Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Neil3030

We've hit the magic 20, haven't we Helix?

Helix

we have indeedy afair

and they said it couldnt be done

Villain

Neil3030 wrote: »

We've hit the magic 20, haven't we Helix?

???

Helix

Villain wrote: »

???

i made a post 9 games ago, listing the 8 games to follow between then and now

i said thatd if we get 20 from those 8 games, we'll get champions league football

everyone said there was no way we'd only drop 4 from a run that included some tricky matches

we only dropped 4 points:D

Helix

interesting stat i noticed during my ban...

we now have 1 point more than we finished with 2 seasons ago

yes, you read that right, we have more points than we got in the whole of mons first season and there are still 13 games to go

Bounty Hunter

Barry suspended for the FA cup game vs Everton

MON added: "Carlos has come back from injury and he has played a lot of games quickly and his hamstrings were very, very tight at half-time.

"We couldn't decide whether he had done some damage or whether it was just tightness so I thought it was best to just leave it and bring Craig on.

"Emile has got a bit of an achilles tendon problem. It was getting worse the longer the game was going on so I brought him off.

"I'm not sure how he is. I am hoping he will come through. I saw him smiling after the match but maybe that was just because we had won. We'll see."

Helix

yup, intentional booking in the goal celebrations from the looks of it

very clever

Villain

Anyone else read MON's comments on Barry Basically saying he accepts Barry leaving at end of season.

Time Magazine

Helix wrote: »

everton, city, spurs and stoke should, as said above, yield 10 points

Agreed. But say we draw with Everton, and draw with City or Spurs. Neither of those are all that unlikely. That's dropping four points and our seven point cushion is down to three, before we play Liverpool, Chelsea or United.

On the other hand Arsenal face Sunderland, Fulham, West Brom, Blackburn, Newcastle, Man City and Wigan. Chelsea's fixture list is of similar difficulty.

So over the next couple of months, you'd expect Arsenal and Chelsea to pick up more points than us. Though our run-in is a good bit easier than Arsenal's, so I won't be too upset if we drop just behind them after this set of games.

Basically my point is that although we're still well-on for a CL place, it's looking falsely certain at the moment. Pretty sure it's between us and Arsenal.

Helix

The Economist wrote: »

Agreed. But say we draw with Everton, and draw with City or Spurs. Neither of those are all that unlikely. That's dropping four points and our seven point cushion is down to three, before we play Liverpool, Chelsea or United.

On the other hand Arsenal face Sunderland, Fulham, West Brom, Blackburn, Newcastle, Man City and Wigan. Chelsea's fixture list is of similar difficulty.

So over the next couple of months, you'd expect Arsenal and Chelsea to pick up more points than us. Though our run-in is a good bit easier than Arsenal's, so I won't be too upset if we drop just behind them after this set of games.

Basically my point is that although we're still well-on for a CL place, it's looking falsely certain at the moment. Pretty sure it's between us and Arsenal.

the next match will have a huge bearing on what happens next

if we beat chelsea, thats it surely

Bounty Hunter

I really am trying too calm myself down so i dont saw something over the top, before my Arsenal supporting housemate gets home, 7pts ahead of Arsenal now tis hard not to rub that in

Helix

Villain wrote: »

Anyone else read MON's comments on Barry Basically saying he accepts Barry leaving at end of season.

yup, but theres nothing new there

mon always said that barry could go if we didnt make the champions league this season

kinaldo

Fair play to Aston Villa this year.

Is this really the same team that Joe Kinnear's Newcastle beat so comfortably at SJP earlier this season?

Helix

kinaldo wrote: »

Fair play to Aston Villa this year.

Is this really the same team that Joe Kinnear's Newcastle beat so comfortably at SJP earlier this season?

ah to be fair, its the same team that shouldve been about 3-0 up before newcastle got a grip on the game

still tho, the back to back newcastle and boro defeats definitely spurred us on

Neil3030

Let's get nerdy:

I've ran a couple of simple analyses to try project how many games Arsenal will win out of the 13 games left this season. I took 3 samples, their record so far under Wenger, their record in the season they went unbeaten and their record so far this season. If anyone has any other samples or changes I should make just gimme a shout.

