Brian of Nazareth

Wednesday 29th – Daily Mail

Discontent in Division One
by Mohammed al Khalej

Yesterday brought a bizarre set of discontent with 3 of division one’s key clubs, facing angst amongst their own playing staff. Perhaps it is indicative of the seriousness of the financial problems that are hitting many clubs at the present time.

Last year’s Premiership clubs Ipswich and Leicester were barracked from within over the sale of supposed key players at the squad. At Leicester, Brian Deane and Billy McKinlay expressed their disgust at Leicester’s decision to part with the services of key midfielder Andy Impey from the squad.

The players allegedly confronted the manager and board over the decision to sell Impey. In the “discussion” the players learnt of the dangerously poor financial situation at the clubs and a row broke out over the handling of the club. The pair will face disciplinary procedures as a result of the mini fracas.

Similar events occurred in Ipswich. Although Darren Bent was warned for attacking the club’s policy after the departure of Jamie Clapham, it did not prevent other members of the squad from speaking out over the board’s policy.

Martin Reuser, Jim Magilton and Fabian Wilnis were very critical of the directors and Joe Royle to an extent, following the sale of Ireland anchorman Matt Holland to, ironically, Wolves, which has left the Norfolk side, extremely short on players, barring the youth players.

“It’s ridiculous!” claimed Magilton. “ Why the club has to resort to such measures I don’t know. There is no competition for places and our performances have suffered as a result.” The striker was supported by Reuser who argued that “ a club like Ipswich should easily be able to find the resources to cope with the money problems. Why should we suffer because of useless directors?” Wilnis likewise condemned the board’s actions. The comments are unlikely to go down well with senior members of the Ipswich hierarchy.

With attitudes more and more commonplace in football it seems the problems are going to run and run for along time. Paul Ince’s and Kevin Cooper’s decision to criticise Dave Jones’ sale of Colin Cameron is perhaps a little harsh, given they had only recently purchased Matthew Holland from Ipswich, but it still shows the financial worries are damaging football.

Brian of Nazareth

Thursday 29th – Birmingham Post

Troyes Thrashed as the Davies Effect Delights Fans
by W.T.F. Hapendere

Tonight Villa approached their match with Troyes knowing that they had to win to go through, following the 0-0 result in the first leg. A score draw would see them eliminated so therefore a win was the only option.

On a night when the focus was supposedly on the Champions League qualifiers, Villa snatched some of the headlines with this exquisite performance in European competition, although competition is somewhat of an oxymoron when put next to Troyes FC. The only true shame was that just 17,000 fans witnessed a stunning Aston Villa performance.

It is difficult to mention the opposition in great deal, because quite frankly they were non-existent throughout the match. If anything their goalkeeper, Didier Gauthier, deserves credit for keeping the score to a respectable total. And when a respectable total is a 6-0 deficit you know you’ve played disastrously.

It still took Villa a good ten minutes to get into their stride however as they settled down into they’re 4-4-2 formation. Once they developed their passing rhythm however, there was no stopping them as the French side failed to stop the claret and blue tide over running. Kallstrom Hendrie and Hadji ran the midfield superbly all evening, able supported by anchorman Ian Taylor.

In the 13th minute the rout started. Gareth Barry brought the ball forward from defence cutting inside just beyond the half way line and chipping the ball forward to Ian Taylor who fed in Hadji down the right side of the penalty box for the Moroccan to cross in to Darius Vassell to head in unmarked. A nicely worked goal that set the scene for what was to follow.

With Villa now in control a second goal didn’t take too long to arrive. In the 22nd minute Ronny Johnsen gathered the ball on the edge of the area and sent an accurate ball forward to Kim Kallstrom in the middle of the park. Almost instantaneously, the Swede split the advanced defence open with a precise ball to Darius Vassell. The 21 year old then turned to beat 3 defenders before firing a shot into the roof of the net. His 5th goal in two games for the striker – who apparently has trouble scoring goals – and this was a belting goal.

