The Gabby and Delfouneso partnership for the future
Over the last few days of none transfer speculation and the fact we all know we need a forward makes me wonder if MON actually is even looking for a forward.
Let me explain
We already have Gabby, he is the future and even though he is frustrating at times and can go on runs of on scoring it is clear from when MON joined he rates him and he has always been a first choice. So since he has muscled up he has been better able to hold the ball up. With two aging forward players in Carew and Heskey who play the hold up role in fact do we have their replacement in Gabby who can combine the best assets of both ?
So then as we know we under MON really want to play 4-4-2 we need another player and is he already at the club ?
I refer to Nathan Delfouneso, Let me remind you that Gabby is only 24 this year and Delfouneso is only 19. Every time I have seen ‘Delf’ he has always impressed me, he has the build (like Gabby he needs to gain muscle), he has the quality on the ball (as witnessed by the run against Brighton and shot against the post) and he is natural predator as we have seen.
His first team stats so far are very impressive in 7 first team starts and 5 goals all against professional clubs in proper cup competitions. Not only that but at international level he was one of the best forwards in the recent under 19 World Cup finals and shown he can score goals at that level.
So actually instead of spending huge amounts on say a Jones or Keane do we have the perfect partnership with power, pace and instinct goalscoring with Gabby and Delf, brummie born and bred reared by the Villa ?
Oh and by the way under Delfouneso we have Andreas Weimann and he at 17 is starting to look the ‘real deal’. This gives us great prospects for the future but it is about the medium and longer term and not quick fixes that the modern football fan craves.
Final Sunday transfer window round up – Beye
The transfer window closes on Monday and I think it is very unlikely we will see any links in or out of Villa Park in the Sunday papers. Of course if there are any be assured they will appear here.
One piece of loan news that Shane Lowry has gone to Leeds until the 31st March
No new updates tonight from the NOTW which has just gone out online
Sunday Mirror updated online and no new links
In fact checking all the major newspapers as predicted not a single rumour or link
SUNDAY
Again no links whatsoever so I think it is safe to say apart from Gardner leaving it will have been a very quiet window for Villa.
Finally at 18:00 a link !
An old one though saying Sunderland will look once again at Habib Beye as other right back options have failed, well there is faith in a player !
Wenger stick that up your Arse(nal)
Thanks Arsene.
You did MON’s team talk today. Thanks for winding everyone up so much at Villa Park to produce a away performance of class, composure and very good football especially in the first half.
I watched the game on a stream and first half we totally controlled the game like I have not see for a long time. We could have 4 or 5 apart from the two very good finishes that Gabby gave and all from good football, take note Arsene.
All the players played well today, Petrov very good in midfield, Gabby proving he is an instinctive finisher and dont; give him time however the star was Dunne. He and Collins make a great partnership ad got in the way of everything.
Very happy today at being 2 points behind 4th (thanks agent Ridgewell) with a game in hand.
Fulham vs Villa – FT – 0-2 – Gabby (2) – bogey broken
FULL TIME – Very good performance from Villa as we secured a comfortable win after controlling most of the game. Dunne and Collins very very good, Gabby back on form and the midfield solid
Back in the race for 4th after agent Ridgewell’s goal
80 mins – pressure from Fulham a couple of shots including a save and one wide.
76 mins – Heskey booked for dissent
73 mins – Fulham goal ruled out for offside
67 mins – still in control, less adventrous than the first half
62 mins – my internet speed is too slow to watch stream, grrrrrr
59 mins – Zamora shoots wide
56 mins – Gera sneaked in, straight at Friedel, from resulting corner hangeland heads over
solid start to the half
2nd HALF
HALF TIME – Got to say Gabby as I posted yesterday is vital to us, he offers pace and now power, scores, and we are doing very well, playing very well
44 mins, GOOOOOAAAALLL, wait 4 games and two in 5 mins, brilliant turn and finish by Gabby
42 mins, Murphy fires wide from a free kick
39 mins, well deserverd Villa GOAAALLLL, Gabby flicked header from Petrov cross
37 mins, mistake by Collins lets in Zamora and a last gas block by Cuellar stopped a certain goal
36 mins, PHEWWW, Friedel fumbles a simple shot, nearly let in Zamora
34 mins, yet another Villa chance and Petrov fired over from close in
32 mins, great move again, Young cross and Young (Luke) forced a great save
28 mins, no real chances but possession all Villa and all the half chances, with a bit of a Fulham attack
23 Mins, Gabby wins a great header to Milner who sets up young who forces a save at the near corner
Another period of good play and once again Heskey with a half chance
15 mins and Villa, well on top, playing some very good stuff, using the wings very well
Some very good play and Downing looking very dangerous, Heskey missed a half chance
Trademark Villa counter attack and Dowing cross evaded everyone a minute later
Some Fulham pressure and a shot straight at Friedel after 7 mins.
