Mathieu Bersion
Undisclosed free to Auxerre August 06. The few times he played for us,
Mathieu
looked class. The only reason he's gone is because its what he wanted.. Ulises De La Cruz.
Released July 06, out of contract (signed for newly promoted Reading).
Ulises
was at his best as a wing back when we played 3-5-2, making quality
runs. Kevin Philips.
£700k to West Brom August 06. I've never been a big fan of his,
but he did
a good job for us. Surprised to see him sold when it leaves us with
just four strikers, two of whom are very young. Maybe there's news to
come.
In
Stilian Petrov.
£6.5 Million, up to 8 million depending on appearances. Petrov is
a 27 year old Bulgarian midfielder signed from Celtic where he
previously played under O'Neill.
Chris Sutton. (3rd October Chris was out of contract so can be
signed outside the window). A 33 year old striker signed to the end of
the season to cover for Luke Moore who's shoulder injury is likely to
put him out for that long.
Squad Numbers
1 Thomas Sorensen Goalkeeper
2 Mark Delaney Defender
3 Jlloyd Samuel Defender
4 Olof Mellberg Defender
5 Martin Laursen Defender
6 Gareth Barry Defender
7 Lee Hendrie Midfielder
8 Gavin McCann Midfielder
9 Juan Pablo Angel Striker
10 Milan Baros Striker
11 Stilian Petrov Midfielder
12 Steven Davis Midfielder
13 Stuart Taylor Goalkeeper
14 Eric Djemba-Djemba Midfielder
15 Gabriel Agbonlahor Striker
16 Wilfred Bouma Defender
17 Peter Whittingham Midfielder
18 Aaron Hughes Defender
19 Liam Ridgewell Defender
21 Gary Cahill Defender
22 Luke Moore Striker
23 Patrik Berger Midfielder
25 Robert Olejnik Goalkeeper
26 Craig Gardener Midfielder
Fixtures/Stats/ Match Reviews (KO 3pm except where stated)
Sat Aug 19 Arsenal 1 Villa 1. A big challenge for Villa and new manager
Martin O'Neill against and Arsenal team playing their first game at the
new Emirates stadium. They pushed us hard for most of the game, but
Villa's defence held firm although conceding 18 corners. Villa got just
the one corner as Olof converted our only corner of the game early in
the second half. Villa held on til the 83rd when Gilberto whacked in an
unstoppable shot from short range.
Weds 23rd Aug 7:45pm Villa 2 Reading 1. Newly promoted Reading rocked
Villa
with a goal after just 4 minutes and looked quite pushy and capable
throughout the game. It was 1-1 at half time thanks to a JPA penalty,
with Reading going to 10 men as Sonko was sent off for the challenge
that gave the penalty away. Whittingham came on in the second half (for
the innefective JLloyd) and immediately made the difference with a ball
into the box that Gareth headed home for the winner.
Sunday 27th Aug 2pm Villa 2 Newcastle 0. The game was watched by new
majority shareholder (and soon to be chairman) Randy Learner. Villa got
off to a flying start wth a Luke Moore goal after 2 minutes. The rest
of the first half was fairly even with both team pushing hard, but
Villa made it two before the break with JPA neatly finishing off a
lovely through ball from Gabby. Newcastle had made all three subs by
early in the second half, then had to play with 10 for half an hour
after their new signing Obafemi Martins was stretchered off. Villa were
always in control from there, with Luke hitting the cross bar hard and
JPA missing two lovely chances.
Sunday 10th Sept 4pm. West Ham 1 Villa 1. Villa's great start continued
with a Liam Ridgwell's tap in on 4 minutes setting up a storming first
half which they dominated, inspired by the exceptional debut of Stilian
Petrov, but failed to turn into more goals. Villa
hit the bar, forced three saves off the line, and really needed to put
the game out of site. West Ham were booed off at half time, but came
out stronger and Zamora equalised 6 mins after the restart. Coupled
with the arrival of there new star signing Tevez, West Ham made more of
a game of it in the second half, but still Villa had the better chances
with another whack on the bar and two more off the line. Two points
lost. Villa are 5th, unbeaten and on 8 points so a good start despite
this dissapointment.
Saturday 16 Sept 5:15pm Watford 0 Villa 0. Hopes were high of pushing
on with a result here, but a different Villa attitude saw us attack shy
and offering far less pressure than in the last two games. Watford had
more possession, although Villa did make the better chances. We played
4-3-3, as has become the norm under Martin. Sorenson, Ridge, Laursen,
Mellberg, Barry, Petrov, McCann, Davies, Agbonlahor, Angel, Moore was
the staring line up. Nil-nil was a pretty fair result.
