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Villa end the season with a third successive loss to make it 13 defeats in their last 25 League games under David O'Leary. 

Villa end the season fittingly on three consecutive defeats to leave them with just six wins in twenty four Premier League games under a manager so detached from reality that their are concerns for his sanity. A tenth placed finish however is nothing short of miraculous over the course of a season packed with far more lows than highs and a manager seemingly hell bent on demoralising an already limited squad.

And so a season ended that had been more notable for the acrimonious way in which O’Leary operated and his seeming desire, from early in the season, to distance himself from the club and his responsibilities, than for any particular footballing highlights. 

Villa had been poor for much of the season and the optimism that 2003-04 had unexpectedly was roundly dashed on the rocks of acrimony. 

Seemingly happy to publicly belittle and bemoan his squad both individually and collectively, O’Leary seemed to be aiming for underachievement. He succeeded. 

Indeed but for the form of (the admittedly excellent David O’Leary signing of) Nobby Solano and the continued class shown by Juan Pablo Ángel, Villa’s tumble down the table could have been much more severe. 

What was abundantly clear however was that under David O’Leary all was not harmonious. The defeats had come thick and fast and the myriad of changes made to the match day squad was at times as confusing as it was worrying. 

Admittedly Villa suffered from poor luck on occasion but that couldn’t explain away the issues. 

Coupled with poor form, his denigration of his team and a tendency to discard genuine prospects with alacrity, prospects for the future under O’Leary were not encouraging. 

And just as he had surprised many with his achievements the previous season, there were few surprises that the O’Leary many had feared on his appointment very much arrived in 2004-05. 

Admittedly key players like Martin Laursen and Olof Mellberg were often injured, as were influential and stabilising figures like Gavin McCann however equally it seemed that a haphazard and oft changing selection policy was also a destabilising factor in the failure of the team to find any consistent runs of form through the season. 

The obvious conclusion was that things needed to change ahead of the 2005-06 season if there was going to be material improvement under an unpopular manager and Chairman. 

At a minimum new additions to the squad were required as was a clear vision for the both the team and club. 

Nobody would be surprised if O’Leary wasn’t in post by the start of 2005-06 but few thought the same could be said of the problematic Chairman. 

Centre forward Carlton Cole, 21, makes his 30th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (20 Starts) before returning to Chelsea at the end of his season long loan. In truth Cole hadn’t been a success, despite starting with some promise it became clear quickly that he was not the goalscorer Villa needed and would leave with a record of W10 D10 L10, 3 Goals, 4 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.29 games he played, 

Forward Darius Vassell, 24, makes his 201st and final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Manchester City for a fee of £3,240,000 in July 2005. Vassell had come through the youth set up and been a squad fixture for eight seasons but his development was incredibly slow. With just 5 starts in his first 50 appearances between 1998 and 2001 it was almost as if John Gregory had no trust in the player, by that point Vassell had scored 5 and created another 4 at a goal contribution rate of one every 5.56 games. However, taken against his rare starts, the figure was one every 0.56 games. The question was which was the true Vassell? Still No one seemed to know after 3 years in the side. By 100 appearances, Vassell had 20 goals and 7 assists, with 18 coming in his second 50 games, compared to his 9 in his first 50, still though he could hardly be described as prolific - contributing once every 3.70 games. By 150 games, it was 33 goals and 11 assists as he added 17 goal involvements in his third lot of 50 games. By his final appearance and under his third manager, Vassell had added another 12 goals and 3 assists to leave with a record of W75 D52 L74, 45 Goals, 14 Assists, 15 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.41 games played.