Within 3 minutes of that goal however and it was 3-0, and effectively game over. This was a more straightforward effort for Villa arriving from a corner. Lee Hendrie – who’s deflected shot had produced the corner, swung the ball in and Mustapha Hadji connected firmly, again unmarked, with his head to finish the match as a contest.

With the crowd, despite the lack of numbers, in fine voice the Troyes goal received a battering after that goal, as the players seemed to thrive on the jubilant chanting. “ We Want More! / We Want Four!” was the cry and so the players duly obliged, although it didn’t arrive until the 45th minute as the Troyes defenders seemed to master the complex art of hitting the ball out if there was an opponent near it.

Sadly this policy was a little too taxing on some defenders minds as Olof Mellberg, attacking genius as he is, waltzed along for 30 yards unchallenged before giving the ball to Darius Vassell, who, spotting Marcus Allback in the area having cleverly deceived his marker by using the cunning art of running behind him, chipped it forward and it was a simple finish for the subtle Swede. A Half time score at 4-0 then and the fans were very positive.

It would be premature to suggest this was an outstanding display given the shoddy performance by their French counterparts, but this is a side that defeated both Paris St Germain and Fulham to reach this point, so praise is well deserved. At this point it could also be understandable for the players to relax at half time with the result already beyond doubt and there being no need to waste energy. However, although Villa did appear to let up quite substantially – the French side, quite astonishingly, achieved the dubious distinction of performing even more pathetically.

Within 5 minutes of the restart it was 5-0 and a second for Marcus Allback. Kim Kallstrom, receiving the ball in acres of space ran forward a little before playing back to Gareth Barry. The young defender then provided a perfectly weighted ball for Darius Vassell to collect in the area and a very unselfish pass left a simple finish for Marcus Allback. It was 5 and samba time in the crowd.

Half jokingly the crowd began to demand even more. “Let’s make it a Super Six!” Yet once again the players delivered. Fortunately for Villa it didn’t test the legs of the players out there who conjured up a 6th with minimal energy. Gareth Barry played the ball up field towards Hadji, who moved the ball forward and from a full 35 yards blasted the ball into the top right hand corner of the net. Another fine finish for Villa who seemed intent on completely destroying their opponents. That though was as good as it got for Villa, who finally decided that 6 was enough and began to relax.

After the game Davies was quick to praise his team on a stunning performance. “It was an excellent result for the team and I am delighted with the teams effort. We thoroughly deserved the victory and it’s continuing our fine run to the season. I bet anyone who decided against going tonight will be kicking themselves!

Gareth Barry, whilst not scoring was a real gem in the defence, or midfield as he really played I suppose. We’re in the UEFA Cup proper now so let’s hope we can build on this result and take into our league matches!

Aston Villa 6 Troyes 0 Vassell 13, 22, Hadji 26 60, Allback 45, 50 .

Post Man of the Match – very hard to choose but none of the goal scorers are receiving the award tonight. Instead it is going to Gareth Barry who was outstanding all night in breaking down ANY Troyes play and began all the attacks that led to goals. Unlucky himself with a late shot. Marcus and Darius were also outstanding with 2 goals and 2 assists. This front pairing could be deadly for Villa.

Brian of Nazareth

Last Update for a bit then I have to concentrate on exams for a few days. Back in a week or so



September Issue Claret and Blue

The September issue is focusing mainly on the youth system employed at the club, although the first team match reports will appear in brief later in the magazine. Last year all we heard emanating from the mouths of Doug Ellis and Mark Ansell was that there was no need to invest because our youth team would do the trick. On their own. Without any quality players to guide them.

Now however, we have decided to take a look at the academy, that is producing the stars of the future, and we are going to evaluate the success or potential success that is emerging. To find out more, Youth team coach and former Villa legend Gordon Cowans and reserve team boss Kevin McDonald kindly gave up a moment of their time to answer a few of our questions.


C&B: Thanks for sparing us a few minutes Gordon and Kevin. As most of the fans know, there has been a strong emphasis on the youth system we employ at present. Do you believe we have quality players of the future here?

