Paul Lambert is now the new manager of Aston Villa in a widely anticipated move. The Villans can now hope to return to the free flowing, attacking football of the Martin O'Neill and Gerard Houllier days. Under Alex McLeish, Villa was a one note defensive grinding machine playing anti-football.

szólj hozzá: av1-1to

There was better news for the Gunners on Sunday after their infuriating draw against Norwich.

Two former Arsenal players exerted equal and opposing influences on Spurs performance against Villa. Ciaran Clark's shot deflected off William Gallas's head to balloon past Brad Friedel as Villa went ahead.

This is terrible news. We just saw Stiliyan Petrov battle Arsenal last Saturday. He looked fine. After which he developed a fever now diagnosed as acute leukemia following tests. This is a serious, serious blood cancer.

Stiliyan has been a Villa fixture since 2006 and is their captain.

szólj hozzá: ARS 3-0 AVL | Highlights HD

There was no RVP on the scoreboard against Villa but he didn't have to be perfect as Arsenal got their goalscoring from Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott, and an absolute beauty from Mikel Arteta.

An effervescent Gibbs showing a lot of mobility and intent scored his first goal in the Premiership collecting Gervinho's pass and then angling his shot under Shay Given who managed a hand but was unable to keep it out.

Demba Cisse the most expensive player in the January transfer and the other half of the Senegalese strike force alongside Demba Ba, provided an instant impact as he scored a majestic goal on his debut. Majestic.

Ba and Cisse were away on ACN duty and how they were missed, especially Ba, who gave Newcastle the lead in the 30th minute for his 16th Premiership goal.

szólj hozzá: a3-2av

Today was a must win for Arsenal. Not just to reverse the perception of a club descending into a familiar and vicious cycle of self inflicted wounds and low self esteem. But to resurrect the career of a manager under fire.

A defeat would have tipped the scales between the two camps, the AKB and the ASG (Arsene Should Go) resting at a precarious 50-50 irrevocably in favour of the latter.

The Ox in the box will be quick as a fox to knock of Villa's socks

Jack Wilshere was set for a return mid February setting the medical world abuzz with his miraculous return. Then he suffered a stress fracture in the same ankle during training and now the story is he's lost for the rest of the season or at least a good portion of it.

szólj hozzá: Chelsea v A.Villa 1:3 MOTD

David Luiz was AWOL as Villa took advantage of Chelsea's non-existent central defense to first slip in Steve Ireland, then Stilyan Petrov, and finally Darren Bent. The last two came within minutes of each other towards the end of the match. Stamford Bridge erupted in boos.

The Premiership champions show they mean business as the Aston Villa winger is the latest to sign on a five year deal with a reported transfer tag of £17m. They appear to be intent on raiding other Premiership clubs for their talent.

Rio Ferdinand welcomed the new man on board on his Twitter feed.

Meanwhile Aston Villa fans are contemplating selling their season tickets should Alex McLeish become their manager as is anticipated.

Alex McLeish joins the growing list of Judases in the Premiership. His terse resignation by email has set off a lot of teeth gnashing. Adding more fuel to the fire is Birmingham's concern that he's moving across to Villa Park. Their rivals are on the lookout for a coach but the odds are getting a bit long.

Alex McLeish joins the growing list of Judases in the Premiership. His terse resignation by email has set off a lot of teeth gnashing. Adding more fuel to the fire is Birmingham's concern that he's moving across to Villa Park. Their rivals are on the lookout for a coach but the odds are getting a bit long.

Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel moves to Spurs after his contract was set to expire this month.

The long standing Blackburn goalie joined Villa in 2008 and made 113 appearances. In his stay he broke the league record of consecutive appearances made with 275. A testimony to his durability.