Sunday Mercury - Final Word

Kick it Out event with Earl Barrett

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:31:58 +0000

I'VE promised former Villa defender Earl Barrett I'd give him a plug for this commendable event in Brum on Tuesday night encouraging ethnic minority groups to work in the football industry.

So if it applies and appeals to you, please get in touch with him asap and get along.

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FORMER Aston Villa star Earl Barrett will be hosting a free session aimed at getting ethnic minority groups into the football industry in Edgbaston next week.

Earl, who now works as ambassador for the Kick it Out campaign to rid football of racism, will be at the Centennial Centre from 6pm to 9pm on Tuesday.

He will be joined by fellow Villa oldboy Mark Walters, West Bromwich Albion legend Brendon Batson and ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Bob Hazell.

Also on the panel will be Lincoln Moses, who is the manager of Britain's first black-led football club, Continental Star FC.

The event for aspiring coaches, managers and administration staff is part of Kick It Out's 'Leading the Game' series looking at pathways into the football industry for under-represented groups.

Representatives from Birmingham County FA will be there and refreshments will also be provided.

There are limited places so anybody interested in attending should email Earl Barrett on earl@kickitout.org or call 020 7684 4884.

EXCLUSIVE PICTURE OF REO-COKER'S HEATED MOMENT OF SHAME

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:24:44 +0000

The revealing photograph Naughty Nigel didn't want you to see

Rivals reunited

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:59:00 +0000

A Jon McCarthy lookalike Bluenose and a rippling hulk of a Villa supporter commentate on the Second City derby for Sky's Fanzone.

Ash to Ash

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:57:22 +0000

WE know there hasn't exactly been a flurry of transfer activity at Villa Park so far this summer.

But surely Martin Laursen's unfortunate retirement hasn't left setpiece specialist Ashley Young with nobody to aim for from his corners...?

At least with regular taker Gareth Barry leaving and James Milner fluffing a couple of spot kicks on England under-21 duty, Ash has put in a pretty impressive audition for the penalty vacancy...

David still hell-Bent on attracting Villa's attention

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:52:40 +0000

IT must be a month or so now since David Bentley made comments in a national newspaper about being in talks with Aston Villa, only for nothing to materialise.

And now, Final Word can reveal exclusive footage of the want-away Tottenham star again trying to attract the attention of Villa boss Martin O'Neill while chatting to his agent.

Roger - Mrs Johnson

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:07:16 +0000

BIRMINGHAM newboy Roger Johnson met up with his Blues team-mates for the first time at their return to training this week.

But it's safe to assume that Roger's missus Melissa wasn't enlisted to help put the players through their paces at Wast Hills.

Shame really given that this WAGS' WORKOUT deserves a sneaky peak...(the exercise bit at least, if not the girly nail varnish bit).

Raising eyebrows

Mon, 11 May 2009 15:18:55 +0000

I'M AFRAID I raised a few eyebrows with my line of questioning at Villa's post-match press conference following the victory over Hull - including Martin O'Neill's.

After filling my dictaphone with all of the necessary reaction quotes I tried to take advantage of the manager's happy mood by asking him about the goalscorer's latest fashion fad.

"Martin, is there any reason why John Carew has modelled his eyebrows on Ming the Merciless?" I enquired, after noticing the Norwegian had shaved stripes into his brows.

To which O'Neill replied: "I have looked at his face, but you wouldn't believe this, Mat, I didn't check his eyebrows.

"I think he would be very concerned about me going that close. I think he might look at me in a different light!"

An impression of Martin O'Neill

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:18:35 +0000

"Mr O'Neill, where did it all go wrong?"

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:37:49 +0000

Martin O'Neill loves a good yarn. So there's no doubt he's fond of the famous story about George Best's playboy lifestyle.

The former Manchester United legend is on his hotel bed with a wad of banknotes won in the casino and the current Miss World, when a room service porter knocks on the door, sees the scene, and asks: "Mr Best, where did it all go wrong?"

O'Neill might not be Best, and as we're all finding out now, his Aston Villa team are not yet the best.

But the Villa boss can surely empathise with his former Norther Ireland international team-mate.

A team which is currently 11 Premier League places better off than the one he inherited less than three years ago.

With the strong prospect of automatic qualification for European competiton for the first time in over a decade.

And a collection of talented young British players who have been a breath air for most of the season by challenging the established elite.

So, in this knee-jerk era where impatient fans are clamouring to knock O'Neill, it's worth remembering the Best anecdote and realising that, even after a month of misery, Villa haven't got it too bad.

"Mr O'Neill, where did it all go wrong?"

Short memories

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:31:39 +0000

RECITING the names of heroes in a half-shell Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo and Raphael is the closest I can get to total recall. Whoops, that's turtle recall isn't it, sorry!

But a kid from Walsall, I forget his name, has scooped a prestigious title by remembering a remarkable range of facts and figures.

The young schoolboy - his age has slipped my mind - was able to memorise and recall a long list of trivia about London Zoo, a selection of 27 unrelated objects, 40 unknown faces and a sequence of 38 random numbers.

And to think some Villa fans can't even cast their minds back to when Gabby Agbonlahor was a Holte End hero, all of four short weeks ago.

Short memories indeed.

Villa View (post Tottenham)

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:05:44 +0000

Ironic cheers and boos as the claret and blues lose. Here's our video reaction to another Villa Park let-down

Reffin' hell

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:52:14 +0000

IN my column in last weekend's Sunday Mercury I suggested that the best way to revive the Respect the Ref campaign was to wire up referees.

Not with the methods recommended by former Villa boss John Gregory, who once responded to a dodgy David Elleray performance with the following statement...

"I personally think referees should be wired up to a couple of electrodes and they should be allowed to make three mistakes before you run 50,000 volts through their genitals."

No, I commented that refs ought to be fitted with microphones so that their voices and those of the players could be transmitted to fans with headsets in the stands.

That way, I argued, footballers and officials would be conscious of how they communicated with each other and might, just might, show more respect.

It's not a new idea. It is used to great effect in rugby. And here is a short film of the first time it was tried in football during an eighties game between Arsenal and Millwall.

Ironically the referee in question was Mr Elleray.

But, probably much to the disappointment of Gregory, the Harrow school-master was only subjected to verbal abuse, not high voltage pain to his privates.

This is what Albion have lacked all season...

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:07:55 +0000

...No, not Micky Mellon - a smashing pair up front that can really do some damage

Finger flicking good

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:31:43 +0000

EVER felt like flicking the finger at football? Well never mind the cussing kid above, the handy bloke below has the type of soccer skills that tell Subbuteo to go spin.

Into Milan

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:42:08 +0000

MILAN Jovanovic is rumoured to be one of Aston Villa's transfer targets - and this collection of goals from Standard Liege's Serbian star suggests why.

Presumably when Jovanovic's agent sent a DVD to Martin O'Neill he didn't include this techno-style backing track...

I suggest you enjoy this with the sound muted!