El_Hierro

Possession isn't everything, but I have to say. First 20 minutes of the second half - 70% Villa. Against a passing team like Swansea

Who'd have thought that 6 months ago?

Ireland is still terrible.

Did you even see the game?

He was one of our best players!

This.

Bonus point for me this, would have been typical Villa to lose it at the end there, instead we actually could have won it with good chances for Weimann, Ireland and Bent (who should have hit it first time).

Delighted by the attitude shown and the hard work put down.

Holman obviously knows he should have done better, it's one of those moments where you're tired (and he had every right to be after putting in all that hard work) losing concentration for a bit and hoping nothing will come of it, unfortunately for him Ben Arfa hit a wonderstrike.

Can't fault Lichaj either being on the opposite side, but looking forward to seeing Bennett there who I think will be good for us.

All in all very happy with all our players today, but have to give the MOTM award to Guzan, excellent performance and our new number 1.

Gael Kakuta to Vitesse on loan.

Wilfried Bony on season long loan to us then

(Sell Fonz and loan Weimann) or are we happy with "just" Benteke?

Looks like we'll get Benteke now, can't say I know much about him, hopefully a good move although I must say I'm a little sceptical based on what our Belgian based Villa friends have to say about him.

I think we'll get Parker too, which would be exactly what we need in the middle. Get Dawson and I'll be very happy.

Throw in Benayoun (or another creative midfielder/winger of some sort) as well and I'll be very very happy.

Let us buy Maynor Figueroa. Just for that goal today

This whole 'bad attitude' thing has been blown way out of proportion imo. IIRC Lambert said Vlaar was a top guy with a top attitude, or words to that effect, after their little 'chat' at VP.

I smell misunderstandings, things being lost in translation, and a player desperate to join Villa.

In fact I think he's our new captain.

Houllier was right in everything he said about us being a mid-table club at that time. He know what was required to change it. He was going to change it. Houllier was more exciting he wasn't interested in getting us high to mid-table he wanted to win the league with us, such was his ambition.

Although Lambert claims to be ambitious he doesn't convince me he's anymore more than say a MON. Moderately successful but limited football. You can tell from that press conference PF will be happy with a top half finish and playing good football to get the crowds back, and I don't doubt that's what Lambert will bring. But me, like Houllier, am more ambitious than that and would want to be setting my sights much higher.

Houllier said he had always considered us a mid-table club, not just 'at the time'.

I found that 'Houllier spoke like a winner'-comment quite funny too. Houllier who said there was no way we could beat City (when we had beaten them just weeks before) and was happy to lose to Liverpool. Yeah, that was a real winner.

Lambert>Houllier>McLeish

If we sign Holt and he scores lots and lots of goals for us, then I don't mind us signing Holt

Not about the video for me, although that helps in terms of learning more about how he wants the game to be played.

I think Solskjær's way of playing football could take us further than Lambert's.

I think Solskjær has a bigger name internationally that might help us attract better players than Lambert can, a name that might make players choose us over the Everton's, the Newcastle's and the Sunderland's of this world. With Lambert I think it's more of a 50/50.

Besides, I think Solskjær would fill the stadium from day one, and create a much needed buzz around the place. Lambert would be all right, but he's not a stadium filler

For me Lambert would be the safe (although a bit boring?) option, whereas Solskjær would be the exciting (and of course risky) one.

Now after two of the most miserable years I have ever spent being a Villa fan I know I could do with a bit of excitement.

Do you expect to hear anything from Villa?

"That is up to them. We will take it when that comes around"

Will you take another trip if offered?

"We will have to deal with that when and if it happens"

Which is basically the most important thing that came out of this PC. If he's offered the job, he'll take it. IMO

Reporting live from the OGS PC :

- Several meetings with players and executives earlier today.

- No offer from Villa.

- Informs that he will stay on as Molde manager (for how long though?)

So there you have it. Nothing we didn't already know then.

Live press conference from Aker Stadion (Molde's ground) in around 20 minutes time.

Solskjær will speak to the press himself.

Has this been posted?

Latest interview with Solskjær with Norwegian TV2.

Interesting choice of words.

- I haven't been offered anything. I've said no to some clubs, that next season will play in the Championship and the PL. But when Aston Villa entered the frame they are such a big club that I wanted to hear what they had to say.

- Will you continue at Molde?

- Yes! I'm the manager of Molde FC. I'm under contract for two more years. I had a manager at United who gave me the advice to talk to people. I'm an experience richer. This was not a job interview as such

Link in norwegian

Record deal

Aston Villa secure new £15 million kit deal wth Italian manufacturer

by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

Feb 6 2012

ASTON Villa have signed a record-breaking £15 million kit deal with an Italian sportswear manufacturer to replace current supplier Nike.

Macron will produce Villa’s playing strip, replica kit, training wear and other clothing merchandise for the next four years.

It is the most lucrative kit agreement in the football club’s history with the new suppliers replacing American sportswear giants Nike at the end of this season.

