PHIL DOWD you cheated VILLA
Simple, when Gabby when through on 5 minutes on goal and was tripped only two results were possible
1) a penalty – scored brilliantly by Milner
2) Vidic to be sent off
Phil Dowd BOTTLED the vital decision and from then on Man Utd had all the fates in front of them and Villa were doomed to lose.
It was not even a difficult call to make, it was crystal clear as to what should happen and yet somehow Dowd never even booked Vidic yet even sent him off and we knew what would happen then. Yep Vidic goes off and a forward would have had to make way, because Dowd was scared to make the correct decision a few minutes later the inevitable happened.
Owen scored when in all probability he would have been the player to make way for Vidic and from then we knew Rooney would have been the player to score.
Because lets be clear we would have gone on to win that game and my contempt for Dowd can not be emphasied in any stronger terms that this
HE CHEATED US OUT OF THE FINAL
Bet nothing happens to him though, imagine roles reversed eh ?
I am very very angry tonight because we did not deserve that ref and that call we deserved far more.
BTW NOT EVEN a YELLOW CARD
CHEAT !
COME ON YOUR LIONS
This is likely to be my last blog post before the game.
So sitting here with train and match ticket ready, camera in coat and anticipation high there is little else left for us to say
Just enjoy it tomorrow, weather will be lousy but all that matters is the result
Hope in your heart, a few pints and expect no voice left, give it your all, leave nothig behind.
MON will be telling the players this we do our bit on the pitch
Yipee aye Ah, HOLTEENDERS IN THE SKY
Holte Enders in the Sky
Carling Cup Songs
Well here is a list of them from the very good (ultimate villa song) to the downright bloody bizarre (Carling cup Rap) with a grannie
Enjoy IF you can !
Ultimate Villa Song
Colin Davies
Niki Evans (X Factor) and Doug O’Brien – Championess
The Carling Cup Rap – Octave thinking Twosome
Weather for Wembley poor, forecast for game, very good
First the public service
A storm is brewing over London (not Bridge vs Terry !!) and heading to Wembley for Sunday and it is going to be very wet and windy.
However the forecast is very good for the game and Villa in particular. Over the years we have had an inferiority complex with Man Utd but the result at Old Trafford earlier this season has changed the team and more important the fan’s psyche. We now go into Sunday’s game on an excellent run of form, unbeaten in 12 and 2010, scoring goals a plenty in the cups and knowing as so called underdogs the pressure is off us.
When the pressure is off we are capable of playing some stunning stuff and whilst we know exactly our team (see Burnley) as it appears Petrov is fine but Man Utd’s team is any guess.
You know what I do not give a damm who they played.
In 1994 we went into the game with Man U chasing a domestic treble and arguably a stronger team than now and we blitzed them because we had no fear and that is key for Sunday. If we play with fear then it is game over, however play with freedom, let Ash free and you know what we will win it.
The mass hordes of Villa fans depart Birmingham on Sunday by coach, car and train and I really sense there is a strong sense of belief and destiny in the fans which we do not see often. The fans and team are united and we expect every many to do his job.
Rob El Cid posted this on Villatalk, let battle begin
We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have had before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.
You ask, What is our policy?
I will say; “It is to wage war, on the pitch, with all our might and with all the strength that McGrath can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of football crime. That is our policy.”
You ask, What is our aim?
I can answer with one word: Victory – victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is nothing.”
There is only ONE Randy Lerner – The Quiet American
One stark contrast on Sunday ta the Carling Cup final will be to look to the directors box and notice the tale of two American owners.
In the RED corner (or should that be yellow & green) will be the Glazier family. Possibly the most hated people inside of Old Trafford and that probably includes any scousers. They have managed despite the club still winning and in contention to ensure the club has £700m in debt and for many do not have the resources to compete at the very top level. This is despite record turnover and large operating profits, which get wiped out by the large amount of interest Man Utd. have to play to service in effect Glazier’s own debt, that just can not be right.
So in the CLARET & BLUE corner we have the quiet American, Randy Lerner. Posted elsewhere what he has done for the club in just under 4 years but this season is a vindication of his and MON’s policy of what I call ‘organic growth’. We had a long way to when he took over from Doug Ellis the club had rarely been at such a low point. However through player investment and steady use of home grown and cheap players MON has fashioned a team on the verge of the most successful season since 1996 and possibly since 1982 if we get ot the FA cup.
When (for there is no doubt of that) we lift the Carling Cup on Sunday Randy will be standing there proudly seeing the start of his desire for success for the club. He will deserve all the credit going (along with MON of course) for the success and he will deserve
There is only ONE Randy Lerner
being sung around Wembley as the Yellow and Green masses troop out to contemplate interest payments.
