Archive for the ‘Aston Villa’ category

Martinez to Villa?

June 9th, 2011

Since losing Gerard Houllier a couple of weeks ago, there has been no shortage of contenders for the vacant Aston Villa’s manager position. Every unemployed manager has been linked although it seems as though Randy Lerner’s first choice is actually one who is in employment, as Wigan’s Roberto Martinez contemplates a move to the Midlands outfit.

The odds for the job have been ludicrously turbulent since Houllier’s departure, with the likes of Mark Hughes, Rafael Benitez and Steve McClaren all being linked with the post. Hughes even resigned as manager of Fulham – prompting huge speculation that he was set to take the job. However, Villa have now made an approach to Wigan and as their chairman Dave Whelan says, the ball is completely in Roberto Martinez’s court. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live he said: “It’s in Roberto’s hands and I will support him whatever way he wants to go.

“I think he will make a decision in the next 24 hours, and my gut feeling is that he will stay at Wigan.”

Villa’s interest in Martinez certainly comes as a surprise although looking at the bigger picture, they could be about to land a manager who has experienced nothing but, albeit modest, success throughout his managerial career.

His first job came in 2007 and after leading Swansea to the League One title, he was already regarded as one of the most promising managers in the country. His slick style of football was widely recognised and following a top half finish in 2009, he was linked to both the Celtic and the Wigan job. Eventually he took up the challenge at the DW Stadium and despite possessing limited resources; he has managed to keep the Latics in the Premier League for two consecutive seasons.

However, with Villa having so much more financial clout it remains to be seen whether he will finish the job that he started at Wigan. His chairman Dave Whelan remains confident, but even he must be slightly worried considering the circumstances.

Hughes Quits Fulham

June 3rd, 2011

It was always going to be hard for anyone to follow in the footsteps of Roy Hodgson following his incredible success at Fulham, yet Mark Hughes did a pretty good job after leading the Cottagers to 8th this campaign. However, following intense speculation linking him to the Aston Villa manager’s post, Hughes has now resigned from his position as football’s silly season gets well and truly underway.

Villa were forced to part company with Gerard Houllier earlier this week after the Frenchman’s health had deteriorated to a state where he could no longer commit his long term future to the club. Since then, there have been a host of names linked with the job including Everton’s David Moyes, Steve McClaren and Mark Hughes. However, Hughes’ sudden departure seems to indicate that he is now the front runner from the job.

Despite this, Hughes has stated that his decision to resign is not based on contact from any other club and instead, he simply wants to further his career. Speaking to the BBC, Hughes said: “As a young, ambitious manager I wish to move on to further my experiences.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to clarify that neither myself nor my representative have approached or have been approached by another club.”

As well as taking Fulham to a top half finish, the Cottagers have also qualified for the Europa League due to their sterling disciplinary record. Bearing this in mind, Hughes’ statement could be entirely plausible and he may believe that he cannot take the Craven Cottage outfit any further.

Hughes’ managerial career has certainly been turbulent and after a steady spell at Blackburn, he experienced something of a bizarre tenure at Manchester City where some would say he was unfairly forced out following major investment in the club. Having only been in charge for Fulham for less than a year, some clubs may even be put off by the fact that the former Wales manager struggles to hold onto a job for a substantial amount of time.

Management Merry-Go-Round

June 2nd, 2011

The football season may have finished, but the business is most certainly continuing. Two clubs in the top four divisions have just appointed a new manager, while one is now on the lookout after losing theirs.

The most high profile appointment is at West Ham after Sam Allardyce agreed to join the club on Wednesday. Allardyce, who was sacked under surprising circumstances at Blackburn just several months ago, will take over with the aim of achieving promotion at the first time of asking after the Hammers’ relegation to the Championship only a couple of weeks ago.

Elsewhere, there was also an appointment for Championship side Barnsley. The Tykes have been without a manager since Mark Robins’ surprise resignation last month yet the club’s board have now announced that Rochdale boss Keith Hill will be his replacement. The situation is certainly a bizarre one, after Hill appeared to rule himself out of the job following preliminary talks last weekend. The appointment now means that Rochdale are searching for a new manager.

The final piece of manager-related news comes at Villa Park. There has been speculation for a while now that Gerard Houllier would not be returning to his post following illness, but that has now been confirmed. The former Liverpool boss has only been at the club for nine months but after suffering health problems that meant he was unable to work for the latter stages of the season, he has now opted to step down. The announcement has already triggered plenty of speculation, with the likes of Mark Hughes, David Moyes and Steve McClaren all linked with the post.

For now, that is all to report on this subject. However, as the summer progresses there is undoubtedly set to be more managerial changes as football’s silly season gets well and truly underway.

Today in Premier League

September 26th, 2009

Cheslea faced defeat for the first time this season at the JJB stadium playing against Wigan Athletic. Wigan opened score in the 16th minute with a header from Bramble. Chelsea equalized two minutes into the second half with a goal from Drogba but Wigan’s attempt to score in the 52nd minute saw Petr Cech bringing Rodallega down in the box. Cech was shown a straight red card which left reserve keeper Hilario with the job of saving the penalty. Rodallega stepped up and took the penalty which he netted comfortably, making the score 2-1.

