Rescheduled Trap Matches and Cup progress: Wigan v. Aston Villa, 25 January 2011, Villa v. Blackburn 29 January 2011

He. Scores. Goals.  New signing Darren Bent only needed one touch in the penalty area to get off the mark for the Villa on Saturday, striking in the 18th minute and allowing Aston Villa to sit on a lead for the remaining 70 minutes of time, giving Villa three points over Manchester City and some valuable breathing room in the push for Premier League safety.

Villa look to keep that momentum going in the league as they travel to the Wigan Rugby Ground to face fellow relegation strugglers Wigan Athletic, who sit three points back in 18th position.   Jean Makoun will likely be handed his debut, and will have a lot to live up to, with Kyle Walker and the aforementioned Darren Bent scoring in their first matches in claret and blue.  Villa should have a full squad to select from, with Emile Heskey returning from suspension, while Wigan will be without defender Gary Caldwell, who was sent off on two yellows in Wigan's 3-0 loss to Arsenal at the weekend.  The game starts at 2:45 on Tuesday afternoon.  Find a way to follow the score; know also that Fado will have the match on tape delay at 4:30 p.m.

At the weekend, Villa will hope to gain progress in the FA Cup, hosting Blackburn Rovers for the fourth round.  Villa beat Blackburn at home to progress in the League Cup, but lost at Ewood in the first league meeting back in November.  As of yet, plans are not finalized for the Capital Villans to take in the morning match; watch this space.

Get Bent! Aston Villa v. Manchester City, 22 January 2011, 12:30 p.m. EST

Record signing Darren Bent- the lad scores goals

After a hard-fought derby draw, in which Villa rattled the Birmingham City crossbar four times, Gerard Houllier shocked the world by recruiting Darren Bent over Monday and Tuesday.  The former Sunderland Striker becomes Villa's most expensive signing in history, as a fee of £18 million (rising to 24 million depending on appearances and performance) was necessary to prise Bent away.  Bent scored 32 goals in 58 appearances for Sunderland, having joined them in the Summer of 2009.


The move comes just as Villa prepare to welcome Manchester City to Villa Park on Saturday.  City sit second in the league, level on points with leaders Manchester United, while Villa are out of the drop zone in 17th.  Bent is expected to be in the Villa team, while other new signing Jean Makoun awaits his work permit and is unlikely.  


In outgoing news, Holte End Hero and strip club patron John Carew will be running down his contract at Stoke City.  Carew was Villa's leading scorer for the past three seasons, and though he wasn't able to get off the mark this year, he calls time on his Villa career having provided some great memories to Villa fans.  


Also out on loan is young striker Andreas Weimann.  The Austrian hitman will be at Watford for the rest of the season.  Weimann had a bright preseason before injuring knee ligaments in a horror tackle against Rapid Vienna in the Europa League, and was part of the reserves side smacking Arsenal's reserves 10-1 last week.  


The Capital Villans will be taking in the match at Lucky Bar, on 18th and Connecticut.  Join us at 12:30!

Derby on Delay: Birmingham City v. Villa: Sunday 16 January, 11:00 a.m. EST

The last 10 days have been tumultuous for the Villa- a 1-0 loss to Sunderland, in which Emile Heskey popped an absolute sitter off the bar from three yards out before being sent off for palming the face of Jordy Henderson, saw Villa enter the relegation zone for the first time in eight years and manager Gerard Houllier leave Villa Park with security guards while being serenaded with chants of being "sacked in the morning."

Villa turned that around, into a 3-1 FA Cup win over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.  Loan signing Kyle Walker debuted at right back, scoring a brilliant goal 9 minutes in before Marc Albrighton thumped home an Ashley Young cross on 33 minutes.  The Blades made it interesting, scoring an early second-half penalty and taking the attack to Villa, notably after Young's sending off with 15 minutes left.  Club captain and late substitute Stiliyan Petrov scored in stoppage time, however, to end the Blades' threats and send Villa to a fourth round home matchup with Blackburn Rovers.

All this to set up the second leg of the Second City Derby in the league campaign.  Villa travel to St. Andrew's ground for the second time this season, having lost heartbreakingly 2-1 to a Nikola Zigic stoppage time winner in the Carling Cup quarterfinal.  The first league matchup this season was a nevry 0-0 draw at Villa Park.  For the return, Villa will be without Emile Heskey, serving the second of a three-match ban for his "violent" red card at Sunderland, and Ashley Young, serving a one-match ban for the sending off last weekend.  Missing through injury will be Luke Young and Fabian Delph, both with knee injuries.  The Blues, meanwhile, might be without central defender Scott Dann, who was taken off for an injury in the Blues' 2-1 first-leg Carling Cup semifinal defeat to West Ham yesterday, but will have out-of-favor Tottenham winger David Bentley, who just joined the club on loan.

On the transfer front, Villa have already seen Steve Sidwell make a move to Fulham, after his initial move to West Ham collapsed.  On the inbound front, the aforementioned Kyle Walker has come in on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, seeing his prospects for a starting place crowded out by Alan Hutton, Vedran Corluka and Kyle Naughton.  Colorado Rapids striker Omar Cummings will be training with Villa until the MLS season kicks off in March, with his actual appearance in the squad dependent on a work permit for the Jamaican.  And just today, Gerard Houllier jetted off to France with the aim of sealing the transfer of Cameroonian midfielder Jean Makoun from Olympique Lyonnais.  L'Equipe reported that the transfer could be finalized in time for Makoun to be named to the Villa squad on Sunday; most recent reports have the transfer agreed between the clubs, but Makoun's personal terms will not be agreed in time for him to have a work permit by Sunday.

For the match on Sunday, the Capital Villans will be at Fado, on 7th NW between H and I, as they show the match on tape-delay beginning at 11 o'clock.  See you there!

We resolve to put the crap behind us: Villa v Sunderland, 5 January 2011; Sheffield United v. Villa (FA Cup), 8 January 2011

After punctuating an ultimately disappointing 2010 (losses in both our appearances at Wembley, fading out of the race for fourth, the James Milner transfer saga, MON walking, getting bounced out of the Carling Cup by the Clowns, 3-0 at Anfield, and the resultant slide down the table) with even more disappointing losses to Spurs and Manchester City, Villa started the New Year with a hard-fought 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge.  Ciaran Clark had a stormer playing at left back in place of Stephen Warnock, setting up Nigel-Reo-Coker to draw an equalizing penalty in the first half before adding the stoppage-time equalizer, and Brad Friedel rolled back the years in turning away several dangerous Chelsea chances.

In hopes of making that draw a true dawn, Villa welcome Sunderland to B6.  The previous fixture this season saw Sunderland win 1-0 through a Richard Dunne own goal.  Villa will be without Luke Young, who is still battling a knee injury, and Fabian Delph, who also picked up a slight knee injury in the match with Tottenham.

Not a bar in the capital will have the Sunderland match, so you're on your own to catch it at 2:40 p.m. EST on espn3.com.

At the weekend, Villa travels to Bramall Lane to take on Sheffield United in the third round of the FA Cup.  The Blades currently sit just above the relegation zone in the Championship, and has gone through its own change in management.

The Capital Villans will be at Fado for that match, which will be shown at 10:00 a.m.