2014–15 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 2014–15 Premier League season was Aston Villa's 140th season in English football. It was the club's 23rd season in the Premier League and 27th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. Villa participated in the FA Cup (reaching the final) and League Cup. The club was managed by Paul Lambert, until his sacking on 11 February 2015.^[1] He was replaced by Tim Sherwood on 14 February.^[2]

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Lambert's third season had seen a different approach in the transfer market, with him opting to buy players with experience as opposed to the previous seasons, where the club would sign young prospects. Villa started well, with a 1–0 victory over Stoke City. This was followed by a 0–0 draw against Newcastle United, a 2–1 win over Hull City and a 1–0 victory over Liverpool. During this time, the new back four of Alan Hutton, Ron Vlaar, Philippe Senderos and Aly Cissokho were praised by the manager having gainied three clean sheets out of a possible four, whilst gaining ten points out of an available 12.^{[citation needed]} However, the team then went on to have a five-game long goal drought, losing to Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Everton and QPR before scoring in a 2–1 loss at Villa Park to Tottenham.^[3] Villa then went on to gain some valuable points, drawing 0–0 with West Ham and 1–1 against Southampton. They then won 1–0 against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, courtesy of a Christian Benteke goal, followed with a 2–1 victory over Leicester City at Villa Park. On 11 February, Villa announced they had parted company with Lambert after a 2–0 loss at Hull, leaving the club 18th in the Premier League table.^[4]

On 14 February 2015, the club's official Twitter page announced the appointment of Tim Sherwood as new manager.^[5]^[6] Sherwood attended the following day's 2–1 win over Leicester City in the FA Cup and gave a half-time team-talk, his first game in official control of the team was at home to Stoke City almost a week later. Villa lost the game 2–1 after a 93rd-minute penalty from Victor Moses.^[7]^[8] After also losing his second game in charge, this time going down 1–0 to Newcastle United, Sherwood's first win came on 3 March 2015 against West Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion. The game finished 2–1, with Christian Benteke scoring a last-minute penalty, which shadowed the decision that went against Villa in the Stoke game.^[9]^[10] Sherwood led Villa to Wembley for the first time since 2010 just four days later, after winning 2–0 in the FA cup quarter-final again against West Bromwich Albion.^[11]^[12] Sherwood then led Villa to a third straight win, a 4–0 away win over relegation rivals Sunderland in which all goals were scored in the first half.^[13] On 19 April 2015, Aston Villa reached the FA Cup Final for the first time since 2000, coming from behind to defeat Liverpool 2–1 in their semi-final at Wembley.^[14] However, they went on to lose the final 4–0 to Arsenal.^[15]

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Key events

12 May 2014: Randy Lerner announces that he has put the club up for sale after eight years of ownership.^[16]
20 May: Academy graduates Marc Albrighton and Nathan Delfouneso are both released from the club.^[17]
5 June: The club makes its first summer signing with former Arsenal and Fulham defender Philippe Senderos agreeing to join the club on a free transfer from Valencia.^[18]
10 June: Joe Cole joins the club on a free transfer.^[19]
1 July: Roy Keane is appointed as the new assistant manager to Paul Lambert, following the dismissal of Ian Culverhouse towards the end of the previous season.^[20]
8 July: Chief executive officer Paul Faulkner steps down from his role after failing to reach an agreement on a new non-operational role at the club.^[21]
11 July: Kieran Richardson signs for a fee believed to be £600,000 from relegated Fulham.^[22]
8 August: Aly Cissokho joins on a four-year deal from Valencia.^[23]
15 August: Colombian Carlos Sánchez arrives at the club for a fee believed to be £4.7 million.^[24]
16 August: Villa win 1–0 against Stoke City in the first match of the new season.^[25]
21 August: Tom Fox is appointed as the club's new CEO, after five years as Chief Commercial Officer at Arsenal.^[26]
27 August: Villa are knocked out of the League Cup after a 1–0 home defeat to Leyton Orient of League One.^[27]
2 September: Villa complete a season-long loan for Tom Cleverley from Manchester United, with a view to a permanent move.^[28]
17 September: Paul Lambert signs a new contract committing himself to the club until 2018.^[29]
4 October: Christian Benteke makes his return after six months out with a ruptured achilles tendon, coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 defeat to Manchester City.^[30]
2 November: For the first time since 1967, the club suffers its sixth straight league defeat after losing 2–1 at home to Tottenham Hotspur.^[31]
28 November: Roy Keane leaves his role as assistant manager with immediate effect.^[32]
13 January 2015: Carles Gil becomes Villa's first January signing after joining the club on a four-and-half year deal.^[33]
30 January: Scott Sinclair joins on loan until the end of the season, with a view to a permanent move.^[34]
1 February: A 5–0 defeat at Arsenal sees Villa go six league matches (612 minutes) without scoring.^[35]
10 February: Villa fall into the drop-zone for the time in the season, after losing 2–0 away to relegation rivals Hull City. This prompts angry scenes from the travelling support towards the manager.^[36]
11 February: Paul Lambert is sacked as manager 24 hours after defeat to Hull.^[1]
14 February: Tim Sherwood is appointed as the new manager of the club. However, his first match in charge ends in defeat against Stoke City (21 February).^[2]^[37]
28 February: Villa lose 1–0 to Newcastle United condemning them to a seventh consecutive defeat, beating the six recorded earlier in the season.^[38]
3 March: The run of defeats is eventually ended courtesy of a 2–1 victory over local rivals West Bromwich Albion.^[39]
7 March: Villa reach Wembley for the first time since 2010 after beating their rivals for the second time in a week. West Bromwich Albion go down 2–0 at Villa Park in the FA Cup quarter-finals.^[40]
14 March: The club records its biggest victory of the season, 4–0 away against Sunderland. All four goals were scored before half-time.^[41]
7 April: Christian Benteke scores a hat-trick to salvage a 3–3 draw against fellow relegation candidates Queens Park Rangers.^[42]
11 April: Villa beat Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 at White Hart Lane in Tim Sherwood's first game against his former employers.^[43]
20 April: The club reaches the FA Cup Final after a 2–1 win against Liverpool at Wembley Stadium. Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph scored the goals to take Villa to the prestigious final for the first time since 2000.^[44]
16 May: Despite being thrashed 6–1 at Southampton, Villa's Premier League safety is confirmed after Hull City lose to Tottenham Hotspur.^[45]^[46]
24 May: Villa end the season in 17th place in the Premier League, their second lowest finish since its inception, after a final day defeat to already relegated Burnley.^[47]

