A selection scandal, seven straight away wins and a sixth placed finish - Villa's season has been far from uneventful.

Here is the Villa-MAD review part one.

July

Villa began their season with an Intertoto Cup tie against Danish side Odense BK. After drawing 2-2 in the away leg, a game in which new signing Steve Sidwell made his debut, the Claret and Blue progressed thanks to a 1-0 win at Villa Park. Unfortunately, though, the victory came at a price with Wilfred Bouma suffering an injury which would keep him out of the first team for the entire season.

August

The next destination on the European tour was Finland for a game against minnows FH in the UEFA Cup second qualifying round. Martin O’Neill’s men claimed an easy 4-1 away win with much talked about midfielder Gareth Barry opening the scoring. Villa completed the job on their own turf with a less than convincing 1-1 draw two weeks later.

Sandwiched in between the two legged tie against the Finns were fixtures against Man City and Stoke. It was a tale of good and bad for Villa as Gabby Agbonlahor hit a hat-trick to see of the Blue Moon boys but then failed to net as the Claret and Blue became the first of many to lose at the Britannia Stadium.

The final game of the month came against Liverpool, who had made numerous bids for Barry without any joy, and all eyes were on the England midfielder in what proved to be a timid affair.

The match ended in a draw and Barry’s transfer to Liverpool also ended in stalemate as he remained a Villa player for the rest of the campaign.

September

Villa claimed three successive away wins at the start of the month with Tottenham, Litex Lovech and West Brom the victims of some brilliant counter attacking football.

The 2-1 victory at the Hawthorns was a particular highlight and it gave all Villans early bragging rights over their rivals. John Carew and Agbonlahor were the men on target.

Unfortunately, Villa’s home form was not so good and a second string side fell to an embarrassing 1-0 defeat against QPR in the League Cup third round.

Roy Keane’s Sunderland side were the last team to face Villa in September and they suffered a 2-1 reverse at Villa Park despite Djibril Cisse opening the scoring on 10 minutes.

October

Progression into the UEFA Cup group stages was confirmed with a 1-1 draw against Litex in the Midlands completing a 4-2 aggregate triumph. The draw was made and Villa were handed some tough fixtures in Group F including mega match-ups with Ajax and Hamburg.

Back to domestic matters and a trip to Chelsea gave Villa a reality check as they crashed 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. Only a stunning display from keeper Brad Friedel kept the scoreline respectable and the Claret and Blue knew they must improve to again finish in the top six of the Premier League.

A bore draw at home to Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth was to follow before what was billed as the biggest night at Villa Park since 1998 as Dutch giants Ajax came to town.

Villa dominated with a brilliant display and were rewarded with a 2-1 win which got their Group F campaign off to a perfect start.

The impressive triumph seemed to give the side momentum and they routed Wigan at the JJB before beating Blackburn in a tight encounter.

But, the month was most notorious for the antics of striker John Carew who was punished for apparently visiting a lap dancing club before the game against Ajax.

November

Villa lost in disappointing fashion to Newcastle at St James’ Park as Obafemi Martins struck twice on November 3 but they bounced back in Prague three days later with a fine 1-0 win despite resting some key first teamers.

Brad Guzan was in inspired form to keep the Czechs out but he was forced to settle for a place on the bench as Villa lost to another North East side – Middlesbrough – at Villa Park.

However, in what was proving to be a rollercoaster month, the Villans completed an amazing 2-0 win at Emirates Stadium against Arsenal despite seeing Ashley Young miss a first half spot kick.

Manchester United and Fulham then both held out for goalless draws at Villa Park as a frustrating, yet exciting month was completed.

December

As the year neared its conclusion Villa served up a festive treat with a breathtaking win at Everton on December 7.

Young sealed a fantastic away win with a last gasp strike after seeing Joleon Lescott level the scores in the last minute of injury time at Goodison Park.

The win on Merseyside galvanised the team and they beat Bolton 4-2 at home before going on to win a club record seven straight away games which included two more victories either side of Christmas at West Ham and Hull.

And Boxing Day belter against rivals Arsenal was the perfect present for fans with defender Zat Knight the late saviour in 2-2 draw at Villa Park.

Despite success in the league, the month saw UEFA Cup defeats against Slovakian minnows MSK Zilina and Martin Jol’s Hamburg.

Stay tuned for the second part of the Villa-MAD season review coming soon!