This match was summed up by two very contrasting images: the first, the wearying sight of Stiliyan Petrov and Olof Mellberg bickering their way through a first half they both failed to come to terms with. The second, the heartening sight of Marlon Harewood's gleeful celebration of John Carew's second half goals.

Good teams are built on the spirit shown by Harewood and Carew, and Villa in the second half were a totally different outfit.

You have to give immense credit to Martin O'Neill for having the guts to replace both Mellberg and Petrov at half time. The first a Villa stalwart, the second an O'Neill favourite - it would have taken some steel to make the decision he did. But it was the right decision. Petrov had shown all his usual huff and puff, but repeatedly fell over the ball or forgot where it was in possession, or was caught ambling around aimlessly as Duff threatened Villa's right. I've defended him in the past, but enough is enough.

Mellberg, a previous captain of club and country, should have more experience than to get involved in on-pitch squabbles. He should also not get caught out of position so frequently. And his pathetic attempt at a back-heel when Villa had a promising position on the right was the final straw for many, including O'Neill. I won't be popular for saying this, but as far as I'm concerned he can start looking for his place in Turin, where his head has already taken up permanent residence. I'm happy for Gardner to play at right back for the rest of the season.

Mellberg and Petrov were the main contributors to Villa's sloppiness and lethargy in the first half - and how few of us could have had any idea what was coming in the second.

Marlon Harewood is growing on me with every game. Not only because of the way he brings fight and spirit to the side; not only because of his great crowd-raising skills - but because he actually looked, on Saturday, strong, fast, dangerous and skillful. I enjoyed Alan Shearer on MOTD talking about how he and Big John "bullied" the Newcastle defence in the second half. Carew looks a far better player, to me, with Harewood alongside him. And they're obviously mates.

Looking back into midfield, how much better it looked with Young attacking on the right and Maloney on the other flank. Quite why we've ever bothered with Petrov in wide midfield I can't imagine - Newcastle were immediately stretched wide apart with the two wee ones on either flank.

Craig Gardner brought some zip to the piece as well, and can count himself mighty unlucky not to have notched a goal.

I guess the frustrating thing is the fact that we so rarely see Villa perform brilliantly for 90 minutes. Still, at least we have a manager with the guile and guts to switch it around - and get it right.

Fantastic to see Carew bag a hattrick. Now I'm going to upset you all again by not naming him man-of-the-match.

Villa: Carson 7; Mellberg 4; Davies 7; Laursen 7; BOUMA 9; Petrov 5; Barry 6; Reo-Coker 7; Young 7; Maloney 7; Carew 8; Subs: Harewood 8; Gardner 7

Man-of-the-Match: Freddie Bouma. His first goal for Villa the peak of his transformation from pie-munching oaf to Holland's left back. A very good display all round, and I'm delighted he grabbed a goal out of it (even if it was a bit scruffy).

Comments (52)

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Nick L said:

Knight wasn't playing mate

February 11, 2008

Damian said:

doc did email me after he sent it in, i just didn't bother opening until i read your comment above .. my fault

February 11, 2008 | url

AK28 said:

Hope MON sticks with the team that came out for the 2nd half, even if Gabby is fit. We looked far more dangerous with 2 wingers on and Maloney and Harewood both deserve to keep their places.

February 11, 2008

PaulE said:

I think you missed out your player rating for Ashley Young

February 11, 2008

Luke Marson said:

Reo-Coker was average.

February 11, 2008 | url

Badger said:

Can't disagree with much of that at all. Damien, it's been confirmed by Nelson's club that Villa did make a bid. We wouldn't pay the £8.2 mill they wanted. Spot on mate

February 11, 2008

Damian said:

PaulE - that wasn't my mistake - but i have added after chasing Doc cheers Badger

February 11, 2008 | url

K4 AVFC said:

I was at the game (of course) and im not sure how Bouma has been given man of the match by you, but hey its all opinions! Carew, hat trick hero and generally terrorised their back four all day, got my vote for man of the match. Marlon was also exceptional and as hungry as ever ... A start at the Madejski for him, surely?

