Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us.
Jhon Duran’s wrongful dismissal is getting talked about on TV and to nobody’s surprise there was nothing wrong with it, according to the refs.
The kit for the West Ham match is out. It’s black, with an old-style badge and no sponsor. If you want one it’ll cost you eighty sovs, squire. Can’t say fairer than that, cuttin’ me own throat at that price. Selected refreshment options will be available at selected outlets. It’ll end in tears.
Emi Martinez has won something called the Premier League Save of the Month for December. It was the one against Forest and he very likely finished second and third as well.
West Ham sack their manager and bring in a new one. His first match will be against us.
The latest transfer news (in): We’re triggering the release clause for Oscar Mingueza, a defender who plays for Celta Vigo. Bearing in mind another time we were after a player from them, don’t hold your breath on this one. Donyell Malen looks like his deal might take almost as long, hopefully with a better end result.
The latest transfer news (out): Jhon Duran’s off to PSG or Napoli, depending on what day it is. Jaden Philogene, according to reliable sources, is about to join Ipswich for £20 million, plus add-ons. That queue you see forming is Villa supporters offering to drive him there.
The night finally arrives when we make our long-awaited entry into this season’s FA Cup. We’ve already had a few Only At Villa moments since the draw was made, although credit where it’s due. Making a big fuss over the anniversary could have been a cynical attempt to sell tickets, but if it was, then it worked. For a normal televised Friday night match on a day when Aston was twinned with Siberia we’d probably have been looking at selling not much more than twenty thousand tickets, plus however many ‘Appy ‘Ammers made the journey. As it was, Villa Park was more or less full, with an atmosphere to match.
Unai did his best to add to the festivities by putting out a decent team. When the first name announced was “Olsen” the groans could have been heard in space but the other ten were decent enough, even if they didn’t play like it for the first hour. Then we finally turned up and got an equaliser that will be the talk of the previews when we get to the cup final. There was no doubt about the second and we were the width of a post away from a third.
Emi Buendia and Jacob Ramsey both looked sharp, Ian Maatsen did his future prospects no harm at all and a load of kids saw the Villa win while stuffing themselves senseless with cheap food. All in all it set us up well for the next 150 years. Well done Villa, just about.
Some things never change, though. Ross Barkley’s out for three weeks with a calf injury. Well, you can’t win a game without casualties. We can’t, anyway.
Everton sack their manager and bring in a new one. His first match will be against us.
The FA Cup third round is finally coming to an end and in one of Sunday’s ties Tamworth miss a late chance to beat Spurs. A couple of hours later we get Spurs at home in the fourth round. Lovely.