So in ascending order of points total:

Arsenal, this season, have won 12, drawn 8 and lost 5. That equates to 48% wins, 32% draws, 20% losses.
This form will see them finish on 6 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses = 22 more points = 66 points total.

Arsenal, under Arsene Wenger, have won 406, drawn 180 and lost 125. That equates to 57% wins, 25% draws, 18% losses. This form will see them finish on 8 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses = 27 more points = 71 points total.

Arsenal, in their unbeaten season, won 26, drew 12 and lost 0. That equates to 68% wins, 32% draws. This form will see them finish on 9 wins and 4 draws = 31 more points = 75 points.

So for Villa that means we should be comfortabe with 24 more points, and we could get 4th with as little as 15 more points. Keep in mind though that, Arsenal embarked on a 13 match winning streak to win the 01/02 title, so all of this might becompletely redundant...

Bounty Hunter

just completed that league predictor again
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/predictor/default.stm

this time i was quite negative about Villa and said they would lose to Man Utd, Chelsea & Liverpool and only draw with Everton, Man City and Spurs. Villa still finish in 4th one point ahead of Arsenal anyway!

Bounty Hunter

Helix wrote: »

i made a post 9 games ago, listing the 8 games to follow between then and now

i said thatd if we get 20 from those 8 games, we'll get champions league football

everyone said there was no way we'd only drop 4 from a run that included some tricky matches

we only dropped 4 points:D

wanna make a prediction for the next 8? :pac::pac:

Helix

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

wanna make a prediction for the next 8? :pac::pac:

i already did earlier in the week afaik

not sure what page it was on tho

Neil3030

I think it really shows how far Villa have come that we're more concerned with the consequences of the Chelsea boss being sacked than we are the Portsmouth boss.

Neil3030

Luke Young returns to brum after picking up a toe injury. Sore thing that, hope he's not out for too long.

Villain

Feel sorry for the lad, thats a bit crap.

Bad timing for us Chelsea getting changing manager before we play them!

Neil3030

Except they'll still have the same wingerless squad, with disinterested egotistical awld lads packing the middle of the field. I see us winning it, I really do.

FearDark

I hope to god Chelsea approach Martin O Neill.

Villain

Approach away, MON is not the kind of fella to walk away from something he has built.

Bounty Hunter

FearDark wrote: »

I hope to god Chelsea approach Martin O Neill.

He wouldent leave and tbh i doubt they would approach him despite the fact that imho he will do a good job at any club.

shoutman

Not a hope of MON going to Chelsea. I would be shocked if it happened, gonna be another foreigner with a big reputation.

wynters

No chance... it'll be Hiddink or Zola

Neil3030

Every vacancy that comes up, O'Neill gets linked. It's like having an exceptionally hot girlfriend and bringing her to Coppers. Yeah it's initially flattering that every bloke in the room wants to nail her but it soon gets a bit annoying swatting them away.

One Cold Hand

Neil3030 wrote: »

Every vacancy that comes up, O'Neill gets linked. It's like having an exceptionally hot girlfriend and bringing her to Coppers. Yeah it's initially flattering that every bloke in the room wants to nail her but it soon gets a bit annoying swatting them away.

Lol. If I had an exceptionally hot girlfriend there's no way in hell I'd bring her to Coppers!

This can only be good for Villa.

Helix

chelsea game sold out

scolari sacked might just be very bad for us tbh

wynters

There's still 11 days to that game so you'd imagine Chelsea will have somebody in the job by then. They'll have a bit more gusto about them alright trying to impress a new manager then they might have had playing us under Scolari...

Apparently Hiddinks agent has come out and said there's "no chance" of him taking the job. Zola and Steve Clarke seem to be the fan's favourites... but that appointment could turn-out to be good for us too!? ... Zola is still relatively unproven. He's doing a good job at West Ham, and he did well with the Italian U-21 side but he's never really managed under the type of expectation and pressure that comes with the Chelsea job...? AND he PLAYED with Terry and Lampard etc. so how will he make the transition from being their mate to being their boss??? Also, Zola plays very attacking football, so so-what if they attack us a bit more? We need teams to come at us a bit more at Villa Park so that could be a good thing!