Petrov to MISS Carling Cup Final
According to Sky Sports News last night Petrov is unlikely to play in the cup final.
Tsvet on H&V who has good links to Petrov though just posted
A friend got a text from him saying he’s coughing a lot and is feeling very weak, but is getting better since yesterday. I reckon he’d be OK for the final.
I hope this is true because no matter how much I rate Delph the game is an occassion for experience and Petrov deserves his final spot.
Excellent news as Manchester United confirm Rio is out
Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Rio Ferdinand has had another back spasm and is out for the Carling Cup final
“He tweaked his back in training and he won’t be ready for Sunday,” said Ferguson.
“It is unfortunate for him that he’s going to miss a couple of game
This is great news for us as Vidic is unlikely to play against us after such a long time out and we have to fancy our chances facing a Man U back 4 featuring Evans and Brown. Also talking of their defence I do not rate Rafael that highly and Neville is on his last legs. With our pace on the wide open grass at Wembley we should be able to run them around.
No clues tonight from Fergie on any other possible team news but after the Man City semi he did say he would play a different (weaker) team in the final.
Wembley hopes increase
Did you watch the Everton/Man U game earlier today ?
Simply they were awful and it was their first team choice and showed totally how over reliant they are on Rooney. Every attack comes through him, they used to have great strength on the wings but no more. In fact without Rooney I would say the present Man U team would struggle to be even top 4, they have been unable to strengthen with top quality and the cracks are showing.
We have shown in the past two games against them just how to shut them down through keeping Rooney under lose control and our strong defence allows that. Everton today also showed just how you can score past them, the problem for us is that it is likely that both Vidic and Ferdinand are going to play.
There is of course another factor in that Ferguson has indicated that he will not play the same type of team that he did against Man City in the Semi’s that is another boost for us.
On the forums there is far too much negativity surrounding the result, people seem to think playing Man U is a bad pick but we have shown all season we are able to raise our game against the better sides and wins at Old Trafford and Anfield simply prove this. As pointed out above there is no reason to be negative, in fact quite the opposite, we should be going down there in a weeks time full of hope, given we do not have some kind of injury disaster.
First trophy win since 1996, you bet !
Ticket competition is WRONG
Under Randy Lerner’s reign I have little to be unhappy about in the main they have got most if not all of the major decisions 100% correct.
However their competition just announced is WRONG in many ways. It is not right that 100 tickets (50 pairs) could go to anyone with a 10 year booking history, the criteria should simply be the next people in the queue based on booking history.
Already a fair number of the 31,000 allocation does not get to what I call ‘normal fans’. A number of other areas get the tickets
- Players as we saw by the Nathan Baker incident, probably 400 tickets
- exec box holders (should get one per box as per season ticket holders) but they I have heard get 10- maybe 1000
- club employees, 2 each, probably another 1000
I have no gripe with these getting these tickets but they come out of the 31,000 allocation which means after season ticket holders get their share maybe only 1500 for sale afterwards, depriving these people of 100 tickets is unfair.
Too late now for the club to change it’s mind but I hope they will learn a lesson from this because this is proving to be a very unpopular decision, even with the likes of me who have supported the Lerner regime 100% from the start.
Weakened Man U team at Wembley
Alex Ferguson has said on Sky that he will play a different team against us at Wembley than we saw today.
Actually I expected that to be honest and with Giggs off for an X-ray and Champs league to come then the likes of Gibson will get a game and maybe even Owen ! For him the only reason he played a full team against Man City was to ensure they never got through.
However with Petrov limping off today it could be that we see a ‘weakened’ team for us also and of course still two more games to come but we are looking stretched as well.
I always thought we had a chance of winning the trophy and if Fergie holds to his word then the chances become greater.
Wembley ticket details for non season ticket holders
After season ticket holders have took the allocation of Wembley tickets Villa have announced the following detail for sales of tickets on priority sale.
This seems very fair to me to include the earlier Carling cup games and this should satisfy most people. the estimate is that there will be around 1500 tickets available
Monday February 15: On sale to supporters who have a 12+ home booking history (including either Carling Cup fixture at home to Cardiff City or Blackburn Rovers). Matches played in the 2009-10 season only
Tuesday February 16: On sale to supporters who have a 10+ home booking history (including either Carling Cup fixture at home to Cardiff City or Blackburn Rovers). Matches played in the 2009-10 season only
Wednesday February 17: On sale to supporters who have a 7+ home booking history (including either Carling Cup fixture at home to Cardiff City or Blackburn Rovers). Matches played in the 2009-10 season only
There will always be those unhappy at the allocations, there will always be the odd person whose fair claims are ignored but what else could the club do about it, cater for the odd person out of thousands, just not possible.
