*Savage and desperate stuff*

When these sides met in last year’s Worthington Cup, rival fans chanted “Boring, boring” at each other. On Saturday they did not.

That cup semi-final must have been bad. This was the cream of Midlands football. Already it tastes sour.

The match was full of good prospects - Peter Taylor’s first game in charge of Leicester, Stan Collymore’s return against the last club to misunderstand him, the predictable fitness of Neil Lennon (and Gerry Taggart) after withdrawal from Northern Ireland’s midweek game, debuts for Villa by David Ginola and the Turk Alpay Ozalan, who sounds like a cure for depression; he could be useful.

Instead Robbie Savage seized the spotlight early, set the mood and soon they were all playing like savages. It was the law of the jungle with no clear path through and hacking the only way, desperate more than dirty. Only when the ball was with Paul Merson or Muzzy Izzet did there seem to be light. They consistently found space and team-mates but were often obliged to turn back for want of options from formations more 5-3-2 than 3-5-2.

Closing down was top priority, so Ginola got little look-in, a testy booking and only an hour to play with. The attacks were less of a lessness. Dion Dublin should have hit the target with two late headers over. Collymore and Ade Akinbiyi are short of understanding. But Akinbiyi disconcerted with his pace, first leading to a cross that Collymore met unconvincingly, later going clear and blasting David James into action.

James was last seen flapping the Cup to Chelsea at Wembley. Now he was clad in silver, which was fine for that save, embarrassingly eyecatching when he came for a cross that Collymore beat him to without the power to score. Collymore lacks match sharpness.

Taylor felt Villa’s tougher pre-season, going out of the Intertoto Cup, showed; so he was “pleased with a point”. He started last season, his first at Gillingham, with two defeats, then three draws, and ended it in promotion. But he needs Steve Guppy for skilled width.

Villa, too, need enlightenment. John Gregory received a driving ban last week. Chastened could turn to beleaguered if they do not show better against Chelsea and Liverpool. Though Gareth Southgate showed no lack of commitment, too many players in a squad from one to 40 (Matthew Ghent) failed to escape in the summer.

It all amounted to a joyless game, which paid no heed to the reminder from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents to “kill speed and reduce carnage”. December’s return match could aptly be sponsored by The Priory.