Aston Villa review

Last updated: 13th May 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Aston Villa review

Milner: A superb season

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ASTON VILLA

What Went Right?

Two visits to Wembley for a Carling Cup final and an FA Cup semi-final took Villa so very close to silverware, while the first half of the season took them so very close to a Champions League place. In the end they ended up with nothing but a spot in the Europa League but it has still been a fine season for Villa, who snapped up one of the bargains in the summer in Richard Dunne. James Milner was a revelation thanks to a tactical switch into the middle, while John Carew had his best season in a Villa shirt.

What Went Wrong?

A spell over the New Year where they ran out of ideas and goals cost them a Champions League place and although they ended the season strongly, they had lost far too much ground in that key period. Home form was particularly poor all season and fans began to get restless as their manager appeared reluctant to make tactical changes. O'Neill also lost friends among neutrals with his reaction to Arsene Wenger's perfectly harmless 'long balls' comments, while rumours continue to abound that he will leave in the summer because the chairman is no longer willing to bankroll the club.

Are They Happy?

In the main - though it has been another 'nearly' season for Villa. Can they make that next step? And will O'Neill be the man to attempt that leap?

Signing of the season

Richard Dunne. The stopper proved a marvellous capture from Manchester City and formed a solid partnership with fellow newcomer James Collins. Stephen Warnock was also a decent acquisition as Martin O'Neill reworked his back four.

Flop of the season

Stewart Downing. His exclusion from Fabio Capello's 30-man England squad is an indication of his form this campaign. Sure, he started the season injured but the return thus far from over £10million spent has not been impressive.

Star man:

James Milner. The youngster benefited from being shifted into a more central position with his energy and ability on the ball allowed to flourish in this role. He is now considered a certainty to go to South Africa such is his form and versatility.

Breakthrough player

As Dunne has been awarded the signing of the season gong, Collins should arguably land this particular prize. The former West Ham player was a rock for Villa this campaign with his performances at the back hugely impressive.

High point

Reaching the Carling Cup final. Indeed, it ended sour, but on another day they could have come away with victory. Fans also were rewarded with another trip to Wembley, this time in the FA Cup, but that also ended in disappointment. Their victory at Old Trafford also caught the eye.

Low point

Another slump. Form post Christmas was poor before they eventually turned things around. Evidence of their fatigue and small squad was highlighted during their 7-1 humiliation at Chelsea.

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Comments (23)

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David Butler (Aston Villa fan) says...

Rob prince could not have said it better.Any season that villa go away and beat liverpool and united plus chelsea at home has to be regarded as a good one whatever else we,ve done.Villa are moving in the right direction and i expect them to push on again next season.

Posted 10:43 14th May 2010

Gareth Wilkinson (Aston Villa fan) says...

This was villa's best chance to qualify for the champions league by far. They had a better squad than in the previous campaign and yet we failed to use that squad. With spurs qualifyinig they are bound to better their squad and Man City will bankroll Mancini into a stellar squad to compete possibly for the title next year so Villa's task grows by the day. O'Neill is doing a better job than anybody else could do but he needs to open his mind about selection policy. Cuellar is a very good centre half, not a right back, his distribution is appauling and has no pace. Ashley Young floats into a game for five minutes and then we fail to see him for 60 after that. Downing needs time, judgement should be reserved for next year. Agbonlahor has wonderful pace but has not developed a predatory instinct so I can't see him getting the goals we need to push on. As much as people will disagree we missed Gareth Barry, he was a touch of class and calming influence in the midfield that Petrov just cannot match. Perhaps Martin O'neill should chance his arm signing players from outside the home nations, you get better value for money if you get a good player and we might also find either the goals or the creativity that is needed to further this team. We were unlucky not to take the carling Cup away but Man Utd got the lucj on the day and that happens in football. Nobody has commented that it was a faliure in Europe this season when I watched (with no disrespect) a lesser team in Fulham nearly win the Europa league on Wednesday which is where Villa should be challenging. Another season of a similar nature next year would be a good result for Villa next year. Up the Villa

Posted 08:25 14th May 2010

Pete Bone (Aston Villa fan) says...

How anyone can call this season a flop is beyond me. We finished with more points than we ever have since '93 and had 2 visits to Wembley. Think what we would have achieved if we had gone out of the cups, we could have been 3rd! We need 3 players, and special ones too, but even then its going to be very hard, and i dont want 4th, i dont want the qauly game, i want 3rd and Champs League proper!

