2008-2009 Aston Villa Match Thread

[iDiveStevieG]

So there hasn't been as much activity in the forum as I had hoped, but now there's a place to finally be able talk about all of Villa's upcoming match's. Does anyone else smell Champions League football in the near future?:D

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the Gillingham game.:(

How did Nathan Delfuenso perform for his third start?

[bjgcheese]

Nathan had very little service. One cross late in the first half that he tried to volley with the wrong foot he hit too high. Great run and probably could have taken a second touch to finish. Just before he was subbed out he took the ball at the defenders and got off a nice shot to the far post that missed by about 6".

[Guerrero9]

Next match is vs bottom of the table West Bromwich Albion on 10 Jan. Its important that the lads dont get complacent for this one and consolidate themselves in the top 4. Lets get a few past Carson :cool:

[bjgcheese]

Their form against the lower teams has been troubling this season. With the growing injury list and a derby, this will be tougher than it should be.

[eissman]

1st time poster in this forum, so be gentle. :)

Congrats on breaking into the top 3 today!! Regardless of form, it is a long season, and as long as Villa can postpone the injury bug, they have a real shot at getting into the CL next season. Let's hope for a draw tomorrow between Chelski-ManU('r).

It has been a fun ride watching Villa grow and develop over the past 3 seasons (which is when I seriously started taking notice, even though I have peaked in on results from time to time prior seasons).

I wish the best for the squad and particularly the manager, who I rate well.
Cheers. Go Villans!

[Guerrero9]

1st time poster in this forum, so be gentle. :)

Congrats on breaking into the top 3 today!! Regardless of form, it is a long season, and as long as Villa can postpone the injury bug, they have a real shot at getting into the CL next season. Let's hope for a draw tomorrow between Chelski-ManU('r).

It has been a fun ride watching Villa grow and develop over the past 3 seasons (which is when I seriously started taking notice, even though I have peaked in on results from time to time prior seasons).

I wish the best for the squad and particularly the manager, who I rate well.
Cheers. Go Villans!

Welcome.

It was great to back up our form with a win against local rivals West Brom. Man U are back to third now with 2 games in hand. Im tipping the title race will come down to Man U and Liverpool.

[eissman]

Man U are back to third now with 2 games in hand. Im tipping the title race will come down to Man U and Liverpool.

Yeah, agreed. ManU dismantling of Chelsea was a sit-up-and-take-notice performance. They aim to take honors.

Liverpool I feel deserve it, but one wonders if Rafa isn't already feeling the pressure with the comments of late. Keep a steady head mate.

Should be a fun ride.

[Guerrero9]

Yeah, agreed. ManU dismantling of Chelsea was a sit-up-and-take-notice performance. They aim to take honors.

Liverpool I feel deserve it, but one wonders if Rafa isn't already feeling the pressure with the comments of late. Keep a steady head mate.

Should be a fun ride.

Yeah, Rafa tried to put the focus on Man U but they responded in great fashion. It should be a good game when Liv and Man U meet.

Back to Villa, next game is vs Sunderland. It should be an entertaining contest and a chance for Jones to show he belongs in a better club, with Chelsea, Tottenham and Villa keeping tabs on him.

My tip for the game is a 1-1 draw.

[Slater582]

10 man Villa win 2-1 at Sunderland with goals from Milner & Barry as (Ashley) Young is sent off.

Some of the reports saying the second goal wasn't a penalty as the foul was outside the box.

Arsenal now play away to Hull.

---

Just watched BBC interviewed O'Neil, he was really delighted with the win. Said it was the 8th away win of the season & praised the (mental) strength of the players.

[Guerrero9]

10 man Villa win 2-1 at Sunderland with goals from Milner & Barry as (Ashley) Young is sent off.

Some of the reports saying the second goal wasn't a penalty as the foul was outside the box.

Arsenal now play away to Hull.

---

Just watched BBC interviewed O'Neil, he was really delighted with the win. Said it was the 8th away win of the season & praised the (mental) strength of the players.

Good to get the win but we will miss Young. I hope he is not out for long.

[bjgcheese]

Automatic 3 game ban 2 Prem and the next FA Cup in this case. Also, when he gets back, he is on 4 yellows, so the next yellow will result in a 1 game ban. Yellow accumulation is reset after February.

I believe that Gabby, Petrov, and Berry are all on 4 yellows. Luke Young will also miss the FA Cup game due to his 5th yellow yesterday.

[Gilbear]

Old to the game, new to Aston Villa.
With all O’Neil’s policy of playing everybody for each game, do we have any depth in the squad that can get us through this patch? Has anybody heard any roomers of them going after anybody in the transfer window?
Are there any Aston Villa fans in the Philly area?

[Guerrero9]

Old to the game, new to Aston Villa.
With all O’Neil’s policy of playing everybody for each game, do we have any depth in the squad that can get us through this patch? Has anybody heard any roomers of them going after anybody in the transfer window?
Are there any Aston Villa fans in the Philly area?

Welcome, the forum here is pretty new too.

There's been a few rumours but no bids yet. Recently Mon said that he may have to invest in depth. It will be interesting to see how the suspension to Young will affect us, 3 games is a long time so lets hope the rest of the guys dont drop the ball while he's not there.

[eissman]

Automatic 3 game ban 2 Prem and the next FA Cup in this case. Also, when he gets back, he is on 4 yellows, so the next yellow will result in a 1 game ban. Yellow accumulation is reset after February.

I believe that Gabby, Petrov, and Berry are all on 4 yellows. Luke Young will also miss the FA Cup game due to his 5th yellow yesterday.

Wow... that is not a good list to be looking at. I guess this is one major drawback to MO'Ns philosophy of playing the same 11 each week (which has proven to work quite well).

Shame. This is just the sort of thing Villa need to avoid if possible.

[Gilbear]

“Martin O'Neill has confirmed Ashley Young faces internal disciplinary action after the Aston Villa winger was sent off against Sunderland.”
Young is missing 3 games. Do you think O’Neil is going too far by taking some internal discipline against him? Is the ban enough or does O’Neil have to make a statement?

[Guerrero9]

Do guys get fined these days for diving? He'll probably get fined a week's wages. These are the games Ashley Young will miss:

Tue Jan 27 2009 Portsmouth(12) (A)
Sat Jan 31 2009 Wigan Athletic(7) (H)
Sat Feb 07 2009 Blackburn Rovers(17) (A)

All these games are winnable but we'll need everyone to be switched on especially when we are away.

[bjgcheese]

Do guys get fined these days for diving? He'll probably get fined a week's wages. These are the games Ashley Young will miss:

Tue Jan 27 2009 Portsmouth(12) (A)
Sat Jan 31 2009 Wigan Athletic(7) (H)
Sat Feb 07 2009 Blackburn Rovers(17) (A)

All these games are winnable but we'll need everyone to be switched on especially when we are away.


I think that he misses the FA Cup game and not Blackburn.

[foleyts]

No matter what losing Young for that many games is just going to hurt the team. His pace is truly amazing and sets the tone in many of the games. Hopefully someone will really step up to make it through this rough time.

[Gilbear]

Laursen's knee injury looks to continue to be a problem. They want to see if they can make him "pain free" in order to play. Sounds a little desperate.
I have heard that O’Neil is interested in the striker Sturridge. What do you think? I think we need to look for another central mid fielder also.

[iDiveStevieG]

Sturridge would be an amazing pick up, not only is he young and english, he's also quite the talent. I think he'd fit in well with Big John and Gabby, not like he's getting much playing time at Citeh..:rolleyes: