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MON's Post Villa v Wolves Match Reaction

Martin O'Neill admitted the result - a draw - v Wolves was about right today.

The Villa boss said we started 'brilliantly' calling us a 'joy to watch' adding, 'That opening was as good football as we have played in recent times and I include the opening half against Manchester United at Wembley.'

It was well played, the movement was all forward and despite the on form and interested John Carew borderline offside, none of us there were complaining!

He also called Ashley Young 'mesmerising'.

No arguments here, he whipped in some great crosses, shame that more often than not there was no-one dying to get to the ball but that isn't Ash's fault.

Fabio Capello was at Villa Park, he can't help but have seen how good Ash was can he? He can't have failed to see just how poor our 'striker' Emile Heskey was either I'd assume? That said, he played a part in our second goal but also in giving the ball to Wolves for their second. Yin and yang of football! lol

'When they scored the second goal of course - and the game having turned - it was hard to fight back. Thankfully we did and I was delighted. In terms of effort that the team have put in, I am not despondent at all. It would have been great to keep up the performance of the opening 25 minutes but, no, it was a different game in the second half. We had to fight for every inch.'

He also promised: 'There will be a lot of twists and turns before the end of the season in the fight for the Champions League spot.'

Full interview: www.avfc.co.uk

Villa v Wolves image gallery: www.avfc.co.uk

Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.

Writer: J P Fear

Date:Saturday March 20 2010

Time: 4:55PM

Your Comments

The bloke is an idiot.

ASPINALL

thanks for that Aspinall. Reading between the lines, I am thinking you aren't a fan of the manager.

The Fear

No i`m not a fan mate,he treats the love of my life badly.

ASPINALL

No i`m not a fan mate,he treats the love of my life badly.

ASPINALL

We are at home and he is delighted with that? I want to cry

100% prepared

I'm not delighted!

ant1ant1

I'm not delighted!

ant1ant1

3 wins in 3 months - fabulous Martin.

ASPINALL

3 wins in 3 months - fabulous Martin.

ASPINALL

Was slightly mystified as to MON not bringing the Fonz on for Hesky...the game was crying out for an injection of pace...that being said, i don't think MON can take the blame for the result today as that seemd to be down to the arse performance put in by most of the team (Ash, Dunny & Friedel aside). apart from Ash, our crossing was absolute pants and we struggled to string more than 2 passes together for most of the game!!

Kuffit

It's funny how 1 game changes a stat. Before this we had the best form of the top 4 hopefuls over the last 6 games, bet you didn't hear Aspinall commenting on that

Longman

I`ve not rated this bloke for at least 2 years mate,if you do then great.

ASPINALL

Who do you suggest we get as manager then?

Pking

Who do you suggest we get as manager then?

Pking

Anyone but this clown.

ASPINALL

a good cross for the first goal but that free kick summed Ash up when all the Wolves ran out and he still booted it into the far post . needs to get his head up and look where he's crossing and if there is nobody to cross to and he still crosses it YES it's his fault!!!

villan57

I agree 57, but you also have to admit, it would be a bit easier if there WAS somebody to cross it to

ant1ant1

I agree 57, but you also have to admit, it would be a bit easier if there WAS somebody to cross it to

ant1ant1

I hear David O'Leary's out of work...

Longman

I hear David O'Leary's out of work...

Longman

lets face it DOL could not do any worse than this monky on a stick

one match ban

I can't believe what i'm reading! ASPINALL, if the villa are indeed the love of your life then think back a few seasons to when we couldn't even maintain top half of the table, let alone a very successful double cup run. It's people LIKE YOU who boo our manager during one of our most successful periods in recent history and give us fans a bad name. "Anyone but MON" you must be on smack mate!

adam1248

Aspinall, we've all got our gripes about certain things but to say he is an idiot and a clown is just feckin retarded. Do us a favor and bug off..will ya?

los_angeles_villan

Aspinall, we've all got our gripes about certain things but to say he is an idiot and a clown is just feckin retarded. Do us a favor and bug off..will ya?

los_angeles_villan

Here here Adam!

Longman

Aspinall When you hear the voice of the knocker and listen to his hammer fall remember the fact that the knockers act requires no brains at all If you are unable to suggest anyones name as an alternative to Martin O'Neill you really do make yourself look stupid

sirdennis

You`re right he isn`t a clown and he isn`t an idiot.He`s just an overrated football manager. Be interesting how many of his backers above go every week.

