Don’t call it a comeback
I been here for years
Rockin my peers and puttin suckas in fear

And the most tenuous headline award goes to…

Sorry about that.  In case you weren’t aware, Freddie Bouma played his first game in an awful long time last night, running out for the reserves in a 3-1  win over visiting Chelsea.  Coincidentally, he made his first comeback from the dislocated ankle in this same fixture last season, but later suffered the heartbreak of the freak toe injury halting his progress.

All this talk of comebacks put the classic LL Cool J track in my head, so since sharing really is caring, you can now have it in your head too.  I know, you can thank me later.

The question really is whether he’ll be the player he was before his enforced 18 month break.  I certainly hope so.  Although I always felt he was a better defender than attacker, which is odd given that most of early career was spent as a winger, we were treated to some of his best performances before his cruel injury.  He’d shed some weight and gained some fitness, and it really seemed like Martin O’Neill was getting the most out of Freddie.

Warnock may be the clear first choice at left back, but with Shorey at Fulham on loan with an option to buy, Freddie has a clear run at trying to force his way back into the first team.  He’ll turn 32 in the summer, so time isn’t on his side, but if he can return to anything close to his pre-injury form, we’ll have a very fine back up indeed.

That said, I’m not sure where Warnock is with his shin injury at the moment, but he was missing at Craven Cottage.  Luke Young is a very good stand in and it does allow MON to get Young, Cuellar, Dunne and Collins all on the pitch, but maybe MON will have been watching Freddie’s performance last night with Tottenham in mind.  At the very least, I’d expect him to be on the bench at White Hart Lane and I’m sure the travelling supporters will sing his name.

Watching The Reserves

I’ll be dropping the video of last night’s game in here as soon as it’s available. (I’ll shout on Twitter when it’s here)  It’s a shame that the original source will be Chelsea TV, but maybe that’s something Villa can look at developing in the future.  From a commercial perspective, it’s surely got to be a good thing to be able to allow fans all around the world to see the youth and reserve teams in action without all the broadcasting restraints imposed by the Premier League.  A fantastic way to win new fans too.  Think of all those shirts the club could sell when players the fans have invested several years in watching progress through the ranks finally make the first team.

We might not have the resources to create a full on TV channel in the same mold as Utd or Chelsea, but in this age of internet video it really isn’t necessary.  I hate to say it, but creating something along the same lines as the video section on the Man City website would be a very good start.  In fact, as technology stands right now, it actually wouldn’t be a bad finish either.  They’ve done a very good job with the Citeh site.

I know it’s been suggested to the club and I really hope it’s something that gets some serious development as we really are behind some of the bigger clubs in this area.  However, it ought to be acknowledged that it’s not something that they’re terrible at, they could just be doing much, much better.

Update: I’ve just spotted the video I was waiting for. Only a quick glimpse of Freddie I’m afraid, but here it is anyway:-