Arsene Wenger has openly spoken of his delight about Arsenal's thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 win to progress to the FA Cup fifth round at the expense of Aston Villa but refuses to discuss the half-time conversation with his players.

The Gunners were 2-0 down heading into the interval following goals from Richard Dunne and Darren Bent but two second-half penalties from Robin van Persie and a deflected goal strike from Theo Walcott completed a memorable triumph.

Likely starters

There's a trip to Bolton looming in midweek, where we'll continue our climb up the league table in search of that Champions League spot. But first there's the matter of the FA Cup to deal with. A small matter or a big matter? Depends on the individuals. Arsene Wenger loves a bit of this competition but not over qualification to Europe's premier competition.

There are very few players who are capable of becoming an instant fan favorite within short span of time that Javier Hernandez managed to do so with the Old Trafford faithful.In his first season at the club he earned rave reviews from fans and the press alike, he had earned himself the title of Solksjaer's heir apparent.

So, it's that time of the year again when the MLS superstars come back to the Europe. Last season there was talk of Thierry Henry and David Beckham returning to the Premier League but nothing came of it. As for this season, what a treat we have been given!

This blog was originally going to compare who would have the bigger impact between Robbie Keane and Henry during their two months back, but after Monday night's performance from the latter I don't think there's really much of an argument.

Last summer, Liverpool rather famously spent big on players who created chances. To many, they paid far too much for far too little and the results haven't lived up to the expenditure, but regardless of whether one agreed with the approach at least there was a clearly identifiable approach: Find the Premier League players who created the most scoring opportunities and then start throwing money in their general direction.

The news on Liverpool FC transfer deal has been spreading like wildfire on the...

Liverpool may be ready to bid for Aston Villa striker Darren Bent, who has...

In a rather poetic and cruel twist, Chelsea closed 2011 similar to how they started it, with a shit sandwich of a performance. Against the same club no less.

Should old acquaintance be forgot? Hell yes.

Midfield creativity

Let me first begin this final blog of 2011 (perhaps) with a few words from the heart, if I may.

Apologies for not producing a killer match preview before this one, but work has been one hateful bitch this week. Anyway, do we really even need to look ahead to this New Year's Eve fixture when we have classic images like the one below?

Yes.

Who: Aston Villa (est.

This is not an attempt to absolve anyone of any blame for the unacceptable performance at White Hart Lane last night, but it's become painfully obvious to me in the last 18 months or so that in the fans' eyes it's players that win games... and managers that lose them.

Let me give you an example:
Towards the end of last season, in what would be Gerard Houllier's final game on the sidelines, we took on the hapless West Ham at Upton Park.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching England defeat Spain in a match that put into display the weaknesses of the defending world champions. Undoubtedly Spain is the best footballing nation in the world, and they play a positive football style that closely resembles that of FC Barcelona. That said, they do not have the attacking power of the Catalonian side - that is, they need a Messi (who

Darren Bent recently took part in a Q&A on Twitter whilst on England duty, here's a glimpse behind the scenes. Perhaps a little on the whimsical side, I was still surprised by his answer when asked who is the fastest player he's seen on the football pitch. (It's not Gabby)

[Email readers: if the video isn't displayed, it's available here]

Gabby

In related news, I'm sure you're already aware, but Gabby was forced to withdraw from the England squad once again with a hamstring strain.

Chris Herd's performances have rightly earned him quite a few headlines in the last couple of weeks. Initially for the wrong reason, but lately for the right ones.

Alex McLeish has said that he's "a manager's dream; the best trainer at the club".

He will train the way he plays on Saturday by giving it absolutely everything.

The players are Darren Bent, Charles N'Zogbia, Ciaran Clark and Gary Gardner. The fella with the hair and the mic is Lukey Moore from the Football Ramble (no relation to the lazy former Villa striker). The competition is IGN FIFA 12 pro player tournament. The venue is Bodymoor Heath.
The winner is.

Darren Bent's brace against Norwich on Saturday took his Premier League career goal tally to 96, he's just four short of joining the Ton Up Club.

It's a pretty exclusive club with former Villans Dwight Yorke and Dion Dublin, plus current Villan Emile Heskey, among its 20 members.
Bent's definitely got his eye on getting past the doorman, he told the official site:

I've still got a few things I'd like to achieve, like 100 Premier League goals.

Whilst they were on the books of Aston Villa, Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor both excelled for the midlands club, leading them to European football and even the brink of the Champions League in an era of success under Martin O'Neill.

However, despite their individual and collective success, both were continually marginalized for their country, overlooked in favor of a multitude of other players.

Darren Bent grabbed a brace as Aston Villa beat Norwich at Villa Park in this five goal thriller.

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Two goals for Darren Bent, both set up by Gabby Agbonlahor who also helped himself to a goal and a deserved Man of the Match award. Those goals were bookended by goals from Anthony Pilkington and Steve Morison for Norwich in an entertaining encounter at Villa Park.

Both strikers now have five goals apiece so far this season and should be expecting a call from Fabio Capello ahead of England's upcoming games against Spain and Sweden.

A much improved performance from Villa in a lively game led to a vital three points at home thanks to two goals from Darren Bent, and a goal for the provider of both those goals; man of the match Gabby Agbonlahor. Goals from Anthony Pilkington and Steve Morison bookended the home goals, and set up a nervous final ten minutes.

