My Old Man Said — An Aston Villa Podcast

Villa lost at Bournemouth on intensity, not due to the names in the team. When a side mixes players who need minutes with players protecting themselves for bigger games, you're always going to get a drop off. Bournemouth seemed to want it more, while Villa's focus, as in recent seasons, is clearly elsewhere.

The episode looks back at the 3-0 defeat on the south coast in the fourth round, where Unai Emery made nine changes from the side that beat Manchester City. Focusing on where the likes of Leon Goretzka, Alejandro Garnacho, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Lamare Bogarde, and Brian Madjo sit in the pecking order.

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Credits:

David Michael - @myoldmansaid | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame

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Can Unai Emery take Aston Villa deep in the Champions League? Is that the question people should really be asking, rather than nonsense about Manchester United? With the first of two stiff tests passed, we look at what's different this season from last. Some of the data is a surprise, while other insights are encouraging for the season ahead.

The show begins with a prologue, a clip from a 1978 documentary on Villa's last opponents, Manchester City, with sentiments that eerily echoing their recent endeavours. While we reflect back once again to the recent game at Villa Park, we also look at the main differences already forming between this season and last.

The Three Points takes in the Independent Football Regulator's State of the Game report and football's latest adventures in technology. While Emery's Clipboard belongs to Nicolas Jackson, who is faced off against Ollie Watkins in terms of their active sprints in a game.

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Credits:

David Michael - @myoldmansaid | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame

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Aston Villa beat Manchester City 2-1 at Villa Park to earn their first home league win of the season. Nicolas Jackson scored twice, either side of Erling Haaland's header, and ended City's winning start under Enzo Maresca.

The post-mortem begins with the atmosphere: City booed on every touch, inflatable bananas that were soon deflated, and a first half the show calls a delight. Then the three points of the game. First, how Villa matched City across the pitch, with Matty Cash and Ian Maatsen both excellent at full-back and Cash's duel with Jérémy Doku a highlight. Second, Zion Suzuki, who has made Emiliano Martínez's departure feel like a distant memory. Third, Unai Emery's substitutions, with the show's theory of Villa 2.0 in the starting line-up and a potential Villa 3.0 on the bench.

The show also looks at Jackson's finishing and how different he is from his predecessor, the refereeing and the physical battle, and what the win says about the level Villa have reached already. There is talk of the Champions League, Barcelona away as the real test, and Speed Demon, where the show suspects the numbers are wrong.

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Credits:

David Michael - @myoldmansaid | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame

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Aston Villa's Champions League campaign under Unai Emery has been built on control, and the league-phase win over Viking FK at Villa Park may be the clearest example yet. Villa held the game for the first half with a shape few expected: a back three and no full-backs, with Tyrone Mings, Victor Lindelöf and Pau Torres alongside a hybrid right-back in João Gomes.

"We played a very serious match, disciplined, organised, and then tried to impose ourselves and dominate with our capacity, both collectively and individually," said Emery.

Villa won 3-1, their third victory from three, with Ross Barkley's near-post header, Emiliano Buendía's penalty and an effort from Alysson Edward given as an own goal. The show calls the first half the most controlled it has seen under Emery, and asks how much was his plan and how much was Viking's lack of threat.

Then we look at the individual contributions and the bigger questions, as Villa surprise a few and begin their Champions League in confident fashion.

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Credits:

David Michael - @myoldmansaid | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame

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Aston Villa host Viking FK at Villa Park in the Champions League league phase, after the weeks back-to-back wins - a 6-0 win over Fenerbahçe and a 1-0 win at Newcastle United on Saturday. The show's warning is simple: this is the kind of game Villa are expected to win, and Scandinavian sides have a history of punishing complacency.

The team news is a mess on the left. Matteo Ruggeri is out for around two months, Aaron Wan-Bissaka for several weeks and Johan Manzambi sits this one out as a precaution. Ian Maatsen is back in training and touch and go. Taylor Harwood-Bellis is now registered in the Champions League squad under UEFA's 60-day injury rule, so the show asks who plays left-back: a managed Maatsen, Tyrone Mings or Pau Torres, or even Lamare Bogarde.

Viking, the show argues, are not a makeweight. A well-drilled side who like to play on the front foot, score freely and will offer a test for Unai Emery's recent work on his defensive unit.

Empty seats and the club seemingly dumping tickets on the secondary market, prove that they were wrong to have prices up to £99 for members for such a game. Plus there's December fixture changes, and the latest press reports on Manchester City's sanction.

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Credits:

David Michael - @myoldmansaid | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame

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Two away wins in a row and two clean sheets in a week raise the question this episode asks: has Aston Villa's defence turned a corner, or has it only met two weak sides? Villa beat Newcastle United 1-0 at St James' Park, showing plenty of resilience, as Johan Manzambi’s header from a João Gomes cross in the first half gave them the win.

