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Regular My Old Man Said columns
Five Reasons To Be Cheerful As Seagulls Drop One on Depleted Villa
Five Reasons to be Cheerful as Villans after Brighton LossIt's hard to remember a more dramatic pre-season at Villa Park, and after today's heavy defeat to Brighton, Unai Emery could be forgiven for wishing he had a few more weeks of it. Unfortunately, the season is already up and running and Villa have made just about the worst start imaginable with the core of...
Are Aston Villa Going Into the New Season Without a Spine?
The Good, Bad and Ugly as The Winds of Change BlowThere we are then. Aston Villa are about to embark upon another season under Unai Emery, all preseason games are done, and everyone is set and ready to go, aren’t they?The GoodThe European Super Cup Final against new nemesis Paris Saint-Germain was a genuinely enjoyable game.Despite Aston Villa entering the game as heavy underdogs,...
Five Reasons To Be Cheerful As Villa Confront Angry Bees
Sitting fourth in the table in April and with a European quarter-final in sight; the season finale promises to be an exciting one with...
The VTID: Unai Emery Gets Unpredictable
Unai Emery: Focused on the End GameBy Adam SzreterOne thing you can’t accuse Unai Emery of is being predictable. Maybe in his answers to...
The VTID: Chris Nicholl – a Player Who Laid the Foundations for Greatness
Chris Nicholl's Pivotal Role in Transforming Aston VillaIn the latest VTID column, Adam Szreter looks back to his youth and pays tribute to the...
Five Reasons to Be Cheerful as Villa’s Season Enters Final Stretch
Seven months on from the start of the new season, the Villa players find themselves in a position that they would have dreamed about,...
The VTID: Emery Needs to add some Magic to his Method
The VTID ReturnsBack in 2017, My Old Man Said had a monthly column called 'The VTID', written by a national newspaper journalist, who was...
Has Aston Villa’s Sinister Seven Results Shaken Unai Emery’s Confidence?
The Good, Bad and Ugly of Tottenham HotspurSumming up how most Villa fans feel after the Spurs performance, or lack of performance is no...
Five Reasons to Be Cheerful as Toothless Lions Regain Bite
On the whole, it had been a frustrating few weeks for Villa fans as Manchester United completed the double over Emery’s men, making it...
Aston Villa Have Bounced Back Well Since Red Devil Disappointment
The Good, Bad and Ugly of United and Double RedemptionWhy oh why is it always Manchester United? Bogey team isn't even a phrase you...
Five Reasons To Be Cheerful as Villa Reboot in Style
Five Reason to be Cheerful as VillansAfter a limp spell for the club, Aston Villa stomped over Sheffield United to re-assert its claim for...
Aston Villa’s Jurassic Problem and 50 Up for Ollie Watkins
The Good, Bad and Ugly of Chelsea and NewcastleThe time had to come. Aston Villa were destined to lose at home for the first...
Five Reasons to Be Cheerful as Villa Aim to Build on 2023 Progress
If the second half of the season can live up to the levels of the first, then Villa fans are in for a treat...
New Year Big Picture on the Pitch, Short Term Vision off it
The Good, Bad and Ugly - New Year EditionWelcome to 2024 Villans, a nice festive break after the busiest winter period most Villa fans...