More Villa Park Turmoil: Paul Faulkner is OUT!

Turmoil continues at Aston Villa as Chief Executive Paul Faulkner steps down from the role.

With the future direction and ownership of the club unclear, Chief Financial Officer Robin Russell will be Acting Chief Executive as the club's future hangs in the balance

The official club statement explained:

“Having discussed his re-engaging with the chairman’s broader business while remaining involved with Villa in a non-operational role, agreement could not be reached.

“On the strength of many productive years together, and a long-standing friendship, Faulkner has parted on good terms.

“He has offered his support to the Villa organisation to ensure a smooth transition.”

Paul Faulkner's statement:

"I would like to thank Randy Lerner for the opportunity to become involved with Aston Villa and for the relationship we built over years, which pre-dated my time at the Club.

"To the Villa fans, I am grateful for their support over the years, and for their passionate love for and loyalty to this great club, which deserves the very best.

"I would like to make particular reference to the wonderful Villa staff both at Bodymoor Heath and Villa Park. They are an incredible group of people and it's been a privilege to lead and work with them on a daily basis. Villa is best in class in so many ways off the field and I only hope that success on the pitch follows.

"I feel very humbled to have been able to spend such a long period of time amongst such special people at such a special club and I wish them, Paul Lambert and the squad all the very best for the future as I look to embark on the next stage of my career and a new challenge."

Rand Lerner chipped in with  "Paul has been fantastic in his role at Villa and more broadly as a colleague over the years. I offer him my deepest thanks."

Match Preview: Mansfield Town v Aston Villa

Who are we playing?
Mansfield Town, Thursday July 17 - 7.45pm

Where are we playing?
Mansfield Town Football Club
One Call Stadium (aka Field Mill)
Quarry Lane
Mansfield
Nottinghamshire
NG18 5DA



Can I go?
Allocation: 1,788
Prices: £10 [adults], £5 [O65s], £5 [U16s], Free [U6s]

On general sale 

Easy to get to?
If you like going on the train, not really, as getting back doesn't look feasible. Best bet is probably the coach unless you fancy driving.

Leave the M1 at Junction 28, take A38 to Mansfield and after 6.5 miles turn right at the crossroads into Belvedere St, then turn right into Quarry Lane.

Jayne Mansfield

Can I watch it on telly?
Live on AVTV.

Villa attempted to screen the 2013 pre season friendlies that took place on British soil (and the one in Ireland) live on AVTV with mixed results...

Big game?
There will certainly be plenty of interest. Fans will be expecting to see Joe Cole in action for sure, while there will be plenty of interest in seeing if the bomb squad that were excluded from pre-season last term can get a look in this time.

We'd certainly expect to see the see some of the young guns like Jack Grealish and Janoi Donacien to get a run out at some stage but we'll just have to wait and see.

We wouldn't be surprised at all if the entire team is subbed at half time to give as many as possible a run out.

Do Mansfield have any famous fans?
Closest thing we can find to a celebrity fan is Olympic Decathlete Daley Thompson who was briefly on Mansfield's books at the tender age of 37.

@villamadtweets in your match preview it says do @mansfieldtownfc have any famous fans yes they do @CharlieSlater15 the bbc #weatherman !
— Barry dunn (@dunn_pdunn1) July 8, 2014

@villamadtweets @dunn_pdunn1 touched as I am guys, really! I'm not a Mansfield fan. I just report on them for the BBC
— Charlie Slater (@CharlieSlater15) July 8, 2014

Who's playing for us?
Probably everyone, though the World Cup lads are unlikely to feature.

Of more interest than the personnel will be the formation and we'll be looking for early signs of Roy Keane's input having an impact on the play.

Who's playing for them?
No idea and even if we did, you've probably never heard of them. We haven't.

No doubt though that whoever they are, they'll well up for playing against the Villa and keen to impress to ensure they get a start in the league so they'll give us a workout.

Stats suggest they can get a wee bit physical so we'll just be praying no one important gets clogged.

Any useless stats?

Of course you can Malcolm

Of course, here you go:

• We have NEVER beaten Mansfield Town in four attempts, all in a less than two year period between August 1970 and April 1972 and all in Division Three.

• Malcolm Partridge silenced Villa Park with a 58th minute winner as Mansfield won 1-0 in our first ever encounter on August Bank Holiday Monday 1970.

• The Stags stunned Villa again in the return game at Field Mill in April 1971, trotting out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Roberts and Thompson

• Our solitary point against Mansfield Town came in April 1972 and was enough to ensure promotion to Division Two. Geoff Vowden put us ahead but a last gasp Mansfield equaliser stopped us clinching the Championship.

Prediction
This will be more of training run out than a game but we should emerge victorious. Going for a 3-1 Villa win.

Ron Vlaar could miss World Cup semi with knee injury

Aston Villa's Dutch World Cup hero Ron Vlaar is doubtful for Wednesday's semi-final against Argentina with a knee problem, officials said on Sunday.


Vlaar has impressed in an Oranje side which blitzed its way through the group stage, starting with a 5-1 hammering of the Spanish, then seeing off Mexico and Costa Rica.

The injury news will certainly be a worry for Paul Lambert and his new number two Roy Keane as Villa's non-World Cup players return for pre-season training.