The show weighs the evidence as to whether Unai Emery has fixed his defensive issues: Matty Cash's late recovery to stop a clean-through forward, Zion Suzuki's save, Victor Lindelöf's growing seniority, Tyrone Mings against the high balls, Boubacar Kamara looking like himself again and a calming cameo from Leon Goretzka.

It also marks where it still frays. Ross Barkley's timing, despite positive displays, Ibrahim Mbaye and Nicolas Jackson both failed to square for a teammate, and the left side is thinning with Aaron Wan-Bissaka's hamstring, Matteo Ruggeri out and Ian Maatsen only just back in training.

Speed Demon and Lazy B*stard return, with a new Villa season record. Unai Emery has his 100th Premier League win, and the show makes its case that the rebuild is ahead of schedule, before Viking and Manchester City ask harder questions.

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Credits:

David Michael - @myoldmansaid | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame

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Aston Villa beat Fenerbahçe 6-0 at Villa Park in the Champions League league phase. It was Villa's biggest European win and Unai Emery's biggest as Villa manager. Johan Manzambi opened the scoring on his 21st birthday, Nicolas Jackson added two, Ross Barkley scored twice inside a five minute spell, and Tammy Abraham made it six at the death.

The post-mortem starts with the clean sheet. After weeks of worry about how Villa defend at home, Emery's own half-time talk about the mid and low block is a good place to begin, and the show asks why this team looked so much better in transition once the second half got going. It also looks at Fenerbahçe's lively start, the saves from Zion Suzuki that kept it goalless, and why an older side faded.

Jackson gets the attention, his brace supporting the argument that he is the replacement Villa hoped Ollie Watkins would be. Plus, Manzambi's role and his impact as a hybrid forward who can move between positions is covered.

The rest is about depth: Barkley, Abraham, Alysson, Aaron Wan-Bissaka at left-back and Leon Goretzka's Villa debut.

A great night at Villa Park

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Aston Villa drew 2-2 with Brentford at Villa Park in the Premier League, leaving them still without a league win at home this season. Unai Emery went with Tyrone Mings over Pau Torres to deal with Brentford's set pieces, which seemed the right move in the first half, as the long throw-ins rained in, until a misplaced pass put a question mark over Villa's ability to play through Brentford's press.

Brentford certainly arrived with a plan to rough Villa up, the referee let it happen, and Villa's attempts to fight fire with fire keep looking petulant. Nicolas Jackson and Johan Manzambi impressed despite being up against it, as Brentford swamped them, before Ibrahim Mbaye's pace off the bench hinted at a better balance.

Most of the worry though sits further back: Boubacar Kamara still looking off the pace after injury, an Ezri Konsa-shaped hole in the defence, no fit left-back and Taylor Harwood-Bellis not even on the bench. Leon Goretzka, still absent, could be the answer to the defensive balance of the team or a complete red herring - hopefully, we'll get a chance to find out soon.

There is also the Speed Demon and LB segments, and North Stand musings.

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Aston Villa host Brentford at Villa Park in their first game after the extended international break, still looking for a first home league win of the season. With the Bees currently fourth in the Premier League table, built on set pieces, and with a decent recent record against Villa, it'll be a good test of where this new Villa team are at.

There's a look at how the break went for Villa's new signings and who is still missing: Matty Cash's dead leg for Poland looks like a scare rather than a problem, but Leon Goretzka remains absent and is ruled out for this one.

Champions League ticket pricing takes a proper hammering, as the price point fails to sell out to members for the first two home games. Emery's Clipboard turns to EA FC 27, where Villa's squad rating has dropped off, but the metrics involved tell several other stories.

The Three Points cover the Football Leaks whistleblower still waiting on his crowdfunder, a Highland League club's thank-you to Stephen King, and a Concacaf Nations League match in which a footballer's hair took two opponents with it.

The show also gives its verdict on Manchester City's guilty finding, with firm opinions on the punishment, and the MOMS Pools panel disagree three ways.

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Aston Villa's international break has produced progress on some fronts and raised a few new questions, and this catch-up takes stock before a full main show lands ahead of Brentford at Villa Park. The headline event was a 3-1 friendly win at Sevilla in the Antonio Puerta Memorial Trophy, played in honour of the Sevilla midfielder who died in 2007 and also a tribute to Unai Emery's three straight Europa League wins with the club.

The friendly offered something a friendly rarely does: a strong midfield, a proper trip, and goals from Garnacho and Barkley plus an emphatic third from Max Jenner. Brian Madjo is back and the show wonders if Emery will make provisions to use him alongside Nicolas Jackson, when suitable to. Leon Goretzka remains a ghost-like figure in terms of the Villa set-up, he has trained with the group but hasn't played with his teammates yet in any friendlies.

