Villa Stay 14th At End Of December

Sir Alex Ferguson had a good last 3 games of December but lost the first four as Villa only took 5 points from 21 this month. Dos Santos keeps on impressing and Luke Shaw had displaced Leighton Baines at left back.

Villa now can strengthen in the January Transfer window and already have with two signings more on which later.


Ron Vlaar, Villa Captain has said that he is very disapointed in the way the Villans have played this season and hopes for a better second half of the season.

Sunday 1st December
Live On BT Sport
Fulham 2-0 Aston Villa
Venue: Craven Cottage
Attendance: 32,500
Aston Villa were just woeful this match. Sir Alex made his team late for the second half and after the match got a warning for complaining about a penalty that was given to Fulham, when replays showed it was a penalty.

Satuday 7th December
Live On sky Sports
Manchester City 2-1 Aston Villa
Tomkins (60)
Tomkins
Venue: Ethihad Stadium
Attendance: 46,500
This result is very generous for Man City as Villa dominated but became tired and allowed Edin Dzeko to score two goals in the last 10 minutes of the match to give Man City a priceless win.

Saturday 12th December
Live On BT Sport
Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool
Dyer (24)
Venue: Villa Park
Attendance: 41,258
Aston Villa Manager Alex Ferguson had loads to complain about as the Referee was biased towards the Away team and gave a very controversial penalty on the 95 minute and there was only 3 minutes added on! Liverpool scored it to win the match.

Saturday 21st December
Live On BT Sport
Aston Villa 1-2 Sunderland
Baines (25)
Venue: Villa Park
Attendance: 43,500
Aston Villa just can not hold down a lead. That is now a view of all pundits in the game. They take the lead then relax and they can not do that. Sir Alex said the results and clean sheets will come.

Thursday 26th December
Tottenham 3-5 Aston Villa
Benteke (17)
Dos Santos (48)
Shaw (59)
Dos Santos (70)
Nem (85)
Venue: White Hart Lane
Attendance: 34,000
Aston Villa finally show they can score! Dos Santos and Wellington Nem ran the show. Villa dominated from start to finish but Tomkins was lucky to be on the pitch because he gave away THREE penalties. But Villa had enough in them to take the win.

Saturday 28th December
Live On Sky Sports
Norwich 1-1 Aston Villa
Vlaar (5)
Venue: Carrow Road
Attendance: 22,945
Villa held a 1-0 lead until a stroke of genius in the 83rd minute where Elliot Bennett who should be moving to Villa hit a wonder free kick and Grant Holt got in there with a header to selvage a point for the Canaries

Tuesday 31st December
Cardiff City 0-0 Aston Villa
Venue: Cardiff City stadium
Attendance: 29,000
Aston Villa have kept a clean sheet in a game with very little chances only Dos Santos hit the post and Agbonlahor should have had a penalty.

So Villa take only 5 points but are 3 games unbeaten at the end of the month going into a Chelsea game where they are looking for a double. They are in 14th which is a hell of a lot better than last season.

Premier League Table

Villa are doing OK now but the month of January will be very important.

Transfer News

In transfer news for Aston Villa, Thomas Ince and Eugene Konplyanka join from Blackpool and Dnipro respectively. The signings for £17,000,000 a piece co incide with Sir Alex getting a budget increase because of a new contract he has signed and also £16m raised in transfer money on top.

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Thomas Ince joins from Blackpool and has signed a 4 year contract at Villa Park and can not wait to get started. 'I am very, very excited to be here at Aston Villa and look forward to playing alongside Christian Benteke and Wellington Nem and Wesley Sneijder.' Manager Sir Alex Ferguson is excited to have a player with such an amazing talent.

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Joining Ince is Eugene Konplyanka from Ukrainian High League side Dnipro. Konplyanka is an attacking midfielder and bring a bit of bite and steel to the team. 'Eugene is going to be huge to us. He comes with a good reputation and was highly recommended by my chief scout Mel Melchin' said Sir Alex. Watch this space and watch Villa rise up the table.