Posted 07:13 14th May 2010

Danny Singham (Aston Villa fan) says...

I think it has been a very good season for Villa- and yet another improvement in terms of points/cup run compared to previous-however- I often get irriated that teams around us who are similar (such as Everton/spurs/man city) end up spending a lot more than Villa in the summer transfer window-even teams like Birmingham/Sunderland but more players than us-what I do like is that generally O'Neil buys players that he knows will bring value to the team such as Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Milner etc- but he also goes for players such as reo-coka, sidwell and shorey-who dont even make the firs team-next year will be very hard- 5 teams will compete for the league (city, man u, liverpool, arsernal and chelsea) so breaking into the top 4 will be very hard unless we but at least 6-8 new players-and at least 2-3 of them to be real quality! it is dissappointing to see teams like spurs (ok at least city have the money) but spurs over took us when last season we were way ahead of them. and getting into Europa is nothing because o'neil has already said he will not take it seriously which is very dissapointing-because if Fulham can make the final-so can we and winning that cup would be well worth it!

Posted 02:29 14th May 2010

Ben Cove (Aston Villa fan) says...

Stuart downing definately isn't a flop, but does anyone else wish villa had bought Adam Johnson from middlesbrough instead? Flop was definately habib beye considering the wages he's on. Also hope Luke young and sidwell don't leave, think they just need more of a chance

Posted 00:30 14th May 2010

Martyn Yallop (Aston Villa fan) says...

Steven Kennedy, you are exactly the sort of Villa "fan" that I hate. You are never happy and just moan, moan, moan. You only see the negatives, and cannot even accept Richard Dunne has had a good season when he has been superb! Do we have to win the league and Champions league before you people are happy? Face it, the club has improved no end under Martin O'Neill. If you don't like it, don't come and watch. Leave the seat available for a real fan.

Posted 20:57 13th May 2010

Jonathan Cookson (Aston Villa fan) says...

Good season, but I'd love MON to explain why he plays a centre back at right back when he's got two perfectly good right backs on the bench. When he did play Luke Young it was at left back because he'd sent Shorey out on loan! Makes absolutely no sense at all. MON's plan A is great, but we need a plan B and C for games when things aren't going to well if we want to get into the top 5.

Posted 20:53 13th May 2010

Jack Arno (Aston Villa fan) says...

I believe Heskey was the flop of the season

Posted 20:51 13th May 2010

Simon Perry (Aston Villa fan) says...

Im more amazed at some of the comments made about Villa's season from our own fans listed here. We have had an excellent season, two Wembley trips and Euro place again, and this with clubs such as Man cIty and Spurs joining the big spending spree. When will our fans start getting behind our manager and team more, cos it very nearlly drove Martin O'neil away this year, no other teams fans wanna push the self destruct button like ours do. Course we could go back to how it was before, then they would have plenty to moan at.

Posted 19:56 13th May 2010

Deep Singh (Aston Villa fan) says...

Carew scored more than anyone else on Villa, including our supposed deadly up front man Agbonlahor. I think it's fair to say he had his best season in a Villa shirt, considering the back injuries he had to overcome a couple of times. His quality is seen in the fact the when coming off these downtimes, he didn't take long to pick up where he left off. And unlike Agbonlahor, Carew doesn't suffer the Xmas time drought perennially. Surprised that Young and Agbonlahor didn't make the England squad? I'm not, they both had so-so seasons and didn't build on last year's achievements. Critical things to work on for more success next year: - a striker who can guarantee 20 plus a season - at least another few midfield options - getting Agbonlahor and young to stop pouting an dflopping and simply play each play through. - Paying off refs when it comes to cup semi's and finals (like Chelski and Man Yoo may have done this year) Otherwise i thought it was another solid season for Villa and I'm happy to see MON stay and hoping that that lerner opens the cheque book a bit more this off season. We won't make any more progress than 6th place until the squad grows.

Posted 16:52 13th May 2010

Thomas Jones (Aston Villa fan) says...

Who wrote this? John Carew has not had his best season in a villa shirt, most of the time he looks like he isn't interested and half his goals have come in cup matches against lower league clubs and half have been penalties! The only things that have gone wrong this season have been sparked by rumors which the press have pushed miles out of hand. Most Villa fans are very happy with the season. We had a very hard run after christmas and picked up draws against Arsenal and Spurs. And you CANNOT put the 7-1 down to fatigue and a small squad. Thats not what happened. We played a one off awful game against a fantastic team and then took 13 points from 15 straight after.