GC: We certainly have a good crop of players who can go far, they just need the experience. Clearly not all of them will make the grade, but we have enough promise hear to provide a backbone for the future for this club. It’s amazing to see what some of these players can already do at such a tender age, skills that I rarely managed myself throughout my career!

KM: Well, from what I’ve seen in the reserve team over the past year and a half or so, the fans should certainly be optimistic about the clubs future. The youngsters have gained invaluable experience mixing it with some of the Senior Pros and with the support of the old guard, such as Dion Dublin and Steve Staunton to offer a helping hand, as well as our own coaching I’m sure many of them will develop into very good players.

C&B: Whilst we have seen some of these players grab a taste of the first team in certain matches and training sessions, to tip so many youngsters is surely over the top? Given the fairly young first team at present will the youngsters be able to gain enough experience?

GC: . Well the youngsters between 16 and 18 are very promising, but there is no pressure on them to break through just yet. They will develop steadily in the U19 side or through Kevin’s reserve side to begin with and then once they begin to reach the standard where they won’t look out of place in the first team we’ll be looking to hopefully loan some of them out to gain first team experience.

KM: . To a certain extent, the reserve team will improve the game of the youngsters quite considerably and as Gordon said, there is no pressure just yet to make an immediate impact. We already have 4 young players out on loan gaining valuable experience. Jonathan Bewers is on a season long loan at York, Rob Edwards at Cambridge, Stephen Cooke at Notts Country and Liam Ridgewell at Walsall. All 4 of them are nearly at the stage where if called upon by Rod they wouldn’t disgrace themselves. Stephen in particular gas even been tipped to emulate the performances of a certain ex Villain still here!

GC: Haha! Yes I’ve heard that comparison being made on the training ground before, but I’m sure Stephen has the potential to become a much better player than I ever was, but then again there was less competition around in my day, so Cookie will have to work very hard if he’s to establish himself in the immediate future. Aside from those four we’ll be looking to get the likes of Boaz [Myhill], Steven Davis, Luke Moore, Mike Aaritalo to name just a few.

KM: Indeed, and just to add to that, at recent reserve matches I’ve spotted scouts from big division one clubs checking the progress of Danny Jackman and Lee Grant, so there may be even more opportunities for young Villains coming up soon.

C&B Could you name any particular player who you would tip to make an impact in this season, under the boss?

GC Erm , it is a tough choice as I’m not sure who would be quite ready this year, but I think, aside from Stefan Moore who is now training with the first team, but I would have to suggest either Steven Davis or Stephen Cooke who are 2 talented midfielders.

KM It’s very difficult to say as the players who are absent on loan are almost there, although I think Liam Ridgewell is the most exciting talent maybe. Given some match experience with Walsall I feel he may be back with us before the season is over. With Johnsen and Staunton nearing the end of their careers, I’m sure opportunities will arise, and if they do I’d tip him to surprise a fair few players out there. He dealt with Wayne Rooney comfortably last year in the youth side and just look at the hype that guy is receiving at the moment.

C& B Thanks very much Kevin and Gordon for adding further hope to thousands of Villa fans. We’ll let you get back to coaching these young superstars!

So there you have it, even without the pressure of having to over do their talent, there are young guns that are almost ready to take on first team responsibility. Now we’ll just have to wait and see! For information on the Reserve and U19 matches, please turn to page 62 of the magazine for ticket details.

August Match Summaries

Well as we went to press we were deciding whether to wait until the Troyes match finished – good thing we did! What a fine way to end the month with a belting victory over the French side that guarantees UEFA Cup football at Villa Park this season.

Of course the month started in fine fashion with an excellent victory in Spain, it was a great experience to be a part of and all 300 Villa fans enjoyed a terrific time in southern Spain, capped by a memorable finish to a game with Dion Dublin and the young tall Peter Crouch grabbing the goals. Personally, I’m not sure if Crouch has the ability to maintain a regular spot in the side but that night he performed very well.

Then, in the final match before the Premiership kicked off we ground out a 0-0 draw in France, in the first leg of the final, and although we missed chances, it was a creditable draw nevertheless, and with home support in the return leg, we had to fancy our chances!

