We were in 16th place when we travelled to Anfield last year amidst much doom and gloom and yet we came away with all three points after a hugely satisfying 3-1 victory. We return to Liverpool on Monday night once again in 16th place, and Liverpool in 11th to their 10th last time, but this time Villa have 15 league games behind them, not one.
We haven’t occupied this lowly a league position at this time of year since we
An early goal from the spot and a late goal via a deflection was enough to cancel Gabby Agbonlahor’s first half leveller and send us out of the Carling Cup, triggering disgraceful scenes as City fans invaded the pitch to taunt Villa fans locked in the away section.
The fact we dominated the game is neither here nor there, derby games are a different kettle of fish and it all comes down to failing to capitalise on opportunities and inexplicably slack
Local derby, 120th competitive meeting as it happens. Cup game. Mid-week. Under the floodlights. Only a fool would try to predict the outcome of one these; all bets are off and anything can happen. McLeish has called for a hostile atmosphere and described the reputation of the City fans as being “volatile but not in a nasty way”, whatever that might mean.
Meanwhile, Gérard Houllier has appealed for calm: “It’s a game which is on TV, and it’s a derby,
Since last year, Premier League clubs have been required to publish the payments they’ve made to agents during the preceding 12 months at the end of November and the OS revealed that players’ representatives have received £2.28m from Aston Villa between October ’09 and September ’10, up from the £1.71m last year.
Given the lack of transfer activity at Villa Park in the last year, that might cause a head or two to be scratched. I suspect it reflects how some
Unfortunately, it’s time to review this season’s performance against last season and it’s pretty grim. Last year I apparently ran the numbers after 14 games so that I could arrive neatly at 19, the half way mark, but I think I’ll stick with every five games for the rest of this season.
I won’t waste your time with narrative, the numbers speak for themselves. What I will add is that in games 16 – 20 last season we went
Apologies for the delay on this one, I haven’t had much chance to look at the data and ESPN have introduced significant changes to their match graphics which have made things difficult for me. They say a picture paints a thousand words, this will be graphically heavy I feel.
Firstly, the old cliché about a game of two halves couldn’t be more apt, could it? Villa were woeful during the first half. The opening gambit with Clark moving the
A breathless second half, with a vastly more energised Villa performance, was not enough to prevent Arsenal leaving Villa Park with the spoils, the two unanswered goals during the first period being the difference at the final whistle.
Goals from Arshavin and Nasri during the final 6 minutes of the half capped an irresistible display from Arsenal, Ashley Young’s half-volley over the bar the only reply. Villa threatened to make a fist of things when Ciaran Clark got
Arsenal are a curious side right now, frequently, as far as I can determine, a victim of their own complacency. 2-0 up against Tottenham by half time at the Emirates last Saturday and they somehow conspired to take their foot off the gas to the point they seemed helpless to respond to Spurs’ resurgence and rightly ended up with nothing.
The fans and manager alike, apparently, stunned and without an explanation of where it all went wrong.
They rocked up in Braga
I somehow managed to miss posting an EA Sports Index update during October, but it wasn’t deliberate, merely an oversight on my part.
Given that the index is primarily a measure of contribution to a winning team, you probably won’t be surprised to find that we’re not exactly packing the top 100 with Villa players. There are just six Villans in the current top 100, none in the top 20; Stewart Downing the highest ranked in 24th place.
Similarly, Bolton’s high