£75m and £400k a week is the difference
That is all it was today.
The three City goalscorers cost that much to buy (70% of MON’s total spend) and their wages are astronomical if press reports are to be believed. The difference today was marginal an clinical finishing, one moment Carew should have scored but he never and they took the chance at the other end.
That as we have seen all season is the major difference between us and the 4th spot, the missed chances and the lack for want of a better player, Bellamy. He has something that our main players like Milner, Young, Downing and Gabby do not have, that devil instinct, the one Rooney has, the one all teams have. We are too bloody nice, look at Carew, 6ft 5 and should be terrorising people, we don’t.
Look at today we played well, we contained Man City and caused their defence serious problems but Warnock made a serious mistake and Freidel for the first time showed his age with the penalty by being too slow, Guzan would have saved that for sure. The second half, City sat back we attacked but the final ball quality was not there and it cost us obviously. It cost us more seriously though against Wolves and Sunderland though and is the area MON has to address and he should, MON should stay.
2006-7 10th
2007-8 6th
2008-9 6th
2009-10 6th
yes we could finish 7th this season but we have never been closer to 4th and the days of Brian Little’s two 4th are totally different to now, 4th place for CL has changed that.
the big question when you look at the annual report is whether we have the resources to try for that special player, which means a wage of £100k a week and £20m transfer.
That is the major question this summer.
SEASON OVER – MAN CITY 3 – VILLA 1 – CAREW
Game needs no introduction, every game this side of Xmas has felt like a must win game but this is the ultimate one. Even though a draw on the face of it is a decent result it actually does not help us. Our record at Man City away is very poor in recent years but this season we have broken a few hoodoo’s so who knows.
Villa unchanged team from the one that started against Blues
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SEASON OVER – but we gave it all our all for today, no complaints from me nor should there be from any Villa fan
90 mins – We played well but the inevitable goal on the breakaway happened
82 mins – Young gets free but woeful cross
74 mins – Tame Milner shot, Downing at LB
72 mins – Game is very tense now, Heskey and Fonz on for Carew and Gabby
65 mins – good save from Freidel
63 mins Veira should have been booked there for a blatant trip on young who is now struggling
61 mins – Villa having possession without doing much with it
55 mins – great Downing cross but Young makes a meal of it
51 mins – Villa have pressed and Fulop looks shaky
47 mins – first shot from City, easy save
2nd HALF KICK OFF and Villa are out very early
HALF TIME – We started well, scored but frankly looked comfortable until two Warnock mistakes
45 mins – Petrov booked
41 mins – rubbish defending by Villa after Carew should have scored but hit the crossbar, then City went down the other end and scored, Warnock at fault again
40 mins – Warnock mistake and clear City pen and Friedel really should have saved that one
38 mins – with a deflection, Milner’s shot goes wide
37 mins – Collins with another immense block, defence is playing so well
30 mins – Penalty shout against Warnock after Tevez smashes one at his arm, never a pen
26 mins – great counter attack and Downing oh so wide
23 mins – gabby breaks through and Kompany booked for a crude challenge on him, Milner’s free kick causes problems
21 mins – and a great start so far, Man city pressure but no real chances for City, they are set up perfectly for us
16 mins – CAREW scores after a great through ball from downing, great finish
14 mins – some City pressure, defended well, yet to get going up front, Carew is very static today
10 mins – an attempted cross deflected and Friedel had to save
7 mins – Villa get a little cocky in defence but tame shot saved by Friedel
3 Mins – quiet start
KICK OFF – COME ON VILLA
Villa Team News – UNCHANGED, Man City – Barry out
Team has now been officially confirmed as unchanged from the Blues starting line up, no surprise there.
Friedel
Cuellar
Dunne
Collins
Warnock
Young
Milner
Petrov
Downing
Carew
Gabby
SUBS: L Young, Delfouneso, Guzan, Beye, Sidwell, Heskey, Reo-Coker
Big game today for Carew in particular maybe one of his last in a Villa shirt and we need a huge performance from him.
Most nervous I have been for a game all season, this means more than any other one
Man City team news for what we care is Garath Barry is out after speculation of an injury, good news for us that Viera is playing I think.
