Match Report: Aston Villa 2-1 Hull City as it was tweeted

El Ahmadi going back to Feyenoord in cut price deal.

El Dave

Karim El Ahmadi is off back to Feyenoord in a deal thought to be a cut price half a million quid.

The player had made no secret of his desire to return to The Netherlands and was in the last season of his Villa deal, hence the nominal transfer fee.

The midfielder is thought to have signed a three year deal at the club where he cemented his reputation and reunites with coach Fred Rutten, after a previous collaboration with FC Twente.

Feyenoord face FC Twente, on Sunday

We paid around £2 million to sign the Dutch born Moroccan International.

Football director Martin van Geel has just confirmed the transfer of Karim El Ahmadi. He'll sign his 3 year contract tomorrow. #AVFC

— KuipTalk (@KuipTalk) August 31, 2014

Delph picked for England

Roy Hodgson has named four newcomers in his first squad of the season including our very own Fabian Delph.

Arsenal's 19-year-old starlet Calum Chambers receives his first call-up alongside Newcastle United midfielder Jack Colback and Tottenham Hotspur defender Danny Rose.

England face two games at the start of September as they seek to recover from a disastrous World Cup.

First up next Wednesday is a friendly with Norway at Wembley before Hodgson's men fly to Basel to take on Switzerland in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier.

Spurs winger Townsend, who missed the World Cup due to injury, returns while Everton's John Stones, a World Cup standby who played in two of the three warm-up games ahead of the trip to Brazil, is also included.

The squad in full

Wayne Rooney

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Southampton), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion), Joe Hart (Manchester City)

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Everton)

Midfielders: Jack Colback (Newcastle United), Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)

Forwards: Rickie Lambert (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United)

Paul Lambert on Fabian Delph's first England call up

Match Preview: Aston Villa v Hull City

Who are we playing?
Hull City on Sunday 31st August at 1.30 pm in the Premier League.

Where are we playing?
Villa Park.

Can I go?
Absolutely. The size of the Newcastle crowd will have sent shivers down the spine of those tasked with maximising revenue and a game at a crappo time of a Sunday won't help the gate for this one. We reckon there might be a few deals going if sales remain sluggish.

Easy to get to?
Apart from a few annoyed wives and girlfriends, there should be no major issues of a Sunday lunchtime, always worth checking the trains aren't buggered of a Sunday though.

Can I watch it on telly?
Despite the kick off time, we are not live on UK telly but we are overseas so web streams or your pub-with-a-dodgy-dish of choice are your best bets (but you can't beat actually being there). Being a Sunday, even if we are last on Match of the Day, we should get more airtime than we did for the first two games.

Steve Bruce

Big game?
Optimists would say not. Realists and pessimists would say potential six-pointer. Certainly anything other than three points will feel like failure so we have to get the creative juices of the team flowing. You can't win matches if you can't score goals.

With Potatohead's men adapting to the rigours of European competition and squad rotation, this could be the ideal time to play them. James Chester's sending off and subsequent suspension is a plus for us but the resilience of their ten men against Stoke is an indication that this will be no walk in the park.

What has Hull ever done for us?

• Hull writer John Godber's Bouncers , is one of the most frequently performed plays in the English language

• J. Arthur Rank was born in Hull (make up your own jokes).

• Those Humbrol paints you used to use on your Airfix kits came from Hull.

• The Bounty, skippered by Captain William Bligh until his crew mutinied, was built and launched in Hull.

Carlos

Who's playing for us?
We'd expect Carlos Sanchez to force his way into the starting line-up but other than that, we wouldn't expect much disruption to the side that has a unbeaten start to the league season.

Who's playing for them?
Steve Bruce is making maximum use of his squad to cope with Europa League activity. Hull's travelling contingent will no doubt be hoping to see Michael Dawson in action. Jelavic will pose our new defensive line-up a few more problems than Stoke or Newcastle managed.



Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Hull City have beaten us five times while we have 17 victories. There have been 7 draws.

• The Tigers last beat us back in August 1987 at the start of Graham Taylor's tenure. Warren Aspinall scored our goal as we lost 2-1.

• Aspinall obviously like playing against Hull because he netted twice in the return game at Villa Park on New Years Day 1988. Andy Gray also bagged a couple and Alan McInally got one as we ran riot 5-0

• Hull's solitary Villa Park success was back in November 1967. We lost 3-2 espite a brace from Brian Greenhalgh.

