Villa won this tie at the Riverside and finished the job last night. It was a close call between the two teams, but we were so determined to emerge the victors that we were not to be denied.
Boro have played us four times in the Championship this season and have not scored against us. If anyone was going to score last night, it was Villa that had looked the more likely to do so. Boro had a little more possession than we had last night but they rarely threatened to do anything with it. Our g
Our unlikely hopes of automatic promotion were finally extinguished beyond any doubt yesterday. We will end the season in fourth place but will hopefully end it with a Wembley win to show for our efforts this season.
Ex Blue-Nose Cameron Jerome gave Derby County a 14th minute lead yesterday that despite Villa enjoying the lion’s share of the possession they had looked increasingly like holding onto until Lewis Grabban hit our late equalizer and put their invitation to the playoff lottery on
A second successive home win and clean sheet has left us just 270 playoff minutes plus stoppage/extra time away from promotion.
We did not need to be at our best last night to emerge the victors and we were not. We had by far the better of the game and ran out comfortable winners, but we took our foot off the gas noticeably in the second half and other teams might have made us pay the penalty for that. This was our third game within a week, so it might have been tired legs rather than a cas
Two Championship heavyweights traded blows last night before Super Jack landed a knock-out blow in the 85th minute that was good enough to win any game.
Cardiff’s defeat is their second on the trot and they may now find pulling back Fulham who are on such an impressive run to be beyond them. There is therefore now a decent prospect of this fixture being repeated on 26th May subject to both teams emerging victorious from their two-legged semi-finals and avoiding each other in these.
Aft
The pride of the Black Country arrived at Villa Park yesterday expecting to record a further win. They snuck out of the ground later with their tails between their legs having been clearly outplayed on the day by the pride of the Midlands.
Cardiff and Fulham fans would have expected Villa to drop at least a point last night. They were to be disappointed. This looked a tough game for us but perhaps we underestimated the team’s will to win a little and by doing so over-estimated the impact ou
We dropped another two home points yesterday having gone two goals ahead within the first ten minutes. Our opponents drew level after only 26 minutes of the game to burst our bubble. Their goals came from a lumbering striker who was not good enough for the team that are rock bottom of the league today. His two finishes were reminiscent of Shearer in his pomp and I am sure he never expected his name to be linked with a player of that quality albeit for a fleeting moment other than by someone who
This was not a great game or performance from us but the mark of sides that get promoted is that they are able to grind out results when not at their very best and this is what we managed to do this afternoon.
We now stand seventh in the table having won our fourth successive league game. We are unbeaten in our last eight games and are just a point behind the three clubs immediately above us that occupy three of the four play-off positions. We are also only 4 points off Wolves who occupy th
A super well-placed Conor Hourihane free-kick gave Villa the win in yesterday’s game between the only two of the five English teams that have lifted the European Cup that currently play outside of the top flight. Forest won that trophy in 1979 and 1980. Villa continued the Midlands domination of that cup competition in 1982 to become the fifth consecutive winners from England with Liverpool also having won the trophy in 1977, 1978 and in 1981. These two Midland clubs have sadly fallen from grace
We made 11 changes from the team that won 3-0 at Barnsley on Saturday and paid the penalty for that with a cup exit (our first ever League Cup defeat against yesterday’s opponents). Not that we are alone in making significant changes in this cup competition and resting first team players at the drop of a hat as Middlesbrough made 10 changes themselves.
The League Cup was a really important trophy for around 40 years from the mid 60’s but it’s importance has faded to the extent that only 11,
This was an improved performance on the one that we witnessed on Saturday but it would have been difficult to have been worse than that! The team selection was a little more positive as were the substitutions made at half time that gave us two strikers at long last albeit against a team who were down to ten men. We enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession and created several chances but were sadly unable to put any of them away.
Another goalless home draw makes it seem a long time since w
Despite selling players like there is no tomorrow in the last two transfer windows and being second from bottom of the table both before and after this game our visitors have not tasted defeat in their last three games against us.
The Bees drew at Villa Park last season and did the same yesterday. This result has put as huge a dent in our confidence and has placed similar doubts upon our promotion prospects as had our 1-1 home draw against Brentford last September.
We need to approach
Villa scored four goals at home for the second time in four days yesterday despite making 11 changes from the team that defeated Norwich on Saturday.
Our League 1 table-topping visitors also made the same number of changes. It seems clear from this that both clubs are prioritising promotion rather than cup glory this season although a visit to Wembley might yet be needed to secure promotion for both teams via the play-offs.
This was a much better game than I had anticipated it would be
We scored four goals at Villa Park for the first time in three years yesterday. Conor Hourihane scored our first hat-trick for two years and his own first. This our first win of the season took us from the bottom of the table up to 16th place. We also left the ground with smiles on our faces rather than frowns after this goal fest.
We conceded two goals and at times looked too shaky for comfort at the back. That is enough of negativity which was far outweighed by the positives yesterday.
We encouragingly played like Champions-elect during the first half yesterday but failed to put enough of the chances that we created away and as was proved so often last season a one goal lead is not always enough for us.
