Alex McLeish kicked off his first Villa Park match with a near perfect start thanks to goals
from Gabby Agbonlahor, Emile Heskey and Darren Bent. Only Morten Gamst Pedersen's very well taken
header spoiled the perfect result. Most importantly though; three points and a convincing
performance were required today.
Guess who's coming to Villa Park... again!! I'm sure their fans are as sick of the
sight of us as we are of them. Fortunately, if we can avoid being drawn against them in both of the
cups, we won't have to see them again until the reverse of this fixture in March next year.
So, here's how the two Glaswegian managers are sending their sides out today in what will be
Alex McLeish's first home game since taking over at Aston Villa.
Yes, it's just pre-season. Yes, it's still early days, there's much to be done. Nevertheless,
the positive signs continue. The green shoots of recovery are quite possibly poking their heads
through the soil.
Darren Bent (who else?) got the only goal of the game in typically oppressive conditions in Hong
Kong, but there were encouraging performances all around the pitch.
It's not just the team who can test things during pre-season, it's also a good opportunity to
try a few new tricks here on the blog. Today's live blog is just that; a test. The live blogs I've
done in the past were hosted by an external company the same one the official site uses but I
wanted to bring it in-house as it were.
It's not just the team who can test things during pre-season, it's also a good opportunity to
try a few new tricks here on the blog. Today's live blog is just that; a test. The live blogs I've
done in the past were hosted by an external company the same one the official site uses but I
wanted to bring it in-house as it were.
Houllier's much rotated side ensured their place in the draw for the 5th round of the FA Cup
thanks to goals from Ciaran Clark, Robert Pires and
Nathan Delfouneso, but were forced to see out just under 30 minutes with 10 men
after Nathan Baker was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on David
Hoilett.
I'm sick of the sight of Blackburn Rovers. We've played them eight times in the last two years;
four times in the cups, four times in the Premier League. Villa have a 100% record in the cups, but
Blackburn have won the last three league meetings.
It's the 4th round of the FA Cup, form largely goes out the window, but for what it's worth,
Villa are obviously riding high on back to back league wins for the first time this season.