February 11, 2008

mossiewalsh said:

great result alrite but i think you are being very nice to petrov i think he rated about 3 or 4. hes just not good enough for this league.

February 11, 2008

eoin1981 said:

Agree with the good doctor on practically all points, I think its been mentioned on these boards frequently but I think Young and Maloney should be our two starting wingers. I cant recall many times when they have both played as wingers this year with the exception of against Chelsea away first half and the second half against Newcastle - 6 goals 90 minutes - now if they could up that a little bit....... Also thought that Davies and Carson both had one of their better matches for villa

February 11, 2008

theprimeminister said:

Some good points Doc better than "the Facts" rom Fulham, personally would of given Harewood MOTM.

February 11, 2008

Olof the other reindeer said:

Barry has his detractors and some days you wonder is he on the field at all. But I think on Saturday he showed some leadership and used the ball well. Delighted by Carew's hat-trick and Harewood's enthusiasm and of course, his bullying! Gardner must've broken the seams on the ball and is a great talent to have, I just hope he doesn't do a Davis/Cahill on it and demand regular first team appearances. We can expect to fluctuate between 5th and 8th place for the next few months but overall I think this team has the spirit and personnel to get us a Uefa cup place.

February 11, 2008

northstandholteender said:

Mellberg is a disgrace. Cant wait to see the back of him. An awful, awful player who is more often than not at fault for opposition goals. was at fault for owen goal. Goals always come from his side. what are juve thinkin?!?

February 11, 2008

jinksy said:

Marlon Harewood please except my opologies for slagging you off in the summer. You broght pride & passion to our team on Saturday & for that you were our man of the match. I said to my mate i hope Harewood doesn't score & when asked why i explainded that if he did he'd get sent off 1 for running into the crowd & his 2nd booking for running back into the crowd. It's about time we had players showin passion & fight. WELL DONE MARLON TOP MAN. Maloney on the left & Young who is right footed on the right is something i've been sreaming about all season. As for Mellberg sorry but i'd play right back better than him Gardener's got to play untill hopefuly a right back is brought in the Summer.

February 11, 2008

Damian said:

northstandholteender you are in the minority about mellberg and while it may very well have come from his side it hit barry last and like you say, he's playing for juventus next season - arguably one of the biggest clubs in the world

February 11, 2008 | url

parker said:

great result!!! marlon simpson is the don petrov has to be dropped for next match!!! god he p!sses me off Got my ticket for man u p.s Are the reserves playing tomorow

February 11, 2008

legend said:

Agree with the Harewood comments. Amazed at just how quick he is - did you see that run from the halfway line?

February 11, 2008

kayarcee said:

OTOR- The big difference between Gardner and Cahill/SteveDave is that Gardner seems willing to try anything to get into the 11 for Villa. It seems like anytime MON asks someone to fill an empty spot, Craig's got his hand up, and is already on the pitch. Now Cahill and Steve are both standing alongside Smiler in a relegation battle, while Gardner may be a big figure in our squad in the UEFA Cup.

February 11, 2008

dai t said:

drop mellberg and petrov put maloney on the left and harewood up front let gabby get his fitness with gardner a straight swap for mellberg dont know about playing him though against man utd maybe so long as mellberg has learnt his lesson that hes not ronaldinho and keeps it simple Also we offered 8.2m for Nelson which i think is a fair offer but they wanted much more than that but i think it would have been a big gamble especially as he is unproven in this league portugeese youngsters are the same price as Brazilians these days theres way to much hype over them they didnt do that well in the u21's last year

February 11, 2008

Myself said:

Harewood was brilliant and exciting to watch. When Carew scores, it is as if he has done so himself, a great sight of a partnership that works. Has Harewood had a start for us yet? - Answer please. Either way, I think I am with the majority, possibly, that although he does warrent a start based on his sub-performances, but is that when he is more effective, in the 2nd 45 or last 30. DO you all feel he could be effective for 90 minutes. Maybe he could with Carew up top with him. Malony has looked lost at times this season, but on the left he was magnificent, he wanted the ball more and more as the game went on, and looked like he was proud to wear the shirt for once! I think Gabby is gonna have to fight back to get in, but long may our form continue. Hats off to MON, shame we can't push on in the late FA cup rounds next week, but they're off to Spain, and we surely must get 3 points at Reading? The future really is bright...not a difficult fixture run-in, although I haven't compared it to the teams around us, two hard away games at Emirate and Old Trafford, but apart from that...

February 11, 2008

jamtomorrow said:

I just spent a very pleasant 25 minutes chatting (gloating) to my newcastle supporting neighbour... you sometimes get carried away with how much better we are doing than 2 years ago when we were on a par with them... to play below par and win 4-1. UTV!!!

February 11, 2008

smiavfc said:

You cant claim that Barry played a 6 he was the man of the match hands down, controlled the play, looked after the bal like it was his own son and as captain inspired the team to turn the game around at h/t, a 6 is extremely harsh.

February 11, 2008

dan123 said:

MON deserves alomost all the credit and showed what a great manager he is with the subs he made. Though i wouldn't get carried away with the harewood and carew combination as it won't work against a better defence. There isn't many teams in the premiership you can bully at the back. Though it might work at reading

February 11, 2008

taglor said:

Villa were great but to say about MON's subs "immense credit, having guts, having steel" he just made 2 substitutions that would be obvious to a blind man, not a hard call. Bouma man of match and Carew has a hat trick?

February 11, 2008

kayarcee said:

Contrast MON handling the Villa squad so professionally with "King Kev" refusing to use an obviously miffed Mark Viduka in Toon's half-hour of need. Deadly Doug gave us Villa fans one hell of a going away present when he hired Martin, and I'm really glad to have him as our manager.

February 11, 2008

Tommy T said:

Spot on. Bouma was the best in the 1st and did nothing wrong in the second, and scored. You are not the only one to think Mellberg has lost it. It will show MON's ability to pick the right team vs Reading if Mellberg and Petrov don't start. With Gabby completely off form in recent weeks i'd even consider picking Dino(Marlon, if there are STILL people who are not calling him so) over him.

February 11, 2008

mylesmorris1 said:

can anyone tell wat the chant for carew is

February 11, 2008

nan was a fan said:

Harewood must start. He was good at Liverpool too and they are nearly a top 4 side. Agree with Taglor it wasn't a tough half time decision for MON. Reo-Coker slagging rather sparse this week!

February 11, 2008

the_flabster said:

I didnt see the game (work again ) but I think its unfair to get on Mellbergs back. A few weeks ago no one would have dreamed of slagging him off, now a few are balming half Villa's goals on him. He isnt a RB and has done pretty well filling in as one. He may have just had a bad day lets not forget he has been one of Villa's most steady performers for 7 years. Great result, I had a bad feeling about the match and when I checked at H/T and we were 0-1 down my heart sunk. I was so happy when I checked again later and it was 4-1. What a come back. I dont think we should play Harewood from the start, he is like our catalyst when we are playing badly and we need someone like that to come from the bench. Im not sure he would have as much as an impact if he is starting. If Gabby is fit for reading I say we play him then bring Harewood on. If not play Harewood. Who cares, 3 points will make me happy.

February 11, 2008

Damian said:

a note from Doc: the only reason I awarded Bouma man-of-the-match was that he scored his first goal for the Villa - and I share his delight at that. Carew, Maloney and Harewood all played better during the game, but sometimes you just have to recognise one player's magic moment!

February 11, 2008 | url

Anthony Capaldi said:

NorthStandholteender, totally agree with u on mellberg. Cant wait to see the back of him.

