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

Keep it gooooing!

Weird to see Cardiff in red.. Great to see you in second, keep up the smashing work

Cheers lads!!

HITTING A ROUGH PATCH

The next four league games bring a return of just four points which see Villa fall to fifth in the table.

However, their cup form remains top notch and they knock Brighton out of the F.A. Cup while taking a commanding advantage in the Capital One Cup semi final first leg over Manchester United.



"I'm not his biggest fan - put it that way. And Welbeck's was a goal, he was NEVER offside! The official's got it wrong, I mean to allow THEM to score in Fergie time is unforgivable."
Alex Ferguson on Jason Connolly and Welbeck's disallowed goal.

"To be honest, I don't mind if Alex doesn't like me, it must mean that I'm doing something right, so I'll take it as a compliment!"
Jason Connolly



In other news, Villa are drawn at home to Midlands rivals West Brom in the 4th Round of the F.A. Cup.



Villa complete a second raid on Barcelona in just 6 months with central defender Andreu Fontas arriving for a fee of £1.7m.

Fontas has impressed for the Catalans second string this season and has made a few first team appearances.



Villa have loan bids for transfer listed pair Gary Cahill and Theo Walcott rejected, while a £9.5m offer for Stoke's Ryan Shawcross is also knocked back.

"We have about £7m left for this transfer window following Dzagoev's sale and I know Jason wants a few players in as the squad is a bit thin, so we're here to back him and give him the necessary tools for continued success."
Villa CEO Paul Faulkner

Villa are back in league action next with a trip to second placed Liverpool next.

Hitting a rough patch, beats Manchester United 4-1

2012-12-11 22:29#71959 The FM Rookie : Hitting a rough patch, beats Manchester United 4-1

lol well it was 4-2... However I did just play them in the league at tanked them 4-1! City next...

Told ya Bent would bang them in

2012-12-12 06:57#71979 Glenn T : Told ya Bent would bang them in

He's going strong!! He'll be 30 soon though, so the time may be coming to cash in.....

Bent stopped banging them in at 33 in my Liverpool save

2012-12-12 10:25#71996 Glenn T : Bent stopped banging them in at 33 in my Liverpool save

Hmm I'll see how much I can get and then decide as I normally don't have players in my starting XI's when they hit the big 3-0!!

TOUGH RUN? WHAT TOUGH RUN?

Villa's next 5 games included a trip to Anfield and three games against the Manchester clubs.

LIVERPOOL v VILLA
After falling behind to a Suarez goal, Villa show great character right to the end when Gabby Agbonlahor equalises on the 89th minute.

VILLA v MANCHESTER UNITED
Villa dominate Manchester United at Villa Park in the Premiership with Agbonlahor in top form by bagging a hat trick before Bent made it four. Kagawa pulled one back for Alex Ferguson's side.

VILLA v MANCHESTER CITY
Sergio Aguero opened the scoring and it looked like it could be a bleak day at Villa Park. The score remained the same til the break when a rollicking from the manager sent them out with fire in the belly. Matt Lowton whips in a dangerous cross and Mats Hummels turns in to his own net. N'Zogbia came off the bench with 20mins to go and found Bent with a wonderful cushioned pass which allowed the striker to drill home. Villa held on for the win despite a late City onslaught.

MANCHESTER UNITED v VILLA
The second leg of the Capital One Cup semi final was a thrilling affair with United battering the Villa back four. Eardley, Albiol, Vlaar and Clark held firm and Guzan put in the performance of a lifetime to frustrate the Old Trafford faithful. The game ends 0-0 and Villa reach their second successive League Cup final where they will meet Stoke. The game comes at a price however as Villa lose N'Zogbia for 5 weeks (calf strain) and Agbonlahor (3 months) with a broken ankle.


Cristian Tello is re-called from his loan at Espanyol as Villa are short on the wing. The youngster had a good spell in La Liga - scoring four times in nineteen games.

Those results are borderline rapeage, well done Jason!

Jason Connolly works hard in the transfer market to boost his injury ravaged squad.

German full back Diego Contento arrives on loan from Bayern Munich and England U21 star Thomas Ince adds re-enforcement to the wings, arriving from Blackpool for a fee of £6m.



After a series of scouting missions to South America, Villa complete the signing of highly rated River Plate winger Luciano Vigilante who is due to arrive in August.

Vigilante is touted as the brightest Argentine talent since a certain Lionel Messi.....



Villa are at home to Midlands rivals West Brom next in the F.A. Cup fourth round.

I would watch him.... his name IS Vigiliante, after all...

2012-12-13 09:17#72115 Glenn T : I would watch him.... his name IS Vigiliante, after all...

Very true Glenn! Looking forward to having him on board, looks like he could be a very good player!