I don’t get to see the reserves live as often as I would like, but as they were playing Man Utd Reserves tonight, I was able to catch the first 80 minutes of the game bossed by Gordon Cowans before the stream died on me. A very good performance it was too, lead from the front by Barry Bannan, who was near faultless throughout.
Bannan opened the scoring just after five minutes with a curled free kick from just outside
If you didn’t watch last week’s press conference, you can be excused if this is new news. However, those of us who watched it and paid attention heard Gerard Houllier explain quite succinctly that he had prior commitments that prevented him being at Stoke. He went on to say that he might be in charge for Bolton, but it may well be afterward, he did promise to attend that match regardless, watching from the stands if necessary.
He also
It lived up to the preview, we got what we expected at the Britannia Stadium. When Stoke had the ball, they were direct and made effective use of possession. When they didn’t, they dropped deep into two well organised banks of four, the midfield almost on top of the back line. Very tough to break down.
During the opening spell, 15 to 20 minutes say, Gabby & Ash were struggling to get into the game, both occupying fairly
Look, no excuses here, we need to take our medicine, we brought this defeat on ourselves by not pressing for a win or sufficiently holding what we had, but I want to quickly highlight an issue that we all know needs fixing.
I’m not advocating that we should do this kind of review during the game, obviously that would be a ridiculous disruption. I’m not advocating that every decision be reviewed either. However, contentious issues that had an effect
A late equaliser from Kenwyne Jones and an injury time winner from Robert Huth cast Stewart Downing’s fine first half header and all the good work Villa had put in during this game to distant memory. It was a lesson in how to lose all sense of conviction in the latter stages of a game, having failed to capitalize on some excellent work earlier on, to lose a match that should have been in the bag.
More importantly, once again,
People are fond of claiming that Stoke is a tough place to go, but the truth is that they lost six games at the Britannia last season and their overall home record ranked 13th in the league. Villa were 12th if you’re interested.
We haven’t beaten Stoke at the Britannia yet, the last league win on their own turf being a 3-1 win at the old Victoria Ground in 1984.
So far this season, their home record is played one, lost
Gerrard Houllier has just completed his scheduled press conference at Villa Park – well, so far as Sky Sports’ questions go – and said all the right things. He showed deference to our history and pedigree, while talking about his pride and passion in taking this job.
He briefly outlined his ambitions, which included Europe and silverware, while making it clear he intends to build on our existing squad and facilities, not attempt to start afresh with his own
If you’ve been on the Aston Villa website since Gérard Houllier was confirmed as Martin O’Neill’s replacement you may have noticed that the marketing team have wasted no time in leaping on this new opportunity. If not, you may have received an email. Take the image below which shows the two frames from a 300×250 ad block appearing all over the site.
A good offer, no doubt, click here if you want to get in on it, but am I
Phil Thompson has explained why he had to turn down Gerard Houllier’s offer to return to coaching in the Premier League and, despite what you might think about him, it’s difficult not to respect him, both for his rationale and his honesty.
Phil Thompson
Had circumstances been different, I would have been delighted to accept the chance to join Gérard Houllier and work with him and Patrice Bergues once again at Aston Villa.
But I had to weigh up the pros and cons