Aston Villa v Sunderland: The Messiah returns to Villa Park
Martin O'Neill returns to Villa Park this weekend for the first time since he walked out on the club before the dawn of the 2010 season and I'm sure he will be in for one hell of a ride from the Villa faithful.
The enthusiastic Irishman may have guided Villa to Wembley and three top six finishes, but there was a growing army of fans who were becoming bored of his style of play. However, having watched McLeish's tactics in action this season, I wonder how many of them would forgive and forget and take O'Neill back now?
Sunderland enter the weekend in the top 10, eight points clear of Villa - who aren't entirely out of the woods yet when it comes to relegation. The Black Cats were held to a goalless draw at home to Wolves last weekend but they will be hoping to extend their four-game unbeaten run against the Villains.
Poor old Alex McLeish. He knew swapping the blue of Birmingham for the claret and blue of Villa would be hard but he didn't anticipate being on the fringes of another relegation battle. The former Rangers boss has been given a hard time by the Villa faithful but it's understandable. They are the second lowest scorers at home in the top flight and have won only four times in front of their own fans. Despite having the pace and creativity of the likes of Agbonlahor, Bannan and N'Zogbia, they are not being allowed to go out and express themselves as we all know they can. McLeish has a long way to go to convince the fans that he is the right man for the job.
Villa were conned out of a possible result last weekend by former Villain Ashley Young at Old Trafford. But while I can't see their being too many Tom Daley impressions this afternoon I think we could see Martin O'Neill's famous jump once or twice.
Aston Villa v Sunderland; Kick Off 3pm April 21 2012
Prediction Panel
|
Arsenal |
Don McMahon |
1 |
V |
0 |
|
Aston Villa |
Frank Pattison |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Blackburn |
Terry Kennedy |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Bolton |
Dave Blackburn |
0 |
V |
0 |
|
Chelsea |
Joe Tyler |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Everton |
Chris Goodwin |
2 |
V |
2 |
|
Fulham |
Neil Springate |
1 |
V |
0 |
|
Liverpool |
Mark Williams |
0 |
V |
0 |
|
Man City |
Callum Rothwell |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Man Utd |
Peter Lee |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Newcastle |
Michael Stout |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Norwich City |
Sue Read |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
QPR |
Arjun Swaminathan |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
Stoke City |
Philip Eccleston |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Sunderland |
Tony Ratton |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Tottenham |
Mike Richards |
2 |
V |
2 |
|
Swansea |
Jim White |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
West Brom |
Andy Wakeman |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Wigan |
Alan Moore |
0 |
V |
0 |
|
Wolves |
Chris Cox |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OUR EXPERTS |
|
|
|
|
|
Writer |
Colin Illingworth |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Writer |
Steve Coulter |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Phil Bundy |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Mitch Waddon |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Matt Turner |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
Writer |
Chris Pettitt |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Hugh Larkin |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Villa fan |
Lynette Ranson |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
Blackpool fan |
Phil Trow |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Boro fan |
Sue Gardener |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
|
Fulham fan |
Russell Goldman |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Pompey fan |
Dan Taylor |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Pompey fan |
Peter Rendle |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
West Ham fan |
Matthew Beeby |
1 |
V |
0 |
|
West Ham fan |
Nigel Telfer |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Editor |
Antony Melvin |
TBA |
V |
TBA |
Panel Verdict
This could go either way.
Home: 6; Draw: 14; Away: 10. TBA 5
* Do we have it right or do you know better? We’d love to hear from you.
