Uno
ial Villa News…
Oh Scott Carson, do be quiet! He told BBC WM that Gareth Barry should move from Villa! Bitterness is a terrible thing! ‘I think if he wants to leave he should really. However, people have got their price and if Liverpool cannot match the price then they have got to come to some sort of agreement.’
He also said of the impending arrival of Blackburn veteran Brad Friedel to Villa, ‘They never said that they definitely didn’t want me, they said they were going to go for an experienced one and maybe they still will.’ Carson meanwhile has moved to the Baggies at a cut price £3.25 million.
Martin O’Neill has indicated just how crucial the Intertoto Cup games against Odense BK at Villa Park on Saturday is by stressing how much easier it will be for him to attract the right players to Villa if we are in the UEFA Cup. Our last poll asked ‘what are Villa most likely to make most of their signings’ and 59% agreed with the Villa boss saying once Uefa qualification is confirmed. So there, we aren’t just pretty faces us lot are we?! Full article: Uefa Critical To Villa Attracting Top Names
The Villa boss is hoping that the fans will pack out Villa Park to cheer the lads into Europe. ‘The crowd were fantastic last season. We broke 40,000 regularly which was immense. So I can’t say they haven’t played their part, they’ve done fantastically. Now it’s up to us to give them something to cheer on in what is a very important game for us. I’m looking forward to it and would just love to get through.’ Seems season ticket sales are up around 7% on this time last season so the Villa faithful are certainly doing their bit in the revolution! I think current sales for the inter are over 30 000, can’t think of anywhere better to be tomorrow, can you!? Full article:
You can buy tickets online >> Click Here >> (collection only now), get down the Ticket Office or contact 0800 612 0970.
Hopefully the official site will get some pictures up of this soon, but they are reporting that the players were able to play on a full size replica of Villa Park AT our training ground Bodymoor Heath yesterday. I was lucky enough to be down there a few weeks ago and saw the finishing touches being made and blimey, it is so impressive, as are the rest of the facilities. MON told www.avfc.co.uk: ‘I think this will be very important for us in terms of preparing for games. Obviously it means we can keep Villa Park in as good an order as it’s been for the last couple of years. We’ve never overused Villa Park and the groundsman has been delighted with that. We’ve done our best to leave it for matchdays. But in preparing for home games, it will be nice to replicate the surface so that the players get used to that, rather than going to Villa Park during the course of the week. So it should benefit us.’
Nigel Hokey-Cokey says that Steve Sidwell will become a fans favourite. He said: ‘He’ll be a great addition to the team. He’s a good player. He’s got a good engine on him and he gets goals. He’s a true goalscoring midfielder and I’m sure he’ll get a lot of goals for us throughout the season. We’ve got great attacking options all over the pitch. We’ve got players who can create and make things happen and we have got match winners.’
Not many rumours today, The Leicester Mercury says the Foxes starlet Joe Mattock could well be leaving this summer with Villa, Everton, Liverpool and West Ham all waiting in the wings. The teenager told the Leicester Mercury, ‘Things like that happen but I am just focusing on what I am doing on the pitch.’
Other than that, apart from Robinson to Spurs = Friedel to Villa and talk of us hijacking the Younes Kaboul move to Sunderland, there is very little doing. Friday Villa Press Talk…. Shhhhhhhh!
I do have one inside source and his cat told me yesterday that Villa are definitely set to sign at least two to three players within the next 12 months. Folks, you heard it here first, Vital Villa, always with our ears to the ground, mostly because people keep pushing us over.
Craig Gardner says he is happy to play at right-back or anywhere else he is asked as long as he is played! Gardner told the official site: ‘I hope the manager knows that I will play right-back all night long and all season long for Villa if that is what he wants me to do. I just want to be playing and doing my best for the team this season. I want to play European football this season and so do the rest of the lads. We are all determined to get through the Uefa Cup and also determined to win it for the fans.’
Thought for the day: The world is a dangerous place; only yesterday I went into Boots and punched someone in the face.
Join the Vital Villa fantasy football league and be in with a chance of winning £5000 in the overall league competition PLUS I will put the £250 our mini league won last year into a prize fund. So for our very own league the winner will win £150. Second place £75 and the third placed will get £25 It is easy to enter, just go to: www.vitalfantasyfootball.co.uk and pick your team. If you don’t have time you can press for a lucky dip selection. Then press ‘join mini league’ or use the left hand side menu option ‘mini league’ to join Vital Villa’s league: League title: Vital Villa
Password: vital
