The tackle that started the comeback
The team needed a lift after results of recent weeks. A 1-0 win is great but coming back from 2
goals down to win it, is surely going to give the team the boost that we so desperately need. A
game of two halves is the old cliche but certainly applies in this scenario.
A couple of weeks ago, Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson claimed on BBC Radio 5 that the deal to
bring Darren Bent to Anfield was 'done', and despite several strong denials from Aston Villa, the
rumours about the prolific goalscorer just won't go away. Transfer speculation can sometimes
unsettle players, Villa winger Gabriel Agbonlahor insists this is not the case with Bent.
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.
Referee Mark Clattenburg's attempts to join a Stoke counter-attack were cynically thwarted by this
challenge from Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor. The Villa man escaped without a booking.
Luckily for him, Clattenburg's hair transplant escaped unscathed otherwise it would have been a red
card offence.
Referee Mark Clattenburg's attempts to join a Stoke counter-attack were cynically thwarted by this
challenge from Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor. The Villa man escaped without a booking.
Luckily for him, Clattenburg's hair transplant escaped unscathed otherwise it would have been a red
card offence.
Could the Spaniard be given less defensive duty?
As is customary during this period of the season, games come thick and fast. Tonight sees us
visiting Villa Park and this is the first of 4 games in 13 days. Yet, we cannot afford to rest on
our laurels. This is as big a test as the Manchester City game.
Could the Spaniard be given less defensive duty?
As is customary during this period of the season, games come thick and fast. Tonight sees us
visiting Villa Park and this is the first of 4 games in 13 days. Yet, we cannot afford to rest on
our laurels. This is as big a test as the Manchester City game.
By Geoff Reid
Tuesday
Wolves vs Norwich City from Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton
Mick McCarthy's Wolves side have lost four of their last five matches and it's fair to say they are
desperate for a victory today against the promoted Norwich City.
Aston Villa 0-2 Liverpool: Bellamy Stars in Reds' Stroll
First-half goals from Craig Bellamy and Martin Skrtel gave Liverpool a comfortable victory over
a lacklustre Aston Villa at Villa Park. The Reds were two-up within 15 minutes and, but for the
woodwork denying them yet again, they could have racked up more against a Villa side which offered
nothing in response.
Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish celebrated his first league win as a manager at Villa Park as
first-half goals from Craig Bellamy and Martin Skrtel ensured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Aston
Villa.
Bellamy and Skrtel struck inside the first 15 minutes to seal the Reds' fifth away win in the
Barclays Premier League this season.
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish believes his team were good value for their 2-0 win at Aston Villa
in the Premier League.
First-half goals from Craig Bellamy and Martin Skrtel sealed a comfortable success for Dalglish's
team at Villa Park.
Luis Suarez also hit the woodwork twice after the break as the Reds dominated proceedings against a
toothless Villa missing strikers Darren Bent and Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Aston Villa 0-2 Liverpool | Premier League match report
The woodwork continues to frustrate Liverpool and Luis Suárez in particular but this was never
going to be one of those days when Kenny Dalglish would be left lamenting the number of times that
his side have been denied by the upright or crossbar.
Squad sheets: Aston Villa v Liverpool
Stewart Downing, who scored the only goal of the game in the corresponding fixture at the end of
last season, can expect a hostile reception from Aston Villa supporters on his return to his former
club. The England winger has still to score for a Liverpool side that have lost only once in their
last 10 league matches.
ASTON VILLA v Liverpool: Agbonlahor ban paves way for Heskey to face former
side
Aston Villa will be without joint top scorer Gabriel Agbonlahor for the home Barclays Premier
League clash with Liverpool on Sunday.
View the full story here: The Mail
A news article on 2011-12-16 10:18:52 from: The Mail
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
By Alan Duffy
Aston Villa 1-2 Bolton Wanderers Premier League 10th December 2011
It's been a difficult season to date for both Owen Coyle and Alex McLeish, with both Bolton and
Villa struggling to find their best form.
With Shay Given out for a month, Brad Guzan gets his first Premier League start, and it's also
emerged this week that the American is in contract discussions with his current deal set to expire
at the end of the season. Jermaine Jenas is out for the season, and with the club apparently on the
hook for his wages the less said about that the better.
The rumour in the British press Monday is that Fabio Capello may leave Wayne Rooney out of his
Euro' 2012 squad if his three game ban isn't reduced.
I have to think this is a poor attempt at filling column inches. Either that or Capello is
suffering from temporary insanity.
England managers have taken a gamble on including injured players in their squads in the past in
the hope that the player will be fit for the later stages of a competition.
One of the bigger talking points has been the return of Ashley Young. James Milner showed class
by not celebrating at Eastlands recently, expect Ashley Young to do exactly the same today, but
preferably because he hasn't scored.
