Charles N’Zogbia’s well taken opener was cancelled out by a rare Ashley Young free kick during a first half which threatened to boil over, Emile Heskey providing much of the heat, but the second half failed to live up to expectations. Neither side can feel aggrieved with an equal share of the spoils.
It was a strange game. Wigan started the livelier, better organised side. Villa’s early response mostly coming from an industrious Kyle Walker looking to exploit space down the
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It’s the penultimate home game of the season and the opportunity to make our future in the Premier League a mathematical certainty against a Wigan side that are fighting for their life.
Ciaran Clark is out with hamstring injury picked up in training yesterday, Jean II Makoun is still out with a dead leg and Gabby is unavailable after falling ill overnight.
Charles N’Zogbia passed his late fitness test, but Victor Moses will replace Mohamed Diame in the Wigan side.
Here are the
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Oops! We’ve got an early peek at the new Aston Villa home shirt for the 2011/12 season thanks to a slight SNAFU on the JJB Sports website and… it’s… checked!
There had been strong whispers that the check motif would be a feature again this year, but it’s actually a two-toned effect in the body rather than the claret and blue check trim found on both the home and away 2010/11 shirts.
Other than that, it’s a claret shirt with blue sleeves
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It was 30 years ago today that Aston Villa last won a league title when we were crowned English Champions despite losing our final game in a season that went to the wire.
If you had glanced at the old First Division table on the morning of May 2nd 1981 you’d have seen the top half looking like this:
1980/81
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Aston Villa
41
26
8
7
72
38
34
60
Ipswich
40
23
10
7
74
38
36
56
Arsenal
41
18
15
8
59
45
14
51
Notts Forest
41
19
11
11
61
43
18
49
West Brom
40
19
11
10
56
40
16
49
Southampton
41
19
10
12
73
54
19
48
Man Utd
42
15
18
9
51
36
15
48
Liverpool
39
15
17
7
59
40
19
47
Tottenham
41
14
15
12
68
64
4
43
Leeds
40
17
9
14
39
45
-6
43
Stoke
41
11
18
12
48
58
-10
40
We were heading to Highbury to take on Arsenal in our final game needing a point to guarantee the
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The killer habit of losing points from winning positions returned with a vengeance today after we somehow conspired to lose to a ten man Baggies side that were there for the taking. Once again, it’s the same old story of failing to capitalise on opportunities at one end and then being punished by momentary lapses of concentration at the back.
It started off in encouraging fashion when Abdoulaye Meite bizarrely turned Stewart Downing’s cross into his own net inside the first
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It’s been an interesting week with Gerard Houllier being discharged from hospital and Barry Bannan returning from his loan at Leeds. Here’s how caretaker Gary McAllister is going to take on West Brom in the penultimate away game of the season.
The only change to the starting XI is Gabby in for Heskey, but there are three changes to the bench with Bannan, Bradley and Delph coming in. Unsure on the status of Heskey or Albrighton at this stage.
EDIT: Marc Albrighton
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Darren Bent nodded in a mirror image of his Upton Park goal shortly before half time to cancel out Kenwyne Jones’ 20th minute header, unsurprisingly from a Rory Delap long throw, in a game that’s unlikely to be released on DVD any time soon.
Bent’s goal just about provided the only glimmer of class from a Villa side that were pedestrian for most of the match. Credit must be given to the visitors for pressing and harrying well before they scored,
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When Gary McAllister was asked whether he would be picking the team or Gerard Houllier, he said that if they lost it would be Gerard’s team and if they won it was his. He was joking of course, but as it’s an unchanged side, it doesn’t really matter:
Aston Villa
Stoke
1
Brad Friedel
1
Asmir Begovic
36
Kyle Walker
28
Andy Wilkinson
29
James Collins
17
Ryan Shawcross
5
Richard Dunne
4
Robert Huth
2
Luke Young
12
Marc Wilson
6
Stewart Downing
24
Rory Delap
19
Stiliyan Petrov
6
Glenn Whelan
20
Nigel Reo-Coker
16
Jermaine Pennant
7
Ashley Young
26
Matthew Etherington
18
Emile Heskey
9
Kenwyne Jones
39
Darren Bent
19
Jonathan Walters
Subs
Subs
33
Andy Marshall
29
Thomas Sorensen
24
Carlos Cuellar
5
Danny Collins
21
Ciaran Clark
14
Danny Pugh
8
Robert Pires
15
Salif Diao
17
Jean II
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It’s good news from the coronary ward of the Queen Elizabeth hospital: Gerard Houllier will not require any surgery, just rest and medication. It’s unlikely that we’ll see him in the dugout again this season though, so Gary McAllister will fill in as expected.
So, whether you wanted it or not, we will have a fourth person calling the shots from the sidelines this season. Fortunately, we’re more or less out of the woods and McAllister will just be supervising Houllier’s
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