Well that second leg was a memorable occasion for all of those who went – but it was a sham that marginally less than 17,000 turned up for an exhilarating victory. Superb braces from Darius Vassell, our young English International, Mustapha Hadji and Marcus Allback contributed to a superb all round performance and I think those of you who were there will treasure Darius’ second goal for some time to come.

In the league, we’ve also performed extremely well as the early signs of the Davies’ rule look highly promising. An opening day victory, courtesy of a stunning performance by Allback gave us a deserved win over Villaborough, hopefully sending Southgate, Ehiogu Boateng, Harrison and Barron home a bit miffed!

A nice start that was soon followed by superb results against Newcastle and Liverpool meant we were unbeaten as August ended. The brilliant hat-trick from Darius will have quietened a few critics I’m sure as we overcame a tough Liverpool side.

I think it’s fair to say that Rod Davies has the full backing of the board given the impressive start we’ve had and yet there has only been one addition to the squad. Kim Kallstrom certainly has made an impressive start and we’ll be hoping there’s more to come from the young Swede. Another Swede has struck a promising partnership up front with Vassell and hopefully Marcus and Darius can continue to improve our fortunes.

A Round Up of results in August.

Malaga 1 Aston Villa 2 – Dublin, Crouch.
Troyes 0 Aston Villa 0
Aston Villa 3 Middlesbrough 1. Allback 2, Hadji.
Newcastle 1 Aston Villa 1. Allback.
Aston Villa 3 Liverpool 1 Vassell 3
Aston Villa 6 Troyes 0 Vassell 2, Hadji 2, Allback 2.

Next Issue, Dion Dublin answers 10 questions and we have an interview with Mark Delaney. It’s a big thumbs up for fan and manager Rod Davies.

Brian of Nazareth

Cheers Jack, glad it's worked so far. Hopefully it will continue to do so

Friday 30th

Birmingham Post

The portuguese midfielder Hugo Porfirio is said to be closing to signing a pre contract agreement that will see the winger move to Aston Villa when the transfer window re-opens in January. The club, keen to add some experience to the squad will monitor his progress over the coming months before coming to a final decision. Aany move would see Benfica take 2 million euros over 12 months with a further 2 million subject to appearance and performance rewards.



http://www.avfc.co.uk/

With qualification to the UEFA Cup proper assured, Rod Davies has now announced in full the European Squad who will be available to face Maccabi Haifa in the first round. As a result of the tie various fixtures have been changed to accommodate the fixture. These are the fixtures away to Blackburn, which will now be played on Sunday 6th October, and away to Manchester United on the Wednesday 9th October. If you have already purchased tickets for these matches on the original date then don’t worry as they will still be valid. Refunds are also available. Please email ticketsales@astonvillafc.co.uk for more information.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1)Peter Enckelman
13)Stefan Postma

A strong department for Villa as both keepers are solid shot stoppers, although I’m sure we’d love to seem them being a little more commanding and vocal in matches to send confidence to the defence.

Defenders

2) Jlloyd Samuel
3) Alan Wright
5) Ronny Johnsen
12) Olof Mellberg
16) Gareth Barry
18) Steve Staunton
24) Mark Delaney

A good mix of youth an experience here with both full back positions covered and enough quality in the centre to ensure a reliable back 4 will help protect Stefan or Peter when necessary. Olof will be the key defender as captain of the side.

Midfielders

6) Ian Taylor
7) Mustapha Hadji
8) Lee Hendrie
15) Ulises de la Cruz
20) Joey Gudjonsson
21) Hassan Kachloul
22) Thomas Hitzlesperger
32) Stephen Cooke
38) Stephen Davis
41) Kim Kallstrom

A mostly youthful midfield will be providing the firepower for the front men but as we have already delightedly observed so far, they are certainly talented. Hopefully Kallstrom can continue his fine early form, and he will be ably supported by any of the alternatives. For Stephen Davis and loaned Steven Cooke it could be an excellent opportunity. Reliable experience from Ian Taylor and Mustapha Hadji will help guide the younger stars.