Villa after 4 minutes a good ‘long ball’ from Collins to Milner and Heskey headed over from a decent cross, should have been on target.
Same team that started against Arsenal.
What would you give for a goal – Gabby please deliver
Since the Arsenal game on Wednesday the talk of Villa fans is the 4 goals without a goal.
It has been well publicised that we have not gone four games without a win for a few years now a few managers ago ! Yet the shocking thing about this Villa team is that we hardly lack players for creativity in Downing, Young & Milner.
So has we head into the Fulham game on Saturday at a very difficult venue and one we have failed at many times the big question is whether we can actually score ? Because if we do score with a very good defence then the chances are we can certainly win games and therefore progress and keep up the battle for the top 4, which we have slipped behind a bit.
The problem is at Villa MO has a past record for this, every season has seen a slump at this time even when we are actually playing quite well as I believe we are. The slump usually coincides with Gabby’s winter slump and we are well and truly within that. Gabby is vital to how we play we need his pace but if he can not score it appears it affects the whole team. We need somehow to get him to play in the winter but no one can deny the effort so what is it ?
Anyway for tomorrow, guess same starting team as against Arsenal, where we did actually play well and really a draw is a decent result but Fulham are missing players through injuries and games like this are a watershed for us.
Changed my mind, cups are important – Moscow was a mistake
This blog article by an Arsenal fan got me thinking today and have to say I have definitely changed my mind about cups and fully agree with his sentiments.
12 months ago I believed top 4 was everything and I fully supported MON’s decision to play a reserve side in Moscow. This split the Villa fans 50/50 and seen by the meal offer and the response by the club in hindsight maybe MON feels the same. So this season we strengthened the squad, could play a slightly weaker team in cup games and still win.
So we got to Wembley and you know what, that feeling even in a so called ‘mickey mouse’ cup is so much better than any top 4 position could ever be. For football fans I think we have lost what the focus of any club is about and for a Villa fan of big Mac’s heritage I do feel ashamed I lost it. Our club should be about winning cups and not about the money, money is needed of course but trophies in the cabinet means so much more and an empty cabinet since 1996 is simply not good enough.
As the article says the Carling Cup has got it’s mojo back thanks to two tremendous semi-finals, games in which league position for all 4 teams was inconsequential, Wenger has to look at himself and I hope we ever do a ‘Moscow’ again.
Transfer window closing, thoughts and ideas
The Transfer window closes Monday February 1st at 17:00
For all teams it has been a very quiet window, likely to be due to the current economic climate and frankly the bonkers world of football finance.
For Villa therefore it has also been a very quiet window with only Craig Gardner leaving for Blues and remarkable for Villa very few actual rumours. In fact it seems from MON we have heard to expect few moves unless we sell and I doubt the £3.5m from Blues is hardly enough to make a difference.
We also seemed to hear very strong rumours about Habib Beye leaving however with the news about Warnock’s injury can not now see that happening and of course recalled Shorey back from Forest whilst Bannan and Baker have had their loans extended until the end of the season.
So with NRC’s injury and Gardner going it leaves a space in central midfield, Delph will now certainly get more starts and can see little movement there, but as we have not scored in 4 PL games we should still be looking at the forwards.
There may have been a chance Carew could go but he became injured once again and the rumors about Heskey were unfounded rubbish. However I still keep hearing background rumours of an interest in Keane. With Gudjohnsen now at Spurs at loan he is such a similar player to Keane we can only presume Keane will leave. On this blog I have made no bones about my admiration for him and how well he would fit in at Villa Park, the deal can be done if ‘appy ‘Arry would let Keane either permanently or on loan to a close rival.
