Pre-Season Friendlies

[oswald funkletrumpet]

Just catching up...is Bacuna injured or dropped ?

Fired out of a canon and last seen heading towards the Jupiter Space Probe, Juno.  Hopefully.

he's bound to miss it

[LeeB]

Just catching up...is Bacuna injured or dropped ?

Fired out of a canon and last seen heading towards the Jupiter Space Probe, Juno.  Hopefully.

he's bound to miss it

Grinning inanely as he runs out of air.

[Clampy]

FT 8-0

Is that more than we scored last season?

[Risso]

No mention of this anywhere on the OS.

[adrenachrome]

From the Brum Mail:

So Day One of the new era at Aston Villa went down pretty well.

The claret and blues might have only been playing an Austrian sixth-tier side but credit to the visitors for the way they saw them off.

In what was Roberto Di Matteo’s first game in charge, Villa put on quite a show, smashing eight past the minnows.

First-half goals from Micah Richards, Libor Kozak and Jordan Ayew (two) put the away side in complete control at the break.

And the second-half team were just as ruthless, adding further strikes from Joe Bennett (two) and Rudy Gestede (two).

For a man who hasn’t featured for almost a year for Villa, Bennett stole the show with two delightful free-kicks.

And if he continues to perform like he did here, Di Matteo could have a selection crisis come the start of the season.

The Villa boss picked two strong teams to take on GAK 1902 - a club that has been on a rollercoaster ride in recent years.

Not so long ago they were competing in the Champions League but things turned sour in 2007 as financial problems saw the outfit drop out of existence.

Reformed and now working their way back up the league system, GAK are on a new mission, just like Villa.

And although they were beaten 8-0, it was an improvement on the 13-1 battering by Crystal Palace three years ago.

The first of six friendlies this summer before the Championship opener on August 7, this game couldn’t have gone much better for Villa.

Apart from Richards picking up a slight injury, all players came through unscathed.

Dominant from the word go, Villa took the game to their opponents and went ahead early on.

Aly Cissokho, who looked energetic and vibrant down the left, crossed for Richards and he powered in a header at the back post.

Ayew then slammed in the first of his deadly double with a well-taken strike from outside the box.

Cissokho was at it again minutes later as he flew down the wing and crossed for Kozak who steered home.

Then Ayew wrapped up the first-half with another decent hit from 20 yards out.

Given that the players had trained early this morning, this encounter was very much a bounce game.

Still, Di Matteo was pleased with what he saw.

Two minutes into the second half, forgotten man Bennett reminded us all that he still means business by curling in a stunning free-kick.

It really was the pick of the bunch as Villa strolled to success.

Gestede missed a sitter soon after but got his rewards for sticking at it with a goal midway through the half.

Again it was good work from Bennett that allowed the big man to chance to convert and the left-back was all smiles again at the end.

In an almost identical position to his first free-kick, the ex-Middlesbrough man fired in from 20 yards out to once again leave the goalkeeper scrambling.

Gestede added an eighth late on to wrap it up.

Roberto Di Matteo said: “I’m very pleased with the workout. The players have been working extremely hard in training. We even had a training session this morning so it’s demanding physically.

“But I thought the players applied themselves well and I was pleased to see us scoring so many goals.”

More to follow:

First half: (4-2-3-1) Gollini, Richards (Hutton, 30), Elphick, Baker, Cissokho, Gana, Gardner, Gil, Veretout, Ayew, Kozak.

Second half: (4-2-3-1) Bunn, Hutton, Okore, Lescott, Bennett, Westwood, Petrov, Grealish, Agbonlahor, Sinclair, Gestede.

[Chris87]

Match report on the OS now:

https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2016/07/09/graz-report

[damon loves JT]

Can't believe we only won 8-0. Nailed on to be relegated already

[UK Redsox]

I like Joe Bennett. There's a footballer in there somewhere. Maybe not a defender but a footballer nonetheless

[four fornicholl]

From the Brum Mail:

So Day One of the new era at Aston Villa went down pretty well.

The claret and blues might have only been playing an Austrian sixth-tier side but credit to the visitors for the way they saw them off.

In what was Roberto Di Matteo’s first game in charge, Villa put on quite a show, smashing eight past the minnows.