Villa chose Macron from a field of more than 10 other manufacturers across the world after deciding the Bologna-based firm were the perfect fit.

The new home kit will go on sale in June, with the away strip on sale in July from the Villa Park and New Street outlets and Villa’s online store.

Villa’s merchandising manager John Greenfield said: “We have negotiated with more than 10 sports brands across Europe, America and China over the past six months looking for the best partner for both Aston Villa and our supporters. Macron ticked all the boxes for the club and we were very impressed with the overall set-up and experience they have in the manufacturing of football kits.

“The design team and range of products on offer to the club was second to none and suited our requirements.

“The style and quality of the replica shirts and the enthusiasm to work with the club in the overall design and production of our shirts was a key part of the decision to sign with Macron.”

Villa have enjoyed a close relationship with Nike during their five-year £10 million deal despite some teething troubles with the quality of kits.

Macron also produce the kits of clubs including Napoli, Bologna, Leeds, West Ham, Real Mallorca and Braga and Mr Greenfield explained why Villa chose the respected Italian company.

“Our objective was to sign up with a technical sportswear manufacture who could offer, not only match kit and training wear for the players and management, but a full range of product for both our supporters and customers,” he added.

“A brief was given by the Aston Villa merchandise team based at Villa Park to ensure that the range of official products suits the needs of all. We have worked closely with the Italian design team in Bologna, Italy, looking at the latest technical fabric to develop an exciting range of goods.”

Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/aston-villa-fc/aston-villa-news/2012/02/06/aston-villa-secure-new-15-million-kit-deal-wth-italian-manufacturer-97319-30272862/#ixzz1larZdhAU

Looking away from the horrific stuff that went on for the first half hour, the last hour of this game was truly excellent.

Positives:

Best half of football in a loooooooong time. Let's hope we've turned a corner, eh

Two great goals, magnificent build-ups.

Ireland and N'Zogbia very good I thought.

Alan Hutton was a lot better tonight as well, good assist for Bent's goal

Bring on Newcastle, I think we'll do 'em now!

Yeah spot on The Steve - I forgot to say Warnock takes a huge amount of unsung credit for shackling Kightly down the LH side when he came on.

He was all over us first half.

Agreed, he has taken some stick recently so its only fair to highlight the positive side of his game too.

Credit must also go to our manager for the change too, if it had not worked out he would have been slaughtered!

bollocks does mcleish take credit, if gabby had not being feeling unwell at half time the exact same team would have come out.

credit goes to gabby for being poorly.

mcleish needs to to take the blame for a suicidal satrting line up, he totally unbalanced the team with having a centre forward on the left wing again and then to totally ruin the left hand side he drops warnock and plays a very slow centre half in clark against one of the fastest wingers in the premiership. yet again he picked hutton over cuellar and hutton was beaten every time by jarvis but luckily for us collins got his head on almost everything.

mcleish cost us this game from the begining and just got lucky as gabby was ill at half time and then karl henry decided to be a cock.

the thing that annoys me as well is that if gabby was ill last night and not feeling great then what was the point in starting him in the first place.

also with a few mins left when we knew wolves would be pumping balls in the box he brings on the smallest man in the world barry bannan

mcleish is tactically useless and I have no idea what goes through his mind

Jesus, what would you be like if we had lost!

He changed to game with a substitution and tactical reshuffle and you are still trying to find a stick to beat him with. Be fair to the bloke.

it was forced on him. he would have put the same 11 out if gabby was not ill

How do you know?

The answer is you dont.

the answer is gabby was too ill to play the 2nd half, therefore he had to make a change

And if Gabby hadn't been ill, why do you think he wouldn't have changed things around anyway as Clark at left back simply didn't work. Maybe he wouldn't have taken off Gabby (who probably would have played better without the illness), but how do you know he wouldn't have brought on Warnock for Clark as Clark was poor, or for Albrighton who had a poor first half, moving Clark to centre mid and Gardner to Albrighton's position.

How do you know?

Anyway, Gabby off might have been forced, but moving Clark to centre mid and bringing on Warnock certainly wasn't forced as he could easily have gone with several other possible options from the bench we had, Bannan for Gabby in a straight swap being one of them.

The key was not taking off Gabby, it was moving Clark away from the left back and into centre mid, where he was very good.

Warnock's introduction was a huge contribution to us turning it around, and Clark was the best midfielder on the pitch in the second half.

Good decisions all round. Credit where it's due.

I was one of those critical on the match thread and still am. Lets make no bones about it, we were lucky today. Two quality strikes from outside the box and the sending off changed the game in our favour but dont let that paper over the cracks.

First half we started well but as soon as Wolves woke up we were overpowered in the middle. We were lucky to not be 3 or 4 down at half time and if we played any decent side and gave them that much ground and possession, we would have been.

