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Narrated by James Marriott
Two weeks ago, Aston Villa went to Newcastle United looking to get their Premier League campaign off to a good start. Under Unai Emery – the first-choice head coach candidate of the new Newcastle hierarchy upon defenestrating Steve Bruce with their first act 22 months ago – Villa had taken 33 points from their last 15 games of last season, conceding no more than a single goal in any of those games. They’d had a fine transfer window, adding Champions League-calibre players such as Pau Torres, Youri Tielemans and Moussa Diaby. They lost 5-1. Kevin Keegan once called managing Newcastle “riding the black-and-white-tiger”. Villa entered the tiger’s cage and were ripped to shreds.
In the closing weeks of last season, St James’ Park also witnessed
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