Important historical note. 19 September 2006 Herbert Douglas Ellis
resigns as chairman of Aston Villa after a long and miserable reign.
New chairman and majority shareholder is Randolph Lerner.
Saturday 23 Sept 3pm Villa 2 Charlton 0. Villa lacked a bit of force in
the first half, but ended it well with a nice floated cross from Gareth
was firmly volleyed home by Gabby. Villa played good postive football
through most of the second half, with JPA timing a lovely pass to Luke
Moore who slotted home just after the hour to make it 2. Villa's
unbeated start to the campaign moved them to 4th on Saturday night.
Saturday 30th Sept 3pm Chelsea 1 Villa 1. Drogba scored the opener for
Chelsea after 2 mins although it really should've been dissallowed for
the John Terry hand ball - just one of may terrible decisions Graham
Poll made all afternoon. Villa had a good first half, and got the
equaliser through Gabby right at the death of the first half.
Chelsea were strong in the second half, although Angel and Baros both
missed glorious chances and Poll denied us an undeniable penalty. Villa
remain unbeaten, and things still look bright.
Sat 14th October 3pm Villa 1 Spurs 1. The first full house of the
season - and one we certainly wouldn't have got last season - saw Villa
struggle in the first half. Playing 442 for the first time under Martin
because of Luke Moore's injury pretty much removing the 352 option, we
didn't really get into any flow and Spurs were pushing hard. Angel and
Baros were up front. In second half Villa were better and we looked to
have the breakthrough when Gabby was brought down in the box and JPA
stepped up to take the penalty - but hoofed it over the top. That's 5
out of 6 he's missed now, we need a different taker. Things got worse
just 90 seconds later when Juan headed a corner into his own net. It
all could have gone so wrong, til Gareth saved us with a wonder strike
to make things even. JPA had a good chance to put matters right late
on. Stuart Taylor was on goal due to Tommy's injury, and performed well
throughout.
Sat 21st October 5:15pm. Villa 1 Fulham 1. Villa kicked off towards the
Holte in the first half for the second week in a row - seems that to be
trend by opposition teams here. Then, we had restricted the 500 or so
Fulham fans to a section of the Witton Lane Lower, so we had the whole
North End. Didn't seem to help much though, as Villa were poor for most
of the 90 minutes, midfield pinball being the order of the day. A
penalty was given after Petrov was manhandled in the box and thank
goodness Gareth stepped up to take it and not JPA. He knocked it home
confidently for one nil. Fulham equalised in the second half, and apart
from one brief spell Villa didn't threaten.
Sat 28th October 3pm Liverpool 3 Villa 1 3pm. Villa finally lost their
unbeated start after a poor first half performance that saw us 3 - 0
down at half time. Gabby set us off to a good second half start with a
quick goal, and the second half performance was encouraging, but there
just wasn't enough to pull back the deficit.
Sun 5th November 2pm Villa 2 Blackburn 0. Sutton and Angel started up
front and Villa took a first half lead with a Gareth Barry penalty - we
certainly seem to be getting a better than usual run with penalty
decisions. A well taken early second half goal from JPA set Villa up
for a comfortable win in which Sorenson was rarely troubled, although
Villa slowed the game down and produced little after that second goal.
Sat 11th November 3pm Everton 0 - Villa 1. A great result which lifted
us to 3rd in the Premiership, at least for 24 hours. Everton started
well but failed to manufacture any real goal threats, then lost their
way after Tim Cahill was carried off after a collision with one of his
own players. A lovely assist from Osaiah Osbourne was glanced in (he
did actually touch it, didn't he?) by Chris Sutton on 42 mins. Osbourne
is starting to look like our own Patrick Viera - its often been the
case the necessity is the mother of invention for Villa, as our good
youngsters have only come through due to injury to first team regulars.
Villa produced more chances than Everton in the second half as well,
though having to defend carefully and ride their luck at times too.
Fine 3 points.
Sun 19 November 1:30pm Wigan 0 - Villa 0. Villa without McCann
(suspension) and Petrov (hamstring pull on matchday) lacked any bite in
midfield and consequently struggled to create very much all afternoon.
Wigan had the better of the possession and chances but having failed to
convert any of them, gradually ran out of steam.
