Aston Villa Central

The season from hell is finally over and Alex McLeish’s Aston Villa career has, as expected, been terminated. His tenure has passed on. It’s no more. It has ceased to be. Expired and gone to meet its maker. A stiff, bereft of life. It rests in peace. Its metabolic processes are now history. Kicked the bucket. Shuffled off its mortal coil. Run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible.

This is an ex-Aston Villa manager.

Today is a very good day.

Official Statement

Aston Villa can confirm that Alex McLeish’s contract has been terminated with immediate effect.

The club has been disappointed with this season’s results, performances and the general message these have sent to our fans.

The board wishes to assure supporters that we are conscious in every sense that Villa expects and deserves more and we will strive to deliver this.

Villa chairman Randy Lerner said: “We need to be clear and candid with ourselves and with supporters about what we have lacked in recent years.

“Compelling play and results that instil a sense of confidence that Villa is on the right track have been plainly absent.

“The most immediate action that we can take is to look carefully at our options in terms of bringing in a new manager who sees the club’s potential and embraces our collective expectations.”

Chief Executive Paul Faulkner said: “We’d like to thank Alex for his hard work and efforts throughout this tough season.

“We are mindful of the club’s need to prepare thoroughly for the new campaign and for the new manager to be able to begin working with the board so that he is quickly immersed in these preparations and also in the long-term objectives of the club.

“Our focus now will be driven by these imperatives and we will update when appropriate.”

If you’ve been stopping by Aston Villa Central for a while now you would have noticed something amiss this past weekend and may have assumed that I had joined Darren Bent on a quick shopping jaunt.

I had no such luck I’m afraid. I did indeed watch the 2-0 loss at the hands of Liverpool, but for the first time in a few years I hadn’t done any preparation before the game. I didn’t relay the teamsheets before kick off. I wasn’t on Twitter at any point. I wasn’t monitoring stats during the game. I wasn’t analysing the tactics. I wasn’t thinking about what to write after the final whistle, let alone writing anything before the game finished.

I just sat on my sofa, the HD images of the game on my laptop coming via someone in Russia. The headphones kept the commentary I couldn’t understand in and the rest of the world out. Some might describe it as a bizarre, self-imposed Clockwork Orange style punishment, but I couldn’t possibly comment.

Just me and thee, Villa, just me and thee.

I stayed there, mostly motionless for the best part of two hours, as the game unfolded in tragically predictable fashion. And when it was over, I shut the computer down, closed the lid and went out with my wife.

When I returned home, Aston Villa Football Club still existed and the world was still spinning.

It was all quite liberating.

Obviously my enthusiasm for this blogging malarky is at an all time low, that’s the bottom line. I’ve been “phoning it in” for a while now, so I’ve taken the decision to put us all out of our misery here and make this the final post of 2011.

I’m going to spend the next couple of weeks looking for a way to convey the thoughts I have bouncing around this mush I call a brain at the moment. If successful, I honestly don’t know whether I’ll produce the manifesto for a new beginning or a eulogy, I guess we’ll all find out in the new year.

For now, I’d like to sincerely thank all readers, new and old, regular and occasional, for all of your support, opinions and conversation over the past few years, here and elsewhere on the interwebz. Whether you’ve agreed or disagreed, you’ve made this an interesting and rewarding experience. I hope you all find a way to enjoy the festive period despite the depressing situation we find our football club in.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

(Comments are closed as I’ve no desire to receive abuse for choosing to take a break right now, nor am I fishing for compliments. Go enjoy your Christmas. Go on now, there’s nothing to see here. UTV)

Marc Albrighton and Stiliyan Petrov produced the vital goals to deliver Villa’s first away win of the season, but Ivan Klasnic was able to prevent Brad Guzan earning a clean sheet on his first Premiership start.

It was a much improved performance during the first half, and fans crying out for a 4-4-2 system will be quick to point out that was the case today with Marc Albrighton on the right and Charles N’Zogbia on the left. However, it has to be said that Bolton looked entirely worthy of the 19th place they held in the league coming into this one.

Still, by the break, with scoreline reading 2-0, it had been a very even encounter statistically, we had just done a much better job of carving out chances whilst Bolton struggled to do much of anything in the final third. In truth, we could, and probably should, have been another goal or two ahead.