Prediction
Worried about our lack of firepower but going for a 2-1 Villa win.

Paul Lambert's pre Leyton Orient press conference

Gary Gardner buggers off to Brighton

Gardener

Brighton & Hove Albion have snapped up Aston Villa midfielder Gary Gardner on a long-term loan deal until 1st January 2015.

The 22-year-old had a speedy medical in Swindon hotel late last night, and signed this morning - and might feature in tonight's Capital One Cup match with Swindon Town.

Brighton boss Sami Hyypia said, "Gary is a quality midfielder who we have been aware of for some time. When we knew he was available, we wanted to bring him here as he will give us another quality option in the middle of the park.

"There are areas of the squad where we would like more options, and midfield was one of those areas. We have Dale Stephens out injured, but more importantly, given the considerable demands of the Championship, I want to be able to rotate the squad.

"Gary has had a tough couple of seasons due to injury, but he showed during a spell with Sheffield Wednesday last season that he is over those problems. We hope this loan spell will benefit everyone: Gary, us and Aston Villa.

"He is the type of midfielder who is active and mobile, but very importantly he has real quality on the ball - and is also capable of producing things from set pieces."

Gary joins fellow Villa player Joe Bennett at the club.

Rovers u21s 1 Aston Villa u21s 1

Rovers u21s 1 Aston Villa u21s 1

Homesick El Ahmadi could be off to Feyenoord

"El Dave"

Feyenoord have confirmed their interest in Karim El Ahmadi with Villa apparently prepared to part with midfielder, but only for the right price. The player is in the last year of his current Villa deal and was known to be keen on a return to The Netherlands, making it clear he didn't wish to extend his spell in England.

It's thought that the two clubs are haggling over a deal, with the transfer deadline looming.

Between 2008 and 2012, 29-year-old El Ahmadi played for Feyenoord where he was highly regarded.

Despite signing Carlos Sanchez, Villa have continued to be linked with midfielders and El Ahmadi's potential departure would mean that those rumours would make some sort of sense.

Match Preview: Aston Villa v Leyton Orient

We must try to stay in the cups

Who are we playing?
Leyton Orient FC on Wednesday 27th August at 7.45pm in the second round of the League Cup.

Where are we playing?
Villa Park

Can I go?
Absolutely. We might struggle to get a decent crowd in for this one, especially as it's sandwiched between two home league fixtures. Tickets are relatively cheap and this might be a good one to drag your kids along to as it's only a fiver for them to get in.

Easy to get to?
Should be no major issues. There's still the tunnels closure thing if you are popping into town first, but it's no biggie.

Can I watch it on telly?
Almost certainly not. Not all Capital One Cup are covered for overseas telly, which means you may not be even be able to get a dodgy stream

Big game?
A cup run would do us all the world of good and the slightly encouraging start to the season would be quickly derailed if we were to lose to lower league opposition.

Leyton Orient won't need much motivation to give us a decent game.

After naming an unchanged side in his first two league games, Lambert will almost certainly shuffle the pack for this one. We'd certainly hope that Gabby and Weimann would be "rested", that we get to find out if Joe Cole can get through 90 minutes and that Gary Gardner can get a run out (if he hasn't buggered off to Brighton) UPDATE: He has buggered off to Brighton. It would be nice to see Jores Okore too, if fit.

We'd be hugely tempted to start Darren Bent to see if he can get the goals flowing.

Injury worries Aly Cissokho (ankle) and Ron Vlaar (knee) definitely don't play so we'll be less solid at the back.

Someone's mum off of TOWIE

Do Leyton Orient have any famous fans?

Not really. There's Andrew Lloyd Webber and his equally attractive brother Julian Lloyd Webber, Bob Mills off of Fighting Talk and someone's mum from TOWIE.

We've got the bloke that writes the Jack Reacher books.

So we win


Who's playing for us?
Absolutely no idea but we'll be surprised if we don't see some serious squad rotation. It's a great opportunity to get some game time into the legs of the squad and saving a few of the league starters could give us the edge when Europe-trotting Hull rock up.


Who's playing for them?

