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Season 2010-11
Aston Villa (a) Premier League


In association
 with NUFC.com
 


Date:
Sunday April 10th 2011, 4pm
Live on SkySports

Venue: Villa Park

Conditions:
Sunny but miserable again.

Admission: £41 (£35 in 2008/09)
Villa fans paid £30 @ SJP

Programme:
£3
 

  

Aston Villa

Newcastle United

1 - 0

 

Teams

Goals

24 mins A free-kick bent into the box from the left saw James Collins jumped ahead of an incredibly static United defence to glance a header beyond Harper. Simples....  0-1

Half time: Villa 1 Newcastle 0

Full time: Villa 1 Newcastle 0

We Said

 
 

Alan Pardew said:

"I thought we gave a committed performance but we could have been better with the ball. Without the ball we were organised and strong, but I was just disappointed that we didn't threaten their goal enough. Our final pass let us down.

"Our best period of the game was the first 20 minutes when we should have taken the lead, but the goal changed it.

"It's a real shame we didn't get anything from the game. They got nervous towards the end, and we just didn't put enough pressure on them, even though we had a couple of great chances to get a draw.
 

About Shola:

"We've got to hope it isn't serious. There is a little swelling on the knee, but we will have to review that over the next week and hopefully he will be okay for Man United.

"He (Young) is the most fouled player in the division. We kept saying if you touch him he goes over. I think that was in Joey’s mind. He hardly touched him and down he went again - I didn’t think it was a free-kick.

“The game was scruffy. We wanted to stop Villa’s wide players and we did a good job of that. Villa have got some outstanding players but there was no real flow to their game.

“We just couldn’t get enough pressure on them to make that nervousness count. The first goal was going to be absolutely everything and they got it just after our best spell."
 

They Said


Monsieur Houllier commented:

"When you are fighting relegation you need to know every point is valuable.

“I know people would have been disappointed with a draw but if a draw had come I would have taken it. We knew, even before this game, that we had our fate in our own hands.

“We started a new league of eight games. This is a new league for us. We know what we want to do and there’s commitment.

“We have control of our fate. If we show our qualities – particularly our battling qualities because that’s what it is at the moment – you need to know every point is vital.’’

About Stiliyan Petrov:

"Last week he played two games and earned his 100th cap
(for Bulgaria) so I didn’t play him at Everton but I told him in the middle of the week that he would be involved. He trained hard and looked fitter.

"His experience allied to his skill bought a lot. I also knew we needed someone with a long pass to switch play because Newcastle are very good at defending and squeezing."

Stats


Toon @ Villa Park - last 20:

2010/11 lost 0-1
2008/09
lost 0-1
2007/08 lost 1-4 Owen
2006/07
lost 0-2
2005/06 won 2-1 Ameobi, N'Zogbia
2004/05 lost 2-4 Kluivert, O'Brien
2003/04
drew 0-0
2002/03 won 1-0 Shearer
2001/02
drew 1-1 Shearer
2000/01 drew 1-1 Solano
2000/01 lost 1-0 (FAC)
1999/00
won 1-0 Ferguson
1998/99
lost 0-1
1997/98 won 1-0 Batty
1996/97 drew 2-2 Shearer, Clark
1995/96 drew 1-1 Ferdinand
1994/95
won 2-0 Lee, Cole
1993/94
won 2-0 Allen (pen), Cole
1988/89 lost 1-3 Mirandinha (pen)
1986/87 lost 0-2

Full record against Villa: 

  P W D L F A
SJP 72 45 13 14 156 87
VP 72 18 17 37 75 133
League 144 63 30 51 231 220
SJP(FA) 2 1 1 0 5 3
VP/W/CP 5 1 0 4 3 15
SJP(LC) 0 0 0 0 0 0
VP 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cup 7 2 1 4 8 18
Tot 151 65 31 55 239 238

2008/09: NUFC after 32 games: 30 points, 18th position (scored 37, conceded 52)
2010/11: NUFC after 32 games:
 39 points, 9th position (scored 48, conceded 47)
 

Waffle


 

 

Once again the sun shone and after another Sunday afternoon stroll to Villa Park we were treated to another teatime horror show. Thankfully, the consequences of this one were far less calamitous than two years ago when we tumbled out of the top flight but the half-hearted surrender and subsequent disappointment felt remarkably similar.

