Villa Boss Left Cursing Luck

Martin O'Neill told the official site after the 1-1 draw against Manchester City at home that Villa just lacked a bit of luck after a good display against a team who haven't been out of the top five all season. I'm not sure what he meant by luck, maybe he was referring to the idiotic referee who I think has a new whistle for Christmas and wanted to use it at every available opportunity.

The Villa boss said, 'I thought the performance after we fell behind was terrific. I thought we played very well indeed. We got the equalising goal, we hit the post and had one cleared off the line. We had most of the play and while Manchester City to their eternal credit are always a threat, I thought we were the better side on the day. We just didn't get that wee bit of luck that I think we probably deserved.'

He also admits that the side needs a 'bit of extra quality', something that will hopefully be at least partly addressed in the January transfer window.

He also said that John Carew put in 'an immense performance. John was absolutely fantastic - unplayable at times, even when there were players hanging onto him.' And on the lack of decisions against Man City for the constant fouls on Carew I couldn't agree more with Martin O'Neill, put simply he doesn't get the decisions because he is a big bloke.

'John doesn't get a foul because of the size of him. Referees don't believe that players hanging onto his shirt or his neck, players inside his shorts, they don't believe these are fouls and John doesn't get too many.'

All in all, Villa are a shade unlucky not to have won today and obviously the three points would have been very useful, but we surely can't be that disappointed with such a spirited display, especially after going 1-0 down due to a shocking start to the game?

Sven Goran 'I can't Believe I Got Paid Over £10m To Manage England' Eriksson told BBC Sport after the game:

"I think it was a very good match from both sides. We started the first fifteen, twenty minutes maybe the best we’ve ever played away from home. We scored a goal and I was very, very happy on the bench, then Aston Villa came into it and they tried very hard and scored.”

Adding, “Maybe it has been sometimes in the spirit and how brave we have been, but today I liked the team, all 90 minutes fighting and getting the ball and trying to score goals, so I’m happy today. I was very happy with the spirit out there. We fought and tried to win."

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