They didn't look too threatening in 0-0 draw with Walsall. Keeper Adam Legzdins looked shaky while they only managed one shot in the entire match, Jobi McAnuff hitting the side netting. Boss Russell Slade reckons his team are a work in progress.

Sammy Morgan

Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Leyton Orient (sometimes known as simply Orient)  have beaten us twice while we have 5 wins. There have been 3 draws.

• Our last win over Orient was in September 1975. Two goals from Ray Graydon and one from Sammy Morgan secured our 3-1 win.

• Leyton Orient's best run in the League Cup came in the 1962-63 season. They reached the fifth round before going out to Bury.

• The club has reached the top flight of English football once in its history, a single season in Division One in 1962–63 which ended in relegation.

Prediction
We really should roll over this team. Going for a 3-1 win, but expecting more to be honest.

Match Report: Villa 0-0 Newcastle as it was tweeted...

Randy's Fox Hunt ends in success

Paul Faulkner

Aston Villa today announced a new chief executive after Paul Faulkner's swift and unexpected exit earlier in the summer.

The new geezer, Tom Fox,  has five years of experience as chief commercial officer at Cockney underachievers Arsenal and also spent time with overpriced trainers manufacturer Nike.

In July, ginger haired pen pusher Faulkner stunned the Villa family by  stepping down from the role after six years with the club including four as chief executive.

Fox

New broom Fox has a wealth of experience in sports-marketing. He opened the NBA's first office in Asia as managing director and also headed up sports marketing for Nike in Asia and the US and was involved in Pepsi's Gatorade brand.

Randy Lerner seems chuffed: "I was delighted and even flattered by Tom's interest in the Villa job.

"His achievements at Arsenal speak for themselves and, above all, his reputation as a leader and team builder makes him, to my mind, a great fit to take our club forward."

Robin

Chief financial officer Robin Russell chimed in: "I have got to know Tom over five years of Premier League meetings and have come to respect his professionalism and industry knowledge. I am looking forward to working with him."

Tom Fox added: "First of all, I would be remiss not to thank everyone at the Arsenal for all their support over the past five years.

"I consider it a huge privilege to have represented the club and to have helped move it forward.

"Aston Villa has always been an important club in English football and it has a long and rich history of success at the top of the game.

"The chance to work with Randy, Paul Lambert and Robin to help restore the club to its rightful place in the Premier League is a challenge I'm really energised by and greatly looking forward to."

Bennett buggers off to Brighton

Brighton & Hove Albion have taken Joe Bennett off our hands on a season-long loan.


Rumours about a possible deal had surfaced after Joe was spotted at Brighton's game on Tuesday night.

Seagulls' head honcho Sami Hyypia beamed, "I'm delighted we have agreed with Joe and Aston Villa to bring him here on a season-long loan.

"He is a dynamic left-back, who's very comfortable on the ball. He's very mobile and will suit the way we want to play.

"He is a good footballer, who knows how to use the ball and I hope he will be a very good player for us.

"At 24 he has a good deal of experience, both in the Championship with Middlesbrough and in the Premier League with Aston Villa, and that too is key."

Joe made 29 appearances for the claret and blues in his first season - 2012-13 - but could only muster seven in 2013-14.

He joined us August 2012 from Middlesbrough.

Riise: "Interest from Villa"

Surely we won't sign yet another left back?

However an interview with a former Premier League star sees us linked with one.

"It's weird not playing" admits John Arne Riise after 16 years turning out for Monaco, Liverpool, Roma and Fulham.

"I've got ice in my stomach. There has of course been of interest and things I have said no to. I'm taking my time. It should suit me, my family, future and career in general", said Riise who shares an agent with the likes of Steven Gerrard.

"There has been interest from some English clubs. Aston Villa have been one of them. There has been some interest from Spain too. But there has not been a written offer yet.

"I am open to discuss it all. There's almost two weeks left of the transfer window. A lot can happen"

Full interview (in Norwegian) at http://pluss.vg.no/2014/08/19/1730/1730_23276895

Villa hook up with William Hill

Aston Villa have announced that they have tied up a partnership deal with betting company William Hill Online.


The UK's largest bookmaker becomes the Villa's new official UK and Ireland betting partner.

Acting chief exec Robin Russell announced: "We are delighted to add William Hill to our growing number of official partners.

