I was one of a number of people to Re-Tweet this little gem before the kick off at Upton Park last weekend:
I noticed one or two people copy & pasting the contents, including both hashtags, to pass it off as their own (which is pretty lame), but I believe @Jacko442 is the originator.
By the final whistle, Bent had added to his tally and had another one chalked off for a foul only the referee saw. (You can add that to
I’m sure you’ll be aware by now that Gerard Houllier has unfortunately been admitted to hospital overnight and will remain there for a few days for tests. Gary McAllister will therefore take charge of first team affairs in his absence, including Stoke’s visit to Villa Park on Saturday.
It would be irresponsible, even crass, to speculate on the nature of Gerard’s hospitalisation, we all know his history, I’d prefer instead to wish him the speediest of recoveries and look forward to
I said I’d be happy with a point before kick off and I would have been too. And with five minutes or so left on the clock I began writing just that, but then Gabby popped up in injury time and forced a rewrite I couldn’t be happier about!
The game got off to the worst possible of starts after Robbie Keane took advantage of Ashley Young’s failure to leave his post quickly enough at a corner and blasted in from
Big game, big opportunity today. Here are today’s Premier League matches followed by the confirmed line-ups for Aston Villa and West Ham:
Birmingham City (16th/35pts) vs Sunderland (13th/38pts)
Everton (7th/44pts) vs Blackburn (15th/35pts)
West Brom (10th/39pts) vs Chelsea (3rd/58pts)
Blackpool (17th/33pts) vs Wigan (20th/31pts)
West Ham (18th/32pts) vs Aston Villa (14th/37pts)
West Ham
Aston Villa
1
Robert Green
1
Brad Friedel
37
Lars Jacobsen
36
Kyle Walker
22
Manuel Da Costa
29
James Collins
15
Matthew Upson
5
Richard Dunne
36
Wayne Bridge
2
Luke Young
16
Mark Noble
6
Stewart Downing
11
Thomas Hitzlsperger
19
Stiliyan Petrov
32
Gary O’Neil
20
Nigel Reo-Coker
33
Victor Obinna
7
Ashley Young
35
Robbie Keane
18
Emile Heskey
9
Carlton Cole
39
Darren Bent
Subs
Subs
31
Ruud Boffin
33
Andy Marshall
4
Daniel Gabbidon
24
Carlos Cuellar
18
Jonathan Spector
21
Ciaran Clark
13
Luis Boa Morte
8
Robert Pires
26
Zavon
It seems like a lifetime ago that our 2010/11 season kicked off amidst a mood of confusion and uncertainty with a surprisingly emphatic victory over West Ham at Villa Park. For the Hammers, it was a glimpse of the months that lay ahead for them. For us, it was very much a false dawn.
Of course, it was actually only eight months ago, but here we now are in the middle of April, West Ham occupy the relegation zone where they
A very rare occurrence for us in the last few years; results around us did us a big favour coming into this match and the opportunity was capitalised on. Three vital points opening up a little bit of breathing room at the bottom of the table. Take a moment to breath in that oxygen. Sweet isn’t it?
The single goal that yielded three points came courtesy of James Collins’ shiny dome 25 minutes in, flicking on a superb free kick from
With the exception of West Brom grabbing three points in Sunderland, all of yesterday’s fixtures went exactly as we needed them to. With Arsenal hopefully about to do the business in Blackpool (although they’re not making it easy), Newcastle’s visit to Villa Park provides the perfect opportunity to move away from the danger zone and relieve a little pressure.
Here’s how Gerard Houllier plans on getting the job done (not listed: The 12th Man):
Aston Villa
Newcastle
1
Brad Friedel
1
Steve Harper
36
Kyle Walker
12
Danny Simpson
29
James Collins
2
Fabricio
It’s not enough to be good, you have to have a share of luck now and again too. Luck is something that deserted us some time ago; its evil cousin, bad luck, getting its feet under the table in short order. Today, good fortune appeared to briefly return when Jermaine Beckford’s thunderous shot ricocheted off the underside of the crossbar and was adjudged not to have crossed the line.
While Everton protested, Brad Friedel spotted the opportunity to move the ball
With West Ham still leading West Ham, lifting the Hammers up the table as things stand, here’s how we’re going to have a crack at the injury ravaged Everton today:
Everton
Aston Villa
24
Tim Howard
1
Brad Friedel
2
Tony Hibbert
36
Kyle Walker
6
Phil Jagielka
5
Richard Dunne
15
Sylvain Distin
29
James Collins
3
Leighton Baines
2
Luke Young
18
Phil Neville
20
Nigel Reo-Coker
5
John Heitinga
17
Jean II Makoun
7
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov
6
Stewart Downing
23
Seamus Coleman
7
Ashley Young
21
Leon Osman
11
Gabriel Agbonlahor
16
Jermaine Beckford
39
Darren Bent
Subs
Subs
1
Jan Mucha
33
Andy Marshall
Aristote Nsiala
24
Carlos Cuellar
19
Magaye Gueye
16
Fabian Delph
30
Shkodran Mustafi
8
Robert Pires
Adam Forshaw
19
Stiliyan Petrov
Conor McAleny
12
Marc Albrighton
Apostolos Vellios
18
Emile Heskey