Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Holiday Hiatus II: Electric Boogaloo- Villa v. Spurs, 26 December, 12:30 p.m. EST

After snow and the concerns of Wigan-area police for travelling supporters cancelled last Saturday's match, Villa head into a packed Festive program full of challenges.  The program opens with Tottenham coming to Villa Park on Boxing Day, and is followed by visits to Manchester City on the 28th and Chelsea the day after New Year's, returning home to take on Sunderland on the 5th.

Transfer speculation has also heated up with the window set to open on New Year's Day; Villa has already made one move, dealing the Ginger Ghost, Steve Sidwell, to West Ham.  Sidwell never really found a permanent place in the Villa team, and often spent time out tending to achilles tendon injuries.  His skills as a ball boy, however, will be missed.

As for match preparations, Villa should have the majority of its squad back healthy.  Injured captain Stiliyan Petrov and young midfielders Fabian Delph and Gary Gardner have all returned to training.  Spurs, who sit fifth, should also have a full squad to choose from, with Rafa van der Vaart returning from injury.

Capital Villans leadership will once again be out of town, but anyone still around and interested can catch the action at Lucky Bar, at the intersection of Connecticut and 18th NW, who will have the match on at 12:30.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Trap Matches and the Joy of Tape-Delay: Wigan v. Aston Villa POSTPONED

Well, last week was a whole lot better, wasn't it?  With Emile Heskey returning to bag the winner, Carlos Cuellar returning to the backline, and American Eric Lichaj making his first EPL start, Villa showed a lot more fight going forward and composure at the back in securing the 2-1 win.

Looking to build on that, Villa travel to the Wigan Rugby Ground (The DW Stadium) to take on Wigan Athletic. Nigel Reo-Coker, after making a late substitute return, should be returning to the first XI, as should Gabby Agbonlahor, fresh off of an illness that kept him out of the West Brom match.  Stiliyan Petrov and Fabian Delph (both knee injuries) and Steve Sidwell (achilles) are out, with all three expected to return in January. Fresh reports are claiming that Ashley Young, who put in a pure captain's performance last weekend, could be a miss through the entire Christmas schedule with ankle ligament injuries.  If true, that would be a major miss, as Villa follow this match by hosting Tottenham on Boxing Day, travelling to Manchester City two days later, and then to Chelsea right after the New Year.

Wigan, who currently sit in 18th, will be missing quite a few of their players, with Henry Thomas and Maynor Figueroa on suspension, and Emerson Boyce, Franco DiSanto, Benni McCarthy and Victor Moses all injured.

The Capital Villans will be at Fado for the match, which will be shown as the late game on Fox Soccer Channel. So avoid the score, and join us at the humane hour of 5:00 p.m.  See you there!  The match has been postponed due to the Big Freeze 2010 in England.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

We need a win- Villa v. West Brom- 11 December 2010,10:00 a.m. EST

What a bad week.  A humiliating first half against Arsenal, getting dropped out of the Carling Cup by the Clowns down the road, and a miserable performance at Anfield before which our manager almost walked into the home dressing room. . .

Aston Villa needs a win.  Badly.

The Villans welcome Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion to Villa Park this Saturday.  The last time the Baggies visited B6, two seasons ago, Villa was triumphant, 2-1, with former Albion skipper Curtis Davies scoring the first goal.

West Brom currently sit ninth, five points ahead of Villa.  They will face injury doubts for leading scorer Peter Odemwingie and midfielder Chris Brunt.

Villa, meanwhile, will receive injury boosts, with Emile Heksey, Barry Bannan, Carlos Cuellar and Habib Beye all returning to full match fitness for the weekend; Ashley Young returns after missing the Liverpool match on suspension.  Vice-captain Nigel Reo-Coker has also returned to full training, but is a doubt to play on Saturday.  Ciaran Clark will miss through suspension, having picked up his fifth yellow card of the season at Anfield.  Steve Sidwell and Stiliyan Petrov are both a couple of weeks away from full training after achilles and knee injuries, respectively.  Young midfielders Fabian Delph and Gary Gardner, meanwhile, can expect to remain on the shelf until January as they both recover from knee injuries.