"William Hill has been one of the leading brands in bookmaking for many years and the company has enjoyed a long and successful association with football, too. We look forward to an exciting and productive partnership with them."

William Hill is one of the oldest and most established names in the betting industry.

Under 21s draw with Stoke City at Bodymoor Heath

Aston Villa U21s 1-1 Stoke City U21s

Villa's Under 21 team have begun their campaign with a home draw against Stoke City.

Joe Cole, Jores Okore and Chris Herd all started the game for Villa, while Callum Robinson and Jack Grealish also featured.

Oliver Shenton gave the visitors an early lead with a deflected shot from just inside the box.

Villa hit back when Callum Robinson scored from a Mikey Drennan cross.

Both sides had chances to win the match in the second half, with both keepers being called upon to keep their respective sides in it.

Villa: Hill, Leggett, Kinsella, Herd, Okore, Toner, Robinson, Cowans, Drennan, Cole, Grealish

Stoke: Eve, Shotton, Barber, Lecygne, Coulson, Watkins, Parry, Shenton, Shea, Adam, Taylor.

Nice lil 60 minute run out today... A absolute pleasure to play alongside Joe Cole.. What a player 😳😱
— Jack Grealish (@JackGrealish1) August 18, 2014

Janoi Donacien loaned out to Tranmere Rovers

Janoi

Highly rated defender Janoi Donacien is the latest Villa starlet to be loaned out to garner first team experience and has today joined Tranmere Rovers on loan until January 2015.

The 20-year old centre back signed a two year contract with Villa earlier this summer after looking the bizzo both in their Under-21s and in the successful NextGen team in recent seasons. 

Janoi, from St Lucia, made the first team bench Villa’s FA Cup tie against Sheffield United and the Premier League game against Sunderland last season but this loan should help the player push on. Samir Carruthers and Jack Grealish greatly benefited from loan spells last term, with Carruthers securing a permanent move to MK Dons.

The Loan Arranger (and Keano)

Tranmere boss Rob Edwards said: “Janoi is a player I've watched a number of times for Villa’s Under-21s.

“He’s a good defender who is very athletic and will give us extra strength in depth at the back. 

“I’d like to thank Paul Lambert and Aston Villa Football Club for allowing Janoi to join us.” 

Match Preview: Aston Villa v Newcastle United

Who are we playing?
Newcastle United FC on Saturday 23rd August at 12.45pm

Where are we playing?
Villa Park

Can I go?
We (probably) won't sell out but don't leave it too late to get your favourite spot, should be a decent crowd, first home of the season and on the back of beating Stoke and all that. Carlos Sanchez might add one or two to the gate, as key signings tend to.

Easy to get to?
Should be no major issues. There's still the tunnels closure thing if you are popping into town first, but it's no biggie.

Can I watch it on telly?
If you really want to suffer Michael Owen you can watch it on BT Sport, but you'd rather be there in the flesh would you not?

Big game?
Huge.

With Villa facing a terrifying run of fixtures in September/early October, it's beyond vital that we get some points on the board early doors.

Stoke was a good start, though we have to say that we were thoroughly perplexed by Mark Hughes's tactics and while our defensive looked far more solid than in previous seasons, it was only really in the later stages that Stoke gave it anywhere near a proper test.

We still have concerns over a lack of creativity going forwards though bringing Carlos Sanchez in may give Delph the opportunity to do more further up the pitch. We'll see.

Growing fan discontent with Gabby Agbonlahor's form was hardly helped by a lacklustre performance at the Britannia and we wait to see whether he keeps his place in this one. That miss won't have helped

The big bonus from the Stoke game was that Aly Cissokho looked a far better player than his performances at Liverpool had us believe. Let's hope he can maintain this in games where we are more under the cosh. His Villa Premier League debut can only have boosted his confidence.

Ant and Dec

Do Newcastle United have any famous fans?

Well there's Lewis out of Inspector Morse and of course Ant, Dec and Cheryl Cole. There's also Sting, who was very popular in the late seventies.

We've got fiddle playing scruffbox Nigel Kennedy.

So we win


Who's playing for us?
Big Phil Senderos probably did enough to keep his place in what we would expect to be an unchanged back four. Alan Hutton looked more comfortable in a Villa shirt than we've ever seen him before.