Posted 15:43 13th May 2010

Steven Kennedy (Aston Villa fan) says...

although villa have been to wembley twice i think it is fair to say that villa have not played particularly well all season. In fact in a majority of the games the other team dominated the match but villa seem have a knack of grinding out results. im not a big fan of martin oneills football he is regularly commenting that villa play ' fine attacking football' but in truth it is predictable and at times desperately depressing! regarding richard dunne although he is a good defender he is prone to lapses in concentrate at important times and was at fault twice at wembley for two goals when the games hang in the balance and there are plent of other examples this season where he has been at fault!

Posted 15:32 13th May 2010

Lee Harrison (Aston Villa fan) says...

Actually O'Neill gained respect for reacting to Wenger's idiotic comments.

Posted 14:54 13th May 2010

Lee Kulik (Aston Villa fan) says...

I think it's a bit unfair to say we were done at Christmas. We were within touching distance of both spurs and Man City right till the last. If we'd have beaten City & Blackburn things may have been so very different. I think it's one of best seasons I've ever experienced. Two great cup runs, which with a bit of luck in both we might have come away with some shinys. If we can secure a striker equivalent to those around us, then we can expect another top four push next year. Well done Villa, great season.

Posted 14:07 13th May 2010

Rob Prince (Aston Villa fan) says...

Downing will prove his worth next year when he has a pre-season under his belt. Also he can't be blamed for playing the majority of the season out of position. For me - "Flop of the Season" is MON's tactical/ team selection errors. We stick to the same formation when everyone at Villa Park can see that we're out of ideas, we've played a Central Defender (Carlous Cueller) at Right Back and, in turn, shown Luke Young (Our best fullback in years) the door. We keep Stan Petrov on the ptich for 30 minutes too many every game! The guy is good on the ball but he can't last the full 90. I'm glad MON is staying but I really hope that we see a few brave changes next year.

Posted 14:03 13th May 2010

Kieron Ford (Aston Villa fan) says...

saying downiing is a flop is stupid. hes only played half a season how can u say we have run out of staem is ludicuios. and no we didnt lose slepp andwenger saying we are a long ball team is stupid. what does he know anyway more like arsene wenger.

Posted 14:02 13th May 2010

Alex Silk (Aston Villa fan) says...

harsh in places, also think big mistake not taking young or downing to world cup to play in the left wing, esp as they now have no naruarl left wingers (disgrace). good season on whole and just need stricker and playmaker to push the overwhelming amount of draws into wins

Posted 14:01 13th May 2010

Phil Roberts (Aston Villa fan) says...

Although that review doesn't paint a very good picture for the Aston Villa season, I am feeling slightly more positive about it. The main point being the two Wembley visits that are noted, could, and should of been successful trips if it wasn't for horrendous refereeing decisions. It is very disheartening to travel that far to was a shambles of a game, where a very talented and hard working Villa side are denied the result they deserve purely because referees are scared to give big decisions against big sides. I also think that a shakey are of the side has been Cuellar at right back. I am a huge fan of Carlos when he is deployed as a centre half, but a right back he is not. Defensively he is sound, fantastic even, but he does struggle with the ball at his feet and it has cost us possesion on numerous occasions. Over the summer, I would like to see that situation resolved, along with a proven striker, and a deep lying playmaker. If these things can happen, it will add the depth and competition to the side which is needed. We would love to have a big name at Villa, a stand out play to show we mean business. Very hopeful for next season now that MO'N is staying. Up the Villa! Phil Roberts.

Posted 13:51 13th May 2010

John Salter (Aston Villa fan) says...

Most Villa fans would agree that this has been the best season for years especially with the Crling Cup and FA Cup runs. MON has angered some supporters with his refusal to give the younger lads a good run in the league such as Nathan Delofounseo and Marc Albriighton. Overall it was a great season and with two or three new players next year, Villa should be able to sustain the race for the fourth spot. Considering the money of Man City and the squad of Spurs, Villa did really well to stay ahead of Liverpool!

Posted 13:51 13th May 2010

David Matthews (Aston Villa fan) says...

I agree with the previous comment. To call Stuart Downing a flop is definitely harsh. He may not have been in excellent form but he put in solid performances throughout. If there is a flop in the team surely it should be Heskey. Why he is in the England squad and not Gabby I don't know. All in all this season was very good for Villa. To get to Wembley twice is no mean feat and we were right in for a place in the Champions League until two weeks ago. We just need that little bit extra and strength in depth.

Posted 13:51 13th May 2010
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