Aston Villa at Stoke: Fan protest on 12th minute because Aston Villa are winless in 12 away matches this season

Matches get bigger every week. Next week, regardless of what happens today, some supporters are planning on walking out. Muppets all of them, on so many levels and when they can't understand that basics, there is no point trying to explain to them.

But today is Stoke away and victory is needed otherwise it's like throwing peanuts at the monkeys. They'll get excited. But it's a big ask for Remi Garde who seemed to turn on his players this week. I hope it has the desired effect.

But today, while not the last chance, for many it is. And I don't think the comments from the manager this week are going to help. The comments you want to hear from him are those of battle and determination, not that players are not putting in effort and he'd prefer he had others. But maybe it's that reverse psychology thing he learnt under Wenger.

Some stats

• We are winless in 12 Premier League away matches since beating Bournemouth on the opening day of the season
• We've only scored four goals in the last nine away games in the division
• Remi Garde's side are the division's lowest scorers with 20 goals, including just six in the first half of matches
• We have scored with just 10% of our attempts on goal, the worst record in the division
• We have taken just four points from 13 games against the current top 10

It doesn't make for positive reading does it. It's like it's not the manager, but the players and the management at the club. Shit, could that be a revelation? Maybe someone with more experience though was what was needed. Hindsight eh?

Updates and team news

Right, on that because I'm trying to make light of the subject, I'm going out to play. I'll be back in a couple of hours and we'll settle in for the afternoon. Because settling in is something we have to get used to.