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Players

Summarize

Perspective

More information Squad No., Name ...

Squad No.	Name	Position	Date of birth (age)	Apps.	Goals	Notes
Goalkeepers
1	Brad Guzan	GK	(1984-09-09)9 September 1984 (aged 29)	140	0
13	Jed Steer	GK	(1992-09-23)23 September 1992 (aged 21)	4	0
31	Shay Given	GK	(1976-04-20)20 April 1976 (aged 38)	52	0
Defenders
2	Nathan Baker	CB / LB	(1991-04-23)23 April 1991 (aged 23)	86	0
3	Joe Bennett	LB	(1990-03-28)28 March 1990 (aged 24)	37	0
4	Ron Vlaar	CB	(1985-02-16)16 February 1985 (aged 29)	87	2
5	Jores Okore	CB	(1992-08-11)11 August 1992 (aged 21)	31	1
6	Ciaran Clark	CB / LB	(1989-09-26)26 September 1989 (aged 24)	136	8
14	Philippe Senderos	CB	(1985-02-14)14 February 1985 (aged 29)	10	0
21	Alan Hutton	RB	(1984-11-30)30 November 1984 (aged 29)	68	1
23	Aly Cissokho	LB	(1987-09-15)15 September 1987 (aged 26)	27	0
32	Janoi Donacien	CB / RB	(1993-11-03)3 November 1993 (aged 20)	0	0
34	Matthew Lowton	RB	(1989-06-09)9 June 1989 (aged 25)	82	2
35	Enda Stevens	LB	(1990-07-09)9 July 1990 (aged 24)	9	0
–	Antonio Luna	LB	(1991-03-17)17 March 1991 (aged 23)	18	1	On loan at Spezia Calcio.
Midfielders
7	Leandro Bacuna	CM / RB / RWB	(1991-08-21)21 August 1991 (aged 22)	63	6
8	Tom Cleverley	CM / AM	(1989-08-12)12 August 1989 (aged 24)	36	3	On loan from Manchester United.
9	Scott Sinclair	LW / RW	(1989-03-25)25 March 1989 (aged 25)	12	3
12	Joe Cole	AM	(1981-11-08)8 November 1981 (aged 32)	15	1
15	Ashley Westwood	CM	(1990-04-01)1 April 1990 (aged 24)	101	3
16	Fabian Delph (captain)	CM	(1989-11-21)21 November 1989 (aged 24)	133	8
17	Chris Herd	CM / CB / RB	(1989-04-04)4 April 1989 (aged 25)	42	2
18	Kieran Richardson	LW / LB	(1984-10-21)21 October 1984 (aged 29)	25	0
22	Gary Gardner	CM	(1992-06-29)29 June 1992 (aged 22)	18	0
24	Carlos Sánchez	DM	(1986-02-06)6 February 1986 (aged 28)	32	1
25	Carles Gil	AM / RW	(1992-11-22)22 November 1992 (aged 21)	7	1
28	Charles N'Zogbia	LW / AM	(1986-05-28)28 May 1986 (aged 28)	90	5
39	Riccardo Calder	LW	(1996-01-26)26 January 1996 (aged 18)	0	0
40	Jack Grealish	LW / AM	(1995-09-10)10 September 1995 (aged 18)	24	0
–	Yacouba Sylla	DM	(1990-11-29)29 November 1990 (aged 23)	24	0	On loan at Kayseri Erciyesspor.
–	Aleksandar Tonev	LW / RW	(1990-02-03)3 February 1990 (aged 24)	20	0	On loan at Celtic.
Forwards
10	Andreas Weimann	ST / LW / RW	(1991-08-05)5 August 1991 (aged 22)	129	24
11	Gabriel Agbonlahor	ST / LW / RW	(1986-10-13)13 October 1986 (aged 27)	352	83
19	Darren Bent	ST	(1984-02-06)6 February 1984 (aged 30)	72	25
20	Christian Benteke	ST	(1990-12-03)3 December 1990 (aged 23)	100	49
27	Libor Kozák	ST	(1989-05-30)30 May 1989 (aged 25)	15	4
29	Rushian Hepburn-Murphy	ST	(1998-09-19)19 September 1998 (aged 15)	1	0
37	Callum Robinson	ST	(1995-02-02)2 February 1995 (aged 19)	5	0
38	Graham Burke	ST	(1993-09-21)21 September 1993 (aged 20)	2	0
–	Nicklas Helenius	ST / RW	(1991-05-08)8 May 1991 (aged 23)	6	1	On loan at Aalborg BK.

Last updated: 25 May 2015.
Source: Soccerbase