Arguably the biggest shake up at Villa Park over the summer was the sacking of Alex McLeish and
hiring of new boss and ex Norwich manager Paul Lambert . Lambert's goal: to return the villains to
the heights of European qualification that they reached under Martin O'Neill not so long ago.
Villa's transfer dealings have seen them restructure their entire defense.
Carlos Cuellar got on the pitch last night for the first time since his knee operation in May,
playing 45 minutes in the reserves' 1-0 win over Chelsea Callum Robinson with the goal and says
that he's feeling good.
That's great news for a very popular player, but what happens from here remains to be seen.
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.
This is a big, big game for Alex Mcleish today. The last of a run of home games and a derby
against an opponent that caused his predecessor so many problems. It's also something of a "top of
the table" encounter and the winner, should there be one, will get boasting rights over the rest of
the league for at least a while today.
Alex McLeish has rung the changes for this Carling Cup clash, but retained a strong side
blending youth and experience.
Aston Villa Hereford 22 Brad Guzan 28 David Cornell 31 Chris Herd 2 Ryan Green 5 Richard Dunne 5
Michael Townsend 21 Ciaran Clark 3 Joe Heath 30 Eric Lichaj 16 Daniel Williams 17 Jean II Makoun 17
Joe Colbeck 25 Barry Bannan 8 Nicky Featherstone 7 Stephen Ireland 14 James Mcquiokin 12 Marc
Albrighton 4 Harry Pell 10 Charles N'Zogbia 10 Delroy Facey 9 Darren Bent 7 Stuart Fleetwood Subs
Subs 33 Andy Marshall 38 Russell Hoult 32 Nathan Baker 30 Tommy Johnson 23 Habib Beye 19 Kyle
McCarthy 34 Shane Lowry 11 Kenny Lunt 28 Jonathan Hogg 31 Lewis Feeley 26 Andreas Weimann 9 Yoann
Arquin 14 Nathan Delfouneso 32 Nathan Perkins
Aston Villa are taking 24 players to Hong Kong to compete in the Barclays Asia Trophy and the
travelling party are en route right now. As the strength and depth of the squad is a hot topic at
the moment, I thought it might be interesting to compare this pre-season tournament squad with the
squads from the last couple of seasons.
McLeish's first game in charge ended in a comfortable 3-1 at the Bescot thanks to a brace from
Darren Bent and rare goal from Emile Heskey, but it could have been much more with several players
going close throughout the game, notably Nathan Delfouneso during a strong second half
performance.
There is apparently a quote from Alex McLeish doing the rounds this evening which has caused a
few knickers to get well and truly twisted. It doesn't take much admittedly, if it's not the colour
of socks, it's something else equally earth-shattering. The new gaffer has said something to the
effect that he only expects to make one more signing before the season starts.
The 9th of February is a FIFA scheduled interlull and we have quite a number of players called
up to their senior national teams:
Firstly, Darrent Bent, Gabby Agbonlahor, Ashley
Young, Stewart Downing and Kyle Walker were called up to
the England squad travelling to Copenhagen to play Denmark.
We really haven't had chance to see that much of him, but Ciaran Clark has already won
himself an army of fans among the Villa faithful and beyond. I'm sure all fans will be as delighted
as I am to hear that Ciaran has just signed a new contract at Villa, extending his stay until
2014.
He was inside the last 12 months of his contact and was starting to gain the attention of other
clubs besides also being snapped up to play for the Republic of Ireland, switching allegiances from
England.
We really haven't had chance to see that much of him, but Ciaran Clark has already won
himself an army of fans among the Villa faithful and beyond. I'm sure all fans will be as delighted
as I am to hear that Ciaran has just signed a new contract at Villa, extending his stay until
2014.
He was inside the last 12 months of his contact and was starting to gain the attention of other
clubs besides also being snapped up to play for the Republic of Ireland, switching allegiances from
England.
Several early and late chances for Villa bookended some good opportunities for Chelsea, but I
suspect both managers will be satisfied with the point after this extremely entertaining encounter
at Villa Park, despite the lack of goals. The best chance of the game came with almost the last
kick of the game, Nigel Reo-Coker in the unfamiliar territory of a one-on-one with Petr Cech,
lifting his effort just wide.
Several early and late chances for Villa bookended some good opportunities for Chelsea, but I
suspect both managers will be satisfied with the point after this extremely entertaining encounter
at Villa Park, despite the lack of goals. The best chance of the game came with almost the last
kick of the game, Nigel Reo-Coker in the unfamiliar territory of a one-on-one with Petr Cech,
lifting his effort just wide.