Another player we could look at is Moses at Palace, every highly rated and from the little bits I have seen of hm a very good prospect. However whilst we buy young talent is he any better than Delf and would he stop his progression as he is probably the better player.
Can we do a deal for Keane, Moses or any forward to put away the chances we create, well we will see in 3 days time.
View from the North Stand – Wembley to look forward to
Villa progress to the FA Cup 5th round after a comfortable win over Brighton at Villa Park. Even though Brighton passed it around quite nicely I thought the 3-2 scoreline flattered them a bit. MO’N made a lot of changes, with Luke Young, Habib Beye, Steve Sidwell, Fabian Delph, Marc Albrighton and Nathan Delfouneso all starting. In fact Albrighton supplied the assist for Delfouneso to open the scoring within 5 minutes. Unfortunately our young winger picked up a knock in the process, and after failing to run it off he was subbed on ten minutes. Real shame for the lad.
Brighton pulled it level just before half time, but after the break a very rare header from captain-for-the-day Ashley Young, and a very nice first goal for the club from Delph, meant we cruised into the last 16 even though we let that ex small heath donkey Forster get an injury time consolation.
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The draw for the 5th round wasn’t particularly unkind either – we will play Wolveszzz or Crystal Palace away. Villa’s travelling army will no doubt favour a local tie with Wolves, as by all accounts Selhurst Park is a real fucker to travel to. Unfortunately our knuckledragging chums from The Sty are still in the competition…..and as they also got a favourable tie (away at Derby) don’t be surprised (if we both progress) to see us get the unwashed bastards in the quarter finals.
********************
So we can book our Wembley tickets online tomorrow (Wednesday). Thankfully long gone are the days when you’d have to stand freezing your bollocks off in a 3 mile long queue to get a ticket, whilst inside Herbert would be rubbing his hands together and cackling maniacally. The mob I’m going with want the £70 tickets so it looks like I’m going to have to stump up – I’d have gone for the cheapest otherwise. Just being there is good enough for me.
********************
Well well well……it seems Craig Gardner is a fucking liar. All those stories about running onto the pitch after the penalty shoot out against Tranmere and being Villa through and through have been blasted to bits as bullshit if the bollocks I’ve seen is true.
Lifelong small heath fan?
Well I hope you’ll be happy at that cesspit, Gardner. Actually no, I don’t mean that. I hope you never win a game, get relegated and end up sweeping the floor at Chelmsley Market. Fucking bullshitting wanker. And your brother is a much better player too (let’s hope Gary isn’t a clandestine bullshitting knuckledragger too)
**************
Well that was nice. A display of refereeing so bent that you’d have thought John Barrowman was the man with the whistle. Along with his cohort, the linesman on the Witton Stand side, these two fucked us over royally with blatantly wrong decisions and ineptness. I’ve never seen Heskey as angry as he was last night. I suppose a draw was a fair result but if only we had a clinical, high class goalscorer…….we’d have beaten these whinging, diving, cheating pricks. Good as they are, that’s what Arsenal seem to be. The slightest touch and they are on the floor in agony. Bunch of pooves.
*************
Another excellent display from Luke Young, albeit at left back. He really should be playing every week. Also, not sure how bad Warnock’s injury is but we’ve called Shorey back from Forest and he was on the bench last night.
*************
Wembley tickets sorted – and now we also know our opposition. Just like I suspected, we’ll be facing Man Ure in the final. As I might have mentioned before, this could play into our hands as for United the final is sandwiched between two Chumps League ties against Milan. Hopefully their minds will be elsewhere.
Poor old BlueMancs. Spend zillions of quid and still win fuck all. Oh dear, how sad, never mind. I wonder what Gareth Barry thinks now? Hahahahahaaa
Heroes and Villains is BACK
I miss my daily fix from H&V and site has now been down for the past 24 hours.
It appears that the DNS entries are not resolving out in net world, if you do not know what DNS is you don’t want to know !
Come back soon fellas and if someone could post on this thread what has happened I am sure plenty would be interested to know the situation.