Attackers

9) Darius Vassell
10) Juan Pablo Angel
14) Dion Dublin
17) Peter Crouch
19) Marcus Allback
23) Stefan Moore

Certainly a wealth of options up front for Davies with options allowing differing styles of play to be tried, although the Vassell and Allback partnership looks to be hard to break and who are we to complain! Stefan Moore could surprise many teams this year if he can carry forward the promise he showed last year.

Brian of Nazareth

September

Monday 1st

Birmingham Post
No New Players But Another Victory
by Jo Dark


The transfer deadline appeared and went with no further transfer activity at Villa Park, although it is still considered that Rod Davies is maintaining an interest in Hugo Porfirio, the Portuguese midfielder. However, based on Villa’s victory yesterday at Bolton, his value is questionable.

Villa, maintained their fine start to the season with a narrow victory over Sam Allardyce’s side thanks to another strike from Marcus Allback late in the second half, but for a long time the fluency on display against Troyes wasn’t very evident.

Bolton, having been unfortunate not to have started the season better were a much tougher proposition than the French side. A focus on closing down Villa and a never say never attitude worked for vast periods of the game and they were unlucky not to gain a very early lead.

Ronny Johnsen tripped Pedersen in the box and the Danish frontman picked himself to take the penalty – which was appalling – fully 3 yards wide of the left hand post and was in retrospect a damning example of Bolton’s season so far – excellent opportunities but lacking the final touch.

Towards the end of the first half though, Bolton’s fight seemed more and more to be in vain as Villa began to dominate the play with a quick passing movement that overcame the resistance Bolton were providing. Into the second half and Villa upped the tempo and began to stretch the Bolton midfield to breaking point, and soon Jay Jay Okocha withdrew from the action with a suspected pulled hamstring.

In the last 20 minutes Villa put the pressure on and the fresh legs of Lee Hendrie, on for Hassan Kachloul, helped to create the only goal in the match. Winning the ball in midfield, the one time England star did very well to pick out Darius Vassell on the left hand edge of the penalty area who then found Marcus Allback in enough space to round the keeper and slot home. Another goal for the ‘prolific’ Swede that maintains Villa’s position at the top of the table.

The final few minutes saw last chances for Bolton come and go, but in the end their sting had been taken out of them already. Even manager Sam Allardyce conceded they had been outfoxed.

“It wasn’t our day and for all the hard work we put into closing down the play and keeping possession, Villa unfortunately were able to answer the problem and they got the goal. Maybe if we’d scored that penalty early on we would have gone on to win it but you know we can’t afford to think about the Ifs if we’re to stay out of a relegation battle this season.”

Bolton Wanderers 0 Aston Villa 1 Allback 75

Post Man of the Match – Well we’ll leave it to Rod Davies to describe this week’s winner for you. “ Well in my opinion he is one of the best midfielders has ever had and I still can’t believe he hasn’t played for England. Ian Taylor was all over the park once again for us, from defence to attack, breaking up the Bolton threat and never giving up. A classic performance.”

BobBev

Brian, I think that your idea of using a variety of journalistic styles is excellent. It gives you the opportunity to explore various approaches and to focus on different elements of the overall story. KUTGW

Jambo_4eva

What BobBev, and then latterly Iain said. This is a story I've liked - it's in the style you (apparantly so, by the quality of you're writing) like plus the fact you're doing rather well...

Brian of Nazareth

Thank you all for the kind words. Bobbev - I know and I'm actually enjoying the fact that I'm not restricted to writing in one form



Thursday 5th

Birmingham Post

Villains Victory Leaves Fans delighted
By Peter Baker

Aston Villa’s third consecutive victory last night away to Fulham left the Birmingham side sitting pretty at the top of the Premiership table with 5 matches played. Fulham, winless and pointless going into the match were always under pressure and it was Marcus Allback again who grabbed the goals to defeat the Cottagers.

The match started fairly evenly however with Steve Marlet and Sylvain Legwinski both having good chances to open the scoring for the London side, but on both occasions Peter Enckelman was equal to the task. At the other end chances fell to Marcus Allback but he was narrowly wide on both attempts.

