But after Frank Lampard’s Rams cranked up the tension with a late rally, it was not until referee Paul Tierney blew his whistle to signal full-time that the biggest claret and blue carnival for a generation was truly uncorked. The journey Bielsa and Leeds each took before the Argentine's appointment in West Yorkshire has many parallels. “Playing all season, scoring against Blues, getting injured for a while, come back, get given the armband, score against Blues again and then to go on this winning streak, it’s amazing. Judging by his social media updates of his post Wembley celebrations, he might not have been back home since, but that’s another matter! Three goals in two games during comfortable wins over Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough reminded the nation that he really was the bargain of the season - and that maybe Villa weren’t down and out after all. Villa can do Hollywood endings after all – and the best thing about this one is it’s only just the start. It’s surreal.”“‘At last’ is the phrase that comes to mind.

That the boyhood Villa fan had bitten off more than he could chew.


They knew it was so very close then. He wasn’t helping himself, either, by sticking with Mile Jedinak at centre-back and Alan Hutton on the left.Axel Tuanzebe at right-back wasn’t working and even Abraham’s arrival couldn’t change the pattern of results. ).“We celebrated until late into the night and it was amazing to see 400 or 500 Villa fans still outside the hotel, just having a sing song,” beamed Smith. For Leeds United, the significance of promotion back to the Premier League is hard to over-emphasise. “To think I was a Walsall youth coach not so long ago, now I’m managing Aston Villa in the Premier League. Don't Go Away 10. Ominous signs for the rest.Two words had dominated the pre-match column inches - ‘Bruce’ and ‘revenge’.Sacked by the club in October, this was Bruce’s chance to get one over his erstwhile employers and to show his Hillsborough paymasters just how far his new charges had come. Man, woman and child like Jack. I’ve really enjoyed my time.”“I have really enjoyed it here and I love the club, and the fans. No-one gave Dean Smith’s Aston Villa a cat in hell’s chance of making the end-of-season shindig, let alone winning promotion.Villa faced a proverbial mountain to climb and showed no sign of arresting the slide. The way he handled being attacked by pitch-invading Birmingham City yob Paul Mitchell, laughing off the assault, then making it his mission to exact revenge with the winning goal changed the narrative around Grealish. Unbeaten in March, Villa ripped apart Derby to get it all going. It felt like your eyes were deceiving you.It was finally done. But these days were all about Alan Hutton. But with the Allez, Allez, Allez soundtrack blaring in the background, Villa did it. And on the pitch it started well with early wins over Hull City and Wigan.Jed Steer was given the nod in goal on the opening day, but little did he know about the impact he would go on to make later in the campaign. In a short online report they would claim Leeds United had made Marcelo Bielsa their chief target for the not-yet unfilled managerial job and that negotiations were ongoing. Suddenly, a flicker of fight and belief in a team that was about to escalate into an unstoppable Championship juggernaut.It ended up being a game remembered for all the wrong reasons.Grealish, a lifelong Villa fan, was attacked and floored by Paul Mitchell after the Blues fan had invaded the pitch in a moment of mindless thuggery. The epic turnaround under the Great Barr boy was almost complete. Anwar El Ghazi was playing like Cristiano Ronaldo - and Villa were flying up the league after the winger almost inspired his side to a crucial win against West Brom at The Hawthorns.But then disaster struck. The Promised Land. That stare, Those celebrations.

They still knew how to win and they actively put their near rivals well out of the picture.Luton Town was a wobble, absolutely. From the opening scene when the suave American and Egyptian moneymen came to the rescue to the final denouement when a glorious claret and blue carnival broke out at Wembley, it was a thrill a minute. This is a photograph from the Birmingham Mail archives. Terry swapped the jet-setting life of luxury yachts and private islands for a return to Bodymoor Heath as Smith’s assistant. This time there was no bitter sting in the tail. Conor Hourihane and Tammy Abraham scored the crucial goals to beat West Brom 2-1 in the semi-final first leg. Mings’ performances went from strength to strength as the previously-shaky backline was tightened up and all of a sudden the play-offs were now in sight.And when others were hitting the wall. On loan defender Kortney Hause added a third after the break to quash any fears of a Forest fightback. And then, out of nowhere, a glorious, stupefying, startling club-record run of ten wins on the spin.Albert Adomah’s equaliser at Stoke the previous weekend had spared Smith a third successive defeat. A 3-0 thrashing of eventual champions Norwich City came before the end of August. I’m the Villa captain!” Why didn’t you just say that then? And not just those agonising seven minutes of stoppage time. That he has been able to achieve part one of his Villa ambition while remaining true to his down-to-earth Great Barr roots is another cause for celebration. This is Aston Villa, remember. Momentum was the buzzword among managers. A couple of seasons to rebuild, and they would be back where they belong was the conventional logic.


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