Stung By Bees Awoken From Slumber

Well, it looks as though the 'Gerrard Impact' has waned a little. In my view that was a match thrown away after Villa looked to be the only team in it in the first 30 minutes.

It is so disappointing to see sloppiness still there in the team. Hause just didn't get going, I thought, and passes from Targett and Luiz too often went astray. The effect of the Christmas Pud seemed to affect their thinking - the play was too stolid by half. Villa should have been 2-up after 30 minutes and then it should have been a question of how many.

Thus Villa allowed their opponents to get going and score two largely ridiculous goals - I think mainly through Hause, sad to say, but there were others who didn't do enough either. Traore is one such player: his movements are sometimes delightful but too often have little impact. And - let us remind ourselves - this was an injury-hit team that we were playing against. I'm all for giving Gerrard time, but this was surely the chance to get the Villa fans back into a good mood - there are surely enough big-money players in the Villa squad regardless of enforced absences.

It is concerning now that Hause is the only experienced backup at centre-back as Tuanzabe seems to have got fed up with sitting on the bench. But this is the January 'window', and I expect there will be some incoming players. Indeed, I am sure there will be some shaking up after this sad performance.

The reader may not be aware that a 120 years ago there was an instance when the Villa of old put in such a stolid performance that the next week the reserve team was played in the place of big stars! I'm not unsure that such an approach might still not be good therapy.

This is now the time for Gerrard to really make his mark, surely, and to put Villa into the top half of the table and to keep 'em there. A couple of good signings (assuming they're available) and a wake-up call to the existing squad will surely do the trick.

I continue to live in hope, but is that hope just a habit?

Hey ho, now to face two doses of Man U!

UTV!