As the half wore on Fulham did impose themselves upon the game with a succession of attacks that failed at the final delivery or produced more fine stops from Peter Enckelman, the most notable being a finger tip over from Sean Davis’ lightening strike in the 34th minute from the edge of the D. Yet neither side could produce that killer pass to unlock defences and as Davies put it after the match

“… in the first half we cancelled each other out in midfield and whilst Fulham probably had more of the ball we didn’t feel particularly threatened, but I soon sorted that out at half time… ”

Which cannot be denied, as the second half was full of vigour and excitement, plenty of opportunities opening up for either side as defences grew tired. Frenchman Louis Saha went very close as an accurate cross from Legwinski found Saha unmarked in the area but a wild shot went sailing over the bar.

For all the excitement of the second half, there were still no goals, but it seemed the 3 this match were kept in reserve to stun fans, both home and away. First to strike late on was Marcus Allback yet again as the Swede struck to maintain a remarkable scoring run, grabbing his 4th in 3 games.

Ian Taylor, won the ball in his own half, dispossessing Martin Djetou, and launched a searching ball up field for the Columbian forward, Juan Pablo Angel. The ball was nipping along too fast for Angel, but Van de Sar still felt the need to run out of goal and boot it clear. Unfortunately for him it fell at the feet of Mark Delaney, and the Welshmen soon released Mustapha Hadji down the right whose dinked ball forward was met by Allback, who delicately chipped over the advancing Sar to give Villa a timely lead.

That appeared to be the end of it but just a minute later; the lead was doubled, just as the fourth official announced 5 minutes of added on time. As to where these 5 minutes came from, only the officials will know. Fulham increased the pressure from the restart and Delaney conceded a corner.

Swung over by ex Villain Mark Kinsella, the Fulham attack kept trying to carve out an opening but was denied on each occasion and a Sava cross was headed long up field by Ronny Johnsen, so long that it beat the lone defender to find Allback again who ran towards the goal and another chipped attempt nestled in the back of the net again, helped on it’s way by a desperate Sar.

The game then appeared to be over, and Allbacks 5th in 3 games seemed to finish the tie. Of course there were still 5 minutes to go, and straight from the kick off the home said had reduced arrears. Played back to Djetou in defence, the ball was knocked forward to Steve Marlet, who played in Facunda Sava who passed to Saha who hit a low drive past Enckelman.

A late flurry of Fulham attacks brought added pressure on the Aston Villa goal but to no avail and with the final whistle, came Villa’s 3rd victory in a row to surprisingly keep them top of the table. After the match, Davies praised his players commitment and in particular Marcus Allback.

“He has been superb for us this season already, and I have to thank Graham Taylor, as non executive director for this gem of a signing. He’s worked hard for us every game and his scoring record speaks for itself. It’s a change for this club to have an abundance of quality goal scorers, but it’s a headache I think I can live with. Hopefully we can continue this excellent start to the season and grab some kind of European spot at the end of the season.”

Fulham 1 Aston Villa 2 Allback 2


Birmingham Post Man of the Match - Ian Taylor was outstanding again this evening in the heart of the midfield, winning all of his tackles and playing a key role in the first goal this afternoon. The workhorse continued to confound his critics with an all round superb display.

Brian of Nazareth

Saturday 7th The Express

Saturday Gossip
By Jack Trapp


EXPRESS EXCLUSIVE

Arsenal striker Thierry Henry is pining for a move to Catalan giants Barcelona the Express can exclusively report. According to SFX, the agency that looks after many of the stars in the Premier League, have hinted that the forward is desperate to prove himself in the land of the Matador.

“ Thierry is an outstanding talent and he has certainly proved that here at Arsenal helping them to a domestic double last year. Clearly he is happy to be at a successful club such as Arsenal, but ambitious players want to prove themselves on the International front and Thierry is no exception. If it meant moving abroad to develop his ability amongst a higher standard of players then that would have to be considered.”

