Aston Villa vs Newcastle United pre match thread

[eamonn]

Has that nice man with the boyish looks, Eddie Howe, said anything lovely about us in his pre-match presser? It's too long to watch (half an hour) and Newcastle's Pravda doesn't mention what he said about us in their textual highlights.

[Brazilian Villain]

Has that nice man with the boyish looks, Eddie Howe, said anything lovely about us in his pre-match presser? It's too long to watch (half an hour) and Newcastle's Pravda doesn't mention what he said about us in their textual highlights.

There are some selected quotes on the Beeb. https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/football/65260258/page/3

[PeterWithesShin]

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe speaking about Saturday's Premier League opponents Aston Villa: “He [Unai Emery] has got a clear philosophy. They very rarely change what they do and tactically they’re interesting.

"They’re going to be a tough challenge for us and we’re going to have to get certain parts of our defensive structures right or they will give us big problems.

"They’ve got a goalscorer in Ollie Watkins who has done very well this season, he’s scored a lot of goals, especially of late, and defensively they’ve been solid.

"Their run is a good one and at home they’ve been good, so it’s another tough away game for us.”

[eamonn]

Ta.

He sounds confident enough...

Nice nod from Pep to Dean:

Pep Guardiola on Dean Smith's return to the Premier League with Leicester: "I'm delighted he is back. First when he was with Aston Villa and then Norwich, the relationship was good. I know from Jack [Grealish] the exceptional person he is, and the good vibes he creates. That will help Leicester right now.

[AlexAlexCropley]

Cash out, contrary to my earlier itk

[SamTheMouse]

Cash out, contrary to my earlier itk

Already? That's not very optimistic.

I haven't even put a bet on, anyway.

[algy]

I think its interesting as long as you dont use these stats and the conclusions drawn from them exclusively. Stats have a place in the game and thats why so many teams have a department to analyse them, but they arent the be all and end all.

Exactly.

There's no point looking at the Spurs game and saying, told you it's all bullshit.  Stats give a general picture over a period of time.  It's not some kind of snake oil, why do people think clubs use them so heavily? 

Just to be completely clear here, I'm a stats nerd, I have qualifications in data analysis and, if anything, I'm over-reliant on stats to make my points (there's plenty of evidence for this on this forum, I'm sure I've bored most of you with at various times).


I obviously see the value of stats and absolutely get why clubs use them, I just have issues with seeing stats being 'off' and jumping straight to vague concepts of luck instead of looking for simpler explanations is a bad idea.

Yeah, I think that last paragraph is where my views stand. Stats like xG will tell you part of the story, but they're not the one single factor which decides games. It's more, it's think, about a measure of how effective your build up play is vs the oppositions defending. Cos it's just telling you how likely the average player who gets a shot in that position is likely to score. Like the xG for a penalty is always 0.79, but that is from the average designated penalty taker against the average goalkeeper in the normal circumstances you get a penalty. Probably doesn't give you much useful information about how likely Matty Cash is to score the 4th penalty in a penalty shootout.

[Drummond]

Get a load of this.....from NUFC Blog

‘Sob on the Tyne’ – An apology to Newcastle fans from Aston Villa
April 14, 2023 Andy Macfarlane

On behalf of the non-knuckle dragging cohort of our fan base (trust me, we do exist!) I want to apologise for the whole embarrassing ‘Sob on the Tyne’ fiasco.

Seeing a small section of fans display that petty banner on that day back in the 08/09 season where you got relegated definitely didn’t fill me with pride about my club.

It made me cringe like I’d never cringed before. And what made it worse was up until this point there had been no bad blood between two clubs who were (and still are) one of the main pillars of English football.
It just happened because some unwashed ‘members’ of our fan base wanted to revel in another club’s misfortune.
We know all too well about the pain it causes when an owner mismanages and neglects your club to the point of ruin (we too, were perilously close to the brink under a certain ‘Dr’ Tony Xia a few years back).

And so I wanted to write this article, with our huge tie this weekend looming, to let you know that the vast majority of Villa fans were never behind such a crass and pointless emblem of what was a very ‘small club mentality kind of move, you know, the sort of thing a Mackem would do.

In fact, what has filled me with pride recently is seeing a lot of Villa and Toon fans on social media both praising each other’s clubs for the excellent seasons they’ve had. Another thing we both have in common (other than being exposed to the Cabbage’s inept football), is knowing the feeling of watching on as the Sky ‘big six’ get all the silverware and plaudits, so for sleeping giants (that are awaking) clubs like ours to disrupt this season that can only be a good thing for the game.

You guys look like more and more like a top four side with each passing game and for us, we looked down and out just before the World Cup before our Lord and saviour Unai Emery came along and completely revitalised the club. What a time to be a Villa or a Toon fan!

So, as we welcome you to Villa Park on Saturday afternoon I wanted to wish the Toon all the best and hope you accept this olive branch no matter what the score is at full time.

UTV and HWTL!

[Clampy]

That made me cringe, liked I've never cringed before.

[rjp]

Anyone know a good place to watch the match in Bruges?

[eamonn]

Colin Farrell or more likely Brendan Gleeson will sort you out. He's Villa after all.

[Risso]

Fuck off Andy.

[Lastfootstamper]

The banner made him cringe, yet he's written that nauseating shite?

I'm seconding Risso.

[BC Villain]

What?!

Please tell me that's a wind up?

[Ian.]

I’m with Risso.