Uno
ial Villa News…
Tickets for the Carling Cup home game against the winners of the re-play between Leicester City or Nottingham Forest (Sept 18) are now on priority sale. The game, set for September 26 are available to season ticket holders for £15 (adult)
Fat, handballing cheat or footballing messiah (delete as you deem appropriate!) Diego Maradona will be at Villa Park next month along with his team mates for a replay of the heartbreaking (for us English obviously) 1986 World Cup quarter-final.
Thomas Sorensen is apparently “weighing up” his options and a report in The Sun claims he may well leave in the summer after falling out with Martin O’Neill. It seems if he doesn’t get his first team place back, he’ll quit. Fair enough then, next! Sorensen is in the last year of his contract so sadly would be able to walk away for nothing, not a great situation for Villa as he could command a decent enough price tag as an international keeper.
Reports this week have re-stated that Martin O’Neill is looking to tie up Olof Mellberg, Luke Moore and Martin Laursen to new deals, but these latest reports don’t mention Thomas Sorensen at all. So maybe there is substance to these exit rumours? Villa Defenders Future To Be Sorted
Martin Laursen won the man of the match poll vote on Vital Villa. Nigel Hokey Cokey came second.
Villa have three England U21’s looking to feature tonight. Gabby Agbonlahor, Luke Moore and Craig Gardner are all in the squad to take on Montenegro.
Reports over the week have suggested that Villa skipper Gareth Barry could well start for England tomorrow in the crucial Euro qualifier against Israel.
Martin O’Neill says he will consider loan deals for the younger player to get them more first team football. With Stephen O’Halloran already linked to Ipswich the Villa boss said: ‘I explore any possibility of things that can suit the player and perhaps the club. I’m not talking about any particular player here. The minute we sign any player, we get inundated with calls from clubs wanting to loan this and that player. It’s as if they’re waiting for us to make signings before making a move. I’ll review the situation and see what might suit both the club and the players.’
Martin O’Neill believes that Stiliyan Petrov will bounce back and that he needs the support of the crowd to spur him on. Full article: Petrov – A Roar Or A Whimper?
Nice positive comments from Nigel Reo-Coker on the move to Villa Park: NRC Moving To Villa An Easy Choice
Only Villa v West Ham will kick off at 3pm on Saturday Oct 6 and make up only one of two games on the traditional day for footie. Villa v West Ham On ‘Dark Weekend’
Dr Jozef Venglos talks fondly of his season at Villa and waxes lyrical of our history and future: There Is ‘Something’ About Villa!
Martin O’Neill says he will try again for his right-back target come January after missing out on him this summer. On avfc.com he explained: ‘In the end, I’d like to have had a natural right-back in the team that we were hoping to get. That’s why I thought he was worth waiting for, for some time. However things didn’t materialise in the way I’d have liked them to have done and I still believe now at this minute that it’s worth waiting for until January time. Nothing’s definite but I’m led to believe from the club itself that something can be done. That was the only disappointment – the rest I was really happy with, getting Zat Knight, Curtis Davies and Moustapha Salifou in late on.’
More on the signing of Moustapha Salifou: Moustapha risk free player (gerrit?)
Meanwhile wing wizard Tony Morley says Martin O’Neill is getting the blend of speed and graft just right. Click Here
Vital Villa asked, who is Villa’s best signing under Martin O’Neill? The winner, by some margin, was winger Ashley Young with 51% of the votes. No shock there then, this season he has come on leaps and bounds and looks like a real handful for any defence in the league. Next up came summer arrival from West Ham Nigel Reo-Coker with 21%. Full results on Vital Villa. The latest poll is asking who you think was Villa’s player on the month in August.
Thought for the day: EMPLOYERS: Avoid hiring unlucky people by immediately tossing half the CVs into the bin.