February 11, 2008

sam_villa 1 said:

mylesmorris1 its- carew, carew, carew's on fire!

February 11, 2008

AV33 said:

@ dan123and the_flabster.. soz lads but i have to disagree. Harewood and Carew all day for me to start against Reading but only if accompanied by Young on the right and Maloney on the left as per the second half. Gabby is knackered and has looked a little short of ideas lately...and why spoil a winning formula? Whilst a lot of us think Marlon is a great player to have as a "supersub", it could also work exactly the same with Gabby as "supersub" now that Marlon is established. For me, bringing Gabby off the bench with half an hour to go at Reading is the thing to do after Marlon and Big John have "bullied" their defenders for an hour or so ! And why would this tactic not work against the "bigger clubs"? They are human after all and I wouldn't fancy being a centre half with Marlon and John about...even if I was called Vidic, Ferdinand, Alex etc Onto funnier things, I've made up my top three "bad football haircuts" based on recent television performances. Joey Barton narrowly missed out with his "tin tin" quiff. I don't want to write any more about him now (see previous thread), so here's the top 3. Jermaine Pennant's wig fits in nicely at number three. I bet you he's in the mirror all the time bouncing up his curlys with his afro comb but someone should tell him to either grow dreads or cut it man cos' it's not a good look ! At number two, i have Mark Hughes. I remember a girl I used to know thought he was gorgeous when he played for Manure. God knows what she thinks now... If anyone remembers...was it Spitting Images take on Douglas Herd with the ice cream head grey hair ? At number one, it's got to be Dennis Wise. I'm receding a bit but fookin' ell...ave' a look mate ! When the camera panned over to him in the stands, it looked like a crash helmet resting on top of a crombie, with them little beady eyes staring out ! Sorry for the indulgance...I also noticed Plymouth's manager Paul Sturrock has seen better days. I heard (from dubious sources !) that the team coach had to stop on the M5 after the Leicester game to blow Sturrock back up to his usual Michelin size. (60lb each cheek and then the puffa jacket) UP THE VILLA

February 11, 2008

Sasa said:

I dont really rate Mellberg that much. Best game I saw him play was Carling Cup semi 2nd leg against Bolton, absolutely immense at the end. He's better than Knight and Davies though. Davies has the attributes to be quality but looks like one of those defenders thats prone to the odd error. Imagine if we had any one of Dunne, Richards, Distin, Campbell, Carragher, Lescot, Yobo, Woodgate or even Upson partnering Laursen? We'd would've only conceded about 20-25 goals. Barring suspensions/injuries I've got this feeling that we're gonna get something at the Emirates in a few weeks. But I'm not confident about Reading - another Fulham unless we raise our game. Bout time we won away on sky.

February 11, 2008

gwyllum18 said:

legend-that run you spoke of was the highlight of the game for me (as far as bits of individual skill are concerned). He started slow and then blew past two toons, made a great pass, and would have scored if it weren't for a rare piece of good defending by the barcodes.

February 12, 2008

taglor said:

@ av33 lol at wise, very strange indeed, like joe pesci with lego hair. I also agree gabby could rest and come on as sub with more energy and cause trouble.

February 12, 2008

Leroy said:

@doc Magic moment like a hat trick? Honestly Mellberg and Petrov were poor and if we wanted to have any hope of winning they both needed to be pulled.I can finally say that i agree with one of MONs dealings, letting Mellberg leave. He has been solid at the back, but is clearly past it now. I seriously dont know what all the fuss is about, "lets have Olof Mellberg day" etc. He played out his contract(s), he was solid, but definately no star. One of the few things he bought us was Marcus Allback,Haha. At least Mon has realised that we need creativity at right back and it seems that we will land an exciting replacement in the not too distant future.

