Finally...a win at Villa Park!

After last week's struggle vs. Blackburn... I certainly was not confident going into this morning's home match vs Fulham.  But after getting substituted in late in the 2nd half, Andreas Weimann knocked in the winning goal in extra time and Villa won 1-nil.  These 3 points were needed to keep out of the relegation zone.  I thought it was great having Albrighton, Gardner, Bannan, and Weimann in there.  They brought so much more energy to the pitch.

Here is the call by Jack Woodward ("The Voice of the Villa")


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Villa winner against Fulham (mp3)

1-2 defeat to Newcastle Utd

Another Villa loss.  We were tied 1-1 through 70 minutes, but just couldn't hold on.  Robbie Keane looked very frustrated several times (being open and not getting a pass).  It is frustrating right now for all Villa supporters.  Our play is not consistent at all.  Having Heskey back in the midfield again is a bad move.  I hope Albrighton is fit soon - we need him badly. 

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Draw with QPR; Albrighton on the Shambolic Football Podcast

The battle with QPR started very poorly with Villa falling behind nil-2 early.  But Villa came alive right at the end of the first half with Darren Bent's 100th career Premier League goal.  Villa started playing  some attacking football in the second half and Charles N'Zogbia knocked in the equalizer in the 79th minute to help Villa salvage a point.

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Marc Albrighton was a special guest on the most recent Shambolic Football Podcast - a program co-produced by one of our AVFC California members Ken K.  and his mates in Santa Ana.

I really don't want to talk about it....

Dunne and Bent score in the first half and Villa goes into halftime leading Arsenal nil-2 at the Emirates in Round 4 of the FA Cup.  But then the 2nd half collapse...all within 15 or so minutes.  Part of it was the referee's awful calls - all against Villa.  Two of the three goals that Arsenal scored were pk's which means the ref basically gave Arsenal 2 goals.  Their 3rd goal was a deflection of an Arsenal player in front of the Villa net.   Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!   Got to forget about this one and move on.  It was ugly.  Not a good time to be without Albrighton and why didn't AMc bring in Bannan sooner??

More of the Same

Well, the players had the same names and they were wearing claret and blue, but it sure didn't look like the same team that beat Chelsea just days ago.  The difference?  Bent in, Albrighton out.  Seems that the team plays completely different when Bent is in.  Simon A. also pointed out that Villa is really only playing with 10 players on defense when Bent is in.  I agree.  The offensive play is focused on Bent which is really one-dimensional.  Without Bent, all the other players need to think a little more offensively and keeps the other team guessing more.  Can't figure out why AML didn't go with the same starting 11 that played against Chelsea?  We definitely could have used Albrighton's pace.  Seemed like Villa was always a step or two behind Swansea players.  Oh well...back to normal.  Villa loses 2-nil.

Liverpool and Arsenal

These 2 games were complete opposites.  Against Liverpool, the Villa lads looked totally disinterested almost to the point of seemingly giving up on the season.

Amazingly, the loss versus Arsenal yesterday was a game much better played by the Villa.  I like seeing the youngsters in the game....Albrighton, Clark, Bannan.   Albrighton is a spark plug and should have been in the starting 11 long ago.  Gabby, on the other hand, seems to be very sluggish.  Some of it may have to do with the absence of Darren Bent due to injury, but we need Gabby in the form he was earlier in the season.

3 Points and an Away Win....Finally.

Marc Albrighton was in the starting 11 and he shined in Villa's victory over Bolton 1-2.  Sillyan Petrov and Albrighton scored Villa's goals.  In his first premiership start, Brad Guzan played a tremendous game in place of the injured Shay Given.

I don't understand

So - who can explain why Houllier rested so many regulars in Villa's defeat in the FA Cup 5th round vs. Man City??  (No A. Young, Albrighton, or Downing).  Huh?? We still had the opportunity for some glory this season - and there was no need to hold out key players because we are not in the race for the Premiership title or hovering close to relegation.  So we go down to City 3-nil and then our "rested" players come up short to Bolton today in our Premier League match.  So why did it look like we were "resting" people??

