March 2010 Archives

Just when Aston Villa needed some calm after the Stamford Bridge storm, the club found themselves at the centre of a whirlwind of rumours, unrest and negativity.

And the main catalyst behind the blizzard of speculation - the world wide web.

James Collins' public apology on Twitter was, in my opinion, a PR masterstroke when needed most. The defender's admission of embarrassment just hours after the humiliating 7-1 defeat was very well-received by Villa fans, it showed that there was no buck-passing, and that the players felt the pain of the hammering as much as those that had forked out hard-earned cash to witness the horror show.

The use of Twitter by footballers has often been criticised, but when used in the right way (something that Collins supported, as highlighted by an interview with the Welshman in the January 31 issue of the Sunday Mercury), the social networking tool can be a vital and straightforward form of communication between player and fan.

In a day and age when multi-millionaire Premier League footballers are as far removed from the everyday man as possible, Twitter is an opportunity for footballers to get their views across without any hint of a cloud of media spin. A chance to show that they are normal human beings.

So when Collins' Twitter account was deleted on Monday, it was a major own-goal by whoever was responsible, whether that be the powers that be or the player himself. It was another chance for Villa to crawl into their claret and blue shell, another chance for fans to fume at the closed ranks at their club.

And from out of those closed ranks at Bodymoor Heath, came the rumours that Martin O'Neill had quit as manager.

I was at Stamford Bridge yesterday for what turned out to be a memorable day for all the wrong reasons for Aston Villa.

While Chelsea's home record is fearsome to say the least, nobody was expecting such an outcome.

However, one Villa player I particularly feel sorry for is Steve Sidwell.

The midfielder had looked impressive with two cameo appearances from the bench against Wolves and Sunderland and, having been handed a rare start, yesterday was his big chance to impress. Given the fact that it was against a former club that never gave him a fair crack, there was extra reason for Sidwell to want to shine at Stamford Bridge.

It was evident from Sidwell's work-rate that the match meant a lot to him on a personal level - so the devastating outcome will have come as a major blow to him and his hopes of cementing regular first team football.

All XI of those players (14 if you include subs Stewart Downing, Nathan Delfouneso and Habib Beye) will be hurting from that 7-1 annihilation this morning, but it will have been particularly painful for Sidwell.

I stole this statistical nugget from the very informative data service Opta Sports.

Apparently when it comes to collecting cards from Premier League referees, two midfielders who have worn Birmingham City's royal blue sit top of the pile.

According to Opta, only current Blues star Lee Bowyer (90 yellows and four reds to his name) has picked up more cards than St Andrew's villain Robbie Savage (89 yellows and one red) in Premier League history.

During his near season-long Premier League spell at Blues, Bowyer has picked up seven of those yellows. While, during his two-and-a-half year stint at St Andrew's, fallen hero Savage racked up 26 of those 89 Premier League yellows.

Everything is rosy in the West Bromwich Albion garden at the moment, apart from one man - Luke Moore.

Apart from moving a step closer to automatic promotion and the magic of Graham Dorrans, the main talking point from the Hawthorns on Saturday was the booing that a very vocal minority of home fans directed towards the much-maligned Moore.

It's a subject my colleague Chris Lepkowski touches on in this week's Baggies View.

The 24-year-old Brummie has never been the most popular striker to pull on the blue and white stripes and the ex-England Under-21 international's failure to reproduce anything remotely close to the form that had him tipped as a future Three Lions star during his early Villa days has only further soured fans' opinions of him.

There's no doubt that good old fashioned hard work (which should get just rewards in the form of goals) is the only thing that can salvage Moore's Albion career now.

And, in his older brother Stefan, Moore has a ready-made reminder of how quickly a professional football career can be over.

Stefan captained Villa to the 2002 FA Youth Cup final and was once ranked alongside a certain Wayne Rooney. However after making his first-team breakthrough at Villa Park, his career steadily slipped downhill.

Now 26-years-old, he finds himself playing for Halesowen Town in the Zamaretto Southern League Premier Division.

If Moore junior finds himself struggling to get up for the likes of Reading and Leicester City in the coming weeks of Albion's push for the Premier League, then he just needs to take one look at his brother preparing for the challenge of Chippenham Town and Swindon Supermarine in English football's seventh-tier.

If he's not careful, then he could see his career take a similar nose dive.

WHEN it comes to the choppy waters of football finances, there isn't a ship more watertight than HMS West Midlands.

In the north-west, there are passengers aboard the great ship Manchester United frantically waving their green and yellow scarves as their owners steers them towards the huge iceberg that is debt.

In the north-east, there's a black and white-striped vessel heading back to the high seas, but with a looney Toon in charge that's still unsure whether to jump overboard.

Up in Scotland, two battered Glaswegian boats remain afloat, just.

Down in the capital, a Russian yacht decorated with a Chelsea crest sails along in calm waters but a storm is brewing in the distance, while the claret and blue cruise liner that is West Ham United was only averted from danger at the last minute by two cockney merchants after a series of crackpot captains had led it astray.

And, of course, down on the south-coast, everybody knows about the ferry that hit the rocks in Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth.

Pompey's punishment for entering administration, in the form of a point-less nine-point deduction, keeps the alarm bells ringing over this debt-ridden industry that we call British football.

To get your views/questions heard on next week's Villa View, e-mail: villaview@mrn.co.uk

I was delighted to hear that Marcus Hahnemann will stay on for at least another year at Wolverhampton Wanderers, should the club stay up this season, as there's not a more colourful character playing on the West Midlands patch.

One interview with the American goalkeeper will arm you with enough entertaining material to last months.

But, of course, I'm not just happy for selfish reasons, as there's no doubt that Hahnemann has been a calming influence on a Wolves defence that could have quite easily crumbled this season.

It became clear quickly that young Wayne Hennessey isn't yet ready for Premier League football so, with the perennially injured Matt Murray out of action, thank god that Mick McCarthy could turn to Hahnemann.

While the fight for survival is far from over, there's a genuine belief in the Molineux camp that Wolves will still be a Premier League team for the start of the 2010/11 season, and the experienced head of Hahnemann would have played a major part in securing that success.

Hahnemann had hoped to finish his career in English football at Reading, so to be forced to look for another club would have come as a major blow for the family man as he's settled in this area.

And with the 37-year-old dreaming of ending his career with the Seattle Sounders in the MLS in his native USA, it would come as no surprise if Hahnemann was more than happy to see out his playing days on these shores with Wolves.

The bandwagon behind Brand Robbie Savage shows no signs of slowing down.

Not content with helping to keep Derby County in the Championship (including a brief stint as goalkeeper), the former Birmingham City midfield's commitments appear to be growing by the day.

Daily Mirror columnist, BBC Radio Five Live summariser, occasional Match of the Day 2 pundit and now.........the 'face' of ACA Sports!!

Who?

ACA Sports - the retailer for Scottish giants Raith Rovers and Annan Athletic, Cricket Scotland and the Scottish Junior Football Association.

Just where will the Welshman's mighty empire stretch to next?