February 12, 2008

Jimmy Villain said:

Bouma, man of the match for scoring his first goal?! Where is the logic in that? Carew or Harewood were the only contenders for man of the match with a fine pairing up front, doc i'd stay off the shandy's before you open your laptop in future. I also thought Reo Coker had a decent game, can't understand why he got slagged off this week, if you have an opinion please base it on watching the actual game, not listening to Jack Woodwood or watching the 20 mins on Match of the day.

February 12, 2008

liamo_1981 said:

I thought Maloney and reo coker where better than Carew. Ok he scored 3 goals which is great and there is no arguing with those facts but besides those 3 goals he was crap. if he didn't score 3 goals i would have given him a 5 out of 10, but because he did i would give him an 8 a point for each goal. maloney was great i thought, casued problems all day, and reo coker broke up the play all day and actually kept posession too. has anyone seen that reo coker has the most tackles in the league this year out of everyone as per the actim index, which says a lot about how well he has performed his role this year.

February 12, 2008

jaf said:

Juventus bought Mellberg because he's free..! If they were desperate for him there would have been a cash offer last month. It was reported in the Swedish newspaper (Aftonbladet) that Villa offered him a 1 year deal, because of his wage demands. So he took the juventus deal (2 years) with less wages but a huge signing on fee..!!

February 12, 2008

Damian said:

jaf a fee was offered by juventus to take him in january as for aston villa offering mellberg a one year contract and him deciding on juventus because of the signing on fee -can you show me the quotes?

February 12, 2008 | url

gray owl said:

i have been saying for a long time that petrov just does not cut the mustard.he is at best championship standard,he is mon,s one moment of madness,on saturday he did not deserve 2 out of 10,

February 12, 2008

northstandholteender said:

Damian re to my earlier comments; Melberg at centre half was alright, no where near as good as Cahill or Curtis and hes on a par with knight (i prefer knight because hes a villa fan and english) Gardner is better at right back (also villa fan as is his his little bro who is also on our books and mustard!). and would play him there every wick! Let olof rot in reserves. Im driving a volvo at the minute and thats s**t as well.

February 12, 2008

ozavfc21 said:

i wouldn have minded mellberg going in january i dont think his heart is in it anymore and he doesnt want to get injured so he dont give 100%. give gardner a chance as he gives his all everytime he plays. oh and get rid of petrov ive seen better in the north blue square tampax premier league.

February 12, 2008

jaf said:

They did offer a fee in Jan, but not a transfer fee just a small gesture to have him on loan to the end of the season.. The report was in the sport section of Aftonbladet about 3 weeks ago, Expression ran the same story.

February 12, 2008

Abz said:

Unfair criticism of Mellberg, just because of one bad game. He had an off day, simple as that really. I'm glad that M.O.N made the changes sooner rather than later because in the second half, we were absolutely transformed! Petrov was pretty poor though and I think that if Routledge comes in and does well on the right, then Stan will be a bench warmer for quite sometime.

February 12, 2008

theprimeminister said:

well said Abz. Mellberg won'trisk breaking his leg but I'm sure he'll be better than Saturday.

February 12, 2008

Sith Lord said:

I think the second half showed what MON is working towards a team that's chases and works none stop. However we need to sustain this for 90min I think then we can truly challenge the top 4.

February 12, 2008

mylesmorris1 said:

@ sam villa1 thanks thought it was that wasnt sure

February 12, 2008

Lewis_24 said:

Harewood and Carew are brilliant together up front. Tall and strong any premiership defence would find them a hand full!! Drop Stilian and play gabby on the right where his pace can be used to effect..!!!

February 13, 2008

joe b said:

during the first half, down the right hand side we was poor. then when oniel brought on harewood n gardener we added more width and egde to our game, we ripped the georgies open and exploited them with the sheer power of carew and the enthusiasum of harewood. for our nxt game i would start maloney on the left and young on the right and harewood and carew up top with lots of crosses getting to them.

February 13, 2008

tom_villa said:

Who is ur Favourite player at Villa and who is ur least favourite player?

March 27, 2008

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