That Cup of Traditions tournament was made for us, wasn’t it? Villa performances are all too often games of two halves during which Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde take turns in coming out in claret & blue shirts. Those pre-season games were of only 45-minutes in duration and th
Aston Villa have been installed as favourites to win promotion to the Premier League this season after bolstering their squad with some high-profile summer signings. Chief among them is former England captain John Terry, a real coup for the club as the Chelsea legend had plenty of offers from around the globe. Steve Bruce has also brought in Ahmed Elmohamady and Glenn Whelan and the Villans are looking strong going into the 2017/18 season. Newcastle Utd and Brighton secured automatic promotion l
The Championship can be a cruel mistress, any fan of any club will tell you exactly that meaning that, regardless as to how much things can change over the course of the season, a quick start can do wonders for anyone’s campaign.
Villa fans know only too well what a poor start to the season can do for your fortunes across the following nine months-or-so after the debacle of last term.
A few wins early doors can do wonders for a side’s form and confidence and could be the difference whe
This game was very, very friendly and not a lot can be deduced from it. Before the game I expected our visitors to be battling to stay in their present division this season and for us to be striving for promotion preferably without recourse to the play-off lottery. I witnessed nothing to change that opinion yesterday as this game gave little clue concerning how successful each team may or may not be in achieving those objectives.
It was fitting that the two football clubs that are most as
Aston Villa with nothing to play for save their pride and their fans played their part in defending the integrity of the EFL by not surrendering meekly to a team that needed a win as had Huddersfield last weekend for example.
We were reduced to ten men in the 63rd minute when the referee decided the penalty they converted was not quite enough punishment for Baker so it then appeared Brighton were set for the win that they needed to clinch the title. However, their wild goal celebrations p
This was a dire game. Our visitors from the dark side of the city showed exactly why they are in real danger of relegation and we showed why we were unable to sustain a promotion challenge this season. But sometimes winning is everything!
Small Heath needed a win but they were not good enough to get one or a draw! We needed to put on a show for those 38,000 Villa fans that paid good money to witness this local derby but we lacked either the ability or the desire to put our opponents to t
This was no way to celebrate 120 years of football at Villa Park. On Easter Saturday 1897 in our double winning season we played our first game at Villa Park beating Blackburn 3-0. On Easter Saturday 2017 at Villa Park, we lost 3-1 to promotion chasing Reading and face a second season outside of the top flight next season.
Reading recorded their first ever win at Villa Park yesterday after 105 years of trying yesterday. They claimed a 3-1 win which was in stark contrast to the 7-1 defea
Aston Villa have the look of a thoroughbred racehorse that is moving up swiftly and unnoticed on the rails as the tiring horses in front labour and stumble towards the finishing post. Their jockeys are casting worried glances behind them at the fast finishing claret and blue clad horse that had been written off as a no hoper too soon continues to make an increasingly strong finish and move through the field. Do you want to bet against us?
A fourth consecutive home win and clean sheet last n
Our third consecutive home win against the Canaries brought us potentially just 7 more wins away from making it into the play off’s. This had seemed an impossible dream only six games ago, it has now become an improbable one but with each win we get it becomes a little more possible.
We have 7 games left before the final reckoning. We probably need 21 points from these 7 games or 19 at the very minimum. We have taken 18 points from our last 7 games.
Fulham will need to get another 12 p
This turned out to be something other than the result that our visitors had hoped for when arriving at Villa Park yesterday. They lost 2-0 to dent their promotion hopes and had both a player and their manager sent off.
We claimed a third successive home win yesterday and by doing so moved into the top half of the table. We were informed “you can only win by cheating” on exiting the ground by a couple of unhappy visiting fans who must have mistaken us for the match officials. We must have be
We had not won since Boxing Day until we did so at Villa Park on Saturday. We added a second home win to that one yesterday. We have taken 6 points from 2 games now having only managed 2 from our previous 9. Our second win of 2017 has taken us up to 15th place and we are now 9 points clear of the drop zone. A third successive win on Saturday at Rotherham would give us 45 points and this would all but secure our safety.
The first half was as grim as was the weather yesterday. Our visitors
We have played better this season and lost. We have played better this season and drawn. I cannot recall us playing any worse for a very, very long time and winning. We may have won ugly at the end of what was a scrappy game but we did win it and that belatedly gave us our first win of 2017.
We now face what is a 6-pointer with Bristol City at Villa Park on Tuesday before travelling to bottom club Rotherham next weekend. These two clubs are now 6 and 22 points behind us respectively. Two
All is not right at Spurs. As soon as managers that are stubborn in their approach talk about needing new players I think it means they are out of their depth. Kind of reminds me of someone.
Spurs already have a very good squad of players. I reckon Ange will be gone at some point next season.
Some child painted red and white lines on that PSG kit. What a god awful array of kits so far, @NurembergVillan hang your head in shame.....your industry has failed you.
Given how many people have predicted the future, can someone give me the lottery numbers please?
I'm utterly baffled as to the sheer pessimism on this thread given everything that has happened this season. There are a few factors that are easily forgotten.