The opening goal was superb. Following a brief spell of possession, Chris Herd found Gabby in space on the left and though his square ball was just behind Darren Bent, Marc Albrighton had got himself in position to fire in from close range.

Stiliyan Petrov chalked up his third of the season with another shot from distance, this time taking a slight nick off of Gary Cahill on the way in. As they say, they all count.

Bolton looked much brighter after the break and you might say that the goal, as typical as it was for us to concede, was coming. Zat Knight attempted to stroke in from a corner only for the ball to disappear into the crowded box. Lines were not cleared, Klasnic pounced to stab past the helpless Guzan.

A typically nervy last half hour then. Bolton pushed for an equaliser, but always looked vulnerable on the counter. In truth, both sides created chances they should have done better with, but neither side were able to alter the scoreline.

So, a much needed win, the first away from Villa Park this season, and obvious positives can be extracted. That said, Bolton looked truly awful during much of the first half and we were gifted a number of chances that we should have buried. Other teams, notably the ones coming up, will not be so generous.

Nevertheless, it’s three points in the bag, a rare experience this season, so let’s just soak it up and enjoy it for now. If it’s belief and confidence that we really need, I hope everyone involved extracts what they need from this and takes it into the remaining games of the year.

Key Events Timeline

93′ YELLOW CARD Marc Albrighton.
90′ YELLOW CARD Gabby Agbonlahor.
81′ SUBSTITUTION Darren Bent off, Emile Heskey on.
79′ SUBSTITUTION Ivan Klasnic off, David Ngog on.
71′ SUBSTITUTION Tuncay off, Gael Kakuta on.
55′ GOAL Ivan Klasnic. Zat Knight’s scuffed shot from a corner went into a crowd, pinged around, lines not clear, Klasnic stabbed in from close range.
39′ GOAL Stiliyan Petrov.
33′ GOAL Marc Albrighton. Ball moved to the left where Gabby had drifted wide, his cut back behind Bent, who got a steadying touch on it, before Marc Albrighton banged it in.
27′ YELLOW CARD Mark Davies.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Boyata, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Tuncay, M Davies, Pratley, Eagles, K Davies, Klasnic. Subs: Bogdan, Steinsson, Muamba, Petrov, Kakuta, O’Halloran, Ngog.

Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Albrighton, Herd, Petrov, N’Zogbia, Agbonlahor, Bent. Subs: Marshall, Clark, Ireland, Bannan, Delfouneso, Weimann, Heskey.

With Shay Given out for a month, Brad Guzan gets his first Premier League start, and it’s also emerged this week that the American is in contract discussions with his current deal set to expire at the end of the season. Jermaine Jenas is out for the season, and with the club apparently on the hook for his wages the less said about that the better.

It looks like it’s a straightforward 4-4-2 from McLeish this week, and with Herd providing the muscle and Petrov back in the starting line-up, it’s Barry Bannan that’s had to miss out.

Castrol Football Prediction

Form

Last ten results for this fixture:

They obviously can’t be bothered, so neither can I. It was a positive line-up, but Utd never needed to get out of 1st gear. McLeish must be giving out his instructions in Russian or something because he’s managed to make some very capable players look like they haven’t the first clue what they’re doing.

Worryingly, Shay Given was carried off after his hamstring went shortly before half time. Brad Guzan didn’t have much to do, not really, but we’ll probably get to see him in goal for a few games now.

Chris Herd also limped off, although he may have just been feeling sorry for himself after a less than awesome display. Jermaine Jenas was also replaced due to injury, it looked like something in his ankle went and he’ll surely be out again now.

Charles N’Zogbia was excluded from the squad to sit on the naughty step for missing some appointment or other during the week. Details are sketchy.

Phil Jones got the only goal. It was tame. Nani romped into space behind Alan Hutton and sat a nice ball up for Jones to volley in from close range unchallenged. Simple enough.

There was the usual running about a bit at the end, but it was aimless and delivered no more than it deserved. This is beyond tedious now. Barcelona are currently 2-0 up against Levante, I’m going to watch that. At least there’s some joy there.

