Fulham 0 - 2 Aston Villa

Gabriel Agbonlahor scored twice in three first-half minutes as Aston Villa beat Fulham to breathe new life into their quest for a top-four spot.

Agbonlahor outmuscled Chris Smalling to head the visitors ahead from Stiliyan Petrov's fine right-wing cross.

And the England man took advantage of some poor defending to turn Brede Hangeland and curl in a superb second.

Fulham's dominated the second half with Zoltan Gera and David Elm both going close but Villa held on.

And although the Londoners will consider themselves unfortunate not to have gained a point after a dominant second-half display, Villa will point to a professional first-half display and some ruthless finishing.

Martin O'Neill's side may have booked their place in a cup final for the first time in a decade, but their league form has suffered an alarming dip so this result will be a huge boost.

The midweek goalless draw with Arsenal, although creditable, was Villa's fourth game without a win or a goal in a spell where they have collected only two points.

But after a dull opening 20 minutes, Villa started to show their quality against an injury-hit Fulham side who have now lost five successive Premier League matches.

The pace and trickery of Agbonlahor, Ashley Young and Stewart Downing showed that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was far from fair in dismissing Martin O'Neill's side as a long-ball team after their midweek meeting.

O'Neill was furious with Wenger's comments but with Petrov and James Milner pulling the strings in midfield and the defence looking comfortable, Villa began to get on top.

The damage was done in the closing stages of the first half and Agbonlahor's double allowed Villa to play on the break on the turnaround.

Villa led when quick thinking on the right wing allowed Petrov to cross and Agbonlahor got in front of Fulham's Manchester United-bound centre-half Smalling to nod the opener.

The visitors' second came just three minutes later when Carlos Cuellar's ball into feet inside the box saw Hangeland get the wrong side and Agbonlahor showed great composure to take a touch and curl the ball inside the far post.

Villa's double blow came just after Fulham's best spell of the first half.

Brad Friedel did well to stop a deflected effort and had to be alert to pounce at the feet of Erik Nevland to prevent the striker turning in the rebound.

And then Bobby Zamora seemed certain to stroke the home ahead from Chris Baird's raking long cross-field pass only for Cuellar to race back and poke the ball over his own bar for a corner.

With Villa then happy to play on the break, Fulham started to dictate play but despite stacks of possession they could not find a breakthrough.

Gera was denied by Brad Friedel's excellent positioning, the American keeper getting his angles spot on to deny the Fulham midfielder from wide on the right.

The Cottagers thought they had pulled a goal back when substitute John Elm produced a lovely volleyed finish from Gera's exquisite through-ball only to be denied by the assistant's flag.

Richard Dunne then threw himself in the way of another Elm effort on goal and although Fulham continued to press, they were unable to avoid a first home defeat since September and Villa closed out the game.

The result may have got their Champions League dream back on track but their top-four credentials will be tested to the limit with games against Tottenham and Manchester United at the start of February.

Out of retirement...

I stopped writing my THEDAVIDWILSON blog last autumn, following the Blues-Villa derby game. It just became dull and boring and I lost interest in things. I've been persuaded to re-open my personal blog by a friend of mine. I went to college with him and he wants to run my blog for me. I will allow him this, and will send him an occasional email with my goings on, but will keep an eye on it to make sure that he's not bringing me down. He says he will 'standardise' my blog to be like his others!

DTW 29/1/2010

Derby day success for Villa

Sunday, 13 September 2009

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Home team	Score	Away Team
Birmingham	0 - 1	Aston Villa Agbonlahor 85

• 13th Sep 2009
• KO 12:00
• Ground: St Andrews Stadium
• Att: 25,196

Match Report

Gabriel Agbonlahor struck a late winner as Aston Villa beat derby rivals Birmingham in a tight game.

The England striker nodded in after John Carew had headed an Ashley Young free-kick towards him.

The goal settled a match of limited chances and quality, although it did belatedly set up an exciting finish.

Birmingham pushed for a leveller, but Agbonlahor should have added a second when he was clean through only to put his shot high.

The brief late drama was not in keeping with a game in which both defences had the upper hand for the most part.

And Birmingham fans will feel their side could have done more earlier as they adopted a similarly cautious approach to the game as Villa.

McLeish feels Blues deserved more

The St Andrews faithful certainly provided a vociferous atmosphere for their side as they tried to encourage them to avenge the 5-1 thrashing dished out by Villa the last time these two met.

And, although Birmingham showed plenty of intensity, Villa had a more controlled approach as they tried to keep the home side at arm's length - hoping their extra quality would provide the breakthrough.

The strategy almost paid off during the first half but James Milner and Agbonlahor failed to take the chances which came Villa's way.

