By Martin Kelner          9 May 2016 The final few shirt-sleeved weeks of the season are tough for the teams at the foot of the Premier League, but there was no call for what Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce did when Matic put Chelsea 2-1 ahead just before half time at the Stadium of […]

By Brian Sears  15 April 2016 Barring victory for Aston Villa this weekend combined with defeat for Norwich, then Villa’s relegation to the Championship will be confirmed as mathematical fact on Saturday. The seven ‘ever present’ clubs of the Premier League era will be six and we dealt with Villa’s demise here. You don’t need to go […]

By Brian Sears  11 March 2016 The Premier League is in its 24th season since the 1992-93 breakaway in English football. Forty-seven different clubs have played in it since then. That’s more than half of the 92 clubs in the four professional divisions. It’s become a majority experience. Mobility continues to be a feature of England’s […]

By Brian Sears 24 December 2015 Christmas is a time for reflection and a time to look forward and neither offers any merriment for Aston Villa. Ten points away from safety as things stand, they can look to no precedent in the Premier League era (the ‘monied’ era, since 1992) for a club with single-digit points at Christmas […]

By Brian Sears 1 May 2015 Barring one of the most absurd sets of results this weekend that the game of football has ever seen, Bournemouth’s promotion to the Premier League will be confirmed. They play at Charlton while Middlesbrough are at home to Brighton and it would need a loss for Bournemouth coupled with […]

By Brian Sears 3 April 2015 Manchester United play at home against Aston Villa this Easter weekend seeking a resurrection of their Champions League participation from next season. United could arguably not wish for better opponents when all-time Premier League records are considered. United have won more Premier League points against Villa – or 104 in […]

By Brian Sears 20 February 2015 Aston Villa are enduring another horrible season, one from which new manager Tim Sherwood is expected to salvage Premier League survival. Villa remain for now one of just seven ‘ever present’ Premier League clubs, constant members of England’s top division since it revamped and rebranded from the 1992-1993 season. […]

By Brian Sears 27 September 2013 Aston Villa did not manage a single clean sheet between 8th December last year, when they ‘enjoyed’  a 0-0 draw at home to Stoke, and last Saturday’s 1-0 win at Norwich. In between those two momentous days for their defence, Villa played out 26 Premier League games in which they conceded […]

By Brian Sears 13 September 2013 Newcastle have been in the Premier League for 19 of the completed 21 PL seasons since the top division was revamped in 1992-93. They missed that inaugural year, and then the 2009-10 season. Of all the teams they’ve played in those 19 seasons, this weekend’s opponents Aston Villa have […]

By Brian Sears 13 September 2013 If you win nothing with kids then Aston Villa and Southampton will win nothing – but their fans might appreciate they are trying to succeed with promising young players. There’s a huge contrast in the age of Premier League starting line-ups so far this season, from nippers Aston Villa (average […]