FanZone verdict - Villa

FanZoner Craig Cochrane's highs and lows for the season

Last updated: 2nd July 2009  

FanZone verdict - Villa

Petrov: a new man, says Craig!

Martin O'Neill manages to get the best out of our players and the chairman lets him run the football club. Sixth place was a great finish, now the emphasis has to be how much cash we need to break the top four.

Villa FanZoner Craig Cochrane
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Aston Villa almost did the impossible and broke into the top four last season, just falling short in the final furlong. A promising UEFA Cup campaign also came to a disappointing end, but Martin O'Neill seems to be taking the club in the right direction. Ashley Young was named PFA Young Player of the Year as the crop of young English stars shone at Villa Park. But what did the fans make of the season? Here Villa FanZoner Craig Cochrane gives his take...

PLAYER OF THE SEASON: Stylian Petrov - What a transformation in a player who was struggling the previous season.

BIGGEST WASTE OF SPACE: Emile Heskey - hasn't done it for me at all since joining. Maybe I am being unfair as he is an ex-Bluenose, but he really has to start performing next season.

BEST MATCH/PERFORMANCE OF THE SEASON: The best match was the 3-2 win at Goodison when I got my belly out for Ashley Young's 94th-minute winner and the best performance was winning 2-0 at The Emirates against Arsenal - they never had a sniff!

DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN CHARGE?: Absolutely. Martin O'Neill manages to get the best out of our players and the chairman lets him run the football club. Sixth place was a great finish, now the emphasis has to be how much cash we need to break the top four.

BEST THING ABOUT YOUR CLUB: The balti pies.

WORST THING ABOUT YOUR CLUB: The hot dogs - very dry and those cheap sausages!

TARGETS FOR 09/10: Consolidate fifth place in the league and try to push for fourth again. Quarter-finals of the Europa Cup - if we take it seriously this time - and a final at Wembley preferably in the FA Cup. But I would also settle for the League Cup!

REALISTIC IN'S AND OUT'S: Out's: Gareth Barry (already gone), Carew (I hope not but I fear the worst!), Ashley Young (bound to go to one of the top four if the price is right) and Nicky Shorey (never got on with the boss), Nigel Reo-Coker. In's: Micah Richards, David Bentley, Gareth Bale, Daniel Sturridge, Joleon Lescott, Gary Cahill (shouldn't have sold him in the first place!), Olof Mellberg, Jermaine Jenas and Stuart Downing.

WHY I HAVE RENEWED MY SEASON TICKET: I have actually bought an executive box in the Doug Ellis stand with my business partner for next season - let's hope it's worth it!

WHICH GAME CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR AND WHY?: Small Heath - just to remind them who is number one in Birmingham!

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Comments (52)

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David Smith says...

I completely disagree with Craig's opinion on the transfers in/ out. David Bentley, Gareth Bale, Gary Cahill and Stuart Downing would be no improvement what so ever to the current squad whilst Reo-Coker should definetly stay. Players that would improve the team that could realistically sign would be Van der Vaart, Warnock, Delph, Deffour, Veloso and Jonas.

Posted 19:16 3rd August 2009

Simon Watts says...

Steven Edwards..might be an idea if you actually go down and watch a game now and then...then you will realise that we have played some of the best football for years...never saw a decent entertaining game with Gregory or O'dreary..Bouma getting fit is going to be like having a new player...but Petrov injured is bad news. AVFC

Posted 14:28 31st July 2009

Ben Richards says...

As a Villa fan I am quite worried with how the squad will cope this season. I hope to see Reo Coker or Sidwell step up and fill Barrys boots. The defence is already looking bare due to the devestating news of Laursen and now we sell a decent back up defender in Knight, which leaves Villa 2 centre backs. As good as a manger O Neill is, he does worry me in the transfer market! Hopefully some new faces will be around before the season starts! Jenas would be a good addition, Bentley not so much, Hangelaand and Distin would be a boost.

Posted 14:17 29th July 2009

John Carroll says...

This time of the year is always frustrating for us Villa fans. The season kicks off in just over a months time and we appear to be around eight players short of contending for a similar finish next year let alone top four. Martin O'Neill is a great motivator and has a good head on his shoulders and i'm certain he is moving behind the scenes for the right players, but we, the fans will never know unless they sign. Ive heard from a good source that Joe Cole could be on his way but Chelsea are hankering after Ash and thats the stumbling block. If we can get round that then he would be an amazing addition - better than Barry. Personally i would target Micah Richards, Brede Hangeland, Joe Cole, Tuncay Sanli, Marcus Berg and Vagner Love as priorities. Then decent squad additions would be the likes of Naughton, Delph, Bentley (if you aint good enough for spurs you aint good enough for the villa - that goes for Jenas and Huddlestone too), Gary "Legend" Cahill. Then there are bums on seats type of signings like perhaps Scholsie he must be over the hill for Man Utd now, or David Beckham!!?? Time will tell. But more important than ANY signing is keeping Ashley Young. He really is irreplaceable at the moment. Up the Villa.

