Bob Bradley going public with his interest in coaching Aston Villa could not have been better timed as the Villans were thrashed by Newcastle in an absolute embarrassment.

There has been a distinct lack of pressure trying to find an adequate replacement for Martin O'Neill. And it is not certain whether Randy Lerner has a short list - but this result could change it all.

Vincono le grandi. Titolo ancora in ballo, in inghilterra, ma i londinesi hanno esorcizzato l'ultimo grande pericolo e viaggiano con grande entusiasmo verso la vittoria della Premier League.
Infatti, il Chelsea espugna Anfield Road, tana del Liverpool (che paga le fatiche dell'Europa League e ha un Benitez ormai in partenza, destinazione Juventus) grazie ai "soliti noti", Drogba e Lampard, e rende vana la vittoria, di misura, del Manchester United che doma i "black cats" con la rete di Nani e torna da Sunderland con ancora qualche flebile speranza in tasca (almeno per la matematica).

Highlights with an irritating techno track. Turn volume down.

Watch Newcastle take apart Villa at St James Park.

Jon Carew misses a penalty in the first 10 minutes when Villa were dominant but once bad boy Joey Barton, sporting a mustache launched a blistering open field shot from 25 yards out that beat Brad Friedel all ends up, it all crumbled quickly for the Clarets.

Manchester United supporters are planning to infiltrate the home fans at Sunderland next week after the North East club cut their ticket allocation by almost half. Just days after crowd trouble...
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Ashley Young to go? O'Neill resigns after Lerner calls shots on transfers

Shocking news for Villa fans. Martin O'Neill resigns as coach five days before the season begins. Really poor timing and calculated to hurt too.

It seems Randy Lerner's decision to sell to buy policy could have sparked the decision making the availability of transfer funds dependent on the James Milner sale to City.

The scoreline does not reflect a good Villa team that came out to play against the team which had annihilated them a fortnight ago. They were also denied a clear penalty when Agbonlahor by John Obi Mikel in the box. Another moment was the horrific studs up tackle on James Milner by John Terry which should have been an instant red card.

Tomorrow's match against Brazil and Martin O'Neill's departure could have a significant import on the future of Bob Bradley.

A good performance and US Soccer could be tempted into offering a contract extension set to expire this December. So far, the organization have held back and left Bradley's career in limbo because the World Cup performance although exhilarating in many ways ended in an unsatisfactory loss to Ghana in the group of 16.

As per a number of media outlets including ESPN, there are emerging reports that Bob Bradley has handed in his resignation and could be unveiled as Aston Villa's new manager next week.

All sorts of conjecture really with few hard facts to back it up. The resignation part is perfectly believable - Bradley has been quite vocal in his desire for a new challenge preferably overseas.

Aston Villa shrugged off the trauma of Martin O'Neill walking out five days before the start of the Premiership to spank West Ham, 3-0.

Goals from Stewart Downing, Stilian Petrov, and James Milner doomed Avram Grant's side. Not a very auspicious debut for the former Pompey boss.

How bad is Roberto Mancini? The only creative midfielder in your midst and he is sidelined. Sure, he is a bit surly and not given to the warm fuzzies but no one can deny Ireland is a talent that needs to be nurtured.

Mancini is even worse than Hughes. He will buy all this attacking talent but his mindset is all about preventing goals which means that the three man holding midfielder set - Nigel De Jong, Yaya Toure, and Gareth Barry is his centerpiece.

Best EPL players from Saturday and Sunday only.
GK Ben Foster Birmingham City. He gets the nod from us just over the young Fulham keeper David Stockdale. Foster proved that he has what it takes to be a number one, moved to City from Man Utd in the summer. He showed everyone that he is right up there with Joe Hart to fight it out for an England spot, and the reason he gets the nod from us, a superb penalty stop from a thunderous strike from Morten Gamst Pedersen.

Kevin McDonald's boost as interim coach took another turn for the worse as Villa came unglued at home against Rapid Wien. It was a bright start by Villa as Ashley Young in a trademark tear down the right crossed beautifully to Agbanlahor who finished in a nice bit of hustle.

Villa's defending so shambolic against Newcastle once again proved its undoing as Habib Beye lost the ball to Veli Kavlak who then danced around him before unleashing a fine cross which Atdhe Nuhiu headed home after fronting Carlos Cuellar.

Tony Pulis fresh from grieving his mother's passing away was given some balm in Stoke's last gasp win over Villa, in keeping with this Premiership season's theme of adrenaline driven finishes. It was wily Robert Huth who stuck out an opportunistic foot to guide Matthew Etherington's shot into goal.

AstonVilla midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker has apparently rejected an offer to play international football for Sierra Leone. At 26 it looked like his ambitions to play internationally for England have passed.

After representing England at the under-21-level and captaining them, along with club teams Wimbledon and West Ham United, a bright and long international career was expected.

Rafael Van Der Vaart yet another Real Madrid castoff is proving to be the signing of the season. For Tottenham. Two clinical finishes from the Dutchman was enough to see Spurs through against Villa who are reeling under Gerard Houllier. Two wins in 12 matches has seen Villa slip to 15th, four points above relegation threatened Fulham.

Martin O'Neill's resignation from the managerial position at Aston Villa just days before a ball was kicked in August came as something of a shock to many of the club's supporters. Four months on, Villa supporters could be forgiven for pondering whether O'Neill saw this coming. Their form now feels more like a collapse than a slump and the question of whether this team at this time has the stomach for a relegation battle is now starting to come to the forefront of the minds of many supporters.

The enfant terrible of the Serie and now the Premiership scored from two penalties and after Brad Friedel could not handle a weak David Silva shot was left with the simple task of stroking the ball into an empty net. Not exactly scintillating stuff but any hat trick looks good on the resume.