Timeline: Key Events

79′ SUBSTITUTION Ashley Young off / Danny Welbeck on.
64′ SUBSTITUTION Rio Ferdinand off / Ryan Giggs on.
64′ SUBSTITUTION Jermaine Jenas off / Emile Heskey on. Injury.
59′ SUBSTITUTION Chris Herd off / Stiliyan Petrov on. Herd limped straight off down the tunnel.
38′ SUBSTITUTION Shay Given off / Brad Guzan on. Hamstring.
20′ GOAL Phil Jones. Nani in behind Hutton, a simple cross into the box, Phil Jones volley’s calmly in unmarked.
12′ SUBSTITUTION Javier Hernández off / Antonio Valencia on. Ankle injury.

Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Herd, Jenas, Albrighton, Bannan, Agbonlahor, Bent. Subs: Guzan, Cuellar, Clark, Delph, Petrov, Ireland, Heskey.

Man Utd: Lindegaard, Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Jones, Rooney, Young, Hernandez. Subs: De Gea, Evans, Fletcher, Park, Giggs, Valencia, Welbeck.

One of the bigger talking points has been the return of Ashley Young. James Milner showed class by not celebrating at Eastlands recently, expect Ashley Young to do exactly the same today, but preferably because he hasn’t scored.

Either way, it’s a tough game ahead and I suspect there will be a bigger interest in the manner McLeish approaches the game than any real expectation in getting much from it.

The two managers go way back of course, here’s how they are sending their sides out today in search of the points.

Barry Bannan is back in the starting line-up and Marc Albrighton gets his first Premier League start of 2011/12. With Jermaine Jenas also in the XI, it’s certainly a positive teamsheet from McLeish.

Castrol Football Prediction

Form

Last ten results for this fixture:

At the onset of his tenure, it wouldn’t have taken much effort to find predictions about the brand of football Alex McLeish’s Aston Villa side were destined to serve up. None were particularly exciting or encouraging.

I prefer a ‘wait and see’ policy myself, but I think we’re far enough into the season now to look at some statistics and draw some conclusions.

In this post, we’ll focus on the number of attempted passes that have been hit long as a percentage of the total attempted passes during a game on average. The data is sourced from Opta via WhoScored.

We’ll look in a bit more detail at the end of the post, but it’s worth keeping in mind for now that we’ve actually seen the same number of long passes per game on average during 2011/12 as we did during 2009/10 under Martin O’Neill. The difference is the proportion of total passes those long balls represent.

2011/12

Let’s start with the current picture, as of last weekend’s games. Here’s how all 20 Premier League teams shape up when it comes to their preference for the long ball:

No surprise to find Stoke at the top of table, hitting 22.19% of their passes long. They’re pretty consistent too; they were top of the table in 2010/11 with 21.50%, and also in 2009/10 with 22.77%.

The concern, and it will surprise few, is that we’re part of a group of four teams behind Stoke who are all hitting it long more than 17% of the time. In our case it’s 18.21%.

You may be surprised to learn that the leaders when it comes to the actual number of passes hit long per game so far this season are Tottenham and Norwich, both with 74 per game.

2010/11

Would anyone be shocked to find McLeish’s old team leading the pack behind Stoke last season? The only other team to hit more than one in five of their passes long, McLeish’s Birmingham side registered 20.15% on the long ball scale.

Gerard Houllier’s Villa side were in the bottom half with 14.52% of passes hit long, which was an average of 62 per game. Only three sides hit fewer long balls per game; Chelsea (61), Man City (56) and Arsenal (45).

Even Stoke “only” hit 66 passes long per game, but their general lack of possession means those passes represent a high percentage of the total.

The “champion” when it comes to the actual number of passes hit long per game last season was, you’ve guessed it, Birmingham City with 82.

However, it should be noted that Blackpool, a team that won many plaudits for their approach and style of play, gave Birmingham a good run for their money by hitting 80 long balls per game themselves.

Does that last fact, along with Norwich’s position this season, challenge a few perceptions? It probably should.

2009/10

Martin O’Neill’s side were often labelled a “long ball team”, famously by Arsene Wenger on one occasion, and it’s true that he clearly believes in moving the ball from back to front quickly and efficiently. However, I think a distinction can be drawn with McLeish when it comes to purpose and quality. MON certainly sees a greater value in using the flanks.

