The Villa Times - 13/04/2008

Unoial Villa News...

Tickets for Villa's last game of the season, away to West Ham on May 11 (3pm kick off) go on priority sale Monday at 9am. Details: Click Here

Not much in the way of Villa gossip today, the News Of The World say that Shaun Wright-Phillips will return to Manchester City for £10m, and that there is a three way battle for Liverpool striker Peter Crouch between Portsmouth, Villa and Newcastle. The Sunday People claim that Roman Abramovich will give Avram Grant or whoever the Chelsea boss is for the start of next season, £100m to go after who he wants and they mention Villa skipper Gareth Barry. The Sunday Express say that Martin O'Neill was in Germany to assess Bayern Munich's experienced Belgian defender Daniel van Buyten. Only 2 more Bayern players to be linked and we'll have the full set won't we?! Full rumours: Villa Transfer Gossip Round Up

Ashley Young said he was surprised to see his free kick go in yesterday and added that the second goal was crucial in killing off derby. 'Derby started quite well and looked okay. But the second goal was the killer, coming so quickly after the opener. It gave us some breathing space. I was pleased for John but I didn't see the ball go in. I was too busy trying to get out of the way of his fierce shot. Stiliyan's goal was fantastic. I was really pleased he scored because he has been superb in the last two games.

Martin O'Neill has spoken about the preparation for pre-season and the fact that all plans are on hold as they still don't know whether we'll qualify for the Inter two bob cup or not. Full quotes: Summer Plans Waiting On Intertwobob

Glensider's Away match report for Derby v Villa: Click Here
Martin O'Neill post match reaction: O'Neill On Villa Rout Over Rams
Derby v Villa stats: Click Here
Forum thread on Derby v Villa: Click Here

Paul Jewell was not a happy Derby man yesterday, he said after the thrashing: 'We get a goal against us and we collapse like a pack of cards, which has happened all season. They just fall apart. 'We can't lie down and die like we did today. It's unacceptable, and as great as the supporters have been, they won't accept that. As I've said before, there is no hiding place in this Premier League.' Adding, 'When the game was 2-0, you could see the difference in class and quality, and Villa's strength and power that we patently do not have.'

It was very refreshing to hear Martin O'Neill speak on Saturday afternoon about the faithful Villa fans who have shown up in record numbers this year to cheer on the mighty Claret and Blue. In an interview with Tom Ross he said Villa fans had been fantastic this season and that it means a great deal to the players to hear the noise of the claret and blue army. O'Neill In Praise Of Villa Fans

Steff The Villan questions if the management team are quite there yet by getting with the times: Get With The Times Martin O'Neill?

Vital asked for the usual match predictions and the majority (who were proved wrong) with 36% voted that we'd win but wouldn't keep a clean sheet. Win 3-0 (16%) Win 2-0 (13%) Win 1-0 (8%) Win 4-0 (7%) Who am I, mystic mug? (7%) Lose (5%) Draw (4%) and only 4% got it right with win by more!

Both Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor have been nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year awards.. Young & Gabby To Follow Gary Shaw?

Steve Wades phenomenal weekly column: Something For The Weekend

Martin O'Neill is ready to boom, boom, shake shake da room (I need help) as he admits he'd like to talk over a longer contract with Dutch international Wilfred Bouma. Villa have a one year option on the left-backs contract, which ends this June, but the Villa boss says he'd like to extend his stay even further. Villa Look To Extend Freddies Stay

Thought for the day: The rat race is only a race for rats, always be the man in the white coat.

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