ASPINALL

Aspinall Have you ever played any competitive sport at a decent level ?.By decent level I don't mean playing for the Dog and Duck on Billesley common

sirdennis

adam1248 - are you harping on about the 1 yes 1 season when we came 16th? Most successful season in recent history has so far won us nothing mate? Are you on crack?

ASPINALL

Aspinall Have you ever played any competitive sport at a decent level ?.By decent level I don't mean playing for the Dog and Duck on Billesley common

sirdennis

adam1248 - are you harping on about the 1 yes 1 season when we came 16th? Most successful season in recent history has so far won us nothing mate? Are you on crack?

ASPINALL

Yep i have but why does that matter.

ASPINALL

Fair enough I take it you were brilliant every time you played , never put a foot wrong and every decision you made was 100% correct .

sirdennis

don't think Ash did anything wrong villan, no one is where they should be attacking the ball, strikers like Bent or the strikers of old Fowler/Owen/Sutton/Shearer... or our guys Angel, Little, Gray etc etc would feed off those all day AND throw themselves in head first if needs be.

Folks, remember, takes all opinions, even those you find most baffling! For me I'm looking forward to the semi, enjoyed the final, am keeping an open mind to the end of the season league wise and will enjoy the ride. I don't think him an idiot, I'm not convinced he is a messiah. I'll sit happily in the middle ground!

The Fear

I don`t understand what that has to do with us playing dour football,MON spending a fortune on a team that can`t string 2 passes together without a struggle,just for today he has 10 million pounds worth of rightbacks on the bench and plays a centre half in their position,he buys a forward that doesn`t score and plays him ahead of ones that do,5000 fans can`t even be bothered to turn up for a local derby when we have one of the best season ticket prices in the prem,go look on the forums and get a decent overview of how quite a lot of fans who have to watch the same mistakes happen week after week for 4 years have lost the will mate.If you`re happy with MON then great but let people have their opinion.

ASPINALL

All we could realisticly aim for this season was challenge for fourth and a better performance in the cups.We have done this after losing Laursen and Barry,and have not only coped with their loss but improved.We have improved year after year in the most difficult league in the world.Most teams in the Champions League would not finish fourth in the Prem.We are not ready for the Champions League yet.

Pking

Aspinall your arrogance is amazing.I am a season ticket holder and have been watching Villa since 1969.I do look at the forums but the negativity puts me off I t always seems the same names having a go whatever the result.But I am stewing today because all I could think of on the way home was that the naysayers would be more or less gloating.There are far more comments when we lose or draw than when we win which tells its own story.And we dont play dour football either. And that my friend is my opinion and my opinion of your views and your unconstructive comments and your negativity is that you are wrong.

sirdennis

All i could think about was the lack of passion,speed and creativity in our play against a pretty poor team? Each to their own i guess,i`m glad you`re happy with what you watch every week and i wish i lived in that world.

ASPINALL

we just cant put teams away, is that MON fault? i have no idea. we should have been 3 up before they scored

Lost_In_Ca

I can see the two sides of this argument / discusssion....you all have some good points....I think Martin O'Neill has done a fairly good job myself....but the team is far from perfect...up front we are poor...people have been slagging John Carew off for ages but he does score....Heskey..well...he just aint a striker. Look at it like this...would Heskey get into the first team of : MAN U / LIVERPOOL / ARSENAL / MAN CITY / CHELSEA ?????? No he wouldnt..and he shouldnt get in ours. We are a good side at times, but lets face it...4th is beyond us...

