Aston Villa 1-1 Everton – att: 31,853
This game followed the script of the reverse fixture earlier this season at Goodison Park with both sides cancelling each other out in what proved to be a frustrating afternoon for both sides. Aston Villa went into this game on the back of four straight home league defeats with Everton win less in their last two league fixtures.
Alec Mcleish decided to bring Shay Given back into the team after a seven game absence at the expense of the unfortunate Brad Guzan. New loan signing …
In a derby that already means so much to so many, it was the added twist of the fixture taking on the subtext of a ‘relegation six pointer’ that added gravitas to a tie that, in the end, failed to provide either side with the haul of points they would initially have been hoping for.
With Villa desperate for points to carry them away from trouble, yet missing key men Emile Heskey and Ashley Young through suspension, manager Gerard Houllier showed admirable attacking intent with a forward thinking 4-4-2 line up, …
It’s dragged on for days now, and at times it seemed that – just like the Gueida Fofana deal – it was destined to collapse, but to the relief of many Aston Villa today confirmed the signing of Cameroonian international midfielder Jean Makoun from Lyon for a fee of around £6,000,000. As Villa’s first cash signing – discounting the Milner for Ireland swap deal – for a year and a half, and with the side languishing in the relegation zone, there are plenty of fans who are just pleased that …
An away trip to the always rowdy Bramall Lane represented a tricky draw for an Aston Villa team down on their luck and struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League table. But a fantastic solo goal from new boy Kyle Walker, followed by equally stunning strikes from Marc Albrighton and Stiliyan Petrov, sent the Midlands outfit into fourth round, much to the relief of manager Gerard Houllier.
Defeat today would have increased the pressure on the under fire Houllier, so it was no surprise to see the Frenchman name …
Aston Villa have today confirmed the signing of young Tottenham Hotspur defender Kyle Walker on a loan deal that will keep the player at Villa Park until the end of the season. As first choice right-back Luke Young continues to be plagued by a mystery injury problem, Houllier has acted quickly to bring in a replacement as he looks for solutions to the side’s defensive frailties that has seen the team concede ten goals in their last four league games, with Villa’s last clean sheet coming in the dour derby …
They say it never rains but it pours. If last nights events at Villa Park are anything to go by, Gerard Houlier must be a strict advocate of this belief. In fact, it’s probably quickly become his own personalised mantra, and the paltry 32,627 souls brave or misguided enough to make it through the turnstiles last night are probably fellow converts to this way of thinking.
And as if to reinforce this feeling, Villa fans will have woken up this morning to stories of the board restating their ‘firm support’ for …
Gerard Houllier faced some tricky selection decisions going into a difficult game against a Chelsea side desperate to arrest their recent decline in form. Villa’s own squad, reeling from a thumping at Eastlands on Tuesday, clearly needed some form of shake up, and Houllier’s solution was to recall Richard Dunne, recently stripped of the captaincy, to a side filled out with some of the senior players who have been kept out of the team by the youngsters in recent weeks.
Houllier’s thinking was clear, telling the press before the game …
There’s been a distinct lack of festive cheer surrounding Villa Park over the holiday period. As the initial excitement that came with the appointment of a new manager, particularly one with a CV as impressive as Gerard Houllier’s, has given way to repeated stories of player unrest and a slide down the table so dramatic that it could induce a case of the Bends, many Villa fans must be wondering if Santa Claus simply avoided the B6 area of the city altogether this year.
Still it’s gifts from another gentle, …
Gerrard Houllier and Arsene Wenger may be countrymen and great friends off the field, but both had to put aside their respect for each other as their teams faced one another in the weekend’s early Premier League kick off.
Arsenal, nursing their wounded pride after back-to-back defeats at the hands of Tottenham and Braga, seemed ready to dish out a hiding, and having not lost to Aston Villa away from home in twelve years, and with Villa’s own squad ravaged by injury and illness, it seemed that the Midlands outfit might …
Federico Macheda and Nemanja Vidic’s late goals were enough for Manchester United to escape Villa Park with a draw they scarcely deserved after Ashley Young from the penalty spot, and Marc Albrighton on the break, had given the home side a well deserved lead.
Villa, who have not beaten United at home in fifteen years, will feel they should have had the game won by the time Macheda’s rocket shot found the top corner, after hitting the woodwork twice within the space of two second half minutes.
It’s partly a sign of …