UPDATE
Server has gone kaput, folks trying to restore, temporary site available
http://www.villavillains.co.uk/smf2/
(For PeterW – like all forums and any of them have problems would do the same, what happened was in the past)
UPDATE – 21:15
Site is now back
Major Injury Blows for Villa – NRC & Warnock
Bad news today from Villa Park on the injury front
Nigel Reo-coker has been ruled out for 12 weeks, in effect the whole season with a fractured ankle after a injury in training las week.
The bigger blow however is that Stephen Warnock after limping out of the Brighton game with a shin injury is ‘not fantastic either‘.
This is very disappointing news with so many important games on the horizon and Warnock in particular has been superb for us. The news on NRC is equally a blow as he is cover for Petrov who also is carrying an injury !!
However this is an excellent opportunity for Delph to stamp his authority on the team.
SHOCK – Hansen tips us for success
After the highlights of the Man Utd/City game on Match of the Day tonight, Alan Hansen tipped us for success at Wembley
Aston Villa can have a great chance on the counter attack
Steady Alan not too much praise for us !!
To confirm that the final will kick off at 3PM on the 28th February and will be shown live both on BBC and Sky.
Man Utd our bogey team at Wembley, nothing to fear
So we now know who we play at Wembley on Feb 28th (I have my ticket woo hoo !!).
It is of course the mighty (sic) Manchester United who tonight beat Man City 3-1 at the theatre of dreams (urgghhh).
Let me remind you of the past two occasions we played them at Wembley
Saturday 4th May 1957 – FA Cup Final
Aston Villa 2 (Peter McParland, 2) Manchester United 1 (Taylor)
Sunday 27th March 1994 – League Cup Final
Aston Villa 3 (Atkinson, Saunders 2) Manchester United 1 (Hughes)
Not a bad record eh ?
We are the clear underdogs, everyone will write us of like in the previous two and we have nothing to fear from losing as we are expected to.
BRING IT ON
ps. as an after thought but after seeing Bellamy pelted by at least 4 missiles, should their fans be banned at Wembley ?
Oi ref you are awful and Wenger you talk rubbish
4 games without a goal in the premier league is a cause for concern. However we played very well today, we battled Arsenal all the way and whilst they hit the wood work twice I believe we had the clearest chances and in reality the lack of a top class forward is costing us as instead of 2 points from the last four with a class forward maybe we could have got 7 or more and that is the difference.
However today’s big talking point is the ref’s (Lee Probert) performance. He was awful, not just bad but so many calls he got wrong and one in particular a Clichy tackle on Ash Young which was a clear booking, which he never gave and 5 minutes later he should have been off for a second yellow on Downing. Not only that he seemed to miss a clear handball in the Arsenal penalty box which looked a clear penalty and then a number of decisions he gave all to Arsenal. Though just watching MOTD you will not see many of them but how could he not give that foul on Richard Dunne at the end that is just bottling it !
However his performance can not detract away from the lack of killer touch we have up front, it definitely cost us the win today and whilst I expect no moves in the winter if this is not resolved in the summer we will not get the progress into the ‘sky 4′ that we deserve to get.
So Martin the priority for the summer is clear, I expect no signings this winter but all efforts simply have to be concentrated on getting that one player !
Finally Arsene ‘Whinger’ called us a long ball team today and MON quite rightly is angry about that. No way today did we play long ball, in fact at times we played some great football on the floor, we had 50/50 possession at Villa Park and as usual Arsene is whingeing just because he never won, such a sore loser. Finally maybe Wenger should ask why ‘men’ go down so easily over simple tackles and whinge like bitches ?
The panic of the pack (Wembley tickets)
Today as from 9AM as most Villa fans know is when we can go and purchase our tickets online for Wembley. So in theory all 27,000 season ticket holders can go on line and buy their tickets.
However on reading the forums there is a sense of panic over this with the online site crashing due to demand and too many people panicking over this.
STOP PANICKING
There are enough tickets for us all to go around, you will in time be able to get whatever ticket you want. Being the first to get a ticket will not mean you get the best seats (all seats at Wembley are excellent) and no one will miss out.
When I were a lad (well for the 94 final) I queued for 6 hours at the ticket office to get a ticket (season ticket holder) this time you can but almost at any time through three different methods, so NO need to worry, calm down, breathe a bit and stop being soft !
You will get to Wembley.