MASON_PARKER

we played poorly for much of the game today. Warnock's passing was ***** as was downing's passing and crossing. How he missed with a clear header from 6 yards out I do not know. He should have been taken off earlier. Heskey is a waste of space and The Fonz should really have been put on today at some point - we had no pace up front. We have waited 3 years for MON to buy a decent striker and the wait goes on.

gwentvillan

If we cannot beat Wolves at home we don't deserve 4th place.

gwentvillan

If we cannot beat Wolves at home we don't deserve 4th place.

gwentvillan

Aspinall you are in the minority of fans that will just never be happy as a villa fan no matter what happens. This is the best season at Villa for well over a decade, and if you cant be happy with it then you never will be. We will never compete for the premier league title, the same way that 88 other teams wont. Its fans like you that make our fans an embarrasment.

pauled177

i think what aspinall is saying is that Heskey, Carlos, Stan and Downing were all struggling today for whatever reason and everybody seemed to know this apart from MON... this is a few days after talking about the need to rotate.... what did he do? on comes Albrighton at right back!? it defies belief....i am not a MON basher at all, my only real issues are with him not using very capable players when THE TEAM needs them...

leftfoot

After spending money to watch that rubbish today I am well and truely fed up with MON, we play the some of the worst hoof ball I have seen this season and thats something I can just about stomach when we are winning but its what the likes of Pulis have to resort to, not teams with 12 million pound midfielders - yet its the same old rubbish time and time again. To people saying he has done a fantastic job, where do you expect us to be after 100 million quid of investment? If we were a few points lower and knocking around with the everton's (who have had a desperately unlucky season) and bluenoses surely we would be massively underacheiving for that spend? So he is hardly pulling up trees, he has got us to where we should be playing route one rubbish and he is tactically clueless to get us any further. We have good runs in the cups - well done, yet we havent won anything and it makes up for 3 years of rubbish in the cups - I include not being able to get into the bloody UEFA Cup proper this year (pathetic)- and managing just two wins in the tournament last year. When is this bloke gonna justify the hype he gets? Gave up my season ticket this season because of the boring rubbish I endured last year, yet I have still ended up spending a fortune this season on tickets because of peer pressure and the fact that I must be mental, but I am glad im not tied to seeing the game on wednesday. I can stand it, as long as I dont have to watch it.

Mickey_Villa

on RTE television in Ireland Trevor Stevens(EX-Everton) thinks villa look tired and don't rotate the squad enough,need to use all of their panel before their challange peters out.

mc parland

on RTE television in Ireland Trevor Stevens(EX-Everton) thinks villa look tired and don't rotate the squad enough,need to use all of their panel before their challange peters out.

mc parland

We Want Delfonsuo We Want Delfonsuo We Want Delfonsuo We Want Delfonsuo

Avillian136

We Want Delfonsuo We Want Delfonsuo We Want Delfonsuo We Want Delfonsuo

Avillian136

Albrighton at right back???? He came on and we switched to a 3-5-2. It doesn't take a genius to see that! He gave us better width than Downing who was constantly trying to come inside onto his left foot - Ashley stayed left side because he was tooling on their right-back. wow.....

gmvillan

Does anyone think maybe that MON is too passionate and involved that he doesn't read what he has to do to change things in games? He doesn't seem to think about a plan b and when things do not go right and we look so tired because of the lack of rotation. We now wont get 4th as too far off but I hope for 5th and a miracle result against chelski in semi"s.

holte ender 1969

albrighton was dropping back into an RB position gmvillan..

leftfoot

albrighton was dropping back into an RB position gmvillan..

leftfoot

Aspinall, your comment about O'Neill treating the love of your life badly certainly resonates with me. I love Aston Villa FC, and I even have a huge amount of time for many of our players (despite them being O'Neill signings, shock, horror!) - though the likes of Heskey, Downing and Sidwell are simply too embarrassingly bad for me to stomach. And because I love my club, I loathe this man who is abusing it. Some of you fans are exactly like the wives of abusive husbands who tolerate the beatings because they have no self-esteem, and convince themselves that these acts of violence are actually an expression of love. Wife-beating is evil, and the plight of victims of domestic abuse is tragic. The delusion of Villa fans who worship O'Neill isn't tragic. It's merely pathetic.

Albarnista

I don't think it is a kind of decent performance to fight for a 4th place if we played soccer like this afternoon. I don't blame for the players as they really looked tired. Comparing with Spurs and Man City they have much deeper pool of players to rotate. Why the hell we should always be outnumbered by the rivals even though we have money to spend? I would be happy enough for Villa to get 5th or 6th place. It might not be a good new for us to get the 4th spot if MON still uses only 13 to 15 players to fight battles. We might need to have relegation battle if we are lucky enough to get involved with Champion League.

michaelyw

There is a balance and i certainly don`t agree with booing or having a go at MON during a game,save debate for the pubs/internet etc my bewilderment with this manager has been going on for a few years,i just don`t rate him good enough and he`s spent a fortune..Albarnista and leftfoot - i thank you x

ASPINALL

I watch with amazement on here...people having a go at ASPINALL for actually having his own opinion ? You dont have to aggree, or be abusive...we all think differently. One of you further up even said ' we'll never compete for the title'....how defeatist is that ?, Come on guys...everyone has an opinion , lets not argue.

