Rodders sank a screamer from outside the area

The phrase that generally comes to mind for the opening game of a new campaign is ‘start as you mean to go on’, and by goodness I think we certainly did that this afternoon.

Granted, Villa weren’t at their fluent best, and seemed a long way from the team that put four past Steve Bruce’s men last season. But, as they say, you can only beat what’s put before you, and Wigan did so in fairly emphatic style.

The media gave Wigan absolutely no chance, with all but a couple of so-called ‘pundits’ that like to see themselves as ‘thinking outside the box’ predicting a win, if not a complete walkover, for Aston Villa. On the basis of competitive action, these were justified: on last season’s form, there would only ever be one winner. This isn’t last season, though, and the Villains, for the most part, weren’t quite at the game.

Likewise, John Carew, buoyed by a cracking midweek performance as Norway eased past Scotland, played no part due to an injury in the warm-up. On a different day, and with a bit more luck, he may perhaps have inspired Aston Villa to their expected win over the Latics.

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