Umbro have follow up their Diamond Icons video featuring our own Darren Bent with a Q&A where he goes beyond talking about tattoos to reveal how he’s settling in at Aston Villa.
How have you settled into the [Aston Villa] changing room?
It’s been great to be honest, I’ve known a lot of them already so that’s helped. I’m quite surprised that they haven’t tried any pranks out on me so far! There’s plenty of jokers in there, and they’ve made me
Continue Reading
Jean Makoun picked up the Man of the Match award against Fulham and has rightly won the plaudits from most quarters. But not everyone is impressed.
It’s true that his tackling isn’t the greatest just yet, but his passing is exemplary; he was the leading passer on the pitch against bother Man Utd and Fulham.
But the devil is always in the detail, passing numbers alone can distort the true picture. For instance, lots and lots of backwards and sideways passes can’t
Continue Reading
The 9th of February is a FIFA scheduled interlull and we have quite a number of players called up to their senior national teams:
Firstly, Darrent Bent, Gabby Agbonlahor, Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Kyle Walker were called up to the England squad travelling to Copenhagen to play Denmark.
Kyle Walker had previously been named in the Under-21 squad heading to Italy which includes Fabian Delph, Marc Albrighton and Nathan Delfouneso.
Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales play the first fixtures
Continue Reading
You may or may not have noticed that I haven’t been following Premier League games up with Statshacks for a little while. There are numerous reasons for that which I won’t bore you with, but I have still been glancing at the numbers and I have to bring Jean Makoun’s passing statistics from Old Trafford last night to your attention.
I don’t always single individual players out and I don’t keep records, but I do look them over and it’s rare
Continue Reading
It’s been the busiest January transfer window I can remember – testament to our lack of activity in the summer and position in the table at the turn of the year – so I thought it worth putting a summary together on a day that will inevitably be dominated by Fernando Torres rumours and counter-rumours.
There are still a few deals in the works, we’re expecting:
Michael Bradley loan to be completed (that is with a view to turn permanent I’m glad
Continue Reading
Edin Dzeko’s late equaliser earned Man City a replay at Eastlands which ought to ensure their place in the 5th round of the FA Cup, meaning that’s where we’ll almost certainly be heading. It wasn’t the re-match with the Blues many fans feared or hoped for, but it’s far from ideal.
I suppose there is still the chance that Notts County could beat City, but it’s slim.
FA Cup 5th round draw in full:
Fulham or Tottenham v Bolton or Wigan
Man Utd v
Continue Reading
There are four American midfielders at the moment that I’d be be happy to see join Villa if we had room to use them; Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan are more than capable of fitting in on the flanks, Stuart Holden would be a useful creative addition in the centre and Michael Bradley would be my choice of a holding, box-to-box water carrier in the middle.
The key being if we had room to use them which I think rules all
Continue Reading
Curtis Davies joined Birmingham City in a deal likely to be worth £3.5m after being on the cusp of rejoining what he called “Sven’s revolution” at Leicester on loan. Sebastian Larsson will not be coming as a make-weight, which is just as well as I’ve been racking my brains trying to think of a player making the same switch directly and have drawn a blank. Chris Sutton is the best I could come up with, but he had already been
Continue Reading
Five days ago, I wasn’t much looking forward to Saturday, but how quickly things can change; all it took was £24m! Seriously though, it’s amazing what a boost the acquisition of Darren Bent has provided. To everyone, fans and players alike it would seem; Gabby, Ash & James Collins all waxing lyrical about Bent joining the team.
It’s also given Gerard Houllier a massive boost in the eyes of many fans who were doubting him, but ultimately it will still come
Continue Reading