Aston Villa News 24/7Writer: J P Fear 
Date:Saturday May 5 2007
Time: 9:29PM
UK time is: 17:25:48
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O'Neill On Villa Win And Then Some!
Vital Villa prediction poll was virtually spot on, 89% predicted a win, 3% (hi to Vital Sheff Utd fans!) said a loss and 8% predicted a draw. Our latest poll is asking for your man of the match, if only we could vote for the lot of them this time!
Martin O'Neill spoke after the 3-0 win saying he wished the season was just starting.
Roll on next season is all I can say!
The Villa boss and Barclaycard Manager of the Month said:
'It was great and my view is that that sort of home performance has been coming for a long time - if we could get the first goal. I felt the confidence was so, so high and I've sensed that all week in training. The players couldn't wait to get out there and put on a performance. It was also great to have the parade of the 82 boys. That inspired events today, the crowd came in to celebrate a great past and hopefully the start of a decent future.'
'Now it's far too early to say that, but this was a great win and we sign off at Villa Park on a high. I'm not sure I speak for the players here, but I wish the season was just starting. We scored three great goals today. Gabby did well to roll his defender and it was a great finish. He's done so well for us this season. I just felt Ashley Young's goal has been coming and I was delighted for him. As for Patrik Berger, it was a terrific finish to round off a terrific move.'
'All in all it was a good day for this football club. I think the fans enjoyed it, I know I enjoyed it and that's now eight games unbeaten.'
Set up nicely for next season, new Nike shirts and some new players to fill them, together with the foundations of a good team already in place and showing today just what they can do.
What a day. That will live long in the old memory banks.
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Your Comments
Great Game & Great Reult. My ONLY moan was he bought on the Badger
TuBBz
The tide of football in this City is remaining Claret and Blue. lol
col8
Also very good to see that with Bardsley returning back to Old Trafford, MON put Hughes on for a full 90 mins.
Thegreatdando
nothing at all to moan about today, great from start to finish. Really proud of everything that went on today, Villa are finally back!
The Fear
i am one very happy fan looking forward to match of the day tonight!
industrial_musical
the claret and blue just looked awesome wherever you looked, such a great gesture!
The Fear
What a performance,the crowd was unbelieveble,the revolution is gathering pace nicely.
Pking
Great performance. Great day. Really looking forward to next season. UTV
weller77
Oh and by the way where was Petrov? Injured? Rested?
weller77
I can only watch games on tv or from downloading from the internet, as i live is australia, but that was by far the most vocal i have heard the villa fans. great to hear abd see, the free scarves looked great. yeah where was petrov
liamo1981
did we need petrov today though???
Newman
It was good to see Davis get a bit of a run, i hope he starts the last game. he looked good too for those few minutes. Gabby is really starting to look like a good forward, hes holding the ball up brialliantly. And petrovs goal has to be the one of the goals of the season, the build up play was great.
liamo1981
Definitely a memorable one. First game televised down here that ive stayed up to watch and with pleasure. Thats how we need to be playing, 3 well worked goals and a good send off and a treat for the team of 82 very much. Just hope we can get that top 10 spot
AussieVilla
Petrov has been playing with an injury, I think. So maybe he was rested.
myleftfoot
Fantastic performance only blighted by the fact that United seemed only to be there to make up the numbers. The volume of the crowd was truly awesome - particularly after Berger slotted his goal in.
Equatorialvilla
Its a bit off-the-point here but with the new crest and Nike sponsorship - it just got me thinking - are 32red.co.uk still going to be our sponsors????
deano.avfc
......erm........i meant 32red.com!!!!
deano.avfc
I heard we might not even have a sponsor name on the shirt. Anyone confirm? Hate the new sponsor logo.
Gazvilla
I have hears that we will have no sponsor other than Nike. ie. the Nike Swoosh across the front of the shirt.
Thought
Dannygav
Fantastic performance and result. Rushed home to catch M.O.T.D. and was dissapointed with the "blink and you'll miss it" coverage of the '82 boys, particularly after they showed the Manc City fans before their derby. Couple of questions, as above where was Petrov and why didn't MON get his Manager Of The Month award on the pitch, or did I miss that? Finally a mention to Warnock, not everybody's cup of tea, but I thought his post match comments were gracious and spot on. Nice one.
Jon.H
Also, why don't we create that atmosphere at every home game, it was awesome.