Another day, another visit to Villa Park
Yes it is a Wednesday so must mean for the 4th time in 11 days a trip down Villa Park for a game.
This time it is the Premier League and a really tough game for us against Championship chasing Arsenal who after the game in December will be confident of a win. At Villa Park our record against Arsenal is very poor with no win in the last 10 home games. The cup games have disrupted the season a lot and it has to be remembered we have only took one point in the last three league games with no goals scored.
That is simply not good enough at this stage of the season and for tomorrow we simply have to put all thoughts aside of the the cups and concentrate fully on the league. Unfortunately we have quite a few small niggling injures with Carew, NRC, Warnock, Albrighton all missing and Petrov is having a scan on a possible achilles injury. So there may be some interesting choices tomorrow and especially if Petrov is ruled out though after Saturday maybe playing Delph against Arsenal is not the worst possible outcome.
After tonight’s results with Liverpool drawing and Spurs winning, then simply we have to go for it, not give Arsenal any respect and get into them, stand back as we found out at the Emirates and their world class player can tear you apart.
We need goals, we need to win, sitting back against Arsenal is not the way to do it.
What others think of Villa – Everton fans
For the second in the series of articles I have gone to the Everton forum Grandoldteam for their views on forum.
Despite what sky says this is the oldest and longest played of all top flight games and we go back to the very formation of the league in 1888. I look at Everton as the closest team to us in terms of stature, class, size of club and history, of all the Premier League teams, Everton are the ones I actually like, so what do they say about us then ?
Overall very positive towards us and shows the mutual respect between both teams.
TXbill
Villa remind me a lot of Everton. Quality club going about things the right way and building a squad. Don’t know much about your youth system though.
Very very good manager and an owner that does it the right way in terms of backing the manager to the hilt and letting the football people do the business.
I don’t recall any Villa players or management embrassing themselves recently on the pitch or in the press either.
Overall, I’d say if I’d want any club to break the big three monopoly other than us, I’d say Villa.
Hayee
Villa are a team i cannot stand – more so because of Benito Carbone! However, my best mate is a Villa fan and all the fans i’ve met are sound, you have one of the best managers in the league and some brilliant players.
Tsar Dinyar
My perception of Villa, the enemy. Therefore I wish for you to lose every game you play. Even against the RS, I prefer to see Villa lose as realistically you’re more our ‘tier’ in the premier league (up until this season at least).
From a neutral perspective you only have to admire what MO’N has done there (even though he’s a moaning git). The players work hard whilst having quality in the ranks too.
Closely matched the two clubs are I feel. But for our stinking start we have the quality to be right in the mix for the 4th place fight and believe now our squad is filling out we will make up most of that 10 pt gap come May but probably have left ourselves too much to do in terms of 4th, Europa League is still my expectation this season
I likes Villa. Good, proper club. Got a mate back home who supports them, and we always have a good old chinwag about the state of our clubs. Sound fans, good manager and a very talented team.
del78
One of my mates and my brother in law support Villa so always had a soft spot for them. As was mentioned before and, like Everton, i would describe them ‘a proper football club’.
I really like Martin o Neill as a manager. He did great things with Celtic and Leicester before that and given time, which i think he will get, he will be a great manager for ye.
In Freidel, Dunne and Milner ye have a good spine to the team. There are one or two area where investment is needed though, no more than up front, Gabby Ablon-a-whore is imo the most brainless footballer i have ever seen kick a ball( and that includes Holy Family National School playground in mid 80′s Ireland).
Loved knocking ye out of the cup last season though after the league game at goodison which i keep getting reminded about.
Gardner joins the wastelands at St Andrews
The Birmingham Mail have just reported that Craig Gardner has joined the Blues for around £3.5m.
Good luck to Craig there, he will need it as an ex Villan and passionate Villa fan, any slip up will be over analysed and he will be blamed more than most.
I loved Craig’s attitude on the pitch but frankly he was not good enough for an aspiring top 4 club and had been overtaken by our purchase of Fabian Delph who over the future will prove to be a top class player.
Thanks Craig for your time at Villa and good luck at the wastelands.
What others think of Villa – Spurs fans
On Villa forums we often like to disparage other teams as much as possible, guess it is the tribal nature of the game. So in a new serious of blogs I will post the views of other fans on what they think of Villa as often we get blinded to our own team.