We'd hope to see Carlos Sanchez, though Lambert may opt to bring him on from the bench rather change a winning team. That said, Gabby must be under pressure for his place. We expect Bent to push his claims in training this week.

Whisper it, but we may even see another new face in the squad before Saturday...


Who's playing for them?
Daryl Janmaat, Remy Cabella, Emmanuel Riviere and Jack Colback are among the new faces in Geordieland. Another new face, Siem de Jong, could be a handful if he recovers from a foot niggle.

The under-fire Pardew has some decent players in his squad now but will be under fire quickly if he can't swiftly get them to gel. This may be a good time to be playing them.

He said, She said
“We face a Villa side which has just picked up an away win and in the Premier League. That is gold-dust, so they will be feeling fairly confident to turn us over at home and we have to make sure we are a really stiff opposition." Alan Pardew

“Alan Pardew has done a really good job. There’s only so many teams can get into Europe, there’s only so many teams can win the title. It’s hard, it’s really, really tough and it’s getting harder with teams getting stronger in the League." Paul Lambert



Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Newcastle have beaten us 69 times while we have 55 wins. There have been 33 draws.

• Our last win over Newcastle was in April 2011. James Collins scored the only goal. Only Darren Bent and Gabby remain from the Villa players on active duty that day, though Ciaran Clark was an unused sub..

• In recent years, games between the two clubs have been narrow affairs. Our last big win came in February 2008 when a second half hat trick from John Carew gave us a 4-1 win 

Prediction
We think this will be tougher than Stoke, but if the home crowd can stay with the players and not get on their backs at the slightest mistake, we can nick it. Going 2-1 to Villa.

Match Report: Stoke v Villa as it was tweeted

Match Preview: Stoke v Villa

Who are we playing?
Stoke City FC

Where are we playing?
Britannia Stadium,

Stanley Matthews Way,
Stoke-on-Trent,
ST4 4EG.

Can I go?
Not unless you've already bagged a ticket, no. Away end sold out.

Easy to get to?
Easy by car, it's only Stoke innit. Come off the M6 at J15, get on the A500 and then the stadium is signposted. Piece of piss. If you get the train, it's a big yomp from the station but there's loads of buses o jump in a mini cab.

Can I watch it on telly?
Saturday 3 o'clocker so dodgy web sites and naughty pubs are your best best.

Big game?
Huge.

With Villa facing a terrifying run of fixtures in September/early October, it's beyond vital that we get some points on the board early doors.

Stoke will be hoping to continue their progress under Mark Hughes and will gutted if they don't win this one.

We've got to hope that Lambert can fashion his ragbag of ex-bomb squaders, cheapo signings and the shell-shocked remnants of last year's team into some sort of footballing force.

Hard to judge from pre-season games, but on the evidence of Groningen and Parma there is still much work to do.


Do Stoke have any famous fans?
Not really. There's people that used to be famous like squash playing Angela Smith, kinky Grandstand host Frank Bough and of course Nick "mentions Stoke City every second breath or at least it seems like that" Hancock and some darts players.

We've got the future King of England.

So we win


Who's playing for us?
Big question. Lambert has big decisions to make all over the pitch. We'd guess that Hutton and new boy Cissokho would play at full back with either Senderos or Okore partnering Vlaar. It would be a shock if Delph and Westside didn't get starts but other than that it would be pure guesswork as to who Lambert will pick.

We doubt he'll be bold enough to pick young Jack Grealish but he could well use the lad from the substitutes bench. We certainly don't think that Gabby and Weimann are automatic picks based on pre-season form.


Who's playing for them?
They've brought in the controversial Phil Bardsley and our old friend Steve Sidwell in the summer along with Bojan Krkic. We'll be looking forward to seeing our old pal Stephen Ireland if selected.

Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Stoke did the double over us last season, destroying us 4-1 at Villa Park in one of the lowest moments of the season. This was the first time Stoke had scored four goals away from home in the Premier League

• We've beaten Stoke on 50 occasions while they can boast 31 wins. There have been 30 draws.

• We've only once in competitive football at the Britannia, in April 2013, running out 3-1 winners in part thanks to a cracking goal from Matt Lowton

Prediction
We are boldly (or possibly insanely) going for Villa to rediscover their goal touch in this one, but for Stoke to take advantage of a rebuilt defence, still in the process of gelling. Going for a 3-3 draw