It's gonna be a fork-in-the-road for Chelsea whoever they appoint. The new manager could hit the ground running, or he could take time to put his own stamp on the team, and that honeymoon period could see them drop a few more points... 4 of their next 6 PL games are away...

For the last couple of months it looked like we'd be challenging Arsenal for that top 4 position, but now Chelsea have unexpectedly been dragged into it too. They're rattled. And all that uncertainty can only be good for Villa.

Interesting times.

One Cold Hand

Some boring facts on appearances so far.

Friedel has appeared in every minute of every game. The only ever present!

Barry and Gabby have featured in every game, Barry getting subbed once, and Gabby twice.

Dubliner28

Lads,
Is Heskey cup tied for the Everton game.??
Should be a crakcer.
Payback for Youngs late winner
COYB

tomred1

I don't think he is cup tied, he could of played against Doncaster if the paper work had of gone through, i think.

therecklessone

He is not cup-tied, never played in the 3rd round.

eagle eye

Jeebus, just done that table, thought I was being a bit unkind to Liverpool and going a bit too easy on Man U. and Arsenal. But obviously the complete opposite from the results.

I had Villa coming out on top with 83, 1 ahead of United, with Chlesea winning third on goal diff. from Liverpool on 80 and Arsenal on 73, followed by Everton on 60 and City on 57.

That thing is mad, and my results are madder obviously.:pac:

JPA

wynters wrote: »

There's still 11 days to that game so you'd imagine Chelsea will have somebody in the job by then. They'll have a bit more gusto about them alright trying to impress a new manager then they might have had playing us under Scolari...

Apparently Hiddinks agent has come out and said there's "no chance" of him taking the job. Zola and Steve Clarke seem to be the fan's favourites... but that appointment could turn-out to be good for us too!? ... Zola is still relatively unproven. He's doing a good job at West Ham, and he did well with the Italian U-21 side but he's never really managed under the type of expectation and pressure that comes with the Chelsea job...? AND he PLAYED with Terry and Lampard etc. so how will he make the transition from being their mate to being their boss??? Also, Zola plays very attacking football, so so-what if they attack us a bit more? We need teams to come at us a bit more at Villa Park so that could be a good thing!

It's gonna be a fork-in-the-road for Chelsea whoever they appoint. The new manager could hit the ground running, or he could take time to put his own stamp on the team, and that honeymoon period could see them drop a few more points... 4 of their next 6 PL games are away...

For the last couple of months it looked like we'd be challenging Arsenal for that top 4 position, but now Chelsea have unexpectedly been dragged into it too. They're rattled. And all that uncertainty can only be good for Villa.

Interesting times.

Whoever Chelsea appoint won't have time to make their mark tactically by the time they play us.
In saying that, you saY Zola plays very attacking football? Have you watched West Ham lately? solid as a rock.
I think the best scenario for villa is a short term appointment until the summer with a new man then. This would create instability for a while at least.

tomred1

eagle eye wrote: »

Jeebus, just done that table, thought I was being a bit unkind to Liverpool and going a bit too easy on Man U. and Arsenal. But obviously the complete opposite from the results.

I had Villa coming out on top with 83, 1 ahead of United, with Chlesea winning third on goal diff. from Liverpool on 80 and Arsenal on 73, followed by Everton on 60 and City on 57.

That thing is mad, and my results are madder obviously.:pac:

Yeah i can see where you got 83 pts for Villa from that should be enough for a top 4 position.

Helix

i had us 3rd with 81, united 1st with 89 and the scouse 2nd with 85

matrim

I think I had us 4th and it was either 1 point behind Chelsea or on the same points but losing out on goal difference

wynters

JPA wrote: »

Whoever Chelsea appoint won't have time to make their mark tactically by the time they play us.
In saying that, you saY Zola plays very attacking football? Have you watched West Ham lately? solid as a rock.
I think the best scenario for villa is a short term appointment until the summer with a new man then. This would create instability for a while at least.