Either way, it's a tough game ahead and I suspect there will be a bigger interest in the manner
we McLeish approaches the game than any real expectation in getting much from it.
After ending November with a shock home loss to Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup quarterfinals,
Manchester United will look to open a busy and pivotal December with a win, as they visit Aston
Villa this weekend.
United are always a popular Premier League betting pick, and they'll be favored to take the
spoils in Saturday's showdown at Villa Park.
This game will go ahead despite the tragic news that Wales manager, Gary Speed, has apparently
taken his own life. Naturally, with the game being in Wales and a number of internationals
involved, the game will inevitably be effected in some way. Such sad news.
Alex McLeish has promised a better performance than we were treated to at White Hart Lane and,
in all honesty, it would be difficult to be much worse.
After we suggested that William Gallas would walk straight back into the side for Monday night's
game against Aston Villa, it was obvious, following Younes Kaboul's performance in the match that
the younger French defender has become one of the first names on Harry Redknapp's team sheet.
Harry himself hailed Kaboul after the match,
"Younes Kaboul's heading was incredible, he dominated," said Harry, before going on to claim
that the centre half is finally beginning to realise his potential.
Remember the Premier League? Yeah, we're finally back in action tonight for our first
league game under the floodlights of 2011/12. Returning to White Hart Lane also happens to be
significant for Alex McLeish, but that's not something we wish to dwell on.
Truth is, coming back from North London with a point has generally been a decent result for us
in the past, you'll do well to find many Villa fans optimistic about grabbing something
tonight.
By Chris Wright
From a home perspective, the good news seems to be that Vicente Del Bosque is going to give some
of his 'second string' a run out against England at Wembley on Saturday afternoon. The depressingly
bad news being that most of said second string would probably, nay definitely, meander straight
into Fabio Capello's first XI.
What are the odds UEFA reduce Rooney's ban? Derek McGovern's Bets of the
Day
When you look at England's strike options for the Spain game on Saturday, one thing springs to
mind: Please God force UEFA to reduce Wazza's ban. Darren Bent is 1-5 with Hills to start against
Spain and Gabriel Agbonlahor is 2-5 yet, if Spanish, neither man would be allowed anywhere near a
Spain international ?
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.
If Andy Carroll is not good enough for England, should he continue to be at the heart of
Liverpool's plans.
England coach Fabio Capello picked Daniel Sturridge and Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor, but left
out Liverpool striker Andy Carroll for friendly matches against Spain and Sweden at Wembley.
By Alan Duffy
Aston Villa 3-2 Norwich City Premier League 5th November 2011
A good old-fashioned five-goal thriller unfolded at Villa Park on Saturday, with the home side
coming out on top courtesy of their in-form forward line.
You have to go all the way back to 2004/05 to find the last time this fixture was played; a 3-0
win under David O'Leary. Alex McLeish could really do with something similar today.
Darren Bent has said that one goal could open the floodgates, and McLeish has "rubbished" silly
rumours of a January sale.
By Alan Duffy
Aston Villa 1-2 West Bromwich Albion Premier League 22 October 2011
They may have benefited from an extremely harsh red card given to Villa's Chris Herd for a
rather innocuous-looking tangle with Martin Olsson, but West Brom fully deserved their victory
against their local rivals.
West Brom come to Villa Park in a fixture we haven't lost since 1979. Our record from the last
10 times we played the Baggies in the league is six wins and four draws.
Roy Hodgson's side picked up their second win of the season last weekend, a 2-0 home victory
against the hapless Wolves. We're trying to put a comprehensive loss at the hands of Man City
behind us, Alex McLeish threatening to drop any players who put in lacklustre defensive
displays.
We're back in action for what is the first really big test for Alex McLeish since he came to
Villa, possibly one of the toughest of the season, but also as good a time as any to play Man City
at their own place.
Over the last 10 times this league fixture has been played, we've won just two and lost eight
times.
Spurs may have missed out on a move for Ashley Young in recent years, but could they look to
Aston Villa again in an attempt to persuade Gabriel Agbonlahor to move to North London?
Reports today are suggesting that Harry Redknapp could be about to prepare a £20m bid in time
for the January transfer window as he attempts to strengthen his striking options for the rest of
the campaign.
By Chris Wright
As we usher in another one of these goddamn international breaks, we though it would be as
good-a-time as any to take stock on the first two-and-a-bit months of Premier League action and
single out the ten players that have impressed us most so far for a bit of overdue praise.
By Alan Duffy
Aston Villa 2-0 Wigan Athletic Premier League 1st October 2011
Fleet-footed attacker Gabriel Agbonlahor must surely be in line for a recall to the England
squad after another superb and speedy performance on Saturday.
