before Charles N'Zogbia ends the tie with a cracking 20 yard strike on the hour.

IN OTHER NEWS

Villa are drawn at home to Swindon Town as they begin their defence of the Capital One Cup.



The draw for the Europa League group stage is made and Villa are drawn in this season's 'Group of Death'.



"Obviously it's a very tough draw but we are extremely excited, it's the first ever season in Europe for a lot of the lads, so they'll be up for every game. All 3 clubs have Champions League pedigree, with Sevilla and Panathinaikos being regulars in the competition. We're confident of qualifying for the knockout stages."
Jason Connolly

Don't worry about that group, Sevilla and Panathinaikos sold a lot of their good players recently. Keep going Jason!

2012-12-05 22:28#71072 The FM Rookie : Don't worry about that group, Sevilla and Panathinaikos sold a lot of their good players recently. Keep going Jason!

Looking forward to the challenge my man!!

The transfer window closes and it's fairly quiet at Villa Park, the only arrival being 20 year old, Irish centre half, Paddy Barrett from Dundee United. The 'new Richard Dunne' joins for £700,000 after an impressive season in the SPL which ended in him being named Young Player of the Year.



Around England, Manchester City are again the big spenders with Mats Hummels arriving for £29.5m from Borussia Dortmund. Manchester United bring in Yarmolenko from Dynamo Kiev, while fellow Ukraine international Eugene Koloplyanka signs for Arsenal. Javier Hernandez departs Old Trafford for Serie A, in a surprise £16m deal with Juventus.

"We were happy with the squad but felt we needed a bit more depth at the back, so that's the reason Paddy joined. He was terrific for Dundee United last season and has a lot of potential."
Jason Connolly

Back to action and Villa draw 2-2 with Liverpool before a 3-0 victory at the Madjeski over Reading and a 1-0 win in Sofia against CSKA.



Villa are away to QPR next and then have a run of 5 home games, starting with Swindon Town in the Capital One Cup. Paddy Barrett is tipped to debut in the tie while Chieck Tiote makes his comeback from injury.

Really looking forward to how Tello steps up this season as well as some of the younger players you have brought in. Keep up the good work!

2012-12-07 06:57#71284 AussieToffee : Really looking forward to how Tello steps up this season as well as some of the younger players you have brought in. Keep up the good work!

Cheers mate! Youth is always the way I tend to go, I would only buy someone over the age of 25 on rare occasions lol Tello is off on loan to Espanyol til January as he was looking game time which I couldn't promise at the minute with N'Zogbia and Gabby playing so well.

VILLAINS CAN'T STOP WINNING....

Villa go on to win their next 4 games to make it 6 wins on the bounce in all competitions.



"It must have been a cracker for the neutral. After being 4-1 up, I thought we would go on and make it 6 or 7, we were just that good. A few mistakes let them back in to it and the score makes the match closer than it actually was."
Jason Connolly after the Sevilla game

CONNOLLY FINALLY WINS MANAGER OF THE MONTH!!

After 16 months and some impressive results, Jason Connolly is named the Premier League Manager of the Month.



"He deserves eet, he has came een and got ze best from ze players. Obviously, I do 90% percent of the work and he gets ze credit as I prefer to stay out of the limelight....."
Eric Cantona on Connolly's award.

AS IT STANDS

After 6 league games, Villa sit pretty in the Premiership and top their Europa League group with maximum points from two games.



Darren Bent tops the EPL scoring charts with 7 goals from 6 games.

Villa are drawn away to Leyton Orient in Round 4 as they continue their defence of the Capital One Cup.

You're flying man! Go for a Champions League spot, its with in your reach!

2012-12-08 01:39#71410 The FM Rookie : You're flying man! Go for a Champions League spot, its with in your reach!

Definitely the aim!! Need a new CB in January though, if Albiol or Vlaar gets injured, I'm only left with Baker and Barrett as I play Clark at LB.

Any suggestions?