Chelsea tried attacking, but with a man down there was always a fear of counter attack. Chelsea did not capitalize on the opportunities that came their way and were punished again in 90+2 minutes when Paul Scharner scored, giving Wigan their first win ever against one of the top 4 English clubs.

Manchester United defeated Stoke City 0-2. First half saw United making sloppy passes but soon Ferguson replaced Nani with Giggs which proved to be a master stroke as Giggs helped United to score both the goals. With assists from Giggs in both united goals, Berbatov and O’Shea scored a goal each in the 62nd and 77th minute.

Liverpool defeated Hull at Anfield with a thumping 6-1 lead. Torres took 3, Babel 2 and a goal from Gerrard saw Anfield live with action. 4 goals from Keane saw Spurs defeating Burnley 5-0 at home. Portsmouth continued their losing run as they faced their seventh consecutive defeat this season, this time at the hands of Everton.

Blackburn won against Aston Villa 2-1 in front of home fans. Birmingham and Fulham were not able to capitalize on their home advantage and lost 1-2 to Bolton, and 0-1 to Arsenal respectively.

Big Four through

September 24th, 2009

The renowned big four of the Barclays Premier League are through to the last 16 of the League Cup. Liverpool and Arsenal were already through the previous night, while Manchester United and Chelsea joined them the following tonight.

United were playing newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford in front of 51,000 supporters. Sir Alex Ferguson started the match with a 4-3-3 formation. Macheda, Welback and Owen had been allotted strikers positions. Carrick, Nani and Gibson covered the midfield, and the defense was formed by Neville, Brown, Evans and Fabio and Kuszczak adorned the goalies position.

The win didn’t come easy for United as they were left with 10 men in the 30th minute when Fabio was shown a straight red card for a foul on Kightly. Kightly was running straight towards the United goal post when Fabio came from behind and slipped in front of Kightly. Fabio was then seen bringing Kightly down with his hands and was red carded by referee Peter Walton. Ferguson soon replaced his young striker Macheda with young defender Ritchie De Laet to make the defense strong.

United kept attacking and finally the breakthrough came in the 66th minute with a superb one-two between Welbeck and Owen which saw Welbeck scoring his first goal in his first match this season for the club. The match ended at 1-0 for the home team.

In London, Kalou scored the only goal of the match in the 52nd minute which was enough to see Chelsea through to the next round. Neighbors, Tottenham Hotspurs defeated Preston North End 5-1, and Everton won 4-0 against Hull City. Extra time was needed to decide the result between Fulham and the big spenders of Premier League, Manchester City. The match ended 1-2 to City with Toure scoring the winner in the 111th minute. Villa is through to the next round as they defeated Cardiff City 1-0.

Updates from Premier League

September 2nd, 2009

On its last day, the transfer window saw Everton successfully sign 25 year old Dutch footballer John Heitinga. A regular in the Dutch national side, Heitinga signed a five year deal with the blue side of Merseyside on 1st September. He selected the no 5 jersey which was previously worn by Joleon Lescott who left the club last month and joined Manchester City. Everton Have reported paid £6.2m to Atletico Madrid for the Dutch defender.

Manchester United’s wonder kid, Macheda who rose to fame after his 93rd minute winner against Aston Villa in a league game has again expressed his desire to return to his home country Italy.

26 year old Swedish striker, David Elm has successfully signed a one year contract with Premier League old timers Fulham for a reported fee of £500,000.

It is still not clear whether Portsmouth have signed 28 year old Aston Villa left back Nicky Shorey. Though, sky sports claims that the deal has completed successfully before the transfer window closed.

Finnish footballer Teemu Tainio will play the new season with newly promoted Birmingham City. Teemu joined City from Sunderland on loan.

Newly signed Niko Kranjcar of Tottenham Hotspur has revealed that he was also approached by Everton, before signing for Spurs from Portsmouth for a reported fee of £2.5 million.

The summer transfers saw Manchester City as the biggest spender in England as they approximately spent £120 million after deducting the money gained from selling five of its players for a seven figure price tag. Manchester United were seen the biggest gainers as they sold their star player Ronaldo for £80 million.

Liverpool defeated at home

August 25th, 2009

Liverpool’s 31 games undefeated streak at home finally came to an end. Liverpool lost 3-1 to a Villa side which was desperately looking for a win. Before this match Villa had won only 2 of their last 18 matches, so, this win would give them the much needed confidence especially at the start of the season.

It all started well for Liverpool, Benayoun almost drew first blood in the first minute itself. They kept creating chances in the first 30 minutes but nothing was converted, luck didn’t seem to be favoring them. Finally the breakthrough came from a Liverpool player, but he scored for the away team.  Lucas headed Ashley Young’s cross into his own net in the 34th minute. Aston Villa added another just before half time, again from a set piece. This time the goal scorer was Davies who headed at the near post from a Nicky Shorey’s corner.