Again, Birmingham City were near the top of the table, this time hitting it long 19.44% of the time. That’s 76 long passes per game.

Tottenham were kings of the long ball hill in absolute terms though with 79 per game. Roberto Martinez’s Wigan side separated ‘Arry and McLeish with 77 long balls per game.

Again, does this challenge perceptions at all? Were Tottenham a “long ball team” in 2009/10? And if so, who cares, it got them into the Champions League, right?

There’s long ball and then there’s long ball

Not all long balls are equal. For instance, Barry Bannan’s exquisite pass to Marc Albrighton at Craven Cottage last season would be classed as long, but we’d surely watch passes like that all day long. Especially if the net ends up bulging in the same way.

The devil is always in the detail and we could remove the outliers amongst the data if we spent long enough to dive deep enough. However, if you think about the 20 teams on a simple spectrum representing their passing game you’d almost certainly place Stoke at one end and Arsenal at the other.

That’s what this data gives us; the bigger, better quality sides are unsurprisingly closer to Arsenal’s end of the spectrum and the smaller clubs, unable to dominate possession in the same manner, are closer to Stoke. It’s more or less what you’d expect then.

It’s our position on that spectrum which should be of concern. It might also be of concern that McLeish’s Birmingham side resorted to the long ball more frequently in his second Premiership season despite having had more time and money to “build his own team”. It really suggests a modus operandi which is difficult to dispute.

Clues

As we’ve already covered at the top, the 2011/12 version of Aston Villa isn’t hitting any more long balls per game than the 2009/10 version, they just represent a greater proportion of the total passes.

So what’s happened to those other passes?

Here’s how WhoScored breaks down the attempted passes on a per game basis:

The number of short passes compared to the last two seasons is alarming enough, but won’t be a massive surprise. What should be of concern is the lack of crosses and through balls as both of those types of passes lead to a goal scoring opportunity.

The combination of crosses and through balls totalled 29 per game in both 2009/10 and 2010/11, but it’s running at just 20 so far this season. That’s a 31% reduction in the type of passes which lead directly to scoring goals.

During 2009/10 we averaged 13.08 shots per game, 4.16 on target, and in 2010/11 it was 13.32 with 4.34 on target per game. This season, we’re down to 11.15 shots per game and just 2.92 on target. It’s frankly astonishing that we’ve actually scored one goal more than at the same point last season.

We’ve got Gabby’s massively improved form, Darren Bent’s deadliness (not withstanding a few sitters missed), and Stiliyan Petrov managing to get a couple of his weekly 30-yarders on target to thank for that.

Shackles

We’ll finish here with a little subjectivity. It may be far from earth-shattering, but it’s my opinion that this side are inhibited by an overly cautious approach. I’m not going to go so far as to call it ‘negativity’ – with the exception of White Hart Lane – but the players are certainly not being encouraged to express themselves.

Full backs are held deep, the lack of true width has been well covered in the past, but surely there’s no bigger anchor to ambition at the moment than plonking Emile Heskey in where we’re crying out for a playmaker. With all due respect to Heskey, natch. Additionally, the silly mistakes gifting possession back to our opponents are surely a sign of tension; a fear of making a mistake. Ironically.

McLeish has described the cameos in Swansea from Barry Bannan and Jermaine Jenas as “food for thought”. I sincerely hope he pigs out. I mean really, really dives in like he’s eating his last meal. Because there’s no shortage of fans who will wish that to be the case, metaphorically speaking of course.

He’s correctly noted the incisive passing from Bannan in particular; the young Scot actually made more key passes than anyone involved despite not getting on the pitch until the 79th minute.

We clearly need more of that, but it will be for nothing if the players are shackled and not allowed to express themselves. The long balls themselves are not the problem so much as there is precious little else.

Please, Mr. McLeish, these players are better than than they’re being allowed to show. Please let them play some football.

Please?

Despite it being a dead rubber for Rosenborg, and Ajax having the ability to win the group, it was the Norwegian side who took all three points with a 2-0 victory in Amsterdam tonight, leaving our own Young Lions at the top of the pile.