Jon.H
i don't understand why berger is getting the most votes for MOM, i thought Gabby was our best by quite a bit. I had my doubts about him at the start, i was a little worried about his first touch, but he has looked great up front, and i think he could be a 20 goal a season forward by next year.
liamo1981
Gabby was awesome yesterday, such pace and power, and what a finish....he's gonna get better and better. Young is a tricky little blighter on the wing and Berger's goal really made my day. Definately the best performance of the season....awful hangover this morning because of it!!!
son_of_cher
The thousands of swinging scarfs also looked great on football first, we should get free ones every home game, surely they cant cost that much!?
son_of_cher
The fact that we are debating who should have been m.o.t.m. surely shows what a great performance it was. Barry was outstanding as was Carew, that run virtually from kick off was breathtaking. Gabby was brilliant yesterday and it really makes me wonder why we constantly get linked with Bellamy. Surely we could save £8 million and keep Gabby as the first choice alongside Big John, with Luke on the bench and also Young who could cover if needed. Also thought Freddie Bouma had a great game, he is becoming really consistent now. Overall though in my opinion Barry
shaded it yesterday.
Jon.H
How has Sorensen got 3% of the votes? He didn't have to do anything!!!!!!?
Jon.H
The way Gabby held off Kilgallon for his goal was excellent and not something you'd expect from a player known for his pace. He's still a rough diamond and not an out and out goalscorer (something Villa have craved since Yorke's time) but he's certainly got a whole bunch of promise. Much like the whole Villa team
claret&blue82
So who do we sign because someone is gonna get dissapointed. I know we need a right back and some central defensive cover/or starter, perhaps a new keeper. With Young on the right do we need to cover Berger on the left? Will Barry be going there if we get a quality midfielder. Do we need a striker because if Carew starts then 2 strikers will be very upset? mmmm
Gazvilla
I think if we are looking at striking options then we need to cover Carew. Historically MON's teams play with a target man and a smaller mobile strike partner. I think, in my opinion, that we now have an abundance of the smaller mobile striker, but nobody to cover should big John not be available. Regarding left side of midfield I can see Maloney playing there regularly with Berger being used as an impact player from the bench. Or Barry pushing out wide with Petrov and a new midfield general in the middle and Ashley Young wide right. I think initially MON will concentrate on a new keeper, Boruc?, definately a right back, a centre half and a midfield hardman which we currently lack. The point I was making earlier is that Gabby has shown great potential this season and surely the knowledge that he would be first choice striker with Carew would boost his confidence no end and be reflected in his performances. Can't wait for the window to open. Great days.
Jon.H
Great atmosphere and fantastic to see the 82 boys back. Nice to be in a packed, bouncing Holte End again. The scarves were a great gesture, something MOTD might have covered, rather than the usual 2 minute coverage, and everyone got involved in the spirit of it. Even the Trinity Rd were singing Holteenders in the Sky! I'll wear my "Have you won the European Cup" T-shirt with pride when I'm walking around Newcastle city centre!
Geordie_Villa
Jon H - A midfield hard-man? We're good away cos of our pace. At home we can't break defences down who defend deeper. Do we need a creative player or a midfield hard-man. Do you anticiate Petrov being this creative player?
Gazvilla
Thought Gardner had a good game aswell,He's Starting to look a real talent
Pking
Berger can still unlock defences
son_of_cher
We need to sign either Defoe or Bent. We hae no goalscorer, George Graham was right we need that 20 goal per season striker.
tarzan
We dont need George Graham to tell us that. Those that go home and away, week in, week out, have been saying that since day one.
glensider
Hasn't Petrov been playing deeper of late than he would do normally? My argument is that should we acquire a midfield general, in the mould of a Roy Keane, it would allow Petrov to play further forward and create/score goals as I believe MON intended when he signed him as this is the role he played so well for Celtic.
I think he showed he's capable of this particularly away at West Ham but I accept he's struggled for form more recently.
I also believe Gabby could be the 20 goal man we've been lacking as he's scored 10 prem goals (I think) which is a good return considering he played half the season as a right winger. My personal opinion is that Defoe or Bellamy are not significantly better than what we already have.