Liverpool looked dangerous in the second half. They kept pushing Villa’s defense to the limits. Finally in the 72nd minute Torres netted one back for Liverpool and suddenly it seemed that Liverpool might win it. Three minutes later Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard provided a penalty to Villa through a reckless tackle on Nigel Reo-Coker, allowing Young to make the score 1-3.

Liverpool still kept creating chances here and there but nothing proved significant. The match leaves Liverpool at 10th place in the league table. Liverpool has already lost two of its first three games in the current season, and interestingly they lost only two games in entire season last year.

O’Neill: Loss will end Blues hopes of a Premier League title

February 20th, 2009

Martin O’Neill feels that Chelsea are in a situation where they cannot afford losing another game in this season, if they wish to have any hope of being crowned the Premier League Champions.

Ahead of his club’s clash with the Blues at Villa Park, O’Neil insists that their opponent have the quality in players for putting together such a run.

O’Neill said, ‘Chelsea needs to beat us for staying in the hunt of Premier League title, as Manchester United have opened up a 5-point gap at the top of the table over Liverpool and another 5 over them.’

‘With only 13 games remaining in the season, Chelsea needs to remain unbeaten throughout and will require winning at least 11 of them.’

‘Although achieving such a feat takes some doing, for the talent, which is on display at Stamford Bridge, it is achievable.’

‘Last season, they achieved a similar feat only to lose the chance after drawing with Wigan in a crucial game of the season.’

‘They were also within a penalty of winning the final of the Champions League, which they went on to lose to Manchester United.’

Chelsea displayed top class performance, as O’Neil hailed following the match, to defeat Aston Villa 2-0 in October at Stamford Bridge. O’Neil was surprised with their dip in fortune and an unexpected change of manager.

‘I was surprised when I heard that Scolari was sacked. For someone, who has the credential of winning the World Cup and being lauded by everyone as a great manager, he was given too little opportunity for having an impact at Stamford Bridge.’

O’Neill: Young and Abbonlahor are irreplaceable

January 16th, 2009

Martin O’Neill, Aston Villa Boss, insisted that the duo of Ashley Young and Gabriel Abbonlahor, who have played an imperative role in the team’s success, are irreplaceable.

O’Neill stressed on the fact that his priority is to drive more blood in his team and make them sustainable in challenging on all the three fronts, which includes FA Cup, UEFA Cup and Champions League.

Duo of Young and Agbonlahor have scored as many as 17 goals this season helping Villa in overcoming the loss of John Crew, who has missed most part of the season with a serious back trouble.

Sources say that Ashley Young is currently linked with Real Madrid, who have offered £27 million for him. However, his current manager claims that he is worth many times more than the initial £8 million, which Villa paid for buying his services before couple of years back.

On the other side, Abbonlahor has been operating effectively for his team as the lone striker in 4-5-1 formation. He has been responsible for keeping Villa amongst the top four in the current season.

Villa Boss expressed his concerns to rest some of his key players in the next few days.

O’Neill said, ‘Boys like Gabby and Ashley are really irreplaceable, as they are priceless for the team.’

‘Till the transfer window closes, I need to keep my fingers crossed as losing out on either one of these players may leave the side in a tight situation.’

‘With a possible Champions League berth in sight, we will need the support of all our best players.’

Aston Villa Vs Arsenal: Gunners lose 2-goal lead against Villa on Boxing Day

December 27th, 2008

Arsenal lost yet another opportunity to go ahead of Aston Villa in the Premier League standings, as they lost a two-goal lead at Villa Park on the Boxing Day.

Goals from Gareth Barry and Zat Knight helped Villa make it 2-2 after Denilson and Diaby got the away side take the lead.

Villa has given a boost to their chances of getting through to the Champions League, whereas Gunners will now go into the New Year with a tough task in hand.

Meanwhile, Liverpool took the lead once again with a win over Bolton, after Chelsea held the top position for some minutes when they defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, as Drogba and Lampard scored for the Blues.

Reds scored a 3-0 win over Bolton at Anfield with a double strike from former Tottenham striker, Robbie Keane, and a brace from Albert Riera.

Manchester United made a return to the third position with a 1-0 victory against Stoke City at Britannia Stadium. This was the first game for Red Devils after their Club World Cup conquest in Japan.

Again, Manchester City made a stunning comeback through Robinho and Caicedo, as both of them scored two goals to help Mark Hughes’ side secure a 5-1 win over Hull City at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Newcastle lost an opportunity to move further in the table, as they lost to Wigan 2-1 at JJB Stadium thanks to a wonderful free kick from Ryan Taylor, his 4th against the Magpies.

However, Everton did jump to sixth position by beating Middlesbrough 1-0 at the Riverside Stadium with a strike from Tim Cahill.

Elsewhere, Portsmouth & West Ham United and Sunderland & Blackburn played out goalless draws at Fratton Park and Stadium of Lights respectively.