First-half goals from Micah Richards, Libor Kozak and Jordan Ayew (two) put the away side in complete control at the break.

And the second-half team were just as ruthless, adding further strikes from Joe Bennett (two) and Rudy Gestede (two).

For a man who hasn’t featured for almost a year for Villa, Bennett stole the show with two delightful free-kicks.

And if he continues to perform like he did here, Di Matteo could have a selection crisis come the start of the season.

The Villa boss picked two strong teams to take on GAK 1902 - a club that has been on a rollercoaster ride in recent years.

Not so long ago they were competing in the Champions League but things turned sour in 2007 as financial problems saw the outfit drop out of existence.

Reformed and now working their way back up the league system, GAK are on a new mission, just like Villa.

And although they were beaten 8-0, it was an improvement on the 13-1 battering by Crystal Palace three years ago.

The first of six friendlies this summer before the Championship opener on August 7, this game couldn’t have gone much better for Villa.

Apart from Richards picking up a slight injury, all players came through unscathed.

Dominant from the word go, Villa took the game to their opponents and went ahead early on.

Aly Cissokho, who looked energetic and vibrant down the left, crossed for Richards and he powered in a header at the back post.

Ayew then slammed in the first of his deadly double with a well-taken strike from outside the box.

Cissokho was at it again minutes later as he flew down the wing and crossed for Kozak who steered home.

Then Ayew wrapped up the first-half with another decent hit from 20 yards out.

Given that the players had trained early this morning, this encounter was very much a bounce game.

Still, Di Matteo was pleased with what he saw.

Two minutes into the second half, forgotten man Bennett reminded us all that he still means business by curling in a stunning free-kick.

It really was the pick of the bunch as Villa strolled to success.

Gestede missed a sitter soon after but got his rewards for sticking at it with a goal midway through the half.

Again it was good work from Bennett that allowed the big man to chance to convert and the left-back was all smiles again at the end.

In an almost identical position to his first free-kick, the ex-Middlesbrough man fired in from 20 yards out to once again leave the goalkeeper scrambling.

Gestede added an eighth late on to wrap it up.

Roberto Di Matteo said: “I’m very pleased with the workout. The players have been working extremely hard in training. We even had a training session this morning so it’s demanding physically.

“But I thought the players applied themselves well and I was pleased to see us scoring so many goals.”

More to follow:

First half: (4-2-3-1) Gollini, Richards (Hutton, 30), Elphick, Baker, Cissokho, Gana, Gardner, Gil, Veretout, Ayew, Kozak.

Second half: (4-2-3-1) Bunn, Hutton, Okore, Lescott, Bennett, Westwood, Petrov, Grealish, Agbonlahor, Sinclair, Gestede.

We are not "the claret and blues" and our new kit isn't fucking claret, the bastards!

[Risso]

I like Joe Bennett. There's a footballer in there somewhere. Maybe not a defender but a footballer nonetheless

He should change his name by deed poll to Joe Bennett There's A Footballer In There Somewhere.

[Chris Jameson]

Where has this 'claret and blues' nonsense come from? The only time I see it is when the Birmingham Mail use it, are they trying to rebrand us?

[Toronto Villa]

I fucking hate it. And it's only the Mail that calls us that. Like the c***s are trying to wind us up with it. The Shit are called the Blues. We're called The Villa. It's not that hard.

[john e]

I like Joe Bennett. There's a footballer in there somewhere. Maybe not a defender but a footballer nonetheless

He should change his name by deed poll to Joe Bennett There's A Footballer In There Somewhere.

I think that twat N'zogbia got the copyright on that

[ciggiesnbeer]

Where has this 'claret and blues' nonsense come from? The only time I see it is when the Birmingham Mail use it, are they trying to rebrand us?

The Birmingham Mail have been openly despising our club for at least a year now. Not sure why , they should be desperate for local support but it is yet another area they have got very badly wrong. Unlike football clubs no investor is interested in buying a bad regional newspaper. I just wish they would hurry up and go out of business at this point.

[Chris Jameson]

I've noticed that imbecile Greg Evans likes to have subtle little digs at Villa on Twitter, he loved the fact a plane was flown over Villa Park for the last home game celebrating our relegation.