Milner shot wide and sliced an effort horribly off target after a driven cross from Agbonlahor, who had a near post header diverted just wide by defender Roger Johnson.

Villa were playing with a new-look defence as central defenders Richard Dunne and James Collins made their debuts along with left-back Stephen Warnock.

Their first real test came when Garry O'Connor chested down a ball and had a shot blocked by Warnock, who quickly got himself up to get in front of Sebastian Larsson's follow-up strike.

Lee Bowyer had a 20-yard shot saved and ex-Villa trainee Keith Fahey steered a shot just wide for the home side who suffered the loss of James McFadden because of a thigh injury.

O'Neill relieved after derby win

Birmingham closed into their shell more the longer the game went on as Villa started to increase their threat on goal after big striker Carew entered the fray.

Steve Sidwell headed straight at Blues keeper Joe Hart before Milner again shot wide.

But any hopes Birmingham had of a battling point were quashed when Agbonlahor struck for Villa's third league win on the bounce and saw them continue the away form which served them so well last season.

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Birmingham boss Alex McLeish:
"The defeat was very harsh. I thought we played really well. I'm sorry we couldn't get something more from it as I think we deserved more.

"I can't fault the players but the only criticism is that we allowed two headers from an Ashley Young free-kick (for their goal).

"I didn't think there was a huge gulf between the teams in terms of quality."

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill:
"I said before I'm not sure there's great enjoyment of or about the game but it's nice to have won.

"It was a game of few chances. We played solidly and nicely without exerting a great deal of pressure.

"Gabriel Agbonlahor was absolutely terrific. His confidence is getting greater and greater with each game and the goals obviously help any centre forward."

From BBCi website.

Aston Villa 0 - 2 Wigan

Rodallega unleashes a stunning strike to put Wigan ahead

Hugo Rodallega scored a stunning goal to help Wigan to victory over Aston Villa in manager Roberto Martinez's first game in charge of the Latics.

Charles N'Zogbia's shot had hit the post for Wigan before Rodallega angled in a spectacular half-volley from the corner of the area.

Wigan's Jason Koumas slotted in at the far post for their second goal as Villa's fans booed the home side.

Steve Sidwell headed a rare Villa chance wide but they were well beaten.

It was a thoroughly disappointing afternoon for Villa and their 35,000 supporters as Martinez enjoyed a dream start to life at Wigan.

Both teams had lost key personnel during the summer with Villa losing Gareth Barry to Manchester City, while Antonio Luis Valencia and Lee Cattermole had left Wigan.

The Latics have also seen a new manager installed in Martinez and they appear to have regrouped more quickly than the home side.

Wigan had wrestled the initiative from their hosts and, even before their opener, were the more threatening side.

Villa centre-back Curtis Davies got the benefit of the doubt that he had touched the ball when tackling Rodallega, who would have been clean through on goal but for the challenge.

N'Zogbia thought he had put the visitors ahead when he beat Villa keeper Brad Friedel with a low, angled 22-yard shot only to see his effort come back off the foot of the post.

The Midlands outfit were a side with the lethargy of pre-season still heavy in their legs and they eventually buckled.

Villa left-back Nicky Shorey could only flick a ball down Wigan's right side to Rodallega and the Colombian striker allowed the ball to bounce before sending a half-volley from the corner of the area dipping past Friedel for the first goal.

Only a goal-line clearance from James Milner after Rodallega's far-post header kept Wigan from extending their lead before Villa's restless fans were finally given a reason to hope.

Ashley Young curled a free-kick towards the top corner of the net but keeper Chris Kirkland was equal to the effort as he palmed the strike round the post.

Martinez rose to prominence during his stint at Swansea with the stylish passing football he instilled in his side.

His influence on the Wigan side was clear to see as their passing and movement was too much for a poor Villa side, epitomised by the second goal in the 56th minute.

Wigan's willing runners dragged Villa's defence out of position and allowed N'Zogbia to find Koumas, who slotted through the legs of Friedel to end a swift counter-attack.

Sidwell summed up Villa's frustration when he put a free header wide as the home side got their season off to an inauspicious start.

Wigan's over-confidence nearly cost them when a poor back-pass nearly allowed Young to score late on but Titus Bramble flung himself to deflect the strike over.

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Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill:
"After the initial 15 minutes, we were second best all afternoon.

"You can analyse everything but at the end of it all I thought we looked tired, which was a wee bit of a surprise considering we've had a pretty decent pre-season.

"We've been beaten when we should have been ready to go, and it was very disappointing indeed."

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez:

"I always felt that we had too many disruptions this pre-season and we knew the key to the game was going to be the first 10, 15 minutes.

"Villa put us under massive pressure and I'm proud of the players for the way they dealt with that situation.