Posted 17:49 9th July 2009

Brian Allibone says...

i think bentley will be the first addition, followed by naughton,it wouldnt suprise me if he went for sol cambell,but upson would be a better choice,as knight and cuellar arnt good enough,cuellar,only turs up at times,davies needs someone to bring him on ,m,o,neil,please dont bring crouch back ,he is not the answer,maybe ,love,or pantelic,,but ashton could do the the same job

Posted 14:06 9th July 2009

Graham Beale says...

Why do you say "consolidate" 5th place in the League next Season, can I remind you that you finished 6th not 5th !

Posted 13:47 9th July 2009

Mark Rollason says...

I agreed with most of what craig has said,petrov outstanding season,heskey waste of 3.5m.I"ve spoke to loads of fans and we cant believe we havent bought anybody yet,we had the smallest squad in the premier and instead of buying players we have sold 2 more.But to be linked with players like David Bentley and Gareth Bale who have flopped with spurs is like an insult. We dont seem to have the ambition to go on, its as though we have reached our portential like with the russian affair send the second team because we wont get any further which is ridiculous we are a big club but that meens nothing unless you start thinking big look at chelsea never was classed as in the big six clubs in the country but now look at them one of the top four come on martin start thinking big and put us back in the big time. come on the VILLA boys.

Posted 11:44 9th July 2009

Taylor Neale says...

i agree with craig but we need to sighn some players and hold onto the decent ones we already have and we are never going to break into the top 4 with man city buying the world lmao :D but im still villa till i die

Posted 09:44 9th July 2009

Tim Bailey says...

villa-mo'n has done a good job still think he is learning about premier league and the expectations the villa fans have. Now Barry has gone and thank you Gareth, he needs to balance the side with some quality and aggression. Gareth bale, Dan curry both with sweet left foot delivery, Bentley if he can get back his head and play football to the highest standard expected of him ? Tuncay to play make, Dean Ashton to run the forward line with a goal poacher ?, Gabby to learn alittle more i fear before the best will come out of him another central defender lescott maybe-taylor from newcastle ? I do have my reservations about both right and left full back positions- martin two poor buy's there....all the best for this season if you get higher than fifth then we are heading in the right direction if not another season of doubt about Villa's big boy credentials.

Posted 08:57 9th July 2009

Ben Franklin says...

I am and Aston Villa fan and i think Chris is spot on. If Villa do want to progress on from 6th into breaking the so called "big 4" then we need to add more additions to out squad mainly we need to replace Barry and Laursen because theres no doubt they were both massive players for us. We have a reletivly small squad and we need to make it larger because if we were to lose one of our main players such as Ashley Young, Gabby, or John Carew then we would be in big trouble because we have no replacments to fit in and do the job as good as those players. So i feel that more signings need to be made if we are to progress Lerner has told MON that the money is available all that needs to be done is sign players that will get the job done at villa, i would like to see us sign David Bently or Jermaine Jenas who we have been linked with and Amir Zaki would also be a good player to bring in to replace strikers if they have an injury etc.

Posted 00:22 9th July 2009

Nick Reed says...

I keep waking up every day checking the villa news only to be disappointed that we still haven't made any moves in the transfer market! Although the previous years have been exactly the same, it is starting to frustrate me! We need a proven defender with experience, a playmaker and a proven finisher.

Posted 18:38 8th July 2009

Andy Fallon says...

It seems to me as if we are going to struggle this term as sadly all i hear is speculation and no action we need signings and quality ones at that if it doesn't happen soon were not gonna have a gelled team and it will be a big uphill from game 1 as for signings we need i say 5 just to have back up 2 defenders 2 midfielders and the 20 plus striker weve been lookin for as long as i can care to remember!!! and quality not youth and inexperience berg seems proven and resonably priced for his age and ability campbell i think as a short term couldn't be any better proven leader and if he's cheap will be an asset! as for a replacement for Barry its gonna be tough and certainly not cheap lets hope we get someone who can fill his boots! O'neill has to move fast as although a proven manager i see impatience setting in from the fans and a difficult season for him!!!! on a posotive note up the villa and always follow the claret and blue army and kick the small heath scum back where they belong!

Posted 10:11 8th July 2009

Michael Sayers says...