Nothing is set so genuinely anything could happen so we can still mathematically not finish 4th. Even if we finish 5th, that is the best league finish we have had in the since 1996; 28 years. We will also have European football and in a more prestigious one than we were in this season. It has genuinely been a fantastic season that we have improved significantly from last season. Really, cannot fathom why some are acting almost as if we have been relegated.
This season we have had Buendia, Mings and Ramsey (effectively) out for the whole season. We have also lost Kamara for 1/2 a season. That is effectively 4 players that would have been some of the 1st names on the team sheet. We also were without Moreno and Cash for significant periods and the general niggles/injuries have been hitting us all season. How often have you seen 2 keepers on the bench for us? Just take last night, of the outfield players on the bench only Lenglet, Irogebunam and Duran have had any real game time this season and none of them are
Spurs current form is worse than ours. Last 6 games Spurs have got 4 points and they have lost the last 4 games in a row. Over the last 6 league games we have had 8 points and 2 losses. Even if you were considering the Olympiakos games, that still would be "in theory" 7 points and 3 losses. Their current form is terrible.
If we win 1 game or Spurs lose 1 game; it is done. They have to at the very least get a point at Man City who look like they need to win to either win the league or keep up with Arsenal. Even if we get a draw with Liverpool, that will mean that Spurs have to win at City (and hand their arch rivals the title).
Look it is not a done deal, but we are in pole position to finish 4th. The players are exhausted, that is obvious but they know now there is an end in sight and a break for them. One last push to get over the line. Even if they can't, well it will have meant Spurs have had an incredible end to the season and have probably earnt 4th spot. Don't think it will happen and we can all enjoy planning on how we are getting to Munich next year
He still started him at Man. United. Also put him on after 67 minutes v Arsenal. Tim simply doesn't have that faith in him hence him continually warming the bench against similar opponents.
I get we are all nervous but we have given ourselves scope now to achieve this in several ways rather than the chase last year where we had to win every week to get Conference
Spurs - 2 wins and 1 draw - Villa need 1 point
Spurs - 3 Wins - Villa need 3 points (1 Win)
Any other combo for Spurs and we are in the Champions league with 2 defeats
It might be the hot weather and a barrel load of talking from the heart but I wouldnt rule out a Burnely side playing for their lives and on the back of recent draws at United, Chelsea (With 10 men) and at home to Wolves/Brighton on taking a point tomorrow
They're fairly limited on what they can do for the home shirt but that looks like a skidmark. Not a fan
Also is it just me or do the Adidas logos look much bigger on all their shirts for next year?
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Some child painted red and white lines on that PSG kit. What a god awful array of kits so far, @NurembergVillan hang your head in shame.....your industry has failed you.
Given how many people have predicted the future, can someone give me the lottery numbers please? I'm utterly baffled as to the sheer pessimism on this thread given everything that has happened this season. There are a few factors that are easily forgotten. Nothing is set so genuinely anything could happen so we can still mathematically not finish 4th. Even if we finish 5th, that is the best league finish we have had in the since 1996; 28 years. We will also have European football and in a more prestigious one than we were in this season. It has genuinely been a fantastic season that we have improved significantly from last season. Really, cannot fathom why some are acting almost as if we have been relegated. This season we have had Buendia, Mings and Ramsey (effectively) out for the whole season. We have also lost Kamara for 1/2 a season. That is effectively 4 players that would have been some of the 1st names on the team sheet. We also were without Moreno and Cash for significant periods and the general niggles/injuries have been hitting us all season. How often have you seen 2 keepers on the bench for us? Just take last night, of the outfield players on the bench only Lenglet, Irogebunam and Duran have had any real game time this season and none of them are Spurs current form is worse than ours. Last 6 games Spurs have got 4 points and they have lost the last 4 games in a row. Over the last 6 league games we have had 8 points and 2 losses. Even if you were considering the Olympiakos games, that still would be "in theory" 7 points and 3 losses. Their current form is terrible. If we win 1 game or Spurs lose 1 game; it is done. They have to at the very least get a point at Man City who look like they need to win to either win the league or keep up with Arsenal. Even if we get a draw with Liverpool, that will mean that Spurs have to win at City (and hand their arch rivals the title). Look it is not a done deal, but we are in pole position to finish 4th. The players are exhausted, that is obvious but they know now there is an end in sight and a break for them. One last push to get over the line. Even if they can't, well it will have meant Spurs have had an incredible end to the season and have probably earnt 4th spot. Don't think it will happen and we can all enjoy planning on how we are getting to Munich next year
I get we are all nervous but we have given ourselves scope now to achieve this in several ways rather than the chase last year where we had to win every week to get Conference Spurs - 2 wins and 1 draw - Villa need 1 point Spurs - 3 Wins - Villa need 3 points (1 Win) Any other combo for Spurs and we are in the Champions league with 2 defeats It might be the hot weather and a barrel load of talking from the heart but I wouldnt rule out a Burnely side playing for their lives and on the back of recent draws at United, Chelsea (With 10 men) and at home to Wolves/Brighton on taking a point tomorrow
They're fairly limited on what they can do for the home shirt but that looks like a skidmark. Not a fan Also is it just me or do the Adidas logos look much bigger on all their shirts for next year?