Villa had all of the chances to win today - Bent missed some key opportunities right in front of the net.

Bolton Cahill 45,75 Klasnic 86	3 - 2	Aston Villa Bent 15 Albrighton 64

Villa Falls to Spurs 2-1

Another fall/winer Sunday morning at Kezar Pub (out of the 30+ televisions, one was on FSC).  Surrounded by NFL fans, I cheered as hard as I could for the Villa, but it just wasn't enough.  Difference in the game?  Villa porous defense against the Spurs counter attack.  It was awful to see Spurs moving past 2 and 3 Villa defenders to get them in position  for Van De Vaart's 2 goals. Marc Albrighton scored for the Villa.

Scoring Summary

Aston Villa	Tottenham Hotspur
Marc Albrighton (82')	Rafael Van der Vaart (23')
	Rafael Van der Vaart (67')

Match Stats

Aston Villa

Tottenham Hotspur

28(10)	Shots (on Goal)	13(4)
13	Fouls	10
8	Corner Kicks	4
1	Offsides	1
58%	Time of Possession	42%
3	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	1
2	Saves	9

Albrighton Out for 3-4 Weeks

Marc Albrighton will not be available to play for 3-4 weeks because of appendicitus.  This is quite a blow for Villa.  We hope Marc is feeling better soon.

http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2228396,00.html

2 Late Goals by Utd Kills Villa Upset Bid

Through 79', the Villa not only kept pace with Man Utd., but with a Ashley Young PK and a brilliant goal by Marc Albrighton had Villa leading 2-nil.  But as soon as the commentators started saying "2-nil is a dangerous score" and "you can never count Man Utd out", Macheda and Vidic score to make it 2-2 with 10' to play.  But Villa held on to manage a draw.  It is hard to see a 2-nil lead slip away so quickly, but our lineup was filled with very young players (Bannon, Hogg, Herd, and Lichaj) helped to hold on for a draw.

Aston Villa 2 - 2 Manchester United

MATCH INFORMATION
Stadium:	Villa Park, England
Attendance:	40,073
Match Time:	November 13, 2010, 07:45 ET
Referee	Mike Dean

SCORING SUMMARY
Aston Villa	Manchester United
Ashley Young (pen 72)	Federico Macheda (81)
Marc Albrighton (76)	Nemanja Vidic (85)

MATCH STATS
	Aston Villa	Manchester United
Shots (on Goal)	17(5)	16(3)
Fouls	11	9
Corner Kicks	9	7
Offsides	0	6
Time of Possession	40%	60%
Yellow Cards	3	4
Red Cards	0	0
Saves	1	3

Villa Starts Fast, But In The End Let It Slip Away

The Heskey-Albrighton connection was fabulous and led Villa into the lead, but van der Vaart scored twice for Spurs to take the 3 points.

Stadium:	White Hart Lane, England
Attendance:	35,871
Match Time:	October 2, 2010, 10:00 ET
Referee	Mark Clattenburg

SCORING SUMMARY
Tottenham Hotspur	Aston Villa
Rafael Van der Vaart (45)	Marc Albrighton (16)
Rafael Van der Vaart (75)

Who is Marc Albrighton?

Marc Albrighton has already made his mark after one regu lar league match.  Is he Villa's future?  Let's hope so.

Aston Villa: Marc Albrighton challenged to produce dazzling form for the entire season

Aug 16 2010 by Mark Woodward, Birmingham Mail

MARC Albrighton’s Villa elders have challenged him to repeat his Premier class performance another 37 times this season.

Albrighton was buzzing after starring in the convincing 3-0 victory over West Ham in his first top-flight start.

But James Milner has kept the 20-year-old wing wonder’s feet on the ground by advising him to aim to be consistently brilliant.

“I have done it for one game of the season and have to keep my feet on the ground,” said Albrighton.

“As soon as I came off the pitch James Milner said: ‘You have set a standard there, you have to keep that going for 37 games’.

“He is not wrong. He is bang on. He has made a great career from a young age as well. He’s a great player.”

Check out his bio at :

AVFC Player Profile

Wikipedia - Marc Albrighton