Steve’sVilla homeboys have God in their sights!
VILLA are on a mission to eclipse the Villa Park achievements of the talented Class of 92/93.
Ron Atkinson’s swashbuckling troops won seven home games on the bounce during the inaugural Premier League season where they took Manchester United to the wire for the title.
A mix of grit and determination, coupled with flair and flamboyance, made Villa one of the great entertainers in that campaign.
And while the current crop are yet to hit top gear – and are also operating in the second tier rather than the top flight – the claret-and-blue stars of 2016/17 have the history books firmly in their sights.
Victory over Burton Albion on Boxing Day saw Villa record five home wins on the spin for the first time in 23 years.
If they beat Leeds United tonight (Thursday) they will be one step closer to equalling the record set by Paul McGrath and co
How ironic that Steve Bruce is now leading that charge. After all, it was his late goals for United against Sheffield Wednesday in 1993 that effectively ended Villa’s involvement in the title race.
Bruce has masterminded five victories on the spin, seeing off Burton, Wigan, Cardiff, Blackburn and Fulham in recent weeks.
Next month’s Villa Park encounters with Preston and Bristol City could be the potential game-changers. Win and Villa are into the record books, lose and it starts all over again. The longest-ever run of home victories stands at 14 and Villa are some way off that right now.
But for many of the younger generation, they can’t remember times past and some of the names below draw blank faces.
It was December 12, 1992, when Villa recorded the first of their seven successive home wins.
Roy Keane had put Nottingham Forest ahead before Cyrille Regis and Paul McGrath turned the game on its head.
Next up were Arsenal, who had former Villa manager David O’Leary playing in the heart of defence. Up stepped Dean Saunders to see off the Gunners with a spot-kick.
Villa then started to turn on the style, battering Middlesbrough 5-1, thanks to goals from Garry Parker, McGrath, Dwight Yorke, Saunders and Shaun Teale.
McGrath took his tally to three in four games – they didn’t call him God for nothing – and both Saunders and Kevin Richardson chipped in with further strikes as Villa breezed past Sheffield United.
Goals from Yorke and Saunders saw off Ipswich, Neil Cox and Earl Barrett were the heroes as Villa beat Everton before Yorke’s solitary strike was enough to complete the run against Wimbledon.
Unfortunately, Villa stumbled towards the end of the campaign as they won just four of their remaining 11 games, conceding the title to United and having to make do with second place.
Oh, for such tough times again! .