"After that, Wigan Athletic deserved to win. It's been a big turnaround and credit should go to the players."

Aston Villa vs Wigan Athletic

	0 - 2
Date: 15/08/2009		Venue: Villa Park
Attendance: 35,578		Referee: M Clattenburg

'Ow long ya bin gorn?

On Tuesday morning 30th June 2009, John Burke sent out his lackey, Gary, to give us two extra green and two extra blue boxes... Whoopee, as we now have 4 of each on site. Imagine my shock/horror/surprise when on Thursday night 2nd July 2009, I returned from a evening out at my frail parents house, to see that two of my green bins (the ones I hadn't yet marked) had disappeared!!! In fairness to the old Burke, he did say that having more than a couple of bins might attract the same attention as having a wheelie bin!

DTW 3/7/2009

O'Dreary and Deadly Doug Revisited...

Forrest Gump is a Villa Fan

(because the sound 'Quaint') Villa First Team Squad 2008 to 2009

(Some players on there have moved on or retired)

Is it me? Or are Villa going through an O'Leary moment? Lots of noise in the end of season about 'funds' being available for transfers, and then as the pre-season approaches. A deafening SILENCE from all quarters!

Remember the DARKER DAYS when Deadly Doug was in charge of the purse, and the only expenditure was to 'finance companies' and other 'contractors' who were allegedly indirect paymasters for... Douglas Herbert Ellis? And on the transfer scene, we couldn't even sign a 5th rate African Cup quarter finalist squad player... well at least we were being linked with 5th rate African Cup quarter finalist squad players in the press.

Martin O'Neill is a fine manager and is known for conducting all of his transfers in secret, not wishing to give other clubs awareness of his own agenda or plans. That helps keep the prices down. Remember Randy Lerner is one of the wealthiest owners of a premiership club, and although not in the same financial league as Chelsea and both the Manchester Clubs, but any mention of Aston Villa still adds a hefty percentage to a price.

So why aren't Villa being being at least mentioned by the rumour mills? Last season, in January we were 3rd/4th in the league, and with a very small squad, ran out of puff, and ended up being barely in 6th and were blown out of the UEFA Cup by deliberately selecting under par teams by O'Neill (For which he had to appease travellors to Moscow, by giving them some hospitallity at a later date) and blown out of the FA Cup through being tired. We have lost Gareth Barry to Man City, and Martin Laursen to injury. The only position where we have a relative strength is at Goalkeeper, where the two yanks have it covered (Although Friedel is in the twighlight of his career) Its now 6 or 7 weeks from the start of the premier season. and 2 or 3 weeks away from the start of our Europa (Uefa) cup campaign, and all we have signed is a 16 year old prospect from Northampton.

Over in Small Heath, it seems players are queuing up to sign for our second rate rivals...

It doesnt make sense at all.

DTW 3/7/2009

In memory of 'Aunty Fran'

Frances Hadlon 1918 to 2009

Four Generations of Hadlon at Jonathan and Samantha's wedding reception December 19th 2008.
Is Jane doing a Larry Grayson?

I started going out with Annette in 1975, aged 15. So I've know Fran since then too, as she or husband John were always visiting Betty and Albert, or we were passing and popping in to her lovely house in York Road, Hall Green, right on the corner of Russell Road, opposite Yorkmead School. Fran was charming and tiny. I can remember, once, being the bodyguard and escorting her home after she'd been visiting Betty and Albert and darkness had set in, just up Tetley Road and down Reddings Lane to York Road. (She was so tough, that she probably would have ended up protecting me) With her familiar East Midlands "Hello me duck" and "Taraa Duck" she could endlessly talk about anything with a surprising depth of knowledge. As time went on, we all found ouselves having to shout at her as her hearing deteriorated... In fact, apart from her fragility, her deafness was the only thing that did affect her in later life.

Today I sadly attended her funeral at Robin Hood Crematorium. The funeral program is here. Jane, Sue and Pete were all there, along wih their own families. I was there to represent Annette and of course, Betty and Albert, who along with John enjoyed many a night out at The Home Guard Club in Hall Green. (One Sunday a month when Annette and I could be guaranteed to NOT be disturbed...)

It was a moving service, and I choked in the 4th or 5th verse of "Abide with me" and then luckily I had my sunglasses as Eva Cassidy's 'Over the rainbow' had me in floods. When I hugged Jane afterwards, my snotty nose was directly because of that and not to down to the swine 'flu doing the rounds in Solihull and Birmingham.

Here's to you Fran, born 17th January 1918, died 18th June 2009, Aged 91, God bless you, and rest in peace. XXX

Post Script: Gifts in memory of Fran (and John) to SSAFA (c/o Braggs, 562 Stratford Road, B90 4AY)

DTW 1/7/2009