Roy? Keen?

Roy Keane and ITV have announced a seemingly amicable divorce, thought privately the channel's bosses must be miffed that they've lost their biggest draw panelwise on the verge of the FIFA World Cup.

“Roy has been a tremendous part of our pundit team in recent years, but we fully understand his decision to concentrate wholly on his coaching,” an ITV spokesperson said. “We wish him every success for the future.”

The move has given credence to reports that Aston Villa have lined-up Keane as new assistant to Paul Lambert. Lambert's right-hand men throughout his managerial career, Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa have been dismissed.

Given the current inertia at Villa Park brought about Randy Lerner's announcement to sell, the prospect of such a high profile appointment took many by surprise. Roy Keane would not be a universally popular appointment, given his abrasive personality and managerial track record. Should he secure the role it will undoubtedly split fans' opinion.

Keane lurched into management in 2006 at a Sunderland languishing in the relegation zone when he took the job on.  Backed by his board he revamped the playing staff, guiding the club to the Championship title at the first attempt.

He kept them in the Premier League the following season but quickly seemed to lose the dressing room. Players were quoted as saying that he “ruled by fear” and one anecdote goes that when three players were late for the team bus to an away match he just left them behind.

He walked away from the role in December 2008, with the club battling the drop. Players were said to have partied at news of his exit.

Things were possibly worse during his twenty month tenure at Ipswich Town

His first full season, 2009-10, he managed to go 16 games before managing a win, the worst start in Ipswich's history

They recovered to finish mid-table but the following season was just as disappointing and Keane was given the Spanish Archer with his team struggling at 19th in the Championship, seven losses in his last nine games sealing his fate.

New Villa Home Kit Unveiled

Suppose the socks are nice... #avfc pic.twitter.com/rGGVFDj1sy
— villamad.co.uk (@villamadtweets) June 2, 2014

At least the goalie wears green #Traditional #avfc pic.twitter.com/jLwReZjByP
— villamad.co.uk (@villamadtweets) June 2, 2014

Never mind the quality, feel the width... #avfc pic.twitter.com/efpR7wFD2d
— villamad.co.uk (@villamadtweets) June 2, 2014

 The strip is now available for pre-order from Villa's online shop - or you can buy from Father's Day weekend onwards - June 14 and 15

Match Preview: England v Ecuador

Who are we playing?
Ecuador

Big game?
Possibly, if you think that playing in Miami on a Wednesday afternoon is good acclimatisation for the Italy game in Manaus. It might well be. At the time of writing, temperatures and humidity levels are roughly the same.

Roy wants to give a couple of players who didn't get a kick against Peru a run out so this won't be his starting line-up for the Italy clash but gives the likes of Owbowlake-Chamberpot a chance to press their claims.

Ecuador will provide stiff opposition, having recently battled to a one-all draw with Holland and will see the game as key to their own preparations. They did go down 3-1 to Mexico but game was more even than the scoreline suggests.

La Tri are heading to the third World Cup in their history. They have an excellent chance of progressing through the group stage having been drawn with France, Switzerland and Honduras.

The stadium

Where are we playing?
Currently known as the Sun Life Stadium

2269 NW 199th Street
Miami Gardens, Florida
United States

It's the home of the Miami Dolphins NFL team, as well as University of Miami Hurricanes. It's also hosts the venue for the Orange Bowl. It was the home to the Florida Marlins baseball team until they moved to their own custom built stadium.

Can I go?
A few tickets left last time we checked ranging from $45 to $80

Adrian

Easy to get to?

It's in Miami. If you've not made your arrangements by now, not easy, no.


Can I watch it on the telly?
You can but with added Adrian Chiles as it's on itv. Lee "Charisma" Dixon will be on hand with the punditry.

Ecuadorian on her dad's side

Any famous Ecuadorians?
Struggling here. Villa fans will be aware of Ulises De la Cruz but he's hardly what you'd call famous. However, it turns out that Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador though he was raised in Albuquerque.

Christina Aguilera's dad is Ecuadorian.

Who's playing for us?
Roy will shuffle his pack after the Peru victory, promising starts for Phil Jones and Oxbowlake-Chamberpot.

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

Oxbowlake-Chamberpot

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Chris Smalling (Manchester United)

Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Everton), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)

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

Who's playing for them?

Jaime Ayoví

Goalkeepers: Alexander Dominguez (Liga de Quito), Maximo Banguera (Barcelona), Adrian Bone (El Nacional).

Defenders: Jorge Guagua (Emelec), Gabriel Achilier (Emelec),
Oscar Bagui (Emelec), Juan Carlos Paredes (Barcelona, Ecuador), Frickson Erazo (Flamengo), Walter Ayovi (Pachuca), Christian Ramirez (Fortuna), John Narvaez (Emelec).

Midfielders: Pedro Quinonez (Emelec), Luis Fernando Saritama (Barcelona, Ecuador), Carlos Gruezo (Stuttgart), Antonio Valencia (Manchester United), Segundo Castillo (Al-Hilal), Christian Noboa (Dynamo Moscow), Renato Ibarra (Vitesse), Edison Mendez (Santa Fe), Oswaldo Minda (Barcelona, Ecuador), Michael Arroyo (Atlante), Fidel Martinez (Tijuana).

Forwards: Armando Wila (Universidad Catolica), Jefferson Montero (Morelia), Jaime Ayovi (Tijuana), Enner Valencia (Pachuca), Joao Rojas (Cruz Azul), Felipe Caicedo (Al-Jazira), Cristian Penilla (Barcelona, Ecuador), Angel Mena (Emelec).

Any useless stats and info?
Hardly any but here we go:

• We've only played them twice ever, beating them on both occasions.

