Who R Ya – Aston Villa

Vital QPR assesses tomorrow’s opponents – Aston Villa

THE LATEST

The work is on at Villa Park to prove that Steve Bruce’s green shoots of recovery are not another false dawn in the turbulent recent history of Aston Villa.

The chain of events that culminated in Villa’s first relegation in nearly 30 years did not happen overnight as fans turned their fury on then owner Randy Lerner as our opponents struggled against relegation on a near annual basis only to finally succumb and prompt at the very least a change in ownership.

American Lerner took the club slowly backwards in his ten years at the helm, from the initial lavish spending on Martin O’Neill’s side, the purse strings were cut and manager after manager tried and failed to progress the Villain’s on a shoestring by and large. Names like Hoillier, McLeish, Lambert, Sherwood and latterly Remi Garde came and went before Villa fell through the trap door with a whimper.

Chinese businessman Tony Xia’s summer takeover sparked hope but once Roberto Di Matteo came and went in a hurry after spending a king’s ransom on players, experience was the order of the day as former Birmingham City boss Steve Bruce was given the task of turning around a sinking ship.

Villa have won five of their last nine but still remain patchy and inconsistent. What they do have however is fire-power – former Bristol City front-man Jonathan Kodjia was joined by Ross McCormack as well as Rudy Gestede, a now seasoned Championship striker.

Couple that with the unpredictable young talent of Jack Grealish and live-wire winger Albert Adomah, Villa have more than enough about them to threaten the higher echelons of the division. They will find and undoubtedly will already have found that the Championship isn’t quite that simple.

FACTS & FIGURES

Founded: 1874

Nickname: Villa

Ground: Villa Park – 42682

Manager: Steve Bruce

HONOURS & RECORDS

Honours

First Tier

First Division – Champions: 1893-94, 1895-96, 1896-97, 1898-99, 1899-1900, 1909-10, 1980-81

Second Tier

Second Division – Champions: 1937-38, 1959-60

Cup

FA Cup – Winners: 1886-87, 1894-95, 1896-97, 1904-05, 1912-13, 1919-20, 1956-57

League Cup: Winners – 1960-61, 1974-75, 1976-77, 1993-94, 1995-96

European Cup: Winners – 1981-82

European Super Cup: Winners – 1982

Records

Record Attendance: 69492 v Wolverhampton Wanderers (December 1949)

Record league victory: 12-2 v Accrington (March 1982)

Record league defeat 0-8 v Chelsea (December 2012)

Record Buy: £18,000,000 – Darren Bent from Sunderland (January 2011)

Record Sale: £26,000,000 – James Milner to Manchester City (August 2010)

Record Appearances: Charlie Aitken – 657 (1859 – 1976)

Record Goals: Billy Walker – 244 (1919 – 1933)

THIS SEASON – STATS

GOALS: Jonathan Kodjia – 7, Rudy Gestede – 4, Jordan Ayew – 3, Jack Grealish – 3.

YELLOWS: Jordan Ayew – 6, Ross McCormack – 5, Mile Jedinak – 5, Leandro Bacuna – 5.

SQUAD LIST

1 – Pierluigi Gollini
2 – Nathan Baker
4 – Micah Richards
6 – Tommy Elphick
7 – Leandro Bacuna
8 – Aaron Tshibola
10 – Jordan Ayew
11 – Gabriel Agbonlahor
12 – James Chester
13 – Jed Steer
14 – Rudy Gestede
15 – Ashley Westwood
18 – Libor Kozák
19 – André Green
21 – Alan Hutton
22 – Gary Gardner
23 – Jordan Amavi
25 – Mile Jedinak
26 – Jonathan Kodjia
27 – Ritchie De Laet
28 – Aly Cissokho
29 – Rushian Hepburn-Murphy
31 – Mark Bunn
37 – Albert Adomah
38 – Jordan Lyden
40 – Jack Grealish
44 – Ross McCormack

For the opposite view visit:
Vital Villa
Twitter