The four teams I have picked are Everton, Man City, Liverpool and Spurs who all are direct competition for that valued 4th Champions League spot. I will start with Spurs as often they are vilified on the Villa forums so what I will post from them may surprise a few because unlike us towards them they are quite complimentary to us. It is noticable that they have said we are fickle, I think the booing at the Wigan game and especially at half time in the perception of other fans caused us a lot of damage.
The forum I used was Vital Spurs
steveperryman
Villa have a good following, yet you fall well behind when it comes to global support.
Villa are a good side, but you lot don’t play the beautiful game, you tend to grind out results, which to be fair, you do rather well.
There’s an english core to your team, so much respect for that, but like us you don’t utilise your squad properly. I blame the managers for that, both are headstrong & set in their ways. Both managers are strict disciplinarians, neither suffer fools gladly.
Villa fans must be the most fickle on terra ferma. Nobody, & i mean nobody moans like a Villa fan.
You can boast of a proud history, so we also share that in common.
You are also bottlers, & we most certainly share that in common.
Have i left anything out? Yes i believe i have. We both live in mortal fear of losing our beloved star players to the vultures, aka the Top 4.
Dimitar Corelone
I think your manager pretty much has the same problems Harry does. One track minded, refuses to make use of the squad and won’t acknowledge we need new fecking strikers.
Villa are a well run club though with an English core so I can’t say I have anything against them, except when we play obviously.
Your fans are more fickle than ours though and that’s pretty extreme, I was amazed at the number of your lot calling for Martin O’Neils head when you were actually in the top 4 for a long period. Amazed me.
liamspurs14
dont reall give 2 hooters about villa so why you coming on here? except id have james milner all day long give you jenas keane and crouch for him lol
innispurs
For most of my football supporting days, Villa really meant little to me. They have never had a large Irish following so I never met any fans here at home. I probably thought your European Cup winning side was the poorest of the English sides to have won it but I was not especially bothered – congrats anyway!
Two things changed my perception of Villa. One, you got the man I hoped we’d get to manage us – Martin O’Neill (whom I knew slightly at school all those years ago) and he began to work wonders on your standing. Now you are one of our main rivals for that elusive CL spot.
The other thing that changed was Vital Villa fans swarming all over our site last year when we were in the doldrums and laughing at our plight which I thought was a bit inelegant and lacked class. But there you go. Now there seems to be a bit of an edge about Spurs/Villa relationships.
We do share one thing – past glories and little recent history so we tend to have a nostalgic streak in both of us!
griddo
I have no problem with Villa,but cant see them breaking the top 4,i think they are the weakest of the contenders tbh,but if it wasnt us,i would rather they upset the applecart,Gabby and Heskey are awful strikers,they need to improve there for a start,and not enough guile in the middle of the park,and with the striking options they have,or lack of,thats the least they need,they are a regimented side like all MON sides,but only have the one gear for me,i hope they win on weds though..
spursex
I like Villa – aspirational club, with a sensible Billlionaire owner who wants to build on a solid base; a similiarity we share.
Always liked my trips to Villa, fans there are pretty genuine, although I’d say that they all also seem to have this local trait of being able to moan about everything and anything! In fairness many of them prepared to spend their last spare penny in tough times to follow their team. A team with history, much like us and who like us are desperately trying to break into that top echelon and shake up the status quo.
Don’t like the way you’ve played ‘park the bus’ sometimes this season at home (especially against us), but again in fairness MoN seems to have made it very effective, and you’ve shown us how you can grind out results when necessary, even if it would make me go hunting for a knife to slit my wrists with if I had to watch it game in game out….Having said that think you’ve been a different team again since Downing came in, Young moved to where he should have been playing and Milner finally moved into the middle and now seems intent on being everything I thought he could be.
Like us, you have a problem with you captain who I cannot see anything worthwhile in – but then a lot of fans say exactly the same about ours!
If we can’t get forth spot, I hope it’s Villa.
Wembley ticket details announced
On the Official Site now
Got to say very expensive ones as prices range from
£38-£86
available to buy online from Wednesday for everyone and if you wish personal sales or telephone sales there are windows for each block
All season ticket holders guaranteed a ticket then any remaining on ‘priority sale’.