Jon.H
gabby and luke moore are 20 goal a season strikers once they get into the groove. Why does everybody keeps saying we need strikers? we only need one, we have carew, moore, gabby, young and maloney - admittedly young and maloney arent out and out strikers but they can do the job if required. all we need is one big lanky centre forward (to take suttons place) peter crouch anyone?
industrial_musical
Well what on earth is John Carew then industrial musical? Surely he's the target man, the, and I quote, 'big lanky centre forward'? Would suggest that people keep saying we need a striker, because indeed we do. Go with the same set of strikers again next season, and once again goals will be very hard to come by.
glensider
Tricky decision for MON to make this summer,do we go and buy a Defoe,Bellamy or Bent and this will impact the progress of Gabby/Luke or Maloney,looking at the Stats if you play Gabby 38 games next season down the Middle he would probably get you 20 goals.
ASPINALL
It's sods law that we are finally in a position to have real significant investment in the side when we have a really talented bunch of young players here already. I agree with Aspinall that MON has tricky decisions to make this summer. Take Steven Davis as an example, last years player of the season, but has hardly featured this term. I hope MON takes a leaf out of Sir Alex Ferguson's book
and keeps the nucleus of the young side together and allows them to develop with the addition of a couple of high quality proven performers. After all would Giggs,Scholes,Neville,Butt,Beckham etc.
have become the players they did had they been hindered by expensive imported players? I believe, in Gabby, we have a player capable of becoming every bit as good as those mentioned above and this view is shared by many at Villa Park going right back to his youth team days. I disagree with glensider in that I think getting the midfield right and the supply to the forwards will allow us to become more effective in scoring goals. Afterall JPA proved he was a 20 goal a season striker, but since that one season the service to him was often woeful and his strike rate suffered as a result. If however we do buy a new striker is Defoe, who isn't a regular starter for Spurs, Bellamy ditto for Liverpool or Bent, who I still feel is unproven at the highest level, any better or more promising than those players we already have. In my opinion Robbie Keane would be a better option than any of the others usually linked with us and also I would prefer to see Boaz back rather than Artur Boruc.
Will certainly be interesting.
Jon.H
Can't decide between Keane, Defoe or Bent as they would all bring something. The only thing that Defoe and Bent would bring is the room for improvement making them even better than now. Both are tp drawer. Keane is the finished article and would be excellent either way. It's a tough one. Sidwell, Parker and Barton (dare i say it) would all improve the holding role and allow Petrov to get forward - he needs to be the creative one not the holing one but he has had to do it and sacrifice himself this season for the team. Watch him go go go next season when he is placed in his natural role.
koolbill
Koolbill, good shout for Parker for the midfield holding role. Not so sure about Barton, yes he has the talent and the engine but is the baggage that comes with him worth it? Having said that I believe MON likes players with a bit of the devil about them, afterall wasn't he responsible for moulding the monster that was Robbie Savage?
Jon.H
Too right Jon.H. Barton would be a massive gamble and may burn-out like Bowyer did durinig his court case - totally lost love with the game. Parker or Sidwell, yes please. Seems MON likes that bit of bite - ala Bellamy...sends a shudder down my spine thinking of him lording it over our young'uns. You can already see Carew is like a big brother to Agbon and Young - great team spirit.
koolbill
Got a real feeling that MON would sort Barton out and then you`ve got a right player on your hands,we shouldn`t touch Boruc in my opinion.Foster(loan)Young,Barton,Distin would do me fine.
ASPINALL
Great to see Davo get 20 minutes. Thought he looked very lively and was trying a few tricks. Hope we dont lose him in the summer.
DeanoVilla
Agreed DeanoVilla, and therein lies the dilemma. At what point do you give the younger players their head and allow them to establish themselves or bring in more experienced players and risk losing the potential. As well as Davo I think this also applies to Luke Moore and Gary Cahill. If not this summer then certainly next if they don't manage to force themselves into the side.
Jon.H
re: Glensider, Carew is a big lanky centre forward, but if you read what i said again, i said we need another one to take Chris Suttons place - to provide competition/backup to Carew. O'neill will always play with one big strong striker it's the way he likes to play so if Carew got injured/out of form there isn't a natural replacement, someone who is big and strong and will get their head on the ball from goal kicks, corners etc. the main combinations O'neill will want to play will be Carew with moore/gabby/young. he will not play young and moore upfront by themselves they are not big or strong enough but with a big striker alongside the other strikers will flourish. buying another small, pacy striker is not what we need we already have enough!
industrial_musical
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