my season....

[andy villa]

well, season ended with us pretty much where i predicted we would be at pre season....

been an interesting season, which started with the takeover...

life was bleak at villa park, with player revolts, ellis cutting costs by the day, along with half the players wanting out, and the horrible prospect/rumour of david platt coming in as manager!!

along came randy lerner and fairly drawn out takeover talks occured... one of the first real signs that the takeover was for real this time, was the arrival of martin o'neill... until that point, i personally, didnt take it too seriously, but even though i wasnt fully convinced, o'neill coming in, made it more likely..

after a few hiccups where ellis tried to squeeze every last penny out of the deal, along with his usual dismissive manner and silly demands, randy finally took over and "saved" us...

i still remember the first text i recieved at 7:30am the morning it was all to be confirmed.. having no net access, while i moved back to brum meant that i was well out of the news loop, so when i got that text, i was over the moon... as others poured in later in the day, and local news outlets confirmed the information 100%, there really couldnt have been a happier fan in all of football land....

the season started with little time for incoming transfers but we made a decent start to the season, becoming the first side to score at arsenals new stadium in a 1-1 draw.. 2 wins on the bounce against reading and newcastle were very welcome, along with the signing of stilyan petrov... the only signing we were able to make in the short time we had before the window closed... he did very well on his debut against west ham, in a match we dominated, but failed to win and ended up drawing... a theme that would continue for most of the season..

after the free signings of chris sutton and didier agathe, outside of the window to bulk up the squad after the loss of a few players to long term injury, our good run carried on and we ended up being the last side in the english leagues to lose a game in an 11 game unbeaten run... losing luke moore, martin laursen, mark delaney and gavin mccann, meant that we had to rely on a lot of youngsters during the middle of the season, and unfortunately for them, as with last season, the experienced players let them down...

the emergence of gabriel agbonlahor, craig gardner and isiaiah osboure was a huge bonus though during this time...

a run of 13 games without a win during the middle of the season ended any hopes we had of european challenge, and brought us close to the relegation battle, although in truth, there was never any real danger of us getting dragged right into it... during this time, we played well while under severe strain to the squad due to injuries, and were unfortunate to lose quite a few games...

we were mugged by the ref in the liverpool and arsenal games, and smash and grabbed by bolton.. in fact, the only games we struggled in this term, were against man utd home and away, man city at home, and liverpool away... and this was the exception, rather than the rule...

in the january transfer window, we picked up john carew, ashley young, shawn maloney and phil bardsley... with these players we started to look a far more solid outfit.... played some better football and you could really sense where the team was heading... a few long term injuries back fit, and we looked much stronger...

this cumulated in a 9 match unbeaten run that ended with a 2-2 draw with bolton on the last day of the season that gave us an 11th place finish...

and while we drew too many games, we have been turned into a side that is very difficult to beat and one that doesnt give up when behind... only 3 sides, man utd, chelsea and arsenal, have lost less games than we have, and we are one of the top sides in the country for coming back from a goal down and getting a result....

so while we havent won as many as we should have done, we have improved to playing better football, we are hard to beat, and we have a newfound "never say die" attitude...

while not perfect, on the pitch, we are definately heading in the right direction...

off the pitch, we are heading in the right direction too... lucritive new nike manufacturer, new (but controversial) crest to signal a new era, new money invested in the new and improved training ground which is now completed and one of the best in world football, the holte hotel being redeveloped, the 82 side being recognised and one old mans grudge finally put to rest (what a day that was!), etc, are all part of the new owner and his boards attempts to drag us into the modern business world...

so while the season was far from perfect, it has been memorable and exciting, and is just the start of a very bright future....

its been a long time since i have been this excited as a villa fan, and i thank the new owner for bringing hope back to my club....

and for the first time in years, i cant wait for the new season to start!

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Your good finshing on the season is something to build on to next season.