The Villa Times - 04/05/2006

Does Juan Pablo Angel want David O'Leary sacked or does he mean something else when he says: 'I'm not going to talk about my situation, but I think they (the board) know what to do to change things round. We can't afford to have another season like this. I'm sure they are already taking care of the situation for next season and, hopefully, there will be some changes.'

Gareth Barry has admitted this season has been disappointing and says the players are looking to starting afresh next season.

O'Leary says he has no idea about the links to becoming Sunderland's new boss and that he still has a big job to do at Villa (seems to me he did a big job all this season as he has been shite!).

Another mystifying chapter in the history of Aston Villa as the official site announce that David O'Leary could start some transfer activity next week. DON'T GET TOO EXCITED. This activity will be outwards as Mathieu Berson, who was chased for six months and lauded as the second coming, only to be consigned to the reserves then shipped out on loan, will complete a permanent move to Auxerre.

Reports are saying that Villa will have the £3million needed to bid for on-loan Newcastle midfielder James Milner due to the money from the expected Berson and Jumper-Jumper sales.

Pre-season games: Hannover (August 5), NEC Nijmegen (August 8) and FC Groningen (August 11) as Villa go Dutch and will even use the national teams training facilities. O'Leary said: 'The matches themselves are an extension of training and some of those Swedish games have been almost like a day off. I want to get them into matches that test them. I'm not talking about going into matches to get beaten, but if we can get teams that are ahead of us in fitness, they can push us. It's not about the results.' The season hasn't been about results either apparently!

The Express & Star claim that David O'Leary will face the wrath of Doug Ellis after the Sunderland game following a dire season but his job will be safe as Villa don't have the money to pay the hapless manager off.

Despite the protestations that there is no money to spend in the summer, Villa are still being linked to players! The latest is Steve Sidwell from Reading. O'Leary is said to be an admirer of the midfielder but Royals boss Steve Coppell has made it clear he won't be selling his best players.

Season ticket prices have been frozen but will that stop the exodus of fans?

Thought for the day: I have a degree in Liberal Arts; do you want fries with that?

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