Responses to poor performances Manchester United If United win at Everton on Saturday lunchtime then Alex Ferguson can put last weekend's shenanigans down to a mental block from his players, and console himself that if he has just one mindf*ck in 25 years at the helm, all is relatively well. They went down to ten [.

Not everyone enjoys watching Barcelona play football these days, some find them incredibly boring, but I happen to be among the group who gets a lot of pleasure from watching them play.

I'm reluctant to hold them up as an example of what other teams should be doing least of all Aston Villa as they have players from another planet in terms of ability.

The qualification for Euro 2012 is almost done. England will be in Poland and/or Ukraine next summer after comfortably finishing top of Group G, albeit by handing Motenegro an unlikely point and a place in the play-offs in the final game. Ireland also made it to the play-offs, and could be drawn against Montenegro, but Wales and Scotland miss out once again.

Wigan Athletic were finally beaten in the league at Villa Park in a comfortable win for the home side thanks to a goal in either half. The first, a brilliant effort from Gabby Agbonlahor, who then turned provider for the second; setting up an unmissable effort for Darren Bent in front of the Holte End.

Big weekend in the Premier League. The last gameweek before an international break. The two Manchester clubs continue to hog the headlines. Wayne Rooney's status is still uncertain (at the time of writing this post) and perhaps Welbeck and Hernandez ... Continue reading →

Another international break has come and gone, time to focus on the bread and butter stuff. If you watched England labour to three points against Wales at Wembley this week, as a Villa fan, the line-up may have looked a lot like the image below. It probably stung quite a bit for most of us.

Darren Bent and Micah Richards have been ruled out of England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales on Tuesday and have returned to their clubs. Aston Villa striker Bent had not been able to train in the build-up to Friday's win over Bulgaria after picking up a groin problem and could not take part in training on Saturday.

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.

Our Funny Feeling Friday this weekend is Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor. Last week, we went with another cheaply priced forward Andy Johnson at Fulham and the 5.5M rated forward did not disappoint. Though he was only owned by ... Continue reading →

Quick Reminder, Real Life Last season started out with an odd choice for manager (Houlier) who didn't make it through the year due to health reasons. The team that had been excellent the year before regressed terribly despite a lot of the same talent and they hovered just above the relegation zone for a good part of the first half.

Wigan and Aston Villa have agreed a £9.5M deal that will send winger Charles N'Zogbia to Villa Park. This is massive news for Premier League fans and fantasy football managers alike. N'Zogbia saved Wigan from relegation last season with his ... Continue reading →

It's been a while since anything surfaced here at Aston Villa Central, I know. The last post confirmed Ashley Young's somewhat low key move to Man Utd and since then very little of substance has actually happened. Well, the Stewart Downing "situation" has threatened to develop into a "saga", but aside from a couple of actual bids from Liverpool being reported, nothing has changed yet; Downing is still an Aston Villa player.

I've already gone on record in thinking that NUFC are among the mid-table clubs that have done very well for themselves thus far. They've gone from highly volatile and a bit long in the tooth to more solid if perhaps a little less potentially spectacular. West Brom has quietly solidified themselves in the back with some solid acquisitions as well.

Many people were shocked when Aston Villa paid such a large transfer fee for Darren Bent last season and perhaps even more shocking was the hefty wage packet offered to Wayne Rooney to stay at Man United, but look at what these forwards have produced since and you start to realise just how important these deals were to both clubs.

Well, that certainly was a weekend chock full of internationals. And stuff. But mostly internationals. I liked the part where something exciting happened. No, not the Spain-USA match—though it was wall to wall excitement if you enjoy watching small, defenseless animals caught up in jet engines and also don't happen to be a US of American.

There were four, possibly five, Villans involved as England drew 2-2 with Switzerland and the United States were comprehensively beaten 4-0 by Spain yesterday. Darren Bent and Eric Lichaj started for their sides, Ashley Young and Michael Bradley entered their games at half time and Stewart Downing made a late appearance for England and almost won it with the final kick of the game.

Darren Bent completed the trio of Villans on England duty taking their turns in front of the media ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland. He talks about his ability and willingness to play in either a one or two striker system and how moving to Villa was the right move for him. I agree.

Fabio Capello has named a 26-man squad to take on Switzerland in the next Euro 2012 qualifier at Wembley on June 4th and Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Darren Bent are all included. As is Kyle Walker, although he's no longer technically a Villan, he more than deserves a mention here.

Fabio Capello has named a 26-man squad to take on Switzerland in the next Euro 2012 qualifier at Wembley on June 4th and Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Darren Bent are all included. As is Kyle Walker, although he's no longer technically a Villan, he more than deserves a mention here.

Bent will be looking to spoil the end of season party for Liverpool... It's a trip to Birmingham for Liverpool tomorrow as they end their season with a match against Aston Villa. With the chance of 5th still slightly alive the Reds will be looking to end 2010/2011 on a high note. Dalglish has had a fantastic start to his tenure as Liverpool boss and a win over Villa would be the perfect jump

Sparse crowd at the end but who can blame them?

It's hard to find positives after a performance like that. Before that, let's make a couple of things clear. This has been a real topsy turvy season. It's not all disappointments. We've beaten the best at the Grove. The wins and complete performances against top sides like Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea are ones to remember.