Jhon Duran helps Aston Villa plant their flag in the elite

It had to be him. It couldn’t be anyone else.

Jhon Duran is Villa’s anti-hero. A maverick who is just as likely to wind-up his own supporters as much as he is the opposition. Mission accomplished on that account, over the summer then. A crossed arms gesture ahead of a move to West Ham sent blood pressure in B6 and beyond soaring.

It’s quite ironic then, that the first game of the season took Champions League (I won’t get tired of prefacing them like this) Aston Villa to London to play the Hammers. Even more so that Duran grabbed the winner - and was one of the best players on the pitch after coming on for summertime hero Ollie Watkins.

Duran brings chaos. He’s a rogue, and fits the role to a T, which is why it’s somewhat surprising that amidst the delirium in Stratford, that he didn’t raise his wrists and cross them again - with a much different meaning in mind. In fact, he seemed humble, and almost apologetic.

Then again, you could view his 'I'm staying here' celebration as him saying he's coming to the Hammers. You'd have to have had a few though.

Amadou Onana scored, and made the game his own on his debut - but it was Duran's match.

Characters like Duran are uncommon, and can head straight towards the top. Look at Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Abilities are incomparable, but the level of knowing cheekiness is there. One knows how good he is, and has been. One knows how good he can be. A player of this mould is often outside the box, and that can be a good thing if it can be harnessed correctly. Duran is in the perfect environment for just that.

This is Villa’s biggest season in a long, long time. At the end of the road, when - ideally - we’re looking back at success, then it will be because of the talents of a great squad. One that found room for someone who is just a bit ‘different’. Someone just like Jhon Duran.

What's the story for Villa from here on out, then? The headline is that it will be about a team under an elite coach finding their feet again after a some squad movement, a team fighting to hold onto their place amongst Europe's elite teams. Can they hold up and build on last season?

Truth be told, right now we don't know. We wouldn't know after a loss, we wouldn't know after a draw, we don't know after this 2-1 win.

Football is at its best when there's a story. The narrative is unmatched in this sport. Relegation, a hero’s return, shocking injury/injuries, drama, title fights, derbies. All of these things drip with narrative and meaning, and every team gets one - mostly.

On opening day, it's a rare opposite. It's as close as you're going to get to the palindrome of it - the endgame of a season and a match where there's nothing to play for.

We still love to see goals scored, and we still enjoy victory, and it's not that they don't matter, but in a sport that is all about meaning, these are the goals and points where we're left searching for it. We don't know what this is but a win.

The start of a season is an anxious place. Uncertainty crashes back and forth like great waves inside of us. The pebbles of product in matches erode into small grains of sandy narrative. Will it be rough aggravating grit to ground hopes down? Will it be blown into a beautiful glass? One path shows disappointment, the other - bliss.

Rarely though, is it ever a defining game. Do you remember how Watford smacked us about? Or how we kind-of crept past Sheffield United? Did a loss at Tottenham define Villa’s return to the Premier League? Was Villa’s win at Hull responsible for promotion? Did any of these games seem important? Not in the big picture, bar the ceremony of the Tottenham match.

The truth is that win, draw, or lose, it’s a platform. A platform to continue winning ways, buoyed by optimism, or a platform to ignite change and end the season laughing in the face of a day-one loss.

This time, Villa have made a platform built on optimism. The meaning can come later.

Hello, It’s been a while.

I thought I’d start with the meat of the writing, an actual Villa match, rather than getting into anything else.

This is the first season where I feel more like ‘just’ a fan than ever before, and that has affected the output of this newsletter. I’m not journalist James anymore. I’m not podcast James. What do I have to offer in transfer season? Or when I can’t truly be a fan?

I haven’t had anything to add about transfers, because the churn of talk regarding them is utter bullshit. Not the rumours, or even the speculation, just the drama it creates. Fans attack journalists for following leads that go nowhere. People get revved up over news that essentially - see Nicolo Zaniolo and Moussa Diaby and Phillipe Coutinho’s exciting arrivals - mean nothing until we see what happens in the season.  I sat down to write something in July about transfers, looked at what I’d put up, and it read like shite. Not because it didn’t have valid points or anything, but because it was just, really, hot air. The fact that so many conversations happen about transfers doesn’t really boggle my mind, or shock me, but the fact it becomes the most meaningful conversation, and brings the biggest numbers over an entire season, is somewhat depressing. Maybe I’ll change my mind, but transfers? They’re just boring, man.

So this season? I’m a fan. No other pretences. I hope that is enough.

I am experiencing football at Villa Park through the biassed eyes of a die-hard. I’m sorry if I forget that Joao Felix had a loan spell at Chelsea, but the truth is? I couldn’t really give a fuck about many things happening outside of Villa Park this season. I haven’t in a while, but this season, that Champions League theme will blare out.

And we’ll feel it.

Enjoy the ride, UTV.

On a final note, my good friend Pete Hitchman has put his art, hard work and craft into an incredible book for Villa fans.

He’s dedicated and talented, and one of us. That alone is reason to buy the book.

If you need more persuasion, it’s a incredible photographic record of our best-ever season in recent history made by a man who is the perfect fit to put it forward. It’ll end up as your best ever Villa purchase. I swear to god.

It also help's raise money for Birmingham Children's Hospital. That's reason enough.

Get it here 👇