Turning Aston Villa from a mid/lower table team into a team capable of challenging for Europe every season was always going to take time and i'm sure that 95% of Villa fans accept this, all we've wanted over the past 10 years is to at least be moving in the right direction which I, and many others believe we are so for those of you calling for Martin O'neils head need to get a grip and remember back a few years to some of the mediocre football we were playing and when we were being hammered by the blue half and most others for that matter. We have a chairman who is willing to put money into transfers but he's going to do it gradually and build a football club from the bottom up. We now have a squad that consists of players that other clubs are willing to pay big money for. I agree that some of Martins signings have been a bit off (Knight, harewood, salifou, cuellar) but even Sir Alex gets it wrong sometimes. I also agree we should never have sold Cahill, he's as good if not better than Davies but half the price. For the future, i'd love to see us make a few statements this summer and get some quality signings. Players i'd like us to get (realistic) are players like " Richards, Veloso, Bently, Hangeland, Downing, Upson, Sol Campbell (free) Gudjonssen or Tuncay, naughton, Drenthe. Maybe even break the bank and go for players like Robben, Snijder, van der vaart or Vagner Love. I know it's unlikely we'd be in for all of them but i think we need at least 8/9 players to cope. Out would go Heskey, Harewood, Knight, Salifou. Sorry for boring you all, but Villa is a Passion!!!!

Posted 16:10 7th July 2009

Adam Gordon says...

Looking forward to the season ahead, barry is a big loss but don't want him@the club if he does not want to be there. Most depth is needed, i expect bentley to sigh, that will be a good acquisition. Defender to replace martin laursen, not expecting too much off gabby as he would have played a lot of games, and was low on confidence at the end of last season and heskey was quite poor. striker is essential. i like the way MON buys british though. i would take 5th for next season now, arsenal going to be strong as are spurs, everton and man city. I have every faith in MON&Randy! more players are essential though!

Posted 14:02 7th July 2009

Jc Foster says...

Craig has good comments, not sure about the signings tho?? Balti pies, oh yes!!, we are heading in the right direction, even the new generation of fans are coming through, constantly thinking positive, wining mentality throughout. steven edwards????? your comments are complete crap!! mate, ur one of these annoying down in the drubs old school supporters. o neill and lerner are turning our club around, great signings that have proved there worth for what they are needed for at the time. we just fell short last season due to lack of that pressure experience, but this team will build and i have complete confidence in the players o neill WILL sign to mould around an ever improving, young team. Football is about money, but also about time, and building. This is what o neill is doing and what a job. Honest prediction is we will break the top four, teams are scared of us, and i never stop beliveing!! Renewed me season ticket and cant wait. Positive thinking!!! Come on the villa!!!

Posted 13:56 7th July 2009

Mark Smith says...

We're a top 5 club easily, why are we not chasing the likes of Sneijder, Robben, M Diarra from Real as they're obviously not wanted, Hughes doesn't rate Micah Richards even though he has the potential to be one of the best in the world, we badly need a left back and goalkeeper so why not Traore from the gooners (loan or buy) and Boruc from Celtic, all available players that would cost £6-12m a piece. As for a striker, one man stands out as being a 20+ a season goalscorer and he made our defenders look like mugs in the UEFA Cup, Vagner Love. Come on Martin, get the cheque book out! £50m spent and we crack the top four at the expense of Arsenal before they get their star kids through, especially if Arshavin goes. Out go Shorey, Knight, Harewood, Sidwell and Salifou and we'll have a decent squad. In reality though, we'll probably get Naughton, Bentley and a poor centre back like Senderos and end up 8th this season. Randy, if you read this, give ME the job of buying players!!

Posted 13:08 7th July 2009

Sol Wright says...

Villa concentrate on the top 4?? You must be jokin you have already sold your best player. YOU ARE CANNON FODDER next season for the big clubs.

Posted 12:57 7th July 2009

Mohammed Mirza says...

Craig is right in most things and Martin O Neil is the one of the best managers weve ever had, the season before he came we were happy to be in the first half of the table and i think we should see what the manager can do and trust him.

Posted 12:49 7th July 2009

Dave Clark says...

I like your optimism. You are right about the pies too. However, you won't get a Balti pie in the box. We tried for two years. I think this is a big year for O'Neil. We finished in the same position as the year before. What improvement? All I see is more money spent and less quality on the field. Lets hope im wrong and O'Neil is right. Small Heath to go down.

Posted 12:31 7th July 2009

Liam H says...

o neil ia a deadly manager dont now how ye cant c that. have faith e as da money. need a lot of good players to break top 4 robben saviola richards we should hope to attract more like them. top 5 anyway man city will finish lower barry wat were ya thinkin

Posted 04:32 7th July 2009
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