There's also the question of Zion Suzuki and the Asian Cup, with the Japanese international potentially missing eight games in the new year.

The second half of the catch-up turns to Manchester City, found guilty on all charges bar one by an independent Commission and are now appealing. It covers what the verdict means for Villa in practice, why punishment that only arrives retrospectively can't repair a decade, and why Villa's own history means the grievance has a ceiling.

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The Mad Few Listener Q & A is back in the first of a planned recurring format: 30 minutes, no more, answering listener questions from Match Club and the Mad Few Facebook group.

The questions range wide: who succeeds John McGinn as captain once his generation moves on, with no obvious heir yet established among the new arrivals; how last season's alumni have fared since leaving, and why Zion Suzuki's long passing is being read as a deliberate tactical answer to high pressing rather than a novelty; and where Alejandro Garnacho actually stands in the pecking order, with his contract's exit route still unclear.

There's also a proper run through Villa's identity: a case for a long-overdue club museum built around the fact that Aston Villa effectively founded the Football League, a debate about renaming the new North Stand, and the surprising origin story behind the "Crazy Train" walkout song. Plus: the Emery-to-Manchester-United speculation gets tackled....two-footed.

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With the international break in full swing and there still being two weeks until Aston Villa return to action, this main show takes stock of the potential upside to the squad that Unai Emery was actually built. Six of the summer's ten signings started together for the first time against Tottenham, and this episode digs into what that means going forward.

There's a proper look at Zion Suzuki, whose passing range is framed by Emery himself as a specific tactical response to how Premier League teams are evolving.

There's a closer look at the Manzambi-Jackson combination that clicked against Spurs, and the search for a third attacking outlet to turn a promising pairing into a genuine front three. Johan Manzambi is also compared to a late Villa great.

There's also a considered look at where Leon Goretzka actually fits once he's fit and why this young, multilingual squad is being framed as an all new fresh start rather than a repeat of last season.

Villa news covers the Carabao Cup fourth-round draw away at Bournemouth, injuries, Champions League ticket pricing, and Villa reaching a new top flight milestone. Three Points brings a shirt withdrawn over an unfortunate design coincidence, a Pope gifted a Sunderland shirt, and a Benfica falconer's alleged double life.

Also, My Old Man Said joins Jürgen Klopp in sponsoring the home and away shirts of Hout Bay United in South Africa.

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Aston Villa won 3-2 away at Tottenham Hotspur for their first Premier League win of the season, after leading 3-0 and then conceding twice late. It came at a timely moment: three weeks of international-break stewing would have felt a lot longer stuck in the bottom three.

This post-mortem starts with Johan Manzambi, whose first Premier League start brought a goal and an assist in a free role behind Nicolas Jackson. Jackson also bagged his first Premier League goal for Villa, while Emiliano Buendía returned to scoring bangers (again, against Spurs) to make it 3-0.

After pointing out Zion Suzuki's distribution in previous shows, it's time to turn our attention to his shot-stopping, as Tottenham tested him throughout the first half, and the Japanese international ultimately laid the foundations for the away win.

The show also does't ignore the late wobble, as no doubt Unai Emery won't: two avoidable goals from a 3-0 lead, substitutions that felt like changes for the sake of changes, and the game-management theme that links this the game to the Forest one at Villa Park.

There's also this week's Speed Demon and Lazy B, a look at what "Emery 2.0" actually means with six of the ten summer signings starting together for the first time, and a reframing of a stodgy start: three away wins in three competitions, perfect starts in the Champions League and Carabao Cup, and out of the bottom three in the Premier League.

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Aston Villa travel to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday for the early kick-off, with both clubs still chasing a first league win of the season. Both teams will want to be heading into the international break outside of the bottom three, with Villa needing the win to achieve that.

The preview looks at Tottenham's big-spending summer: a squad of ready-made signings, an ownership that has chosen to back its manager after Daniel Levy's departure, and a side that keeps creating chances without finishing them. It sets that against Villa's very different rebuild — younger, higher-ceiling, and still without a settled first XI due to various fitness and availability issues.

With Ian Maatsen out for six to eight weeks and Pau Torres missing, the full-back positions and the balance of the midfield could decide the game, and there's a case for João Gomes' defensive bite being essential against Spurs' new midfield set-up.

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Also, a light is shown on the reality of Villa's Champions League league-phase ticket pricing, not having any impact on bridging the gap with the Sky Six, including Tottenham.

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We look back at a fairly routine Carabao Cup win against Coventry City, but a game nonetheless that was important in the scheme of things for the season to come. Also, will the Carabao Cup play a more important part to Villa's season than first expected?