MASON_PARKER

Thanks Mason,most of the questions about MON aren`t knee-jerk so i never understand why people get so angry,they are the same questions/doubts we`ve had for years and they`re still happening.

ASPINALL

Villa fans kill me, they really do. "anyone but this clown" is a pointless assesment. "We play poor football" is also a ridiculous statement. Outside of the top 3, most teams play a similar type of game...the English Version! The quality isn't there, the best of the best don't want to join us, so we have to make do with what we have and what we can get. To say MON is not a good manager is mesmerising. How many teams has he left in a worse position than when he joined? None that I can think of. How many years did it take Fergie to win his first trophy? Quite a while. We have made steady improvements this season, are still undefeated in the League this year, and have a YOUNG team who are still learning their trade. Admittedly yesterdays result wasn't pleasing, the performance from a quality of play standpoint wasn't great, but at least show some constructiveness in your criticism...coming out and saying our Manager is an idiot and anyone will do (I'm sure the likes of Souness, Roeder and Megson would like a crack at the job...will they do for you?!) isn't really supporting the club. Everyone has their opinion on the game, but at least try and explain it rather than coming out with barmy statements.

Francobaresi13

I hate draws. I also hate people going on about the bloody cup runs. We have played some poor oppositon in the cups and we have been lucky, not good. We didn't lose though and looked very good for 20 mins. The main problem is Heskey playing (or trying to play.) He gets a goal or an assist and then we forget about him for a few weeks but he just isn't good enough and doesn't offer enough. If MON wasn't wearing his "Emile Heskey tinted specs" and learned to rotate I would be more than happy with our progress under him. Can't believe that our fans get so abusive after a draw though, Crack/Smack heads and Wifebeating????? Surely we should stick to the football

Villan444

Maybe you should have a go Aspinall. Or should we have gone for Dowie and sacked MON. Eejit.

ljkal

Maybe you should have a go Aspinall. Or should we have gone for Dowie and sacked MON. Eejit.

ljkal

I'd support Aspinall .. he seems to know what he's talking about . I'd support anyone who dropped Heskey .

Doug4ever

VILLA FANS!! Calm down dears, it's not a mortal blow to our hopes of top-4! I have us down to draw our next home game against sunderland... we could do with winning this now, but should we win, we will be right back in the mix again. Spurs had a good result, but lets wait and see before moaning too much :> As for all those moaning about MON and the team, yes, there are some problems (Heskey, Sidwell, and Downing), but we're not yet there... here's hoping he breaks the bank for Bent in the summer!

thorpyuk

I think the main reason people moan about mon is because he consistently persists with Heskey and playing people out of position (I know thats obvious) not once or twice but every week . I used to criticise the critics but its been going on too long now . We have a young team full of exciting players but struggle against many teams that we should be walking over , If Martin does one of his party tricks against Sunderland and plays Heskey while putting Carew on the bench then there will be more people getting p'eed off with him .. Its self inflicted , he had the whole crowd asking for the Fonz but even though we didn't even look like we might win he wouldn't grant our wishes .. I dont think he cares about Villa fans personally .. He is a very intelligent person , he must be able to see the flaws in his team even his staunchest supporters agree about Heskey and Luke Young , there must be some reason why he keeps on picking inadequate teams but i cant understand him at all .

Doug4ever

Interesting fact from the commentator on yesterday's Sunderland/Scum game...only Ronaldo has scored more Prem goals than Bent in the last 4-5 seasons. Still, does he have everything else we need in a striker to help us progress? I'm not sure he does personally, but from the players we have a likely chance of signing he is certainly the best of the bunch. Another Midfielder who has the ability to rad the play 2-3 passes ahead we should be a lot happier next season. Then again, we're Villa fans, so who knows...

Francobaresi13

man, i wish we had bent..