Wigan had no answer to the forward's pace, with Agbonlahor scoring one and providing the assist
for the second (converted by Darren Bent).
It's just under five months since Wigan were last at Villa Park and they've proven to be
something of a bogey team for us in our limited history of playing them. This will only be the 7th
time this league fixture has been played, but we're yet to win one. The pattern so far is LDLDLD;
clearly we need to break that pattern one way or another today.
It's our first away trip to QPR since 1995 and we're in dire need of a better result than the
1-0 loss we suffered that day after the downbeat nature of our Carling Cup exit.
With Darren Bent and Emile Heskey injured, here's how the managers will go looking for three
points today:
QPR Aston Villa 1 Patrick Kenny 1 Shay Given 18 Luke Young 2 Alan Hutton 35 Anton Ferdinand 6 James
Collins 5 Fitz Hall 5 Richard Dunne 13 Armand Traore 3 Stephen Warnock 11 Alejandro Faurlin 25
Barry Bannan 17 Joey Barton 19 Stiliyan Petrov 4 Shaun Derry 16 Fabian Delph 32 Shaun
Wright-Phillips 7 Stephen Ireland 10 Jay Bothroyd 10 Charles N'Zogbia 7 Adel Taarabt 11 Gabriel
Agbonlahor Subs Subs 26 Brian Murphy 22 Brad Guzan 2 Bradley Orr 23 Habib Beye 14 Ákos Buzsáky 34
Shane Lowry 16 Matthew Connolly 38 Gary Gardner 21 Tommy Smith 12 Marc Albrighton 22 Heidar
Helguson 14 Nathan Delfouneso 9 DJ Campbell 26 Andreas Weimann Probable Formation Castrol Football
Prediction Last 10 results for this fixture: 12/23/95 QPR 1-0 Aston Villa 10/29/94 QPR 2-0 Aston
Villa 12/04/93 QPR 2-2 Aston Villa 05/09/93 QPR 2-1 Aston Villa 11/02/91 QPR 0-1 Aston Villa
04/10/91 QPR 2-1 Aston Villa 03/20/90 QPR 1-1 Aston Villa 03/27/89 QPR 1-0 Aston Villa 08/30/86 QPR
1-0 Aston Villa 12/17/85 QPR 0-1 Aston Villa
Bolton come to Villa Park for the 3rd round of the Carling Cup, Alex McLeish has fielded a very
strong side and Owen Coyle is able to hand Stuart Holden his first appearance since his knee injury
at the tail end of last season.
Aston Villa Bolton 1 Shay Given 1 Adam Bogdan 2 Alan Hutton 2 Gretar Rafn Steinsson 5 Richard Dunne
5 Gary Cahill 6 James Collins 31 David Wheater 3 Stephen Warnock 11 Ricardo Gardner 19 Stiliyan
Petrov 7 Chris Eagles 25 Barry Bannan 6 Fabrice Muamba 7 Stephen Ireland 8 Stuart Holden 12 Marc
Albrighton 21 Darren Pratley 14 Nathan Delfouneso 28 Gael Kakuta 11 Gabriel Agbonlahor 24 David
Ngog Subs Subs 22 Brad Guzan 22 Jussi Jaaskelainen 23 Habib Beye 4 Paul Robinson 34 Shane Lowry 20
Robbie Blake 16 Fabian Delph 16 Mark Davies 38 Gary Gardner 10 Martin Petrov 10 Charles N'Zogbia 14
Kevin Davies
Graham Burke 9 Tuncay Sanli League Cup 3rd Round Ties (K.
By Alan Duffy
Free from (in his opinion) the negative influence of former boss Gerard Houllier, England's
forgotten man Gabriel Agbonlahor netted his third goal of the season for Villa in their 1-1 draw
with Newcastle United.
Leon Best bagged the equaliser for the Magpies, with the midfield duo of Cabaye and Tioté
impressing again.
Aston Villa and Newcastle remain un-beaten this season after their 1-1 draw at
Villa Park today. Gabriel Agbonlahor gave Villa the lead after 13 minutes before in-form Irish
striker Leon Best equalised 12 minutes into the second half for a share of the spoils.
Aston Villa vs Newcastle 2011 Highlights Goals 1-1 Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow
Soccer Blogger on Twitter
Aston Villa vs Newcastle 2011 Highlights Goals 1-1 Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow
Soccer Blogger on Twitter Aston Villa vs Newcastle 2011 ( AVFC vs NUFC) Villa Park, Birmingham- 17
September, 2011- Saturday Final score:- Aston Villa vs Newcastle 1-1 ( Agbonlahor/ Best) Gabriel
Agbonlahor and Leon Best score in either half [.