Do not panic there will be enough tickets in each block to satisfy everyone’s needs in each window.
FA Cup Draw – Wolves or Crystal Palace – A – 13/14th February
The draw has been just been completed for the 5th round and it is
Wolves or Crystal Palace
Tie to be played the weekend of 13/14th February, nice for Valentines !
In my view a very good draw for Villa and a very good chance to progress further in the competition
IT IS OUR YEAR
Sunday Mercury and Doug Ellis – a correction
This article from the Sunday Mercury was shown to myself today and it is the usual Doug Ellis stuff that they often wheel out when we do well and the kind that is quickly chip wrappings.
However I have to correct this statement the Sunday Mercury have printed and I can only conclude that Ellis himself told them.
Groups of supporters mounted high-profile campaigns to oust him and even attacked his plush Midlands’ home.
I was someone who was involved at the time and you may remember AVISA was set up in 2000 to gain a much better recognition for the supporters and the unrest we had against Ellis. I was also lucky to meet many of those involved in the £ sign protest and the subsequent VFC protests that Jonathan Fear organised.
I totally and utterly refute the above statement from the Sunday Mercury and any implication that they got from Ellis or other sources we ever organised protests to be either illegal or violent is totally wrong. As no time during the protests did we hear of any illegal activity against Ellis, I do not even remember any suggestion from the club back then of any attack against Ellis’s house.
On behalf of myself or any other supporters involved in the protests I want this statement retracted by the Sunday Mercury and I have emailed the Editor David Brookes, Deputy Editor Paul Cole and Head of Sport Lee gibson asking for a retraction, I will publish any correspondence recieved.
Joaquín Boghossian, Razak Boukari and other transfer window rumours
We enter the final week of the transfer window when I really do not expect much action from Villa but I will update this page of any rumours in the Sunday papers (as you may know Newsnow no longer carries some of the papers).
Craig Gardner on the verge of leaving and we have seen links this week with Curtis Davies and NRC on loan to Celtic and an intriguing one with Joaquín Boghossian of Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina.
Boghossian is a U21 forward whose record in South America is very good and tracked by a number of clubs in Europe and we have been linked with him. Of course this is not the model type of signing that MON does but would excite quite a few fans, can not see it myself, MON prefers proven forwards and preferably PL experience.
Sunday Mirror reports we are battling over Lens 22 year old Razak Boukari who is a Togo attacking midfielder and rated at £3m, Everton are also interested in Lens apparently 2009 player of the year.
NOTW reports we are after Mike Pollitt the Wigan reserve keeper to cover for the two Brad’s of course if they had done their research properly they would know we have Andy Marshall for that.
Also the NOTW reports that MON has ruled out any possible loan deal for Curtis Davies (never believed it myself)
O’Neill said: “I wouldn’t be in a position to loan out players at this stage of the season
The link below rounds up all the links this winter.
Young guns fire Villa to 5th round of the FA cup
First to say a great thanks to Villa and Brighton to agreeing to a such a low ticket price of £10 and £5, great crowd of nearly 40,000 and so many kids in Villa colours. Fantastic support from the Brighton fans and showed the cup romance is still alive if the price is right.
You would have read elsewhere about the game and it showed that the reserve strength in depth is so much better than than it was 12 months ago. The first half was lacklustre and Brighton deserved their draw at half time. However for the second half we stormed it and could have been 6 or 7 with Delph very close to a hat trick and Delfouneso nearly scored a fantastic 2nd goal. However it seems Warnock may have picked up a hamstring injury and you have to feel for Albrighton who set up the first goal with a great cross to only then pick up an injury, the whole ground felt for him, he was shaping up to have a very good game.
However we saw the future of Villa today. I firmly believe our future is tied up with the likes of Delph, Delfouneso and Albrighton. In fact if everything goes well I can see all three playing for England because I rate them that highly. Add to them the likes of Clark who could also play for England, Milner and Ash Young and in two years time I almost can see that team actually challenging at the very top.
It always dangerous to predict the future of young players but what we saw today showed that if nurtured right, with the right attitude they can become top class Premier and maybe international players, all that is required is patience from the fans.
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