The Capital Villans will be taking the match in at Lucky Bar, on 18th and Connecticut (Just south of Dupont Circle.  See you there at 10:00 a.m. EST

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Holiday Hiatus. Villa v. Arsenal, 27 November 2010, 7:45 a.m. EST

After a dire game at Ewood Park that Blackburn won, Villa return home to face Arsenal this weekend.  Yours truly will be up in New York, but anyone interested in watching the match can find it on live at Fado starting at 7:45 a.m. EST.

Villa will be without Marc Albrighton, who missed last week's match due to appendicitis, as well as Petrov, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Cuellar, Delph, Gary Gardner and Emile Heskey.  Possibly returning from injury are John Carew and James Collins.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Bienvenue, Robert: Blackburn v. Villa, 21 November (8:30 a.m. EST)

What's youth without some strong mentorship?

Well, we almost had 'em.  With the central midfield injury crisis mandating that Houllier select Jonathan Hogg alongside Barry Bannan in central midfield, Aston Villa put in their best 80 minutes in quite some time, trotting out to a 2-nil lead against Manchester United as Marc Albrighton terrorized one of the best left-backs in the game, Patrice Evra.  Unfortunately, United clawed back through Kiko Macheda and Nemanja Vidic to earn the point, and though Villans like you and me may rue the dropped points, we can take heart in the way the team, and especially the younger players, performed.

What remains to be seen is if that particular show can be taken on the road.  Villa will test that at Blackburn on Sunday-  with new signing Robert Pires likely to be unveiled to the visiting crowd on the subs bench for Villa, wearing the number 8 shirt.  The World Cup, EPL, and FA Cup winners' medal holder was added today on a free transfer.  Villa's last time at Blackburn was Houllier's first game in charge for the Carling Cup, and Villa responded with a 3-1 victory.

Villa's injury list will look familiar- Carew, Heskey, Sidwell, Petrov, Reo-Coker, and Cuellar are all likely misses, and Richard Dunne and Ciaran Clark are doubtful with knee and calf injuries, and both will miss Ireland's international friendly match against Norway tomorrow. James Collins was also just added to the doubtful list after picking up a calf injury in training. In other international news, Gabby Agbonlahor will miss England's match against France, but Stephen Warnock and Ashley Young will be in the squad, while Marc Albrighton and Nathan Delfouneso will play for the England u21's against Germany.  Barry Bannan will make his Scotland senior debut against the Faroe Islands.

 For Sunday's match, The Capital Villans will be at Fado for kickoff at 8:30 a.m. EST.  See you there!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Blackpool Blackout and Early Risers: Villa v. Blackpool, November 10, and Villa v. ManUre, November 13

More goals to come from Super Marc?
Time will tell. . . 


Despite dropping points with the last kick of the game via Brede Hangeland's crushing equalizer at the Cottage, Aston Villa got a boost from the emergences of Villa Academy products Ciaran Clark and Barry Bannan, the former filling in ably for a newly injured Nigel Reo-Coker, the latter producing a beautiful cross-field pass to set up Marc Albrighton's opening tally.

Also a boost will be the fact that Gabby Agbonlahor will return to senior team action for tomorrow's home tilt with Blackpool.  Gabby starts the game against the newly-promoted northwest coast side on the bench, with the aforementioned Bannan likely to start against his former loan employers.  Steve Sidwell and Nigel Reo-Coker are new additions to the injury list, with The Ginger Ghost undergoing Achilles tendon surgery, and NRC suffering a knee injury in the early stages of Saturday's match.  They join John Carew (calf/disgruntledness), Emile Heskey (knee), Stiliyan Petrov (knee), and Fabian Delph (knee) among those unavailable for tomorrow's clash.  The match will be on at 2:45 p.m. EST; no place in DC is showing it, so consult your Interweb for a potential stream.

Villa also welcome Manchester United to Villa Park at the weekend; The Red Devils will be coming to B6 fresh off of the Manchester Derby, and have a few of their own injury woes.  Wayne Rooney (ankle, pride), Antonio Valencia (ankle), Michael Owen (hamstring, general Michael Owen-ness), and Owen Hargreaves (hamstring) are all likely misses.  Villa should see the full return of Agbonlahor, who delivered the game winner at Old Trafford last season.  The match kicks off at 7:45 a.m. EST; Fado will be showing it.