Another City, another win, we dislike teams in blue
Well the season has flown and the second best away team in the country face one more trip, to a tough venue to win what we all know is, yes, those words, ‘a must win game’.
We all know the situation, we all know what is required and what a draw or defeat means. what we know is that Villa should go out there, attack from all angles because nothing less than goals will win this. City obviously have all the talents up front but at the back with Young’s and Gabby’s pace they are very vulnerable to conceding and we know that we will score.
It means in many ways more to City, they spent so much money this season anything less than a win is a failure, the fans, players and management all know this. That pressure at home at this stage of the season can do funny things to teams and can give teams like us with nothing to lose unexpected wins.
That is what I hope of course, we hope that finally a home win against the Blues will show that we have a chance and all the players should be totally committed and desperate to win. Of course on both sides we have players in Dunne and Barry for which this game means even more than the actual result.
But for our magnificent travelling support after having spent thousand’s this week forget Barry, concentrate on the game in front of you everyone of our players needs your 100% support you always give.
As for me, stream finding time !
What others think of Villa – Man City
The third of a very popular series and the next up are Man City fans.
Again a very positive response to us and of course a lot of goodwill towards Richard Dunne
Flinty123city
Well mate – you have the best manager in England ( he started 100 yards from where i am sitting, at Grantham town FC). I liked the Villa team of the 80′s ( Withe, Shaw Cowans, Morley etc) – and hope you beat the rags in the final. AND disagree with Arsene Winghers “Long ball” criticism – BUT – hope we beat you convincingly in the race for 4th place
She wore – she wore – she wore a claret ribbon……..
Gary shaw – gary shaw – gary gary shaw – when he gets the ball…..
with the brass band playing **ck OFF WEST BROM – and birmingham and birmingham
bluesnozza
Martin O’Neill IMO is one of the best in the business and he has helped Villa over achieve in the past couple of seasons. On paper Villa are probably one the weaker teams in the top six but tactically they’re right up there. As for the fans I think they are amoungst the most passionate and dedicated in the league, the fact that Vital Villa is one of the busiest sites on the Vital network is proof enough of this. I wish you guys luck for the rest of the year but of course I think you will only finish 5th at best behind City.
buzzlightyear
Like D & L, I don’t mind Villa, I think MON has done well for them, lacks a bit of quality in depth and may struggle if injuries and suspensions set in, but where they finish in the league in irrelevant and as long as we are above them i don’t mond, where they finish.
bluewolfie
Villa are a very well run-club with not-so-big resources (I say that in a non-condescending way). Have no objection to Villa doing well, just so long as we do better (naturally).
Hope Dunney wins the CC; not just so that the Rags don’t, but that he deserves it, after being with us so long and being shafted by Cook.
Barry ‘Dunne’ over
Yesterday was so sweet for Villa fans. The way Barry left us meant we all felt like a jilted bride and to see Richard Dunne power a header past a stationary Barry who could not be bothered to jump was sweet justice indeed.
It was a cracking English game yesterday, we started off at a great pace and both teams kept it up for the whole 90 minutes and provided a telling reason why English football is the most admired around. Throughout the game apart from one player (I will come back to Carew) all of the Villans showed great heart and desire to prove themselves worthy of a top 4 challenging side and the first half was a reason we could compete.
2nd half we seemed to step back a bit and allowed Man City in it but despite this and the obvious goal Friedel had little to do and great credit goes to Richard Dunne and for me the signing of the Summer window the big ginge himself, James Collins. These two along with Petrov were fantastic but the clear man of the match for me was Gabby who was a constant threat against central defenders who City had spent £40m on and a huge amount of wages.
It showed last night what great desire, team spirit and no little quality can do for a team against such obvious expensive and quality players. We should look forward to the rest of the season with great optimism and with Downing to come I really think a top 4 challenge is possible and we can get close.
Gabby in the past 6 weeks has shown what great desire and attitude can do so I come to the only negative point of the night. Frankly John Carew over the past few weeks has been a disgrace in a Villa shirt and I do not say that lightly. The effort in the recent games when you compare him to Gabby is so noticeable I do wonder how much longer the players and manager can put up with him. And for the first time last night after the game I heard noticeable criticism of him and the lustre of the Carew myth is wearing thin. For us to be successful we will have to rely on Carew on getting 15 league goals, he has to start scoring soon !
