BIRMINGHAM, England -- On the first day of the rest of John Terry's footballing life, as Aston Villa's new captain, he received multiple reminders of how different life in the Championship will be to his 18 years as Chelsea's favourite son.
"The aim is to try and help this club win the Championship," Terry wrote in his first "Captain's Column" of the season in the matchday programme. A five-time Premier League-winning captain accepts nothing less than total victory so a 1-1 draw with Hull City was an unsatisfactory step on that path. Villa's fade from the excellence of their first 30 minutes pointed to their 46-game campaign being anything but a breeze to promotion.