This means that we’ll have the advantage of playing the single-legged quarter final at Villa Park, more than likely against Marseille. There’s just one game left in Group 1, Marseille will face Celtic with second place secured and needing to beat the Scots by eight clear goals to overtake Barcelona in first place.

Sporting Lisbon and Liverpool qualified from Group 2, but it’s yet to be decided who will join Tottenham from Group 4. Inter Milan are in the driving seat at the moment with three games still in hand.

However it turns out, it’s fantastic achievement to make the quarter finals and huge boost to win the home advantage. Hopefully the fans will turn out in numbers to make it worthwhile.

We need all the good news we can get at the moment, so well done to everyone involved.

The game went ahead amidst many calls for its postponement following the tragic news of Gary Speed’s death. The result doesn’t seem that important in the scheme of things right now, but it’s probably a point that will prove invaluable at the end of the season.

Following a heart warming and entirely spontaneous round of applause in place of the planned minute of silence, the first half didn’t provide any shocks. Swansea dominated possession and stroked the ball around, Villa didn’t. But for all the possession, neither goalkeeper had much to be concerned about.

Villa looked better after the break, with Gabby Agbonlahor once again showing the way in the final third. One or two chances were created, the ball was passed around a bit, but it wasn’t until Jermaine Jenas and Barry Bannan came on that we got to see a little creativity.

The best two chances of the game probably fell to Leroy Lita, but neither side will look to many opportunities squandered with regret. In the end, given the news that overshadowed the match, the outcome was one many would have hoped for.

There is still much work to be done with this Villa side though, the shackles firmly placed on the team during the opening spell; a game plan seemingly being to make it half time level and then go from there.

The fans crave more adventure.

Timeline: Key Events

93′ YELLOW CARD James Collins.
82′ SUBSTITUTION Nathan Dyer off / Wayne Routledge on.
79′ SUBSTITUTION Fabian Delph off / Barry Bannan on.
69′ SUBSTITUTION Emile Heskey off / Jermaine Jenas on.
67′ YELLOW CARD Gary Monk.
53′ SUBSTITUTION Danny Graham off / Leroy Lita on.
42′ YELLOW CARD Ashley Richards.
37′ YELLOW CARD Richard Dunne.
27′ SUBSTITUTION Angel Rangel off / Ashley Richards on.
15′ YELLOW CARD Alan Hutton.
8′ SUBSTITUTION Scott Sinclar.
3′ YELLOW CARD Fabian Delph.

Swansea: Vorm, Rangel, Monk, Williams, Taylor, Britton, Allen, Dyer, Gower, Sinclair, Graham. Subs: Dobbie, Routledge, Lita, Moore, Tremmel, Richards, Moras.

Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Herd, Delph, N’Zogbia, Heskey, Agbonlahor, Bent. Subs: Guzan, Clark, Cuellar, Bannan, Albrighton, Jenas, Delfouneso.

The iPhone version of the Gabby Five Oh desktop wallpaper celebrating his 50 Premier League goals.

This wallpaper is also available for the iPhone and for desktop computers.

The iPhone version of the Gabby Five Oh desktop wallpaper celebrating his 50 Premier League goals. This version is designed for the iPhone 4 at a resolution of 640×960 but will work on the older iPhone 3.

This wallpaper is also available for the iPad and for desktop computers.

Gabby scored a fantastic goal at the weekend against Blackburn; his 50th in the Premier League. If that’s not worthy of a celebratory wallpaper, I don’t know what is!

Gabby shows off the new 2011/12 away kit.

Be The 12th Man, a wallpaper from the ‘Eight Games – Inch by Inch‘ video, designed for the iPhone.

This wallpaper is also available for the iPad and for desktop computers.

Be The 12th Man, a wallpaper from the ‘Eight Games – Inch by Inch‘ video, designed for the iPad.

This wallpaper is also available for the iPhone and for desktop computers.

Be The 12th Man, an Aston Villa desktop wallpaper from the ‘Eight Games – Inch by Inch‘ video.

This wallpaper is also available for the iPhone and for the iPad.

Jean Makoun making his Aston Villa debut in the 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic.

To celebrate the record signing of Darren Bent, how about a wallpaper of the man himself looking rather pleased with his new surroundings?

Don’t mind if I do.