• The first match took place in the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa in Quito on 24th May 1970. Francis Lee gave England an early lead and brave Brian Kidd made sure of the victory taking a boot in the face as he headed in England's second. The gloss was somewhat taken off the win when news filtered through that Bobby Moore had been arrested in Colombia.

• The second encounter was in the "Round of 16" at the 2006 World Cup in Stuttgart. England squeezed past by a single David Beckham goal on that occasion. Aston Villa misfit Ulises De la Cruz played for Ecuador.

Prediction:
An narrow Ecuador win, followed by much weeping and gnashing of teeth on Twitter.

Match Preview: England v Peru

Who are we playing?
Peru

Big game?
No, frankly.

It's all about the World Cup now so from a preparation point of view, it might have been better to play the game over in Lima. We're still paying for Wembley though so this is a "send-off" game, where players will be as keen not to get injured as to impress Woy.

We may get an idea of his World Cup starting line up but then again we may not. He won't want to give Italy too many clues.


Where are we playing?
Wembley Stadium, in Wembley, in London. Wembley is not the loveliest part of the UK, but they still decided to build the national stadium there, giving foreign visitors a less than sparkling impression of our fair nation.

Can I go?
Still some tickets last time we looked but we haven't been bombarded with emails begging us to go so we're assuming sales are healthy.

Easy to get to?

Javier Perez de Cuellar 

Driving and parking can be a pain and you know what those motorways can get like of a Friday. If you are travelling from Birmingham, the train is probably your best bet, with direct trains from Moor Street to the Stadium, and trains back at 22:18, 22:50 or the last one at 23:17 if you fancy a cheeky couple of post match pints.


Can I watch it on the telly?
You can but with added Adrian Chiles as it's on itv. Lee "Charsima" Dixon will be on hand with the punditry.

Apart from sending Paddington Bear over (an immigrant, sorry UKIP voters) what has Peru ever done for us?
Well they gave us Javier Perez de Cuellar who used to be head honcho at the United Nations but other than that we are struggling a bit. Some of those annoying pan pipe players you get in town centres claim to be Peruvian but we're not convinced.


Who's playing for us?
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Celtic), Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion)

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Chris Smalling (Manchester United)

Lallana

Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Everton), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Southampton), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)

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

Who's playing for them?
Goalkeepers: Raúl Fernández  (Dallas), George Forsyth  (Alianza Lima) Pedro Gallese (Universidad San Martín)

André Carrillo

Defenders: Alberto Rodríguez (Rio Ave), Yoshimar Yotún (Sporting Cristal) Luis Advíncula (Sporting Cristal), Christian Ramos (Juan Aurich) Alexander Callens  (Real Sociedad B), Gianmarco Gambetta (Argentinos Juniors), Hansell Riojas (Cienciano), Renato Tapia (Twente)

Midfielders: Rinaldo Cruzado (Nacional), Luis Ramírez (Corinthians), Josepmir Ballón (Universidad San Martín), Paolo Hurtado (Peñarol), Cristian Benavente (Real Madrid Castilla), Christofer Gonzáles (Universitario), Edison Flores (Universitario), Mario Velarde  (Unión Comercio)

Forwards: André Carrillo  (Sporting), Raúl Ruidíaz (Universitario), Jean Deza (Montpellier), Miguel Trauco (Unión Comercio)

Any useless stats and info?
Hardly any but here we go:

• We've only played them twice ever: P2 W1-D0-L1 F5-A4 Record: 50%

• Both games took place at the Estadio Nacional, Lima

• In May 1959, Jimmy Greaves got on the scoresheet in what was his England debut but we went down by 4 goals to one.

• In May 1962, England got revenge. A Ron Flowers penalty put them on their way before a Jimmy Greaves first half hat-trick secured the 4-0 victory

Prediction:
An England win, raising false hopes and dreams for the summer.

Peru looking strong up front

Aston Villa confirm Culverhouse/Karsa exits via Brian Doogan tweet

In response to media reports, speculation & inquiries, can confirm both Ian Culverhouse & Gary Karsa have been dismissed #avfc

— Brian Doogan (@doogan_brian) May 24, 2014

Lambert for Celtic? Lennon departure sparks speculation.

Could Paul Lambert be off to Celtic?


The departure of Neil Lennon from one of the top jobs in Scottish football has sparked speculation that Villa's beleaguered boss might fancy a move back north.

With Randy Lerner now unable to offer his manager a secure future, it's unlikely he'd stand in Lambert's way, although he might be cheeky enough to expect a compensation payment were he to allow the former Celtic hero's release.


During seven seasons with Celtic, Lambert won four Scottish Premier League titles, two Scottish Cups, two Scottish League Cups and was crowned Scottish Football Writer's Player of the Year in 2002.

Another Celtic legend Henrik Larsson has emerged as an early favourite for the role while the names of Owen Coyle and David Moyes are also being bandied about.

Paul Lambert's departure would throw Villa's pre-season plans further into chaos and leave Lerner looking to appoint a short term caretaker boss to salvage Villa's preparations for the forthcoming campaign.

Gary Gardner handed new two year deal.

Injury prone midfield prospect Gary Gardner has been handed a new two year deal by Aston Villa.

The player has a nightmare couple of seasons with injury which had led many to believe that his chance of making a major impact at Villa had gone.

However, against the backdrop that the current situation makes it difficult to sign new players, this almost feels like a fresh signing.

Niggling injures last term meant that Gary was unable to force his way into first team reckoning, though he did have a brief spell out on loan at Sheffield Wednesday.

Gary said "The manager and other people at the Club believe in me and know what I'm capable of. I want to be a big player for the team next season and I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can to demonstrate the potential they see in me."

Gary's brother and former Villa player Craig is returning to the Midlands to play for West Bromwich Albion.