Away shirts for The Carling Cup final
Just on Sky Sports News that we will be wearing the away shirt at Wembley
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.
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 ?
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.
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.
Images of a fantastic night
Well what a game, you would have watched it, either on TV or at Villa Park and it is impossible to describe what a mad game and lots of credit to Blackburn for a fantastic effort but it is clear over two legs we throughly deserved to get to Wembley and a great chance of silverware against the red or blue half of Manchester.
So for anyone not there I hope these pictures from my phone capture some of the atmosphere before, during and after the game.
Train Tickets to Wembley
Warning for you all …
Tried to book tickets for Virgin at what should be £25pp and not taking bookings, prices will be jacked up, get in there as soon as possible tomorrow !!
If you are a season ticket holder you are guarnteened tickets so pre book everything as soon as possible, people will try and rip us all off.
Get READY
There are no excuses for anyone not to shout and sing their heads off tonight and that includes you lot in the Witton and Trinity !
There is no excuse for anyone slagging off our players during the game.
In just a few hours we go into one of the most important matches since May 2000, we want and desire a cup final and the only way we can influence what goes on the pitch is to create such a raucous atmosphere of such intensity the Blackburn players will not know what has hit them.
Clearly for the Blackburn fans this game is not important only 1500 are bothering to come down, never in a semi final at home will we have such superiority in numbers, make this Tranmere revisited.
Any setbacks tonight should be brushed aside and from first whistle to last just 100% for the team, anything less is unacceptable.
Finish the road from Villa Park to Wembley
90 minutes stands between us and a Wembley visit since the none event of 2000 and after the 1st leg last week we should be very confident of finishing the job.
We played so well last Thursday that the tie should have been over and done with and tomorrow a mere formality. However due to the lack of a class goal poacher we go into the 2nd leg with a lead but one that can be wiped away by one single silly mistake. The key tomorrow is to ensure we get the early goal, we get the chance to put it away early and make it a fairly easy tie.
Not sure what attitude that Blackburn will bring to us, if they come on the attack will suit us down to the ground but we are more than capable of dealing with their rather limited attacking play but we simply have to put away chances which we have missed the last few games we can not afford to miss such easy chances.
I am confident we will be Wembley bound tomorrow evening but not cocky about it and understand that all ties are hard but we have the quality and desire to succeed. The only thing that will hold us back is our lack of creativity and being too relaxed about it.
Biggest game for a few years and a sell out night crowd should provide a raucous atmosphere.
enjoy, if you can !!
One foot in a Wembley final, seal it at Villa Park
Great performance, should have been more but anyone would take 1-0 away win for the 1st leg and you could tell this game meant something to Villa, just magnificent support.
Villa came out for the game looking like they meant business and after 15 minutes of possession we created a fair few chances without actually managing to breach the net. Then total dominance from Villa with chance upon chance until Milner from his own breakaway scored a great goal to put us up one – nil, great credit to Downing with brilliant link up play.
For the rest of the half Villa totally dominated, created chances but Clattenburg refuses two absolute stonewall penalties to make the score very unfair to Villa.
The second half started off much like the first half, two great chances carved out but Blackburn missed a clear chance to post up warning signs, despite the domination, the tie is not over. Blackburn continued to start to pile on the pressure with long balls, the Villa defence continued to stay firm under this pressure as Kallinc hits the post twice and forces a great save from Guzan,
Villa after 70 mins made a change with Sidwell on for Heskey, going 4-5-1 as the Blackburn storm was weathered somewhat and Young missed a great opportunity. Has the 2nd half came to a close, Blackburn’s attacks became less frequent and we created further chances.
As the full time whistle blew, we got a very good 1st half performance and score and at Villa Park i front of a full house should seal the tie and get to Wembley.
Stats
Posession 55% to Villa
Shots on Target 9 to Villa, 2 to Blackburn
Corners 13 to 9 in Villa’s favour
Text Updates (Villa biased) – Blackburn vs Villa 0-1 FT
COME ON YOU LIOOONNNSSS
21:55 – FULL TIME – Should have been more but will take that, good game and advantage Villa
21:53 – Last minute corner kick to Blackburn, just headed over
21:51 – three mins injury time
21:50 – Fantastic save by Robinson from Gabby
21:49 – More good play from Young wins yet another corner
21:45 – Scrapy period but milner’s shot takes a deflection, guess what ? corner and panic in Blackburn’s defence
21:39 – Villa let Emerton run at us and force a save from Guzan, yet another corner, end to end game
21:36 – Young dragged a shot wide of the post from a good position
21:31 – Villa sub, Sidwell on for Heskey, clearly going for the counter attack
21:30 – From the corner yet another great breakaway, Young an inch taller would have surely put it away
21:29 – Yet another Blackburn corner and once again great defending
21:25 – Got to say great effort by Kallinic as he hits the same post again
21:22 – Blackburn long balls causing problems, corner again
21:20 – From long throw, blackburn corner, great clearance by Dunne
21:18 – Blackburn getting more into it as Dunn fired wide.
