VÅR MAN PÅ HOLTE END
Senaste nytt från Michael Hurley på Holte End
IT’S GETTING BETTER (hopefully !)
Three games into Graham Taylor’s second term and while there has not been any radical change, things are definitely improving. Against Chelsea and West Ham, Villa played well and the football was certainly better than it was under Gregory. The Man U game was fairly typical of Villa’s games against them over the last 10 years. Villa were pretty poor and we lost, there is nothing new there.
The atmosphere is certainly better at Villa Park, attendances are going up and the Fans are supporting the team, rather than concentrating on Ellis Out chants. I am sure that the players benefit when the Fans are cheering for them and not when they constantly chant against Ellis.
The most promising things about the last couple of weeks, is the form of several players, in particular Barry, Samuel, Vassell and Hitzlsperger. Hitz has been especially good, only Gregory can answer why he was not playing before. Hitz was unhappy about not getting into the team and was thinking of leaving at the end of the season, hopefully now, he will change his mind and realize that he has a future at the Villa. All of the young players (with the exception of Hendrie) are playing better football and seem happier under Taylor. People are still talking of Vassell’s wonder goal against the Dutch and it is possible that he will go to the World Cup. There are two concerns at the moment though. JPA has not been playing well since Gregory left, according to the Press, he wants to leave in the summer and God knows when Alpay will be fit again.
It is still 50/50 if we can qualify for the UEFA Cup, Villa really need to put a good run together. Both Leeds and Chelsea are not playing that well and Villa are capable of catching them both with a little bit of luck. If we do not get straight into UEFA, then we will almost certainly be playing in the Intertoto Cup. Some Fans are not happy with that as they think it puts too much pressure on the players because of playing too many games. I don’t think that it has affected Newcastle or us this season. It is obviously very important for a club of Villa’s size to play in Europe every season, so I think we have to play in the Intertoto and get into the UEFA. Even if we do get knocked out in the first round by a village team that nobody has heard of !
With a little luck, we should have a local derby next year, as both Wolves and West Brom are doing well in the First Division. (Wolves should certainly be promoted). It has been a pity that Villa have had no local teams to play against for over 10 years.(we do not count Coventry). Hopefully both teams will get promoted so we can have derby games again. Most Villa fans would like Wolves to come up, even West Brom. The hatred is reserved for Birmingham City and, as the song goes, ‘If you support the Blues, you’re a blue nose bastard’.
So things are looking quite promising at the moment, as Graham Taylor has said that things are not going to change instantly. What has happened though, is that more attacking football is being played and the younger players are being given their chance to impress. There are not many Villains who would rather go back to watching crap like Wright, Stone and Dublin again. If the youngsters keep on getting better and better and players like Mellberg, JPA play to their full potential, then the future looks promising at the Villa. Taylor has the ability to bring the best out of his teams. You never know, Boateng might pass the ball forwards instead of sideways and Bosko might get a game !
A final thought, am I the only one that thinks Kachloul is absolutely rubbish
THE BELLS ARE RINGING FOR THE CLARET AND BLUE
THE HOLTE END IS SINGING FOR THE CLARET AND BLUE
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