Second half we started brightly, bear in mind we had hardly seen keane link a pass for 50 minutes when he popped up to score with a quality strike. We then went on the offensive a little but far to readily conceded ground when Wolves had possession. Dunne and Collins seem to drop to the edge of their own box at the first signs of danger and that leaves a huge gap between front and back for the midfield to cover.

After the sending off I was livid. Instead of seeing that as a trigger to go and win the game, we slowed the pace of the game right down. Unbelieveable, I couldnt believe it. I think I said in the match thread, if you dont try and win a game you are waiting to lose it. I was desperate for some attacking intent via a substitution but none came. Then, again, another quality strike from Keane put us ahead.

Happy days, now we just have to see out the game. What does McLeish do, he brings off Petrovs legs (Gardener) and brings on Bannan who is not known for his physical presence and defensive ability. It was asking for trouble and we subsequently got it for the last 9-10 minutes as we were under the cosh.

I am not trying to piss on anyones bonfire, but as much as I welcome the win, I cant help thinking its despite McLeish rather than because of. We are playing like a team in mid to low table, the way we are set up, our attitude to games, mentally we have lost the desire and confidence to win games and buying one or two players does not bring that back.

Some decent points, but all in all quite an inaccurate and negative summary of the game if you ask me.

First of all we had started taking over the game long before the sending off. The injury to Frimpong certainly helped, but we started the second half brightly, started to string some passes together, creating some half chances, the Ward/Hennessey/Gardner incident, the Albrighton run and shot. Whatever McLeish said to the lads at half-time it seemed to work.

Moving on towards the end, in my opinion bringing on Bannan was EXACTLY the right thing to do knowing Wolves would throw everything forward hoping to get the equaliser.

Imagine us bringing on another defender, we'd be almost certain to drop deeper and invite them into our box. Now THAT would really have been asking for trouble, especially for a team like ourselves who, as history has shown us several times, simply don't do "seeing out games" very well, it's not our style. Can you imagine the uproar on this site if we'd brought on Cuellar and they'd equalised because we'd been sitting to deep. McLeish would have been lambasted for such a negative change when we were 11 men against 10 and Wolves was there for the taking on the counter-attack. And I think I know who'd been first in line to criticise.

Having a player like Bannan, who can be very creative on the counter, able to find the right pass to finish the game off. In fact we came pretty close a coupler of times in the dying minutes.

Anyway, regardless of who came on (I may be interpreting this one wrong, and I'm sorry if I do), but when you make a point about bringing off Gardner (referring to 'Petrov's legs' which, to me at least, is a clear hint that you think it was the wrong player to take off), who'd been down with a cramp just minutes before, it seems you're desperately searching for sticks to beat the manager with.

Like I said I'm not a fan, but 9th at a club like sha is good achievement and should be mentioned as a counterpart if you're going to bring up the two relegations.

Imo 9th is a position a "popular" (with many) and "positive" manager like Roberto Martinez will never achieve at a comparable club like Wigan with his positive, free-flowing style of football.

However like Trent says, it's the here and now that matters, and that's just not good enough. But hey ho, imagine what he could have done with some proper backing, eh

He also took them to a record 9th position, which is a very good achievement, whichever way you look at it. Not a big fan, just wanted to throw it into the equation.

McLeish probably thinks that was great attacking stuff.

.

You know, I'd hazard a guess that he probably doesn't think that.

There's a difference between wanting to play a certain way, and actually doing it.

Given is a better keeper than Guzan, so if he is fit, surely it is a no brainer.

Funny how since he's been out of the team our problems from set pieces have disappeared though. Interesting if they return today and if mcleish is clever enough to realise...

Firstly we have conceded set piece goals wist Guzan in goal, The 2 vs Liverpool and Arsenal.

More importantly, we have changed how we mark since the Stoke game, we are more man marking and get a bit closer to the attackers. That is more a reason we have not conceded from a set piece in 3 games.

Seriously, you should know better than to let facts get in the way of a good moan around here.

That's because he is rubbish. Forget about the pen. Sure he got in good spots, but it's **** pointless if he can't cross. I think he only put in one successful cross out of like 10. And don't forget he had the time to shoot on target, but the shot was so **** off target it was unbelieveable.

Horrid player.

Actually he had several good crosses today. Two from the left-back position, both pinpoint 30-yarders to 1) Bent, but couldn't control it, poor by Bent and 2) Petrov, who headed it over their keeper who had come rushing out, but it was cleared for a corner, good chance.

Then he had an excellent hard and precise cross from the byline across the face of the goal to Albrighton, who completely fluffed his volley, should have scored.

And then he layed one back across the floor to Heskey who arrived late in the box, but fluffed his chance.

Made too many errors defensively I agree and a very poor attempt at goal, but if you exaggerate like that it's quite difficult to take your post seriously.

Looks a bit down on confidence, seen him a lot better.

And it was never a penalty, from a yard away, the ref just wanted to please the crowd, I've seen Howard Webb NOT give those against Man.Utd TWO times this season. And other referees as well when it's been as close to the defender as that one.