Jonny Gould's Football Channel Jonny Gould

This is the first podcast since our AGM with CEO Christian Purslow and legendary winger Tony Daley - and with lockdown since then, there's a lot to catch up on.

We have a very special guest as Nick Timothy, Theresa May's joint chief of staff at Downing Street and Villa season ticket holder joins me to talk about growing up in Tile Hill and going to school in Aston.

Villa's membership of the Premier League hangs on a knife edge. As the chances of Project Restart rescind and as the FA insist promotion and relegation must be honoured, what will happen?

We have written to CEO Christian Purslow about playing our remaining games at neutral venues - and Mr Purslow agrees that it'd be a huge decision for anyone running Villa to take home advantage away from our difficult first season back.

Jonny's point is we have a game in hand! We can't be relegated on the basis that we might have won three points with it!

We also update you on what we've been doing as a Trust since lockdown and I'm delighted to talk to Nick Timothy about his life as a Villa fan.

As promised following the popular episode from our AGM with Christian Purslow, we were also delighted to have Villa and England wing legend, Tony Daley with us too.

Tony told us about his wonderful years as part of both Graham Taylor and Ron Atkinson's sides of the late 80s and early 90s and the toughest opponents and best teammates he played with and against.

He also talks about his coaching career with Neil Warnock at Sheffield United and working sports science and specialist coaching nowadays.

Join the Villa Trust today! #YourClubYourVoice at www.villatrust.org.uk

Each year, the Aston Villa Supporters' Trust AGM gives supporter members exclusive access to ask questions of our CEO.

Christian Purslow gave generous time and answers to kit manufacture, Bodymoor Heath development with HS2 in mind, his long-term strategy related to the Under-23s and much more.

It’s a serious business, we all want Aston Villa to continue on an upward curve - and the fans addressed their concerns to the CEO in an atmosphere of support.

The Trust AGM was also delighted to welcome Tony Daley, who recalled some wonderful memories of his career. He paid tribute to Graham Taylor, who he says had the greatest influence on his career and he also brought us right up to date with his current career in sports science and coaching. That podcast will appear at a later date. Watch this space.

Be part of the AVST by becoming a member now at www.villatrust.org.uk

What's happened to Aston Villa's season since December? A terrible loss of form, some highly damaging injuries and a seeming loss of confidence and direction during games.

But while the men struggle, the women are doing the business! Many congratulations to Gemma Davies on winning the Championship Manager of the Month for December. Villa have a majestic lead at the top of the table.

Dean Smith's attacking-style looks more like Paul Lambert and Steve Bruce's ill-fated teams. He’s struggling with a lack of options. So what now? A great win at Burnley but at the cost of two awful injuries to Heaton and Wesley, a draw in the first-leg of the Carabao semi, but heavy defeat at home to Manchester City.

What can we hope for in the transfer window? Will Christian Purslow stick with Dean Smith? Who's responsible for this?

Here's Howard and Jonny and YOUR contributions.

Aston Villa enter December and the Christmas and New Year period showing signs of development and acclimatization to the Premier League and with individual players being acknowledged by their countries. John McGinn with Scotland, England's Tyrone Mings and a pair of Brazilians in the shape of Luiz and Wesley.

So Howard and Jonny ask when Jack Grealish will join the international class and if the creditable 2-2 draw at Manchester United is the shape of things to come?

On behalf of the Supporters' Trust, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Howard and Jonny are back together to work out how the mostly good performances in the Premier League have delivered just four points from the first five games. Villa have shed eight points from winning positions - so what is it? are we still acclimatizing to the demands of the higher division? is Dean Smith still working out how best to put his best formation together? where should Jack be played? Is each player upto it? We'll try and answer the questions and look ahead to our next games against Norwich, Brighton and then the big guns of Manchester City and Liverpool.