We owed this lot for what happened in May 2009 - not necessarily the playing staff for beating us on a day when we shot ourselves in the foot - but we certainly owed their followers for an inexplicable delight in our demise. Where that came from remains a mystery but the 6-0 thrashing we dished out in August certainly felt good. But only revelling in their demotion would see some sort of natural justice.

There were no bed sheets out to greet us this time as their nervous ne'er-do-wells sensed that what goes around was coming around to them and thankfully we didn't stoop to their levels by bringing any bed linen of our own. However, the animosity and vitriol was there in abundance.

To see the Manchester United of the Midlands floundering was amusing. They struggled to fill their modest-sized ground when they had pretensions of the Champions League under Martin O'Neill but now fighting off relegation under Gerard Houllier has seen bucket loads of empty seats. Their average, highest and lowest attendances are all a staggering 10,000 below ours. Whatever you think of the real Manchester United, at least their muppets fill Old Trafford.

It was a shame we couldn't push them a little closer to the precipice and the game ultimately ended up seeing two terrible teams trying to outdo each other in the mediocre stakes. Both are probably safe in the knowledge that they will meet again in the Premier League next season and in the end it was the home side who took all three points. However, neither teams deserved any credit for a tortuous display in front of a live TV audience who presumably nodded off after their Sunday roasts.

For Alan Pardew, the signs were all too clear that he needs every penny of the Andy Carroll money to strengthen a squad that looked beyond threadbare without two or three of its main performers.

Kevin Nolan and Cheick Tiote were badly missed, with Fabricio Coloccini looking lost in a new midfield role while Jose Enrique had a rare off day and most of his white shirt wearing team mates surrendered possession alarmingly.

Joey Barton also had a day to forget after a week of exercising his jaw muscles more than usual. He kept that going on the field, using the captain's armband as an excuse for a relentless dialogue with referee Attwell that only succeeded in stirring the home fans and players.

It was Barton's foul that led to the only goal of the game in the 24th minute which came against the run of play but Peter Lovenkrands and Shola Ameobi's late replacement, Nile Ranger, hadn't really threatened to convert some good approach play from United, mainly down the left.

The vital strike was simple enough - James Collins glancing a free-kick beyond Steve Harper into the far corner.

Earlier Ranger should have done much better when attempting to sidefoot past Brad Friedel after Jonas Gutierrez had played him in and Barton's header at the far post flew over the bar with the goal gaping.

Shortly after the break, with Ranger struggling badly to get any change out of Collins, he was left with only the lumbering Richard Dunne to outpace but didn't seem to read the run of the ball and allowed Dunne to make a challenge.

The odious Ashley Young - who seems to have taken over from Lee Hendrie as chief villain at this place - was throwing himself to the floor at every opportunity but still looked the main threat to double the score, Harper watching a low effort from him skim narrowly wide.

There were calls from the away supporters to make changes but there was little to choose from one of our thinnest benches in years. Bringing on Ryan Taylor for his namesake - who had been poor in his preferred centre back role - allowed Coloccini to escape from his midfield mismatch and Taylor did manage to whip over a couple of semi-decent crosses.

Then came the defining moment of our desperation as Shefki Kuqi was cheered off the bench and onto the pitch and after replacing Ranger, he provided more threat in ten minutes than Ranger had in the previous 83.

Lovenkrands almost converted a late header and Taylor went close with a free-kick to steal what would have been an undeserved point but Villa clung on to claim an equally undeserved three that should see them climb away from the relegation zone. However, it's scary to think that three teams,
worse than the two on display here, will fall through the Premier League trapdoor.

We remained in ninth and our positive goal difference means that we effectively have reached the 40 point mark. Just as well given this indescribably inept display....

It felt uncomfortably similar to that Sunday 0-1 defeat in May 2009, with identical weather conditions and a parallel performance. But it's no comfort at all that our less-talented team had a few more legitimate excuses - there was no excuse at all for not beating this dishevelled rabble.

This used to be one of our favourite grounds in terms of results, but we've now lost the last four and only seen one goal. The change from the usual black and white - presumably a thinly veiled marketing ploy to shift third kit replica - did us no favours whatsoever but that had nothing to do with lucky or unlucky omens. Like last time - it was all down the chumps wearing them.


Niall MacKenzie
 


Page last updated 22 March, 2017