Sunderland Archive

The story so far.. James Milner

By
Stuart
Published: February 3, 2010Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
The story so far.. James Milner

Just under eighteen months ago James Milner had signed for Aston Villa and was making his second debut for the club against Liverpool.

In the 18 months hes gone from warming up the bench to possibly the first name on Martin O’Neill’s teamsheet. The yorkshireman has made such a impact in his short time at Villa park he is now virtually a dead cert to be boarding the plane to this summers World Cup in South Africa.

On his 23rd birthday, Villa played Gillingham in the FA Cup third Round at the Priestfield. The midfielder managed to score both goals that day in a 2-1 victory for the Villans.

He also went on to score his first premier league goal against Sunderland in January 2009, at the Stadium of Light. Milner headed home a Ashley Young cross to equalise for Villa that day in a game they went on to win 2-1.

It was February 7th when supporters from across the country started to sit up and take notice of this young talent. Fabio Capello named Milner in his England squad.

However it wasn’t until August 2009 when he made his first team international debut, when he came of the bench for 23 minutes against Holland. He made such a impact in that time that he set up a goal for Jermaine Defoe which gave England a share of the spoils that day as the game ended 2-2.

Milner, was originally a wide man but in the 2009/10 season he has been moved into the centre of the midfield and now some compare him to Chelsea star Frank Lampard.

His workrate is second to none and one thing you can guarentee about James Milner, is he will always give 100%.

When he signed many questions his big price tag, however if you ask any Villa fans right now im sure they would agree with me that his pricetag was just a snippet of what hes worth now and it would take a lot for any club to prize him away from Aston Villa.

Its amazing what 18 months can do, lets hope we see James Milner playing in a Villa shirt for the next 8-10 years.

So remember, Theres only one Jimmy Milner!

The day after the night before..

By
Stuart
Published: January 21, 2010Tags: , , , , , , , ,
The day after the night before..

Wow, what a night last night was! I’m sure im not the only Villa fan sitting here after a long day at work, very tired but looking forward to our trip to Wembley.

I could imagine your typical Villa fan’s to do list today consisted of finding out the ticket information, booking hotels, and checking travel. I’m just glad i took the gamble and booked my hotel on Wednesday night looking at the prices.

Villa released details about tickets today stating that they will go on sale next Wednesday with tickets ranging from £35-£80. The are expecting approximatly 31,000 tickets despite the fact Wembley holds 90,000. We just about get just over a third of the stadium.

With 27,000 season tickets holders at Villa Park, all the loyal supporters should all be able to get a ticket for the game. The rest of the allocation will be going to those who have been to the most games this season. So all the fans jumping on the cup bandwagon won’t be going to Wembley and rightly so.

I was there in those cold nights at both Sunderland and Portsmouth, i was there when we beat Cardiff City in the third round when the cup ment nothing.

Anyway, this was more of a blog post than a news post as there isnt a lot to discuss. The media are all over last nights game and rightly so. So suppose the only words to finish my post would be ‘When Stan goes up to lift the Cup, I’ll be there, I’ll be there..’

Jones on Villa radar?

By
Stuart
Published: January 16, 2010Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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.

The road to Wembley..

By
Stuart
Published: January 13, 2010Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
The road to Wembley..

Villa’s season so far has seen mixed results with unpredictable conclusions but it seems that we can’t be stopped when it comes to playing in the League Cup.

It has witnessed us defeating the likes of Cardiff, Sunderland and Portsmouth in high scoring fashion.

The first match of the competition was at Villa Park, playing Championship side, Cardiff City and despite decent football from the opposition, we comfortably sailed through the next round with a trip up north to Sunderland already pencilled in my calendar.

I was frustrated to see no goals in 90 minutes in this next league cup encounter against Sunderland, but was also proud and optimistic about our youngsters, when reserve keeper Guzan heroicly saved three penalties over the course of the match.

Hopefully, he will learn how fellow american, Brad Friedel keeps himself fit, and will be playing for Villa in many years to come.

We finished the match 3-1 on penalties and despite ex blue Steve Bruce’s sour grapes, we deservedly went through to the next round!

It was against Portsmouth and was perhaps the easiest tie in the group but still had a job on our hands, in more ways than one, as we visited Fratton Park!

This was the highest scoring game so far in the League Cup for Villa as we manage to smash 4 past the Premier League opposition but unfortunately, still conceding 2.

It was my favourite game of the competition so far and left me raring for the semi-final tie against Blackburn, thanks to goals from Heskey, Milner, Young and Stewart Downing on his first start for the club – which was pleasing to see.

If I were being picky, I’d ask the question why are we letting in 2 goals against strugglers, Pompey? But I’ve decided not to moan simply because of the possible chance to play at Wembley in a long awaited cup final!

However, we had to wait a bit longer due to the country’s big freeze resulting in the Ewood Park clash being postponed to Thursday 14th January.

So do we have a chance of winning it? Well many people have automatically assumed that we are already in the final, stating that Blackburn aren’t really a match for the mighty Villa. But I myself, am looking at each game as it comes and trying not to focus on the potential cup final as should the Villa players. I believe complacency would be the only obstacle in our Wembley attempt and as long as we look to avoid that, we should be fine.

And then, who’s to say we can’t defeat Man United or Man City? Believe!