Villa Act Quick to Snap Up Bennett

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Aston Villa added there 3rd player to there squad today with the signing of Elliott Bennett from Norwich for £2,300,000. He was surplus to requirements at Norwich and Aston Villa Chief Sir Alex said he has hunger and determination to do well at Aston Villa. Bennett who has been bought into Villa Park as a squad player but he is looking forward to playing his part for Aston Villa. 'I have signed a 3 year deal and I am happy to be here on a rotation basis, maybe I can prove myself and become a regular but Villa have a great depth in squad.

Who Is Elliott Bennett

Elliott Bennett (born 18 December 1988) is an English footballer, currently signed to English Premier League side Norwich City. He is the elder brother of footballer Kyle Bennett and a cousin Jake Bennett who plays for AFC Telford United.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Bennett grew up in Telford, Shropshire, and joined Wolverhampton Wanderers at age nine having been spotted playing in a local five-a-side tournament. He captained the club's under-12 team that travelled to Japan in 2001 and won the U12 World Cup, where he also picked up the Player of the Tournament award. He attended Thomas Telford School, where he captained the football team to win the County Cup five years in a row. Bennett was also a talented 200m sprinter and represented Shropshire at the English School Athletics Championships.

He left school to gain a scholarship at Wolves alongside Lee Collins, and signed professional forms with them in March 2007. The midfielder never made a league appearance for Wolves though, despite being picked for the first team squad several times, but did appear twice for them in the League Cup.
Brighton & Hove Albion

After spending time at loan at both Crewe (where he scored once against Port Vale) and Bury, Bennett signed a three-year contract with Brighton & Hove Albion on 20 August 2009. In November 2010 he signed a new three and half year contract to keep him at Brighton & Hove Albion until the summer of 2014. Bennett enjoyed a successful season in 2010–11, playing a significant role in Brighton's promotion to the Championship. Scoring 8 goals, and assisting over 20, Bennett gained a place in the PFA League One Team of the Year.
Norwich City

On 14 June 2011, he signed for Norwich City on an undisclosed three-year deal. He was handed squad number 17 for the upcoming Premier League season. Bennett scored the third goal in a 3–0 pre-season win against Coventry City from 30 yards out. However, this was not enough to earn Bennett a starting place against Wigan Athletic on the opening day of the Premier League season where he came on as a sub, replacing Andrew Surman. On 9 April 2012, Bennett scored his first Premier League goal against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane with a strike from just outside the penalty area, which proved to be the winner in a 2–1 victory for the Canaries. Bennett started the 2012/2013 season on the bench at Craven Cottage in the Canaries' 0–5 defeat. He picked up an injury coming on for Robert Snodgrass. Bennett then made his return in a League Cup clash against Doncaster Rovers which featured his younger brother Kyle Bennett. On 6 April he got 2 assists in a 2-2 draw against Swansea City. On 20 April he scored what proved to be the winning goal in a 2-1 win against Reading FC.

Two out and One in A Week Before Deadline Day

Serder Tasci and Jonas Gutierrez have departed Villa Park for a combined fee of £35,000,000 Tasci moves to Juventus for £25m and Gutierrez for £10m to Spurs.
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Gutierrez never really broke into the first team with Sir Alex opting to play players like Dyer, Wellington Nem and Mattheus ahead of Jonas. Serder Tasci is likely to be followed out the door by Phil Jagielka as Kurt Zouma, Ron Vlaar and James Tomkins rotate central defence along with youngster Ciaren Clark.

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In though comes another Ukrainian Attacking midfielder in Andriy Yarmelenko who joins for £12,250,000 for Dynamo Kiev. Aston Villa held off late bids from Dnipro and Shaktar because Andriy wanted to come to Aston Villa. He has signed on for 5 years and Sir Alex is ecstatic he has decided to join. 'I am trying to build a dynasty here at Aston Villa and Andriy is going to be a big part of this. There will be sales but nmot until the summer I am not going to be breaking the bank in the summer but there will be maybe 2 more signings to come this transfer window.'