Venue: St James'Park, NE1 Date: 5th February 2012 Kick Off: 1.30pm Referee: Mark Halsey I never
used to bother much about Aston Villa. They were just one of those "middle of the road" clubs who
chug along season after season with reasonable-sized crowds but nothing particular to shout about.
I got a bit annoyed at [.
Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham Kick off: Saturday, 17th Sept, 3pm Referee: Neil Swarbrick Well if
stats are anything to go by, our forthcoming away clash with the Villans, the result could well be
another 0-0 like the QPR match. Of course though, there's been many a time in the past when people
like myself written [.
It's been the week of loans in B6 with no less than four players heading out to get
some competitive football elsewhere.
Firstly, Habib Beye went to Doncaster, initially until January, but hopefully a
deal to take him through to the end of the season (and his Villa contract) won't be out of the
question.
Why Villa must splash the cash in wake of pitiful pre-season defeat to
Derby
I was at Pride Park last night to see Aston Villa crash to a disappointing 2-0 defeat to
Championship Derby as the hosts' keeper barely had a save to make. Villa line-up was admittedly a
largely second string team.
Welcome to the fourth in my small series of ‘blogs looking at Newcastle United's new signings in
the latest transfer window. In this episode, I will be looking at former West Ham and 1899
Hoffenheim player, Demba Ba. I was going to write that this is the final of my little series, but
like many [..
Former Newcatsle right back Habib Beye has talked today about his close pal Demba Ba, who signed
for Newcastle just over a week ago, as a free agent. Demba Ba currently averages one goal for every
two games We had been told that when Demba Ba was told Newcastle were after him, he was [...]
Oba Martins has not had a good time of things since he left Newcastle 18 months ago. Oba Martins
our favorite shot of Oba when he played at Newcastle When Oba left the club, Newcastle were on
their knees, having just been relegated, and that was when the Tyneside club had the fourth [...]
This is the second in InTheStands'  Transfermation series exploring the potential
summer ahead for all Premiership clubs involved....this addition: Aston Villa
Where they stand:
Well, well, well, if I was an Aston Villa fan I would be sceptical – looking down the barrel
at another mid-table finish.
Aston Villa have completed the loan signing of Kyle Walker, Tottenham's young
right back signed from Sheffield Utd about 18 months ago, before being promptly loaned back and
then playing at QPR on loan this season. He'll be on loan with Villa until the end of the season, I
don't know yet if there is any option to make the move permanent.
Aston Villa have completed the loan signing of Kyle Walker, Tottenham's young
right back signed from Sheffield Utd about 18 months ago, before being promptly loaned back and
then playing at QPR on loan this season. He'll be on loan with Villa until the end of the season, I
don't know yet if there is any option to make the move permanent.
>> Click Here To Watch Aston Villa Vs Man United Live Now <<
Aston Villa Vs Man United Live Streaming & Match Preview
English Premier League – Aston Villa Vs Man United Live Online Click Here
Saturday, 13th November 2010
Kick Off : 12:45 GMT
Venue : Villa Park, Birmingham England
The English Premier League fixture between Aston Villa and Man United will be played at Villa
Park on Saturday 13th November 2010, kick-off is set for 12:45 PM.
In a late change, John Carew pulled out during the warm-up, Stephen Ireland replaced him in the
starting XI and Daniel Johnson (academy player) will sit on the bench.
BBC Sport - Football - Aston Villa full-back Luke Young to miss three matches Aston Villa defender
Luke Young is set to miss the next three matches with a torn hamstring. The 31-year-old missed last
Saturday's 0-0 draw with Chelsea after suffering the injury in training on Friday. Scans show the
problem is worse than feared and the former England full-back is likely to be out for two weeks.
Didier Drogba, Gary Cahill,  Andrei Arshavin and Andy Johnson headline the list of Premier
League stars who are out of contract at the end of the season according to Goal.com, and could be
available on a free transfer this summer.
You could put together a pretty competitive side from this list.
Habib Beye is keen to stay at Doncaster Rovers for the rest of the season as he has no desire to
head back to his parent club.
The right-back joined the Yorkshire club on loan from Aston Villa until January, but he is hoping
to secure a longer move after making his first appearance in a 0-0 draw with Watford this weekend.
Top Brass
It wasn't all fine wines and canopies at last nights NOPA awards. In between hobnobbing with Barry
Glendenning, the chaps from the Football Ramble, Zonal Marking, Swiss Ramble and virtually all of
Twitter, I managed to grab a few words with European football freelancer, Andy Brassell.