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Aston Villa lost at home to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, a result that leaves Unai Emery still searching for a first win in his career against Oliver Glasner. This post-mortem show of the My Old Man Said podcast starts with the moment that shaped the whole second half: Nicolas Jackson hooked off at half-time as a yellow-card precaution, with Alysson brought on ahead of Alejandro Garnacho and Johan Manzambi — a change that left John McGinn shunted out to the left and the team's shape compromised before Forest had even sensed the opportunity.

There's a look at exactly how Forest bullied their way through Villa's midfield and defence in the second half, and why MOMS think Villa's longstanding reluctance to match physicality is a structural and attitude issue rather than bad luck on the day.

Elsewhere, this week’s Speed Demon stats reveal some surprises. There’s also a frank discussion about what this heavily rebuilt squad can realistically be judged on at the moment. Gomes’ return remains the only genuinely positive development heading into the Coventry City cup game and the trip to Spurs in the final league game before the international break.

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Aston Villa host Nottingham Forest at Villa Park in the Premier League on Saturday, looking for a first league win of the season. The game comes off the back of Villa's first win of their Champions League campaign, a 3-2 victory away at Club Brugge. This week's Villa News starts with the additional benefits of the win beyond the three points.

There's a proper look at Forest under new manager Oliver Glasner, who inherits a back-three system and a Villa Park record that has been anything but kind to visitors from the City Ground in recent seasons. Yet, Unai Emery has faced Glasner seven times in his managerial career — every one of them against Glasner's Crystal Palace - and has never won, losing five. No manager has played Emery more often and stayed unbeaten. Saturday has added motivation for the Villa boss to get Villa's first three league points of the season.

Elsewhere: the distance-covered numbers that explain why Boubacar Kamara keeps getting substituted for Ross Barkley, whether or not the online reaction likes it; the ongoing case of George Hemmings starting ahead of three considerably more expensive summer signings; and two stories that have nothing to do with Villa at all but earned their place anyway - Manchester City's baffling influencer-marketing push and a non-league goalkeeper who's about to become an actual king.

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Aston Villa have finally scored a goal(s) and got their first win of the season, beating Club Brugge 3-2 away in their Champions League league-phase opener. Villa raced into a 3-1 half-time lead, before holding out in the closing stages in a genuine test of nerve.

This post-mortem covers a landmark night for John McGinn, who scored his twelfth European goal to become Villa's all-time leading scorer in continental competition, and a complete performance from Pau Torres, who set up two of Villa's three goals before digging in defensively as Brugge pushed for an equaliser. It also covers the growing case for Zion Suzuki's distribution as a genuine tactical weapon rather than a novelty, and an unconventional piece of game management from Emery that worked out, even if it broke a few unwritten rules along the way.

With Nottingham Forest at home up next in the Premier League, this is a show that celebrates the official start to Villa's season and dares to look at the seeds of hope that might evolve into a big surprise for anyone who isn't a Villa supporter.

Now, has anybody seen Johan Manzambi? It's time for him to join the party.

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Aston Villa open their Champions League league account away at Club Brugge, a fixture Villa know well from their run to the competition two seasons ago and a genuine litmus test after an underwhelming start to the Premier League season. Europavision — the podcast's dedicated European show— returns to look at what has changed with Club Brugge since Villa's last encounters with them.

This preview covers Bruges's recent record as one of European football's most consistent Champions League "gatekeepers," a rebuilt attack led by a new-look front three, and the kind of two-way trading model that's kept them competitive on a fraction of the budget of Champions League sides in the bigger leagues.

It also covers a genuine surprise: Unai Emery's omission of both Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Brian Madjo, from Villa's Champions League squad entirely.

Expect a look at Villa's likely lineup, the case for and against throwing in some of the summer's more attacking new faces, and where this fits into a season still waiting for its first properly convincing performance and result.

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Guest appearance: Armen Mirzoian - @VillanArmen

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Aston Villa were held to a goalless draw away at Hull City in the Premier League, a result that flattered the hosts on the day. Villa finished with the better expected goals (1.74 to 0.58), thirteen shots to Hull's four, and three big chances missed to Hull's two — but only one shot on target across the whole ninety minutes was enough to explain the scoreline. it's the same one shot that they've had in all of their three games so far this season.

This My Old Man Said post-mortem episode centres on Unai Emery's approach of not throwing new signings in, Buendia's missing out on his chance to be a main man, and how Ross Barkley, at least, is giving Villa some semblance of control in games.

The show also looks ahead to a Champions League trip to Club Brugge, and explains a squad-registration decision that's raised eyebrows: why Taylor Harwood-Bellis, one of Villa;s deadline day's headline signings, isn't in Villa's European squad at all.

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