Guest av1 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 4 hours ago, ozvillafan said: Aleksander Tonev His debut was against Norwich on 21 September 2013 - a game which we won 1-0 away.... ... but no thanks to Tonev. In fact, his debut was utterly shocking. Any and every time he received the ball he shot - no matter the angle or the distance or players in a better position - and each ended with the same result: The ball in orbit. So why was this the best debut? Because we weren't sure if he was any good or not as he'd only made a couple of sub appearances before this match but all doubt was removed after his debut. What a stinker. Some of the responses are funny, read on for a couple of pages from about halfway down here: Wow player mentions on page 59 of that thread. Tony Moon Sylla Tonev Weimann Bennett Okore What a big bag of sh#t. We were truly terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, Zatman said: Btw special mention to Zat Knight. His last game for Fulham he scored for us and his 1st official game for us he scored vs Chelsea in a great win The thing I remember most about that game (apart from the incredible atmosphere) was Doug sarcastically shaking Romans hand at the end Edited January 13, 2023 by av1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 Carlos Sanchez. Waited ages for him to make his debut after being lauded as the 'anti-Messi'. Came on and first pass was this amazing gently dinked lofted pass into the path of the striker (bit like Mcginn's in Spurs game) and we all thought we'd discovered some unknown Pirlo-Makelele hybrid type player. That was as good as it got Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 6 minutes ago, av1 said: Wow player mentions on page 59 of that thread. Tony Moon Sylla Tonev Weimann Bennett Okore What a big bag of sh#t. We were truly terrible. Am sure was a Bacuna mentioned somewhere Weimann was fine and Okore had potential but bad luck with injuries. I think he had a good debut as well vs a big team then got a bad injury a few games later 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolteExile Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 (edited) Benni Carbone for the debut. Saunders for the home debut. As good as Deano was that day (should have had a hat-trick, hit the bar) this one tips it for me because there was a genuine sense we were on the up after that game. Those positive vibes carried us to second and we probably would've nabbed first but for Dalian's injury and Howard Wilkinson inexplicably gifting the Red Mancs Cantona. Ian Taylor scored at the Holte End on his debut against Chelsea in 1994/95 as well. Edited January 13, 2023 by HolteExile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one_ian_taylor Posted January 13, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted January 13, 2023 1 hour ago, av1 said: The thing I remember most about that game (apart from the incredible atmosphere) was Doug sarcastically shaking Romans hand at the end Great moment. "Oh you're off are you? Nice to see you, come again" (is what I imagined him saying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 Stan Petrov against West Ham, looked an absolute world beater that day 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 6 hours ago, one_ian_taylor said: Remember being told we had beaten Sheff Weds and that there was a brilliant 16 year old at cente back called Gareth Barry who was nailed on to be great for us. Anyone at the game remember how he played? I remember it, to the extent that we were all talking about him before the game. We all agreed after the game that he had looked comfortable on the ball, had read the game very well and had not looked overawed at making his PL debut as a 17 year old. He along with a few of the young Villa players roomed at the house of someone who was a friend of a lady that I worked with at the time and she told me that I should look out for him. Like Nick76 has already said, there seemed no doubt that he would become a star and so it proved. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted January 13, 2023 Moderator Share Posted January 13, 2023 It's strange the ones you remember, I remember coming away from Petrov's debut against West Ham feeling we had a really good attacking midfielder and then he didn't start playing well for almost a season, when he emerged as a more defensive player, I wondered if I was wrong about him and I'm not sure he ever really fulfilled the promise of that debut despite his excellent service to the club. My two favourites are both debuts in nil-nil draws. Firstly Carbone's, which is especially strange since he's a player we bought to avoid nil-nil draws, he was fantastic on his debut and not just good, he was brilliant to watch, all flicks and movement and sharpness and flair, I was a tiny bit in love by the time the final whistle went. The second was Olof Mellberg at Spurs, a different sort of nil-nil performance - he glided around the pitch snuffing out attacks, looked pacy, strong, good in the air and immediately looked comfortable in the Premier League - I remember thinking just how classy he looked and that we'd got a good one - I was right too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 Alberto moreno 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 21 minutes ago, Demitri_C said: Alberto moreno The guy from Villarreal and used to play for Liverpool? Dont remember him at Villa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 18 minutes ago, Zatman said: The guy from Villarreal and used to play for Liverpool? Dont remember him at Villa Hahahaha i just realised my mistake was gonna change hoping someone wouldnt notice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyClarke Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 (edited) On 13/01/2023 at 15:01, OutByEaster? said: My two favourites are both debuts in nil-nil draws. Firstly Carbone's, which is especially strange since he's a player we bought to avoid nil-nil draws. 1-1 v Wimbledon wasn't it? Edited January 14, 2023 by AndyClarke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted January 14, 2023 Moderator Share Posted January 14, 2023 3 minutes ago, AndyClarke said: 1-1 v Wimbledon wasn't it? So it was. Strange how your mind remembers things, I had it down as 0-0 in my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyClarke Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 2 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: So it was. Strange how your mind remembers things, I had it down as 0-0 in my head. Carbone was amazing though, Dublin with a header I believe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Luc Nilis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 My first thought was Benteke. Scoring on a debut for a striker might be expected, but to actually do it can mean so much for a player. I was quite excited for that pairing of him and Bent together. That didn't last for long. I wish I could've watched many of those mentioned in this thread but one of them really makes me wanting to jump from the balcony. I was in London when Dublin had his debut against spuds. I remember coming off the ferry in Harwich seeing the headlines that we'd signed him. We were about 30 people who'd travelled there to watch arsenal-everton which had been moved to Sunday. I asked one of my friends who's also a Villan if we should take the train to Brum to watch that game but he didn't want to, for some reason. I wanted to but was a little afraid to go alone. Would I get there, would I get a ticket, how could I get a ticket, how much would it cost? Bla bla, bla bla. I regret very few things in my life, but I really regret not trying to go to that game. That could've been my first game at VP. Instead it was 1-1 against boro's 2006. I'm off the balcony right now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 Tiago Ilori Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
withes_shin Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 Nigel Callaghan I'm pretty sure him and Ian Ormonroyd made their debuts on the same day, possibly against Sheffield Wednesday, maybe Wimbledon, not sure. Callaghan was signed to supply the crosses for our forwards but on his debut he scored with a back post header himself. Had a great game that day then like so many others mentioned above, he turned to shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 Nigel Spink, hands down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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