The irony of the deal may have been in the mind of his ex-colleague, Noel Whelan, who had seemed to be attempting to sell himself to the Yorkshire club in comments made last weekend.
Huckerby’s place here was occupied by Whelan’s new acquaintance, Moustapha Hadji, although Coventry plan to re-invest the pounds 4m paid up front by Leeds. The away side’s cause was not helped by a red card for defender David Burrows after 70 minutes.

For Coventry, the night represented a first taste of life without Huckerby, whose transfer took place only hours before the match. SELLING DARREN Huckerby to Leeds might in the long run seem like good business on Coventry’s part but they might have profitably used their former front-runner’s pace last night as Leicester beat them through a first-half Muzzy Izzet penalty. The away side’s cause was not helped by a red card for defender David Burrows after 70 minutes. SELLING DARREN Huckerby to Leeds might in the long run seem like good business on Coventry’s part but they might have profitably used their former front-runner’s pace last night as Leicester beat them through a first-half Muzzy Izzet penalty.

Substitutes not used: Dunne, Cadamarteri, Simonsen (gk).
Referee: G Barber (Surrey).. Substitutes not used: Ghrayib, Oakes (gk).
Everton (4-4-1-1): Gerrard; Weir, Gough, Unsworth, Ball; Ward (Jeffers, 73), Gemmill (Pembridge, 73), Collins, Barmby; Hutchison; Campbell. Joachim set up Taylor, whose rising drive from 22 yards left Gerrard helpless.
Aston Villa (3-5-2): James; Ehiogu, Southgate, Calderwood; Delaney, Boateng (Hendrie, 57), Taylor, Thompson (Stone, 68), Wright; Joachim, Dublin (Merson, 62). Alan Thompson, whose cultured left foot could well be pressed into national service this season, played Alan Wright in on the overlap. The wing-back’s cross, expertly cut back, was met by a right-footed volley of equal precision by Dublin from around the penalty spot.
Gregory felt sufficiently confident of the outcome to use the three permitted substitutes – England internationals all – and Villa helped themselves to a third goal six minutes from time. The Scotland midfielder, who missed a penalty against Villa on his Premiership debut, remained on the pitch only a further three minutes until he tripped Mark Delaney on the touchline for the second time. As in the first instance, it looked no more than a mistimed tackle, but Collins received a red card along with hissecond yellow.
Everton’s fortunes soon deteriorated further.

With only Kevin Campbell up front for long periods, they left the former Liverpool goalkeeper David James a virtual spectator on his home debut.
James was not forced into a save until the opening minute of the second half when he comfortably held a long-range volley from Collins. Joachim also scored last weekend although the excellence of his winner at Newcastle tended to be overlooked after Ruud Gullit’s histrionics.
Everton continue to look like a team who have Manchester United’s Jaap Stam leading their embryonic scoring chart. The diminutive striker held off the covering defender, David Weir, before dispatching a low drive which hit the net via Paul Gerrard’s trailing hand.
In terms of timing, the blow was near identical to the one which Joachim’s predecessor in the Villa attack, Dwight Yorke, subjected them on Sunday. Ugo Ehiogu launched a long ball, for which Dublin outjumped Richard Gough to send Joachim sprinting clear. Aston Villa took up residence as the early Premiership leaders, just as they did last August, courtesy of clinically executed goals by Julian Joachim, Dion Dublin and Ian Taylor.

Although their manager, John Gregory, admitted his team were no more than “average”, maximum points from the first two fixtures actually represents a better return than Villa managed a year ago.Everton, already trailing before John Collins’s harsh 49th-minute dismissal, were depressingly unambitious and must also have felt an eerie sense of familiarity. In the corresponding game in January they lost 3-0 and had Alex Cleland sent off.
Collins, in fact, endured the definitive day of contrasting emotions.Before the game his wife had given birth to their third child, a boy.The presence of eight Englishmen in John Gregory’s starting line-up had helped to attract Kevin Keegan, and Villa’s eighth-minute goal alone may have persuaded the England manager his trip was worthwhile.
All three players involved are fringe candidates for Keegan’s next squad.

A STRONG sense of deja claret and blue pervaded Villa Park last night. Aston Villa took up residence as the early Premiership leaders, just as they did last August, courtesy of clinically executed goals by Julian Joachim, Dion Dublin and Ian Taylor. A STRONG sense of deja claret and blue pervaded Villa Park last night. Winner of USPGA receives 300pts; 2nd 180; 3rd 160; 4th 140; 5th 120; 6th 100; 7th 80; 8th 60; 9th 40; 10th 20.EUROPE1 C Montgomerie (Sco) 18,034.10pts2 L Westwood (Eng) 10,873.313 D Clarke (NIrl) 9,034.324 P Lawrie (Sco 7,472.545 J M Olazabal (Sp) 6,829.136 J Sandelin (Swe) 6,362.787 M A Jimenez (Sp) 6,330.638 J Van de Velde (Fr) 5,197.139 R Karlsson (Swe) 4,642.0110 A Coltart (Sco) 4,395.8011 B Langer (Ger) 4,009.1212 S Garcia (Spa) 3,956.1113 M James (Eng) 3,895.6314 A Cejka (Ger) 3,858.5815 S Struver (Ger) 3,845.5816 P Harrington (Rep Irl) 3,678.0217 G Orr (Sco) 3,655.8918 J Parnevik (Swe) 3,631.7619 D Howell (Eng) 3,608.3120 D Carter (Eng) 3,555.39Top 10 qualify after BMW International Open, Munich, on 22 August The captain, Mark James, then selects two wild cards..

Technically, the greens are “stressed out” after a month of high temperatures and humidity.RACE TO MAKE THE RYDER CUPUNITED STATES1 *D Duval 1,458pts2 *T Woods 1,4083 *P Stewart 9174 *D Love 9125 *M O’Meara 8376 H Sutton 7527 J Leonard 7048 J Furyk 6499 P Mickelson 64010 J Maggert 62511 T Lehman 59312 S Stricker 57113 J Huston 54914 C Perry 53715 B Estes 52116 S Pate 50617 F Couples 49218 J Sluman 49019 T Herron 47920 F Funk 44021 G Day 43222 T Tryba 42223 L Janzen 38824 B Geiberger 38425 B Mayfair 38226 S Hoch 36927 B Tway 34928 M Calcavecchia 348.929 L Roberts 348.7* denotes players who have secured a place Top 10 qualify after USPGA championship on 15 August The captain, Ben Crenshaw, then selects two wild cards. They putted well in practice but there were the inevitable complaints from the players. “I go fishing and end up No 1.”Another thing that may not look right are Medinah’s greens, which are turning brown. Woods was lurking on the final days of both the US Open and the Open, as Jack Nicklaus used to do, he noted. In contrast, Duval described his major season as “mediocre”, his best finish a sixth at the Masters.But while neither played last week, Duval went back to the top of the world rankings. The crucial factor in the complicated mathematics appears to be the fact that Duval missed the cut in an event in the equivalent week two years ago.