The Villa Times - 04/02/2009

Unoial Villa News...

Zoltan Stieber has left Villa and joined German side TuS Koblenz where the Hungarian youth international had been on trial.

The Paul Birch Trust info following his tragic death this week: The Paul Birch Trust and Villa Hero - Paul Birch - RIP

There will be a minutes silence before the Doncaster game tonight in memory of Paul Birch.

James Milner called up for the under-21 squad for the friendly against Ecuador set to take place on February 10 at La Rosaleda, Malaga.

An interview with a Doncaster fan ahead of tonight's game: Click Here

Looks like that Doncaster Rovers will be well supported tonight! More than 4400 tickets have been sold with 26 official supporter coaches booked! The game is definitely on tonight. There will be no need for a pitch inspection due to the under pitch heating. The game has to be decided tonight so will go to extra time and penalties if no result is achieved in normal time.

Martin O'Neill - no doubt relieved albeit frustrated that the transfer window has closed - says the season has been 'terrific' so far and wants the players to keep on keeping on despite the amount of fixtures that they face. The Villa boss explained on the official site: 'When you see players at the end of a game absolutely and utterly physically drained, you have to have a lot of pride in them. That was the case in the dressing room this weekend. They couldn't have put one more ounce into that football game. I have a great regard for the team.'

For the very latest Villa odds: Click Here

That was the week that was by Sheriff Kimbo: The Week In Villa #23 (23/01/09 - 29/01/09)

The Villa boss has also said he loves it at Villa: Martin O'Neill LOVES IT At Villa + a response from deano.avfc on MON's quotes: Click Here

On Thursday at 1pm there is a live chat with Birmingham Mail, Sunday Mercury and Birmingham Post writer Bill Howell. Details: Click Here

Martin O'Neill says that he will focus on getting Stiliyan Petrov signed to a longer deal now the transfer window is over. Funny old game really, if he'd said he wanted to secure Petrov on a longer deal last year most would have thought him mad but now the Bulgarian international is playing out of his skin and is a key part of our team. Full article: Villa Boss Looks To Secure Petrov Long Term

John Carew has told the Birmingham Mail he is glad to be back and looking to re-pay the manager. 'The manager has good confidence and belief in me and I am really grateful to him for letting me play half-an-hour and also to the fans again for that amazing reception.' Adding, 'I am just happy to be back and I can now take it game by game. As for starting tonight`s game, I feel good. I have been out for a while but I feel the training has been going well.'

Setanta claim French media sources say Villa are watching 18-year-old Strasbourg starlet Loic Damour.

Martin O'Neill spoke in the Express & Star about the transfer window and said the prices got silly: 'Ideally it would have been great to have strengthened, but the market became pretty inflated. I was delighted to get Emile and to get him at what I think is a reasonable price. But the other players we had thought about were too expensive. I think there are players who have gone for big-ish fees that maybe in normal times might not have gone for so much. I certainly got the feeling that for the players we enquired about we weren`t in that market. We couldn`t compete.' He also says he refused a few approaches for Villa players.

Vital Villa asked in our last poll: Transfer Window was? 49% voted 'worse than expected'. 35% went for the option saying the transfer window was 'ok' and have faith. That left 7% saying average, 5% awful and just 4% great! Roll on the summer transfer gossip then! :o)

Dan Jones: Gareth Barry has told The Mirror that he has put the summer transfer saga to Liverpool behind him. Rafa Benitez made a very public pursuit of the player during the summer, and after Barry spoke of his desire to leave the Villa, Martin O'Neill stripped him of the captaincy, suspended him for two weeks and even fined him. But Barry has revealed that is happy at the club and wants to push on at Villa. Full quotes: Gareth Barry Happy At Villa

Gareth Barry won the man of the match vote v Wigan with 54% of the vote. Other results: Click Here

Villa v Wigan stats: Click Here
MON's post match reaction: Click Here
Match report: Click Here

Thought for the day: A dress is like a barbed fence. It protects the premises without restricting the view!

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