Friday, November 5, 2010

In Youth There Be Truth. . . And Hopefully Goals. Fulham v. Villa, November 6

First Premier League start?  At the Cottage?
EYYYYYY. . . No Problem

After a dire derby draw that saw Villa's promising center back prospect Ciaran Clark deputizing quite ably as a defensive midfielder, a fiery fracas between newly minted captain Nigel Reo-Coker and former Villan Craig Gardner, but no joy from the forward line, Villa travel to Craven Cottage in Southwest London to take on Fulham, who have only won 3 of the last 18 EPL meetings with Villa.

Villa come in with a fresh raft of injury woes.  Gabby Agbonlahor remains out after only returning this week to light training following groin surgery, Emile Heskey has been ruled out for the next month with a medial ligament strain in his knee, Stiliyan Petrov will miss until January with a knee injury, and John Carew was just shelved today with a calf muscle tear.

All of which means that Nathan Delfouneso will make his first Premier League start for the Villans as the squad's only fit senior striker.   The Fonz scored his first league goal last season as a late substitution against Portsmouth, but has failed to press Agbonlahor, Heskey and Carew for a starting slot since.  However, the youngster's eye for goal, coupled with the returns from illness and suspension, respectively, for Steve Sidwell and Marc Albrighton, should lead to Villa breaking their three game goalless streak.

The Capital Villans will be taking in the match at the Elephant and Castle on 19th and I at 11:00 a.m. EST.  Come join us!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Derby Days are Here Again: Villa v. Birmingham, October 31, 2010, 8:00 a.m. EST

Gabby scored and drew a penalty in last year's SCD matches.
We could use him right about now

After a disappointing loss to Sunderland in which Villa scored the only goal, and a more-exciting-than-it-needed-to-be Carling Cup win over Burnley, Villa open the doors of Villa Park to their cross-city rivals for the latest installment of the Second City Derby.  Villa swept both legs of the derby last year, both by 1-0 scorelines, with Gabby Agbonlahor a big figure.  He'll miss out this match through injury, as will Luke Young and Stiliyan Petrov (injured at the weekend against Sunderland).  Marc Albrighton, meanwhile, will miss through red card suspension after he was sent off against Burnley.  For the Clowns down the road, Cameron Jerome and James McFadden will miss, while former Villa players Craig Gardner, Liam Ridgewell, Keith Fahey and Kevin Phillips should figure in the squad.  

The Capital Villans will be avoiding the score during the match, and touching down at Fado for their 11:30 delayed showing.  See you there!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Mashed Potatoes: Sunderland v. Villa, October 23

Almost heroic. . . 

After a hard-fought point with Chelsea that almost made Nigel Reo-Coker into the Holte End Hero he deserves to be, Villa travel up to Wear-on-Tyne to visit Sunderland, led by Jay Leno Mr. Potato Head Steve Bruce, at the Stadium of Shite Light.   Gerard Houllier has announced that Marc Albrighton and Emile Heskey, who both missed the home tilt with Chelsea, and Richard Dunne, who left early after planting his ankle into the studs of Gael Kakuta, are all available for selection.  Luke Young and Gabby Agbonlahor both miss out due to hamstring and groin woes, respectively.  

The Capital Villans will be taking our show to Fado (7th Street, between H and I), who claim that they'll have the match on at 10:00 a.m. EST.  Come join us!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Do You HAS? Chelsea Match October 16



If you're here, you're in the District, and you're at least curious about Aston Villa Football Club.  So welcome!  The main aim of this club is to gather to watch Villa together at the weekend, and make it easy for anyone visiting the UK to see the Villa in person.

With that in mind, our first official pub outing will be for the upcoming match with Chelsea.  The match is at 12:30 EST on Saturday, October 16.  We're scouting out a permanent HQ, and so we'll try a few places in the early going.  Tentatively, we'll do Momo's at 13th and U for Chelsea, and see how it goes from there.  
Apparently, Momo's closed as of today.  So we'll do Lucky Bar.  Watch this space for any changes.

And by the way, you don't need the five bucks.  But you do need the determination.  And brush up on your singing here.