3 mins: More or less a straight re-run of the goal we conceded to Wigan last week - for McCulloch read Luke Moore. Shay Given's first touch was to pick the ball out of his net  0-1

38 mins: Gabby Agbonlahor exploited poor covering by the visiting defence to advance towards the box and slip a forward pass into the feet of the on-rushing Angel. 

The Columbian striker netted with a low angled shot as Titus followed the ball into the empty net. Angel's celebrations were somewhat wrecked by his running towards the away fans in the Doug Ellis stand - despite rumours some weeks ago, we never actually signed him.....0-2

Half time: Villa 2 Newcastle 0

Full time: Villa 2 Newcastle 0

Glenn Roeder said:

"When I sit down with the players and show them the goals we conceded they will be disappointed.

"There are individuals who should have done better and for the second goal Shay Given was given no protection after Angel got past one of the centre-backs and for a player of his quality, was left with a simple task.

"When Oba was carried off it meant that we had to play out the last half-hour with only 10 men and it really kicked us where it hurts

"Emre already had one yellow card and the mood he was in meant that he could have got another and at 2-0 and the last thing we wanted was somebody sent off.

"In any case I have every confidence in Nicky Butt these days - that is why I made the switch and when he came on he did well or as well as he could.

"However, if you do not take a chance in life you will never win anything.

"At that stage we were 2-0 down and we had to go for it. I cannot look into the future and see if one of our players is going to be injured or not.

"It was disappointing to lose at Villa but I have no reason to think we will not beat Fulham at St James' Park a week on Saturday."

About the Martins injury:

"We have been very lucky. All he has suffered is a heavy dead leg. I was very concerned when he was stretchered off.

"I thought it could be a nasty knee injury but thankfully he has escaped any serious damage and should be fit for our home game with Fulham in a couple of weeks.

"We have a limited number of strikers and the last thing I would have wanted is another injury to a striker.

About his trio of rumoured signings:

"We're in pole position in all three.....with three players in I'll happily take my chance".

"I'm living on the mobile phone at the moment, but one of the biggest problems we have is that the season has now started in Europe and the coaches have got their squads together and it is proving difficult to prise players away."

Martin O'Neill said:

"It's really great that Mr Lerner is here. He is well intentioned as regards his plans for Aston Villa and I will sit down with him in the next day or two to discuss things.

"In terms of new signings, time is pressing. But we are going to try and do something about it. There are good players at the club who need a bit of help.

"It will be really important to us to get some people in. There is an amount of money available that would have been there regardless of whether or not a takeover took place and I am going to utilise it.

"There is a feelgood factor at the moment and it would be good for the club to get someone in before the window shuts. The squad needs bolstering and all thoughts will be channelled towards that until Thursday.

"It's a big lift for this club that Gareth (Barry) is staying. He is a terrific player. He was a terrific player long before I arrived at the club.

"Steve Stride (Operations Director) phoned me as we were climbing onto the coach to come to the stadium to say the Gareth Barry deal was sorted.

"It would have been a massive disappointment for us all if he had left the club and getting him on board for another four years is a big lift."

"It's a great win for us and getting an early goal gave us a lot of confidence but I am not getting carried away.

"Seven points from three games is a wonderful start but that's all it is. I've been in the game a long time and know the next week can be disappointing.

"That's not putting a dampener on things but let's just get a touch of realism."

Randy Lerner (whom we believe was named after the character played by Robin Askwith in  70s "X" flick, Adventures of a Driving Instructor):

"That was just awesome. What a great start. They didn't waste any time and the crowd were chanting my name. That was great. I thank them for that.

"The whole afternoon gave me a nice warm feeling. It underlined why I am so happy to be buying into English soccer. It is a great club."

(Minus points for use of the word soccer there, but partial redemption for avoiding reference to the end zone - and asking why all those guys at the far end were dressed as referees). 

"Now I must go downstairs and say 'Hi' to all of Villa's players." (and then doubtless have another photo opportunity clutching "a pint of your best bitter beer".) 

Still it's not all bad for Randy, who got a weekend double up after seeing his other team the Cleveland Browns win the previous day - and has far better trousers than Malcolm Glazer. 

Having taken top billing for most of 2006, Glenn Roeder's side and their fans arrived at Villa Park on Sunday to find they'd been assigned the role of supporting cast to the main event.

And despite this traditionally being one of our happier hunting grounds, we proved worryingly unable to recover from an early setback and alarmingly willing to accept our ultimate fate.

The arrival of our latest headline-maker had eased pre-transfer window jitters, but in the event it was to be our two other Nigerian-born players that were the real story, not Obafemi Martins.   