Instability indeed! Fingers crossed!!! But more often than not, teams playing under a new manager tend to find an extra gear - particularly for their first game. I don't know if us playing them next is a good thing or a bad thing....!? There's too many variables.

It looks like it's gonna be Hiddink now anyway, and if that's the case, maybe it's an appointment with more of an eye on the CL than the PL? One would hope so... The game against us IS massive, but Chelsea play Juventus 4 days after us. We play an entirely different game to Juventus, so Hiddink is gonna have to prepare for two very different styles in a very short time.

I think the Hiddink thing would suit them. If it goes well, Abramovic will want to keep him - a la Beckham at Milan, but if it goes t/ts-up, it was only ever a short term deal anyway... BUT, if it IS a short term thing, do players give their all for a manager who's only in temporary charge? Remember how standards slipped at United when Ferguson announced he was retiring...???

Helix

im sure there are probably quite a few 29-31 year olds in the chelsea squad looking for that final signing on fee in greener pastures

Neil3030

How many peeps are going over to the Chelsea game? I figure a game this important might warrent a beers amongst those remaining in Dublin, what do people think?

Helix

ill be at it

Bounty Hunter

bit of an injury update for the cup tie on the weekend

Villa pair Carlos Cuellar and Nigel Reo-Coker could be sidelined for the next fortnight, manager Martin O’Neill revealed today.

The duo are both struggling with recurrences of hamstring problems and are almost certain to miss Sunday’s FA Cup trip to Everton.

But O’Neill is hopeful Luke Young will be fit to face the Toffees following his withdrawal from the England squad for tonight’s friendly with Spain to undergo treatment on his toe problem at Bodymoor.

“Nigel had a setback when he returned to training,” said O’Neill.

“He felt pretty good about it, but then he re-injured it. Carlos has had a setback too. It is a problem, he is very sore at the moment.

“We don’t know how long they are going to be, but it might still be a couple of weeks.

“Luke will have a better chance of playing now by trying to get it resolved here. I think England understood that.”

And O’Neill revealed Freddie Bouma is showing signs of overcoming the psychological scars of his horrific dislocated ankle injury.

“Wilfred is getting a little closer,” added the Villa chief.

“He is playing games now and he is thinking less and less about it (the injury), which is obviously very good news.”

Good news atleast that L.Young should be alright, id now expect something like this for the Everton game:

..............................Friedel

Gardner/L.Young...Davies....Knight....Shorey/L.Young

Milner...............Sidwell........Petrov...........A.Young

................G.Agbonlahor....Carew/Heskey

Im going to go with a 1-0 prediction for Villa (Sidwell') but this is going to be really tough and id honestly prefer a defeat than a replay at the moment as bad as that sounds, of the 3 upcoming games my priority would be 1)Chelsea 2)CSKA 3)Everton but of course we should and will want/try to win them all.

Helix

not too pushed what team we put out against everton

hopefully we rest a good few tho

Bounty Hunter

well with Barry suspended he will get a rest and 1 of Carew or Heskey wont start so with NRC, Laursen and Cuellar all out i dont see too many else being rested against a top side like Everton. Also heard today that Laursen expects to be back in mid March

Helix

we could be playing man united and id still want as many rested as possible

the fa cup would be nice, but it rolls round every year. the chance for top 3/4 may only come once

invincibleirish

Surely the Fonz is deserving to start in the cup?, yes its a PL team but he's shown he can score in the cups and if MON has him on for an hour but doesn't sparkle he can bring on Gabby, incidentally where did it all begin in top flight football for Mr G. Agbonlahor?

Helix

villa season ticket pricing for 09/10 out this afternoon

id expect a minor price rise in the lower north and everywhere else to stay the same

the rise in the lower north wont affect the irish, coz it should still work out cheaper than last years tickets with the exchange rate improvement

as an example mine was €333 last year when i paid for it, itll likely be around €305 this year

worth getting if you intend on going to more than 5 or 6 matches next time round. you also get first dibs on your seat for european and cup games