The comment, from an SFX spokesman came soon after Barcelona’s latest President, Joan Laporta stated his desire to create a side filled with the world’s best. Instated, as president after their previous incumbent died, Laporta, a 39-year-old Lawyer, has promised to sign whatever’s needed to become the greatest side ever, with an audacious move for Manchester United midfielder David Beckham supposedly on the cards. Remember, you heard it here first in the Express.

The Frenchman has not commented as yet on the speculation fuelling rumours that the Arsenal forward does not want to comment on any rumours until a deal is signed and sealed. Such a move could also pave the way for Arsene Wenger to purchase Auxerre duo Jean Alain Boumesong and Phillipe Auxerre.

Tamas Peto of NAC Brada is being linked with a January move to the midlands after Ian Morley, the Aston Villa club scout was spotted watching the Hungarian in action in recent days. The 28-year-old forward who has a scoring record of 27 goals from 200 league appearances is said to be keen on a move to Villa to further his career.

His agent Wildorst Kamfka has claimed his client will certainly be moving to England in January and Villa are the most likely suitors. A deal of around 4.2 million euros has been agreed between the two chairmen and now it is down to Peto to decide his future.

Leeds have further strengthened, their squad with the addition of Callum Davison from Leicester for £1.3 million. The midfielder has joined Paul Appleton’s side after 2 days of negotiations. Davison joins the recent signings of Chris Lucketti from Preston, Cedric Roussel from Wolves and Gerry Taggart also from Leicester.

Fans have questioned the recent purchases, deliberating as to whether these players can actually push the club further as they seek to regain their Champions League position.

Brian of Nazareth

Sunday 15th
http://www.avfc.co.uk/

Aston Villa have been handed an easy looking tie in the Worthington Cup second round, with second division side Oldham Athletic taking on Rod Davies’ side. The cash strapped club will face a battle to progress.

Draw in Full

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Nottingham Forest v SouthamptonWest Ham United v Birmingham CityRochdale v Chesterfield Millwall v GillinghamCrystal Palace v Exeter CityCharlton Athletic v Cheltenham TownAston Villa v Oldham AthleticSwindon v SunderlandOxford United v FulhamBurley v Rotherham UnitedBarnsley v Leicester CityPort Vale v Coventry CityNorthampton Town v West Bromwich AlbionBristol City v Boston UnitedBrentford v Peterborough Portsmouth v Wycombe WanderersMiddlesbrough v Sheffield UnitedHull City v Brighton & Hove AlbionMacclesfield Town v Queens Park RangersWalsall v WimbledonCardiff City v EvertonKidderminster Harriers v Tottenham HotspursSheffield Wednesday v Wigan AthleticTies to be played Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd September.Aston Villa’s clash with Oldham Athletichas been rearranged for Wednesday 25th September.</pre>

Sunday Mail
Gravesen Gives Moyes a Danish Pasting
By I.R. Baboon

Everton manager David Moyes has felt the wrath of Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen after the International decided he was too big for the club. Desperate to win major honours, Gravesen exclusively told the Mail about his dissatisfaction.

“ How am I supposed to further my career at International level when I am stuck in Merseyside? I have enjoyed my time so far but we have not progressed as far as I would like and so I must leave and continue my career with a more ambitious and successful club.”

These comments came soon after his side quite comprehensively lost at Highbury yesterday, Everton defeated by 3-0. Yet despite that loss Everton are sitting high in second place in the league after a good start, yesterday aside to the league, so there is clearly more to it than just size of the club. Relationships within the club were a clearly a problem for the tough tackling midfield maestro.

“ I also find some of the conditions at the club uneasy and difficult to cope with, for instance Duncan Ferguson is such a big nutter and he has shown a considered animosity towards me as have some of his friends there too. My relationship with some of the staff has also deteriorated, with David Moyes causing lots of problems for me. I dislike his approach to management and he has not given me a fair chance”

The Dane proceeded to be critical of further elements of the Goodison Park side before re-emphasising his desire to move to one of the top 5 clubs in England or to a club in Italy or Spain. Sadly Borussia Moenchengladbach are the only side professing an interest so far.