Gruck

Albarnista the only comments ive heard from you is slagging off o'neil get a life and go support the bluenoses if u aint happy cus o'neil aint goin anywhere for a long time mate! and wth has wife beating got to do with anything u sickening freak! and ASPINALL or whoever really hates o'neil there is no man apart from someone like mourinho who could get us that 4th place. You say your a loyal supporter who supported villa for a long time then why are you moaning? since when have we been on the scene as a good club? we have won 2 league cups since 1991 so we arent exactly a massive club at the moment. You just want glory straight away and since we got o'neil we are looking more likely to get silverware so really do shut up because you dont know what your on about.

p.villa

People are complaining about Mon because we have the players to do better but he wont use them .. we should be sitting in 4th now ..

Doug4ever

People are complaining about Mon because we have the players to do better but he wont use them .. we should be sitting in 4th now ..

Doug4ever

gwentvillan wolves beat Spuds at WHL does that mean Spuds shouldn't be 4th either?? We all know we need a couple of strikers (and so does MON), I havn't seen us play that well all season and yet we're in a good position and have booked 2 wembley dates, it takes time to build a good team and MON is doing ok for me, our worst enemy is going to be ourselves lets get behind the lads and support them.

claretandbluearmy

Opinions are like a***holes, everyone has one. Aspinall is entitled to his, and here is mine. We are having a good season, and are in contention for everything we can be chasing with the team we have. BUT, I can see where some of these comments are coming from, we need a fox in the box, but MON won't try the Fonz, who scored in most of his starts in the cup. We need something fresh in midfield, but he won't try Delph. There are 3 right backs in the squad and he won't play any of them, and persists with Cuellar, who should be in the middle with Dunne for certain games IMO, but his distribution is too poor for a right back in attacking positions. I saw Trevor Steven on RTE last night and he was spot on, the team looked tired yesterday, and MON is playing a conservative game re squad rotation which may cost us fourth place. On the positive side, how many of us thought we would be in this position without Laursen and Barry? The other 4th place contenders have tricky run in's, we still have every chance, (Liverpool may be out of it after todays loss,) but the boss has to twist not stick in order to make it happen. City away is the key league game, but I'd still love to win the cup as too many of us have not seen done it in our lifetime, including our manager. At least we still have someting to talk about besides mid table mediocrity.

Madirish

I thought Ashley Young looked good yesterday, if he can rediscover last seasons form he has a real chance of going to World Cup with Lennon and Becks injured and Walcott just pants

HuddersfieldYiddo

I thought Ashley Young looked good yesterday, if he can rediscover last seasons form he has a real chance of going to World Cup with Lennon and Becks injured and Walcott just pants

HuddersfieldYiddo

folks, agree or disagree with the negative posts, that doesn't mean you have to call others blue noses etc, lets at least try to respect others opinions even if we don't agree. Then again, the start of this particular thread calling MON an idiot sort of set the tone for you Aspinall I'm afraid!

More than aware of the faults but I've enjoyed my trip to Wembley and am looking forward to the next + the run in. I am not 100% sure MON will take us further, but I'd want him to see out 5 years to see UNLESS he wants to walk, that woudln't worry me but that is the same with any manager we've had, I don't think any bugger is bigger than our mighty club.

He isn't an idiot though, stubborn yes but it is his job and so no matter how much we don't want Heskey or whoever on, that isn't our call and if he does go at some stage, he'll have left us in a better state than when he came in. Fair enough, this is through the best financial period Villa have had as well but even so, some of our players are top class and still young. Just said in the forum, I'd expect a striker or two in the summer and that could just transform the whole of this team, those behind proper finishers would relax, less defensive pressure and more chances of our crosses and attacking play leading to goals.

The Fear

But will he sign what we need? furthermore will he play them in their proper positions? I wish MON would prove all his doubters wrong but sadly his poor player selection and poor rotation has us up against it! We have a slim chance and so must cheer for that as I do not like any boo's as its our club and we have to get behind the team, although sometimes, just sometimes you wonder why!

holte ender 1969

Well said J.F we have some fantastic young players but i worry about a mass exodus (to Boro?) if we dont achieve any success anytime soon .

Doug4ever

Well said J.F we have some fantastic young players but i worry about a mass exodus (to Boro?) if we dont achieve any success anytime soon .

Doug4ever

He isn`t an idiot.

ASPINALL

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