Thursday Transfer Rumours
All the latest rumours and gossip that have been spreading around that involve Villa. Read more
O’Neill not leaving and another friendly announced.
With Liverpool finally getting rid of that waste of space that goes by the name of Rafa Benitez, our very own manager Martin O’Neill is once again linked with a move to Anfield.
It’s becoming harder to find things to write about when it comes to Aston Villa around this time of the year because most things are just pathetic rumours that simply wont happen.
And the rumour going round about O’Neill jumping ship to Anfield is something else that simply wont happen and I’ll explain why.
O’Neill has already had talks with Randy Lerner this summer and he has decided to stay at Villa Park and finish what he has started. Why exactly would he want to jump ship for a club that are going backwards and not forwards? I personally can’t see much changing there until they have new owners and nobody seems to be ready to jump into a club with so much debt.
Martin O’Neill will be Aston Villa manager next season and don’t let any papers tell you otherwise.
Villa off to Dublin
Aston Villa have added a friendly against Irish side Bohemians in Dublin in July. The game will take place at Dalymount Park on the 24th of the month with a 3pm kick off.
I’m actually thinking about travelling over there for this one as I have heard about good stories about previous pre-season trips to the Irish capital.
Preview: Tottenham v Aston Villa
Villa head down to North London today to take on Spurs in the 5.30pm kick off at White Hart Lane. For all those who don’t already know, the game is live on ESPN.
The race for the top four is really starting to hot up now with four teams all chasing the forth spot, and in Spurs and Villa, two of them take on eachother today.
The two sides met earlier on in the season and it ended up as a 2-2 draw at Villa Park.
Spurs boast a impressive home form this season which includes clean sheets in each of there last six home fixtures while Villa have won three of there last four games on the road.
Tottenham have Eidur Gudjohnson, Younes Kaboul and Kyle Walker all in the squad and could play some part in the fixture. David Bentley will continue in the starting line up at the expense of injured Aarron Lennon, while Luka Modric is looking for force is way back into the starting eleven.
Villa will welcome back John Carew who has missed the last four games with a knee injury, and he should start on the bench. Stiliyan Petrov is also likely to start despite a Achilles injury.
Stephen Warnock is the only real doubt as he is still struggling with a shin injury. Wilfred Bouma played 90 minutes in mid-week, but still doesn’t find himself on the bench as Martin O’Neill doesnt want him to rush back.
Going to be a good game with two sides who are very good at the back of late and also enjoy attacking football. This is a game that Villa must win if they want to really push for a top four spot and could climb above Spurs with a win this evening.
SKYBET Odds: Tottenham 11/10, Aston Villa 5/2, Draw 12/5
Avillafan.com Prediction: Draw.
Jones on Villa radar?
According to reports in todays papers Villa have emerged as favourites to sign Kenwyne Jones from Sunderland in a fee believed to be in the region of £12million.
It was rumoured that he could be on his way to either Birmingham, Stoke or even Tottenham.
Kenwyne Jones is not this 20 goal a season player a lot of fans believe we lack, but theres no doubt when on form he can cause a lot of problems for the opposition defenders. But thats where the problem comes, ‘when hes on form’, something in which he doesnt seem to do on a consistant basis.
And then theres the fact, is he really better than what we already have? John Carew and Emile Heskey can both do jobs – the same sort that Kenwyne Jones does, and in my opinion they are bother better players. Not to forget the most important thing the two players i say are better than Jones, combined are cheaper than the Trinidad international.
One of the newspapers reporting this story says that Emile Heskey will move to Liverpool, allowing this move. But lets think about it a little. Emile Heskey removing to the sinking ship on Merseryside? For a manager whos job looks to be gone sooner rather than later? A club that probably can’t even afford the £4-5million asking price Martin O’Neill would request.
I can’t honestly see either of these deals happening. Martin O’Neill made no secret with the fact that he has no plans to get involved in the transfer window, and i’ve seen nothing to suggest otherwise.
Aston Villa – The year 2009!
The year 2009 has been a up and down season for all those who follow the boys in claret and blue. We all remember the dreadful run that blew our champions league chances last season, in which we eventually finished 6th.
The summer sore the arrivals of Fabien Delph, Stephen Warnock, Richard Dunne, James Collins, Habib Beye and Stewart Downing as Martin O’Neill continued to splash the cash trying to build his own squad that wouldnt just compete in the premier league, but on all cup fronts to.
Things looked already for a good season out in Spain when Villa managed to beat Juventus on penalties in the final to become 2009 Peace Cup winners. Many young players shined including Marc Albrighton.
The start of the season started with a defeat to Wigan on the opening game of the season and being knocked out of the Europa League. All of a sudden all the optimism that fans had after the Peace Cup win seemed to have gone and there was even some call’s for Martin O’Neill’s head.
Then Villa headed up to Anfield when they made everyone in the Premier League stand-up and take notice as they beat the Reds 3-1 in there own back yard.
The results continued to come which included a home win over Chelsea and our first league win over Manchester United at Old Trafford since 1985.
As we approach the new year we currently lie joint 5th in the Premier League, in the Semi-finals of the League Cup and we are still in the FA Cup. What more could we really want?
All in all a decent year for Aston Villa Football Club – lets hope a even more successful 2010 which will hopefully see Villa become League Cup Champions.