In other news Marek Suchy has signed a pre contract deal with the Villans. The Russian Central Defender, 25 joins from Spartak Moscow for the start of next season and Sir Alex has been watching him for some time.

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Also Joining on a free is long time Transfer target Willian. The Brazillian is allowing his contract to run down at Shaktar Donetsk and join the Villans. Willian who also plays attacking midfield signals the end for some Villa players at the end of the season so the Villa midfielders are playing now to keep there positions.

One In And One Almost In For Villa On Deadline Day

Aston Villa Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has managed to get one player in and will have to wait for the other player until end of the season as the paperwork did not go through in time.


The player in is Leandro Bacuna, 22 from FC Gronigan. 'With Phil and Serder leaving we needed a Centre back in and Leandro fitted the bill' said Ferguson.

Who is Leandro Bacuna

Leandro Bacuna (born 21 August 1991) is a Dutch footballer of Antillian ancestry who plays as a Centre Back for Aston Villa in the Premier League.

FC Groningen
On 30 October 2009 Bacuna made his first team debut for FC Groningen in the Eredivisie, in the match against PSV Eindhoven. Bacuna has also played for FC Groningen's youth teams. On 6 November 2009, Bacuna scored his first goal in the first team, in the league match against Heracles Almelo. FC Groningen won the match with 4–1.

Next In

There will be a new face next season as Ki-seung Yeung will join Aston Villa for £15,000,000. He was going to join on Transfer Deadline Day but the work permit came through with 15 minutes to spare but was not able to get the paperwork through in time. Sir Alex was dissapointed but glad he got his man.

Who is Ki Sung-Yeung

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Ki Sung-Yueng born 24 January 1989 is a South Korean professional footballer who currently plays as a central midfielder for French Club club Lyon and the South Korea national team.
Known for his vision, technique, long range passing and shooting, along with his good set-pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the top young South Korean football prospects.

FC Seoul

Ki returned to Korea and joined FC Seoul where he played alongside national teammate Lee Chung-Yong. He was a bench member in the last match of the 2006 K-League Cup, but didn't enter. Under ?enol Güne?, he made his senior debut in 2007.

During the 2008 season, Ki reinforced his position as a key player of FC Seoul. On 29 October, Ki scored the winning goal against Seoul's biggest rival Suwon Samsung Bluewings in 92nd minute. Ki performed a "Kangaroo Ceremony", which he claims to be imitation of Emmanuel Adebayor's, but Suwon fans argue that this was imitation of 'chicken', which is how many Seoul fans call Suwon. He led the team to an unprecedented K-League runners-up position with 4 goals and 1 assist in 21 appearances.

In FC Seoul's first K-League match of the 2009 season, Ki scored one goal in the 6–1 drubbing of Chunnam Dragons. There was increasing speculation regarding a big move abroad with suitors including PSV Eindhoven, Hamburg SV and Porto among others.

Celtic
On 25 August 2009, it was revealed that contact between Celtic and FC Seoul had occurred regarding the possibility of Ki's transfer to the Parkhead club. However, the player's agent stated that an immediate move would be unlikely given FC Seoul's success in the league and the Asian Champions League. Three days later, Celtic clinched a £2.1m transfer for Ki. He linked up with the Parkhead side in the January transfer window at the end of the K-League season. The signing was confirmed on 13 December 2009 after Ki passed a medical and secured a work permit. He reportedly turned down an offer from English Premier League club Portsmouth. He wears the number 18 with "Ki" on his shirt. He made his debut for Celtic in a 1–1 draw against Falkirk at Celtic Park on 16 January 2010, winning the Man of the Match award from the official Celtic website.

He scored his first competitive goal for Celtic with a shot from 25 yards in a 4–0 victory against St. Mirren in the Scottish Premier League (SPL). Ki was voted the SPL Young Player of the Month for October 2010. He became a first team regular and scored his second goal of the season in a 2–2 draw with Inverness Thistle at Celtic Park. On 26 December 2010, Ki scored against St Johnstone in a 2–0 victory in the SPL. On 21 May 2011, Ki scored the first goal of Celtic's Scottish Cup Final win against Motherwell with a left-footed strike from around 35 yards. He also won the official Man of the Match award.

Ki started the 2011–12 campaign in Celtic's opening game against Hibernian in the SPL. Scoring the second goal in a 2–0 victory, a 25-yard left foot strike into the right hand bottom corner and also won the Man of the Match award from the official Celtic website. He impressed Celtic manager Neil Lennon so much in the Hibernian game that he said
“ He's a very important player to us. I rate him very highly. He can go on to be anything he wants to be," Lennon told The Telegraph. "We think he is a class player and we're glad he's here." He added: “Ki has been very consistent over the past 18 months. He's developing nicely into a class player. "He had good presence and good composure on the ball. He has a goal or two in him and his passing range is excellent."

Ki then went on to score another goal in the Scottish Premier League against Dundee United at Celtic Park, a strike into the top left hand corner from the edge of the box. On 15 August 2011 it was reported that Premier League sides Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham Hotspur and several clubs from the Russian Premier League were interested in signing Ki. Celtic the next day issued a hands off warning to the interested clubs, saying that it would take a bid of significant proportions for Celtic to allow the increasingly important midfielder to leave the club. On 10 September 2011, Ki put Motherwell to the sword yet again, this time in the Scottish Premier League with a superb strike from outside the box with his right foot. Celtic went on to win the game 4–0. On 29 September, he started in Celtic's 1–1 draw with Italian side Udinese. After 3 minutes Celtic won a penalty which Ki converted. On 18 December 2011, he scored the second goal of the game as Celtic beat St Johnstone 2–0 at McDiarmid Park in the Scottish Premier League. Over the course of the 2011–2012 campaign, Ki scored 7 goals and had 6 assists, playing a key role in helping Celtic win the Scottish title. Also, because Ki had been showing impressive talents both internationally and for Celtic, lots of teams, such as QPR, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Deportivo La Coruña, Rubin Kazan and several Bundesliga clubs has shown interest in Ki.

Villa Improve but still stay 14th!

Sir Alex Ferguson has said that he is encouraged by the going ons of this month and can't wait to lead Villa to the top half by the end of the season. Giovanni Dos Santos had yet another good month infront of goal but Wellington Nem and the two new Ukrainian signings also put there worth in too.

F.A Cup 3rd Round

Saturday 4th January 2014
Ipswich Town 1-3 Aston Villa
Dos Santos (17)
Dos Santos (19)
Dyer (76)
Dos Santos
Venue: Portman Road
Attendance: 18,350
Aston Villa march into Round 4 as the team are finally starting to click. Dyer was a thorn in the Ipswich team but Giovanni Dos Santos was just super impressive.

Sunday 12th January
Live On BT Sport
Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Attendance: 45,000
Chelsea beat a stubborn Villa side who were very, very unlucky not to win. Villa manager Sir Alex Ferguson said that Chelsea were VERY fortunate to win and saluted the improvement in his squad. 'Wellington Nem has porformed amazingly well the last 3 or 4 games but Giovanni has just got better and better.'

Sunday 19th January
Live On Sky Sports
Aston Villa 3-0 Burnley
Agbonlahor (58)
Yarmolenko (67)
Dos Santos (89)
Yarmolenko
Venue: Villa Park
Attendance: 41,253
Aston Villa manager Sir Alex said this was the time when his Villans stood up and showed they are going to be a team worth watching as Villa put Burnley to the sword.

F.A Cup Round four

Saturday 25th January
Live On ITV Sport
Q.P.R 2-4 Aston Villa
Vlaar (36)
Vlaar (54)
Nem (82)
Konoplyanka (90+4)
Vlaar
Venue: Loftus Road
Attendance: 23,000
Aston Villa have hit Q.P.R for four to progress into the Fifth Round. Ron Vlaar scored 2 goals with Nem setting up 3 goals and hitting one himself. Konoplyanka also scored his first goal for Aston Villa.

Tuesday 26th January
Live On BT Sport
Aston Villa 1-1 Q.P.R
Ayew (1)
Nem
Venue: Villa Park
Attendance: 41,349
Q.P.R have improved to grab a draw, which is the fairest result. Aston Villa have only lost one match all month and Sir Alex Ferguson is very pleased about it too. Take out this result and we have had a great month. Chelsea were very lucky and fortunate to beat us. Ron Vlaar and Wellington Nem get special mentions for there improved form and I am so glad to see James Tomkins in the England fold he has been awesome since joining.

Premier League Table

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Villa are still 14th but are performing better

Villa Unbeaten This Month!

In what was a tough February Aston Villa got unlucky but still ended it unbeaten. One win and 2 draws in the Premiership and 1 draw and a win in the F.A Cup. Giovanni dos Santos and Ron Vlaar again the stand out performers.

England Starlets

There are two newly capped England players too. Tom Ince and Will Hughes were called up to the friendly squad to play Brazil. There was two other Villa Veterans included too. Gabby Agbonlahor who is Villa through and through is now a regular in the Villa team and in the England team. James Tomkins missed out this time but Leighton Baines whose place is coming under severe threat now from Luke Shaw still finds his name on the England teamsheet every match.

Saturday 1st February
Live On BT Sport
Everton 1-2 Aston Villa
Agbonlahor (45+2)
Agbonlahor (82)
Agbonlahor
Venue: Goodison Park
Attendance: 35,654
Aston Villa played OK with the exception of the regular front two in Giovanni Dos Santos and Gabby Agbonlahor. Everton took the lead with a own goal from former player Leighton Baines. But then up stepped the two strikers that have found there form when playing together. Dos Santos played a delightful through ball to find a running Agbonlahor who drilled it into the bottom right hand corner. Then in the 82nd minute it was all Agbonlahor as he picked it up inside his own box and skinned 3 defenders before a unstoppable right foot top right hand corner and a worthy winner.

Tuesday 4th February
Live On Sky Sports
Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester United
Dos Santos (89)
Vlaar
Venue: Villa Park
Attendance: 42,340
When Villa scored in the 89th minute manager Sir Alex Ferguson thought his team had beat Man Utd, but they were wrong as in the 5th minute of 4 minutes added on Ashley Young scored against his old club. It was a fair result and this Villa team is improving.

Sunday 9th February
Live On BT Sport
Aston Villa 2-2 Arsenal
Sneijder (79)
Konoplyanka (83)
Venue: Villa Park
Attendance: 41,023
Aston Villa save themselves when Sneijder and Konoplyanka score late on to selvage a point. Arsenal stormed into a 2-0 lead within the first 10 minutes. Villa though have devoloped a never say die attitude and late in the second half Sneijder who come on as a sub for Gary Gardner showed a glimpse of what he can do with a superb header. Konoplyanka a January transfer buy also then scored and Arsenal were lucky to hold on as Agbonlahor and Dos Santos went close after.

F.A Cup 5th Round

Saturday 15th February
Live On ITV Sport
Aston Villa 2-2 Millwall
Bennett (45)
Hughes (75)
Bennett
Venue: Villa Park
Attendance: 35,932
Aston Villa recorded there lowest gate of the season for the match against Millwall, and they were almost embarressed. Elliott Bennett a January signing was the star of the show though when he pulled one back from a corner and then delivered a free kick square onto the head of Will Hughes.

F.A Cup 5th Round Replay

Tuesday 25th February
Live On ITV Sport
Millwall 0-1 Aston Villa
Konoplyanka (71)
Konoplyanka
Venue: The Den
Attendance: 13,950
Aston Villa winger Konoplyanka is seriously pushing for a starting spot as he scored the winner and got man of the match and he only came on for 25 minutes. That was the impression he made. 'Dos Santos was dissapointing' Said Sir Alex but This young lad who came on really changed the game. Millwall fans acknowledged the amazing technique of the placed shot into the top corner by the sub.

Premier League Table

Aston Villa are no longer 14th! They are now 13th but Sir Alex thinks they could still get European Football next season. 'There is something special starting to happen with this squad now and I for one can't wait to see it develop.
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