All posts tagged Aston Villa

Sacred cows: Martin O’Neill

A new series offering a different take on some of football’s most exalted reputations.

For the first time in his managerial career, Martin O’Neill appears under pressure. Next Monday marks the first anniversary of his appointment at Sunderland, amid much fanfare.

But the Black Cats sit a disappointing 16th in the Premier League, even after spending £22m on new players in the summer.

It can hardly be what Sunderland …

Ten Reasons to Love the Football League

So Football is officially dead then – beside images of sideburns, NHS celebrations, Kenneth Branagh in a top hat, a Somali-born hero, David Rudisha, the lightning bolt and the tranquil surrounds of ‘Eton Dorney’, the game has lost its sheen – embattled as it was when Freddie Flintoff inspired an Embrace song in 2005 and Jonny drop kicked that ball two years before.

Well maybe – but we still …

Geographies of football: Worcestershire sores

There are smaller counties which support league football – so what has gone wrong in Worcestershire? Frank Heaven explains.

It is a dubious honour.

After Kidderminster Harriers narrowly missed out on the Conference play-offs this season, Worcestershire remains the largest county in England without a Football League club.

Shropshire and Cumbria both have smaller populations, but they are obviously doing something right that Worcestershire is not.

Harriers did enjoy a …

Great Football League Teams 32: Aston Villa, 1987-88

Poor Graham Taylor. Forever criticized for his bewilderment at people not being able to ‘knock it’ and taking on the impossible job, his career trajectory more than stands scrutiny but, even when winning, the praise he is damned with is feinter than feint – ‘a dull long ball merchant, out of his depth in more rarefied climes and the personification of English football’s problems’.

Take the Aston Villa for whom …

The downward spiral

Late March, and if you listen carefully you can - in the parlance of a certain puce-cheeked knight of the realm - hear the sound of bums starting to squeak. So, time to cast an eye over the teams who this May are most likely to be swapping the preening pros, plastic fans and prawn sandwiches of the Premier League for the Bovril, goal celebration music and cheerleaders of the …