To see £10m-worth of debutant striker departing on a stretcher was as much as kick in the stomach for club and support as live TV pictures of Michael Owen's World Cup distress and was naturally beamed across the planet.

Less celebrated though were the absences of Shola Ameobi throughout and Celestine Babayaro for the second half - although the latter's contribution in the opening 45 minutes hardly amounted to much.

Like Dyer, the ongoing injury problems being suffered by Shola seem to have proved resistant to all cures. 

More worryingly though, Shola currently looks incapable of fulfilling his earmarked pivotal role in the post-Shearer world we now inhabit - not through talent, but availability.

That then puts the pressure on Martins big-style, as he has to find his feet in an alien league and country as well as blending with a team who didn't have much of a clue about how best to provide service to him at the first attempt.

Before his injury the striker had shown decent touches and glimpses of pace - although Roeder revealed after he'd have preferred not to play him as he had a cold (presumably Mrs Martins lectured her son for twirling his new scarf in the air in midweek, rather than wrapping up warm).

With and without Oba however, we fought a losing battle up front all afternoon, giving the likes of Aaron Hughes a stress-free shift - hardly a ringing endorsement of our aimless midfield. 

Mention of the former Newcastle man leads us to another area of concern - the defence, or rather the full backs. 

While there's a preoccupation with our central defensive woes and a tendency to lay blame at the owners of whichever four feet occupying the middle of the backline, those on the flanks play their part in unhinging the back door that swings open.

Both Stephen Carr and Babayaro celebrated birthdays two days after this game. While a perfect present for the duo would have been a kick up the arse (with the left back getting the first hoof), a more tangible gift would have been the threat of genuine competition for places. 

Sadly that doesn't look like materialising, as we've been unable to buy in the short term or develop in the medium to long term. Hell, we've not even replaced Robbie Elliott, who played his part in eight Premiership victories last season under Roeder before refusing his reduced terms. 

Being realistic, we can probably cope with another season of Carr, on the basis greater gaps remain to be plugged. 

However, the lack of a viable left back other than Baba means that we're condemned to at least four more months of his shirking, as he decides whether he can be bothered to start - or finish - a game. Hamstring my arse. 

Bramble wasn't blameless for the goals we conceded, but he more than atoned for his errors at other times as he - and we - mostly kept Villa from having clear sight at Given's goal.

Meanwhile, Albert Luque's second half contribution was as listless as the fans wearing the colours that he currently (dis)graces. 

His half-paced excuse for a performance heaps more pressure on Martins to carry the scoring burden and more pressure on Roeder to try and get Ameobi on the park as often as possible.     
     
Of course this wouldn't be Newcastle without elements of high farce, and for to have made our final substitution just moments before Martins was carried off was entirely in keeping with our vaudeville tradition - Butt's arrival to a chorus of boos at least not being from his own fans this time......

And amid talk of an injury curse afflicting the club though, it's only fair to point out that England bowler Steve Harmison was already knackered before he took up his place in the away section for this game.

We may have finished the job here back in February when reduced to ten men, but this time it was a different matter. One down, we consolidated and started to dominate proceedings as Villa slipped into the role of the away side looking to hit us on the break.

That relative comfort though resulted in meaningless not meaningful possession - and no equaliser. And once two behind we were a beaten team lacking any inspiration in the shape of spare men warming up. 

That was aside from Charles N'Zogbia, unfortunately press-ganged into an emergency left back (see earlier comments) and looked rather underwhelmed at having been given that role.

On another day he could given us a threat down the left and allowed Duff to lend his physical presence to the forward cause. 

Sadly that probably wouldn't have been enough for us to overcome the anonymity of Nolberto Solano and Emre's fast-burning fuse that saw him physically restrained by the referee, who thereafter showed us precisely no sympathy for the rest of the afternoon.  

While some felt a level of irritation that Martin O'Neill presided over this defeat, we have to say that we didn't go home and stick pins in his effigy. We'll probably have to await the publication of someone's memoirs before the truth about him and the Newcastle job surfaces, but in the meantime his future is of limited interest.

As Roeder was last season with us, so O'Neill doubtless wasn't taken in by the final score and is fast forming his own view on the required repairs. As we've proved recently though, knowing what's needed and being able to do something about it are two different things. 

Like the Femi injury, this defeat really wasn't the end of the world - although it did seem like it for a wee while. But as a harbringer of future problems it's a wake-up call. 

It remains to be seen whether we're too late for incoming solutions, but not for in-house riot act reading, organising and refocusing on the strengths that took Roeder from caretaker to full-time boss on merit, not expediency. 

Goalscoring is another matter, as our eggs are in a £10m basket at present. Hopefully we'll have started to get the hang of playing to the new lad's strengths by the time Fulham hit Toon, unless the cheque book is still open....   

Biffa

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