Vlaar is in line to be the first Villa player to take part in a World Cup final, if the Dutch can get past Messi and his compatriots.

Match Preview: Germany v Brazil

Who is playing?
Germany v Brazil. Tuesday 2100 BST World Cup Semi-Final




Where are they playing?
Estádio Governador Magalhaes Pinto, Belo Horizonte aka Mineirao.




Can I watch it on the telly?
You can. It's on the BBC, so you get to shout abuse at Alan Shearer, the miserable bastard.

Fucked

Big game?
Massive.

Neither Brazil nor Germany have been wholly convincing on their journey to the semis.

The host nation has been been shattered by news that Neymar's cracked back has ruled him out of the tournament, while Thiago Emiliano da Silva's suspension is also a big blow to Brazilian hopes.

If they are relying on the likes of the unconvincing Fred or Jo to get them over the line, it could all end in bitter disappointment.

The Germans may not have been spectacular in this tournament, but there has been a clinic precision to some of their play, coupled with an ability to adapt when things aren't going quite to plan.

It should be a fascinating encounter and the German side are level headed enough not to be put off by what will be a hugely partisan crowd. While South America is dreaming of a Brazil Argentina showpiece final, the Germans certainly have enough about them to crash the party.

Pissheads

Fascinating Brazil fact?
Brazil shares a border with all South American countries except for Chile and Ecuador.

Fascinating Germany fact?
German people are the second biggest consumers of beer in the world (after the Czechs), with an average of 107 litres per person per year in 2010


Who's playing for Brazil?
Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (QPR), Jefferson (Botafogo), Victor (Atletico Mineiro).
Defenders: Marcelo (Real Madrid), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Maicon (AS Roma), Maxwell, (Paris St-Germain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Dante (Bayern Munich), Henrique (Napoli).

Midfielders: Paulinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Ramires, Willian, Oscar (Chelsea), Hernanes (Inter Milan), Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Fernandinho (Manchester City).

Forwards: Bernard (Shakhtar Donetsk), Fred (Fluminense), Jo (Atletico Mineiro), Hulk (Zenit St Petersburg).

Who's playing for Germany?
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover)

Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Erik Durm (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin Grosskreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Shkodran Mustafi (Sampdoria).


Midfielders: Julian Draxler (Schalke), Matthias Ginter (Freiburg), Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich), Christoph Kramer (Borussia Monchengladbach), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Andre Schurrle (Chelsea), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich).

Forwards: Miroslav Klose (Lazio), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal).

Any useless stats and info?
Of course, here you go:

• Brazil have beaten Germany on 12 occasions, the Germans winning 4 and there have been 5 draws.

• The Germans won the last encounter 3-2 in 2001 with a penalty tucked away by Schweinsteiger and goals from Gotze and Schurrle

• Their last World Cup encounter was the 2002 Final in Yokohama, two goals from Ronaldo sealing the 2-0 win for Brazil.

Prediction:
Germany to upset the apple cart in a tense encounter.

Helenius wants to go home

Nicklas Helenius's agent Mads Bach Lund has again reiterated the forgotten striker's wish to go back to Denmark.

"Nicklas has one big wish. It's coming home to AaB. But he can not wait indefinitely. Monday he will ask for training at Aston Villa and Tuesday AaB take a training camp."

He stresses that Helenius is not interested in returning to Birmingham, despite the fact that he still has two years left on his contract with Aston Villa.

"The stay at Villa has not gone as we hoped. There are various reasons why we want to keep to ourselves. But Nicklas has reached an age where he needs to play and it appears he is unlikely to at Aston Villa ."

Nordjyske.dk

Roy Keane confirmed as Lambert's right hand man.

Villa confirmed today that former Sunderland and Ipswich Town boss Roy Keane is joining the club to assist
Paul Lambert.

Keane quit his plum pundit job at ITV Sport this summer to concentrate on coaching. He will combine his Villa role with his job as number two to Martin O'Neill for the FAI.

Keane made his name as a player under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest before going on to win multiple honours under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

His managerial career has yet to even approach the dizzy heights of his playing days, his time at the Stadium of Light was something of a rollercoaster ride - players were reported to have thrown a party when he left - while his Portman Road tenure was largely disappointing.

"I am delighted to be joining Aston Villa and I look forward to what promises to be an exciting challenge," Keane said.

"I am grateful to both Villa and the Football Association of Ireland for making this happen and I would like also to thank Martin O'Neill.

"I am relishing the prospect of linking up with Paul Lambert and combining both roles to the full advantage of both Villa and Ireland".

Howard's Way - Hodgson may front bid for Villa

With Villa fans desperate for news of new owners and new investment and very little other than unsubstantiated rumours emerging about potential suitors, it emerges that Howard Hodgson is looking into fronting up a bid.

Howard is well known to the on-line Villa community, with an active Twitter account commenting on all things Villa.

As last season fell apart, he produced a report detailing the issues and problems at Villa Park, while a letter from him to Randy Lerner detailing his concerns caused a rift between him and Paul Faulkner.

Now Howard has revealed in a piece on The Bells Are Ringing Forum  that he has held preliminary talks with corporate finance house Legion Worldwide about putting a bid together.