Setting The Table: Transfers Likely as Aston Villa Prepare for Tranmere and Newcastle

Welcome back to another edition of Setting the Table. We've got everything you need to start your week off below. There are recaps of all the goings-on about the club since last Monday, as well as some post-mortems on the match against Everton. Be sure to continue below the jump for those as well as a look ahead at the week to come. As always, leave us your thoughts in the comments as we get set for a two-match week.

Just The Facts, Please

Form (Last 5): - - - L L

Results Last Week: Aston Villa 1-3 Everton

Upcoming Fixtures:

• First Team:
  Tranmere Rovers (League Cup) - Tuesday, August 28, 1945 GMT, 1445 Eastern;
  at Newcastle - Sunday, September 2, 1600 GMT, 1100 Eastern (SBN Blog: Coming Home Newcastle)
  
• Reserves:
  at PSV Eindhoven (NextGen Series) - Wednesday, August 29, TBD GMT, TBD Eastern
  

Injuries

Aston Villa Depth Chart

New Injuries Last Week:

• Gary Gardner - ACL injury
  Estimated Return: 8-9 months
  • Nathan Delfouneso - Hip/Thigh
Returned from Injury:

The Week That Was

• Charles N'Zogbia gave us some good talk about providing more creativity, proving that the players can see a problem just as well as we can.
  
• The reserves rolled in their Barclays U21 Premier League opener, beating Stoke by a score of 3-0 at Bodymoor Heath.
  

• Alex McLeish said some stupid things. Everyone hated him even more for having done so.
• Jean Makoun was officially loaned for the rest of the season to Ligue 1 club Rennes. It's a shame to see him go, but it's nice to have that saga done with.
• Paul Lambert quashed any rumors that Richard Dunne would be leaving and reaffirmed those that said Aston Villa are looking for a left back.
• Aston Villa lost miserably to Everton 1-3 at Villa Park. It was, as I say, miserable.

Match Notes

Aston Villa 1-3 Everton

• The first half was utterly dismal, as Everton scored three times (Pienaar, Fallaini, Jelavic) and Aston Villa only got one shot on goal.
  
• If you thought the creativity in week one was bad, you severely underestimated how bad it could be. Villa were unable to get anything going in Everton's half.
  
• The second half saw Ciaran Clark sent off on what seemed to be a pretty harsh red card. Oddly, though, the team played better a man down (though some of that must be contributed to Everton not trying as hard).
• Karim El Ahmadi provided the lone Villa highlight with a gorgeous ~30-yard goal.
• Our quick recap can be found here and Aaron's more thought-out recap is here.
• The official site's coverage is here, and they also give details from Paul Lambert's post-match notes.
• The Birmingham Mail take on the match is here.
• WhoScored offers, as always, a bevy of statistical information on the match. It's encouraging to see (from the position map) that Villa played with a bit more width. It's insanely discouraging, however, to not that all but four players spent the majority of their time in the Villa half.
• For an Everton view of the match, take a look at SBN's Everton blog, Royal Blue Mersey.

Looking Ahead

• Almost every Villa fan is expecting a transfer this week, and rightly so. There needs to be something brought in in the face of a terrible start to the season.
  
• Look to see a left back brought in (per Lambert's remarks) and someone (anyone!) to help the team going forward.
  
• Tuesday should provide a win (good lord, I hope it does) and that ought to lift everyone's spirits a bit.
• Newcastle provide yet another tough opponent on Sunday. We all might have to hope for 1 point from three matches. Eeesh.
  

Last Thoughts

This is exactly how none of us wanted the season to start. Thus far, Villa have been pretty disastrous. That said, we all need to remember that there are 36 matches yet to be played. Let's all wait and see what happens in the transfer market this week. If there's nothing, feel free to riot.

Be sure to check in through the week with player ratings, a thread for the League Cup match, our weekly depth chart, and news and updates as they develop. Thanks, as always, for reading.