Manchester City – a test of where we want to be
The visit of Manchester City tonight has been predictably been dominated by the talk of the return of Gareth Barry. However for the future of this season this game has far more significance for Villa.
It is no good kidding ourselves, Manchester City have spent a lot of cash and on some very good players and they should be in the top 4 or at least challenging very strongly for it all season. Therefore for Villa it is a very good test of where we want to be and whether we can stay up there and challenge alongside City.
The debate has been raging since the Blackburn defeat on formations and personnel. Whilst there is no doubt Reo-Coker was wrong in what he had done and I agreed with him not playing last week for this game he has to play. Man City play a central 3 midfield and we can not afford to be outrun in there and the obvious more is to swap an ineffective and seeming disinterested Carew for NRC.
This game in many ways will suit Villa, we are a counter attacking side and we do like teams to come onto us and Man City will do that. Actually their away form has been a bit sporadic with a comfortable win over Blackburn but scrapped a win against Pompey and unconvincing at the back against Man Utd. So this is an game thye will look to as important but equally will be wary of our counter attacking threat.
For me the key player is actually the old boy who escaped little coverage – Richard Dunne. Against Blackburn he threw in one of those games he can have but at his best he is a dominating leader at the back. Tonight he has to have a good game to repeal the thread of a returning and angry Adebayor and if he does we have a great chance of all three points.
BREAKING NEWS – Fee agreed for Richard Dunne
Mad day just before an importnant match but OS just announced fee agreed for Richard Dunne and he will travel down for talks
12 years and it comes to this, bye Barry
So after nearly a year Barry has gone.
I remember his debut at Sheff Wed away and shortly afterwards his second game at Goodison. Anyone who was there will remember the impression he gave to us all. He seemed to have everything at only 17, poise, quality passing and an intelligent football brain.
Over the years at Villa his form never quite lived up to that promise, well until MON joined us. He played Left back, Left Midfielder, Left central defender but never seemed to settle into one position, in fact at the end of DOL it is well documented he was about to leave us for £4m to Pompey.
Then MON joined us, made Barry some promises and made him the key of our side that Barry really played up to it and up until last season played fantastic and played his way into the England Squad and now an almost permanent fixture of the England side.
things were different then
Then it went wrong.
Something happened and Barry for me gave the signal to Liverpool that he was interested in moving, we had a summer where we stuck to our guns and won but it was clear from what I saw this season that he was not interested in really playing for us. It does not take much for a pro footballer to lose the 5% extra that makes all the difference and he lost it. The lack of pace was suddenly shown up and he seemed to pull out of the physical side of the game. For me and others it looked over and we expected him to leave for one of the ‘Sky Four’, as it was it Manchester City and a huge wage that persuaded him to leave and let me remind you of the News of the World quotes.
Barry, 27, said: “My mind’s made up, I want to join Liverpool. There’s no going back, it’s time for me to move on. I’m desperate to play Champions League football and that’s why I have to leave Villa.
“I hope the Villa fans understand. I have given my all for the club for 10 years and I’m only leaving because now I need to test myself at the very highest level.
“And I can honestly say if Villa were in the Champions League I wouldn’t even consider leaving this great club.”
Manchester City hardly fulfil these criteria and Pat Murphy on Radio 5 today has also said that 6 months ago Barry re-iterated to him that the aim was Champions league, so it is amazing what a wad of notes waved in front of someone will do.
Motivation factor
In retrospect Barry was lost to us last summer, he has been a good servant but not at the legend status, he never ripped up trees but never really player poorly but the manner of his leaving leaves a very sour taste in his mouth and we can only help that Martin and Randy have some aces up their sleeves to wash this taste out of our mouths.
Barry in Talks with Man City
Just been announced on the Official Site that Barry is in talks with Manchester City over a possible move.
a Liar and a Judas
Yes this is the same Gareth Barry who claimed he would only move from us to another Champions League club, in other words he is a liar and those who defended him this year when he has been poor should now realise that we were telling the truth over him
He could have been a legend now a judas
When I have calmed down later today I will post a more detailed response.
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