ASTON VILLA AWAY, DECEMBER 7TH.
By Mark Deeks
December 15 2002
Mark Deeks writes his Aston Villa column. He apologises for the slight delay - his excuse was... IT'S CHRISTMAS! Oh, well. It is here now and is WAS worth waiting for. Read his others on the "Mark's Columns" page on the menu or the feature.
ASTON VILLA AWAY, DECEMBER 7TH.
"Sorry for the delay. Xmas run up and all that."
Villa Park's usually a happy hunting ground, init? Don't know what it is about it, but there usually seems to be a feeling that we'll do pretty well there. And here we went again. A one-nil win (about time that away form started to sort itself out), and then Turnip Taylor's moaning started."We should learn to take advantage when we are totally on top." Come on now Graham! When was the last time you seriously saw Aston Villa on top of anyone? (Well, apart from the Mackems in the league table of course!) Villa's goal scoring record is fast turning into the stuff of unrivalled fable (well, once again, apart from the Mackem's pitiful efforts!)
You see I don't like Graham Taylor. He's wet. You know what I mean? He's got no balls. I can't imagine ever being scared by him during a dressing room rant. He should have stayed in retirement instead of coming back for one last payday. All he's doing is further ruining his already tainted reputation by steadily turning Villa into an even more feeble attacking force than they already were.
Alright, so they had some chances against the Toon on their own patch. Big deal. Who doesn't? With our defence, to not get at least a few decent openings you'd have to be as bad as...... oh, the name escapes me...... oh yeh, the Mackems. But let's be realistic about it. How many Newcastle fans really felt threatened by Dion Dublin et al? Not many of us. This is not me being wise after the event, it's just a fact.
3 points, clean sheer, another goal for Super Al (albeit with the aid of a stupendous deflection off his shoulder), job done. Let's hope this is the start of a vast improvement in our away form this season. It is the main thing that has come between us and a permanent residence in the top three so far.