21:15 – First real chance for Blackburn as Kalinic hits the post, should have scored
21:13 – Young earns yet another corner, from the corner, just how did it not go in ?
21:11 – Blackburn more up for it, got to keep door shut
21:10 – Another great counter attack, Young fires it across but noone there to tap it in
21:08 – Great news from the Youth Cup as Villa win 2-0
21:06 – 2nd half kicks off, Villa players chatting with the ref, no question over Gabby’s yellow, Milner straightaway shoots directly at Robinson
20:49 – Best half by Villa for such a long time, fantastic stuff, fantastic domination. One up and could have been two or three more with two pens denied
20:48 – goal disallowed for Heskey handball, never Heskey was Samba !
20:48 – Fantastic save by Robinson from Petrov, near post
20:45 – Yet another corner, another goal will kill this game
20:43 – Gabby yet again beats Samba for pace, at the other end fantastic challenge by Dunne on Kalinic
20:40 – Gabby booked for diving, clear penalty !!!!!!!!!!!! Believe Gabby is now suspended for the West Ham game, disgrace of a card.
20:36 – Fluidity all over the field has Blackburn in knots at time
20:34 – Further good news from the Hawthorns as Villa 2-0 up in the FA Youth Cup
20:30 – Vital goal, away goals do count double if we need it.
20:28 – Is this a home game for Blackburn all Villa on and off the field
20:23 – The GOALLLLLLL we deserved, fantastic from Milner on counter attack.
20:22 – Yet more great play and Gabby shot straight at the keeper, totally dominant
20:19 – Quiet period but Gabby and Young combined for a corner, Cuellar then had a shot deflected over.
20:13 – Chances for Heskey and Milner, all over them !!
20:12 – Chance for Downing with his head
20:10 – Brilliant lay off by Heskey to Gabby, CORNER, short corner Young curls shot over
20:07 – Great ball by Downing – CORNER, shot way over by Young
20:05 – Dunn shots wide, deflected for corner, dangerous delivery came to nothing
20:04 – SALI SALIFOOOUUU
20:02 – SHIT SUPPORT M’lord, EMPTY SEATS M’lord
20:01 – KICK OFF TIME, VILLLA, VILLLA
19:57 – Teams out, Villa look confident, Villa fans loud and proud
19:50 – Tem minutes before the Villa boys come out
19:40 – Butterflies yet ? Defintely for me
19:20 – Very touching to watch Martin Laursen on SS1
Villa’s Team as expected except Luke Young on the bench
Guzan;
Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock;
A Young, Milner, Petrov, Downing;
Heskey, Agbonlahor.
Subs: Friedel, L Young, Sidwell, Carew, Delph, Reo-Coker, Beye.
Wished we could find space for Nathan on the bench
Blackburn, do we care ?
Robinson
Jacobsen, Samba, Nelsen, Chimbonda
Emerton, Dunn, Pedersen, Nzunzi, Salgado
Kalinic
Excitement in the air
With less than 8 hours to kick off the sense of excitement amongst the hoardes of Villa fans travelling up North or watching on TV can be touched.
Just some extracts from the Villa Forums
mjmooney
http://www.villatalk.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=58799&start=555
lowernorthvilla
i’m up for it now, finish work in an hour, straight down to villa(adventures) for my coach, come on villa boys
Hookeysmith
Come on you Villa Boys
Time to step up to the plate, no hiding , no bottling time to deliver
we have waited a long time for a final so make us proud
Martin O’Neils claret and blue army………………
grifty1987
Iv got Chris Nichols war cry from the official site vid ringing in my ears….
Need to get a beer down me & fast!!!!!
Come on my Babies!!!
The Walshmeister
I am driving + 2 mates. Leaving Bournville circa 2.43pm. Am going up toll then onto M6…….ETA BRFC 6pm. Destination Brown cow pub
Drive safe and lets get naked in the Darwin end!
bearvil
I cant wait for this, im so f’in excited : ) haha !!! like a kid again !!
Only 3 hours at work to go !!!!
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