Crosswesleyanchapel takes the Vital Villan interview.
Crosswesleyanchapel takes the time for our Vital Villan interview.
1) When did you become a Villa fan and why?
1986-87, forgot my kit for football practise after school and a friend of mine who was an ardent Saints fan collected every football kit around. He happened to have the Villa kit spare so he let me borrow it. I then saw Villa on the Big Match on ITV and it grew from there.
2) Best moment/moments as a Villa fan?
For me it would have to be the Coca-Cola Cup finals in 1994 and 1996. I went to both games and the whole day was fantastic. Beating Man Ure in 94 was the best final though. The fact every man and his dog follows United and to beat them so convincingly made my Monday back at school even more enjoyable !
3) Worst moment/moments as a Villa fan?
Blues away when Mellberg threw the ball into our net. I say no-more. The Venglos and Turnip 2nd time round days weren’t great either !
4) Best and worst away ground visited?
Best – Stoke City, purely for atmospheric reasons, there is nowhere louder in this country that’s for sure ! To look at it would have to be the San Siro in Milan.
Worst – That’s easy. Oxford Uniteds old Manor Ground and Oxfords new Kasam stadium. Both unbelievably shit and ramshackle. St Andrews is also horrendous but Oxfords pips it just….
5) What did you think of last season? Good, bad or indifferent and do you think we progressed?
Was not happy with the UEFA Cup antics at all and O’Neill owed EVERY Villa fan an apology for that, more so the fans who forked out all that money for the away leg and to be honest giving them a free evening meal was a joke. Refunds would have been a much better idea ! At least if we had tried in that it wouldn’t have bothered me dropping from 4th to 6th overall. Once we lost Laursen it went downhill from there on and got very frustrating.
6) Which player/s should Villa sign this summer? And do you think Villa will spend enough this summer to progress?
I would like to Villa to sign quite a few players this summer but any logically thinking Villa fan knows it wont happen as Martin seems to have no testicles when it comes to ‘big money’ signings. We seem to hear the same old feeble excuses which, quite frankly I’ve grown tired of hearing. Were trying…the right players aren’t available…blah blah etc etc. Just exactly what does Storey-Moore do ? Does anyone know ? He must watch an awful lot of reserve games as most of the players MON has signed are pretty much stiff equivalent. It seems as if MON fails to realise that everyone has a price. You’ve just got to be ‘prepared’ to put your money where your mouth is. Ashley Young was the only big money gamble we’ve had and to be fair to him it wont be long before he buggers off stating that we aren’t matching his ambitions….same as our Captain. If the likes of Spurs and Man City can sign big name players then so can we and I will not be told otherwise.
7) What do you expect next season?
Premier League: Top 10 finish, where ? I wouldn’t like to say. Replacing Laursen is a massive task for starters.
FA Cup: Yawwwnnn… 5th round me thinks
Europa League: LOL ! Lets not get our hopes up shall we….
Carling Cup: I’m not all doom and gloom… I quite fancy us to get to the semis next season or possibly go on and win it.
8) Your opinion on Martin O’Neill now he is approaching his 4th season in charge?
I was impressed at how he turned everything round on arrival and got down to work. However, I do really believe next season will be his last. I don’t mean to sound pessimistic but I genuinely believe we wont qualify for the Champions League next season and also am not expecting to be jumping for joy in the transfer market. A friend of mine said that all MON is good at is getting the best out of average players and I couldn’t agree more. He seems to be quite good on the motivational front but apart from that nothing else really. He didn’t do himself any favours slating fans and also in defence of Gabby. I can remember him being touted as Taggarts successor at Man Ure and the fat Spanish waiters replacement at Liverpool and to see that was comical. Typical drivel from certain papers. Surely the boards of both these clubs can see he wouldn’t be good enough for either of them. I can honestly see Randy conducting interviews in the not too distant future.
9) Your opinion on Randy Lerner and his board?
He doesn’t show his face enough in the media for me to form an opinion really. This is something I like about him though. We all know the media talk shite most of the time and the fact he steers clear of moronic cretins such as Martin Samuel and Brian Woolnough is a good thing. He doesn’t seem to have a problem spending money and looks as though he loves the club so I cant ask for more really. The sponsorship with Acorns was a nice touch along with the Holte Hotel refurb, if only I could bloody get in there once in a while ! 😉
10) Favourite current player?
Gareth Barry. Consistent and has been a credit to the football club.
11) Favourite former player/s?
Tony Daley… obviously and David Platt. Hard workers and goal scorers.
12) Gareth Barry, will he stay or go and do you care?
I think he will go and don’t be surprised if he doesn’t sign for Spurs. Don’t forget he is a Spurs fan and so is his family plus the main factor is Spurs will pay anything for anyone. This is a club that has a clown at the helm in Harry Redknapp and also the club that paid £18 million for Darren Bent AND were ready to splash £20 million on Kenwyne Jones at Sunderland. Need I say anymore ? Liverpool realise he has a year left and would probably either wait or offer half whereas Spurs would pretty much give us what we want. He owes this club nothing as he is spot with his assessment of us not matching his ambition. He is an England regular and if you look at the core of the England starting eleven, most of them are playing CL football every year. MON needs to wake up for next season and add quality in quantity to compete.
13) Right, lets lower the tone… which celebrity would you most like to bang?!
Danielle Lloyd. Bet she loves it !
With thanks to Crosswesleyanchapel
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