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Brad Friedel
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SAD Fact: Beware The Ides Of March
I was reading an interesting article at The Telegraph last night about Gabby Agbonlahor's goal scoring record during the Winter months:- The evidence is compelling: 10 goals in total in the 2006/07 season, but only two scored between November ‘06 and April ‘07. 11 goals in the 2007/08 season, but none between January and end of March ’08. 12 goals last season, but just two after Christmas. So when he went six games without scoring after Villa’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford this season, in mid-December, it was a case of ‘what’s new?’ His brace at Craven Cottage was more timely than ...
More Aston Villa Passing Statistics
Hopefully you've spotted that I include the number of good and bad passes in the Statshacks and maybe you find it interesting. Maybe you don't. There's a certain logic which suggests that the higher the number of passes, the more expansive the style of play. That's crude and overly simplistic, but there is enough correlation that I thought I'd look at how we've been doing over the last few seasons. One thing that's immediately obvious when looking at this sort of data is the relativity. For instance, if Villa strung together 150 completed passes in a game ...
The Long Ball Game – Warning: Very Graphic Content
Last month I took a brief look at how Aston Villa's passing statistics stacked up against the other teams in the Premiership and although we're just in the bottom half of the table in terms of the number of passes strung together, I think it was clear that we are simply efficient in our approach. To call us a "long ball team" is a mischaracterization. Apparently Arsene Wenger has used this term to discuss the way we played against his team at Villa Park last night and it's got Martin O'Neill all hot and bothered:- He's made a few ridiculous statements ...
Playing Cluedo And Martin O’Neill Might Be A Ninja
I want to take you back in time once again to August 2006, just prior to Martin O'Neill joining Aston Villa. As you'll no doubt recall, David O'Leary had finally been given the elbow in July following an embarrassing string of events which could commonly be referred to as "washing our dirty laundry in public". The club was surrounded with speculation about various parties interested in purchasing the club and of course there was no shortage of speculation about the manager's position. Villa were due to head out to Holland and Germany for their pre-season with caretaker boss Roy Aitken in ...
Strong Financial Stewardship Sets Aston Villa Up For The Future
Proud History, Bright Future. A tag line, PR spin, just a bit of marketing guff perhaps, but it's a simple little sentence that strikes the right chord with most Villa fans. I've always liked it and it sums up Aston Villa at the moment as well as any four words possibly could. I'm really talking about Aston Villa under the management of Martin O'Neill and, more specifically, the ownership of Randy Lerner. When it comes to team management it's frequently speculated that Martin O'Neill has put Villa on a strong footing to counter any new rules imposed on clubs surrounding the nationality ...
Martin O’Neill – Great Manager, Or Greatest Manager?
I don't know about you, but when you're as easily distracted as I am it's hard to get anything done. Earlier today I was researching some statistics when I stumbled on this fantastic graph which shows Aston Villa's Goal Difference from the Premiership years plotted cumulatively. No single statistic can accurately depict much in football, let alone going on for two decades worth of performance in the top flight. However, it's inescapably true that the teams with the best goal difference will generally occupy the top of the table, so it naturally follows that a graphic presentation of the ...
Something I Think Villa Fans Should Get Used To Seeing
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited about the potential attacking force of the four players above and I'm optimistic that we're going to see this foursome regularly celebrating scoring in front of cheering fans. Stewart Downing, as the newest player, is the biggest unknown, but he looked good as a provider in his brief cameo at the end of the game at Burnley. He put in an impressive performance for the reserves before scoring on his full debut at Fratton Park in the 4-2 Carling Cup victory over Portsmouth last night. We know he's a natural left side ...
Spreadin' The AVC Love...
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