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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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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