Villa end the season 17th, unbeaten in two, five points clear of the relegation places, three points better off than they had been under Graham Taylor 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 two seasons earlier as the Birmingham Evening Mail has a late attack of conscience on the eve of the departure of a dignified manager and bold experiment.

Jozef Vengloš' 🇨🇿 Villa end the season with a draw and unbeaten in two after a troubling second half of the season. 

One win in the final ten games and five defeats, three of which saw Villa concede five goals had followed a previous 10 game spell of three wins and five defeats. 

November to January had also seen a ten game spell of three defeats and three wins and so you would have to go back to October to find any sign of consistent, positive form. 

That though was the paradox as Jozef Vengloš 🇨🇿 first sixteen games had brought nine wins and just three defeats. In the end then a season that had promised so much became unrecognisable after defeat in Milan in the UEFA Cup. 

The consequences of that downturn in form resulted in the inevitable departure of Vengloš 🇨🇿 and also the loss of Villa captain David Platt 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Whilst not the most charismatic of heroes, midfielder Platt 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 had played for Villa between 1987-88 and 1990-91 and had become an instant success in Villa’s midfield with his non stop energy, box to box movement and goalscoring prowess. 

A club figurehead and now England international was allowed to leave as Villa fans were once again calling into question Chairman Doug Ellis’ motives following his terrible strategy and management decisions in the mid 80’s and the loss of Villa boss Graham Taylor 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 the previous season - seemingly without a fight. As a result the close of the 1990-91 season threw up far more questions than answers. 

Those concerns would however be addressed just weeks later as a new era dawned for Villa in the 1990s.

Midfielder David Platt 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 25 makes his 🕒 155th and final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to SSC Bari for £5,500,000. Villa had paid Crewe Alexandra £200,000 for his services 4 years previously. Platt left with an excellent record of 🟩 W62 🟨 D36 🟥 L55, ⚽ 68 Goals and 🔥15 Assists at a rate of a goal every. 2.28 games and one goal involvement for evey 1.87 games he played across his Villa career.

Centre forward Tony Cascarino 🇮🇪 makes his 🕒 54th and final appearance for Villa (50 Starts) aged 28 before moving to Celtic in July for a fee of £1,100,000. Cascarino 🇮🇪 left with a record of 🟩 W17 🟨 D17 🟥 L20, ⚽ 12 Goals and 🔥 8 Assists across his Villa career, doing so at a rate of 4.50 games per goal and 2.70 games per goal involvement.

Full back Kevin Gage 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 27 makes his 🕒 145th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (143 Starts). before moving on to Sheffield United in November 1991 for a fee of £150,000. Gage had been used relatively sparingly in his final season with Villa but that could not hide the outstanding contribution he made to the club, a regular scorer (for a full back) and obvious commitment, Gage was another outstanding buy by Graham Taylor. Gage left the club with a record of 🟩 W65 🟨 D32 🟥 L48, ⚽ 12 Goals and 🔥 15 Assists across his Villa career.