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My Old Man Said — An Aston Villa Podcast

Twice-a-week Aston Villa existentialism - "the only Villa pod I now listen to"


Latest episode

  • 608. Can Anyone Stop Villa? Europa Dream Grows as Rivals Fail to Impress

    33:23||Ep. 608
    After Villa's first leg 3-1 win in Bologna, the second leg at Villa Park seems to be a formality, but Unai Emery will take in the lessons of Bologna's win in Roma in the previous round. Champions League football isn't quite in touching distance just yet.In this Europa Vision episode of the My Old Man Said podcast show, we take in the full picture: the Bologna second leg and what Emery needs to do tactically to see it out, the Forest versus Porto quarter-final that is poised far more delicately than expected, and what the rest of the draw means for Villa's route to Istanbul.On the other side: Freiburg dismantled Celta Vigo 3-0. Betis face Braga. Neither represents the sort of obstacle that has stopped Emery winning this tournament before. Villa's analysts were already spotted at the Braga versus Betis game. The show's read is clear - if Villa get their league business done in the next four games and arrive in Istanbul without Champions League anxiety, this could be the performance everyone has been waiting for all season.Also: the Champions League maths, the surprising points target, Victor Lindelof dragging Sweden to the World Cup despite Graham Potter, the warehouse that was sold back to the club for millions and Albert Adomah's impressive milestone in the EFL.UTVListen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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  • 607. Aston Villa’s Missed Chances Cost Again but Champions League Remains in Sight

    19:38||Ep. 607
    Villa drew 1-1 at the City Ground. The result was frustrating. The context is encouraging.Villa came away from the City Ground with a point that felt like less than they deserved. An own goal. A Morgan Rogers chance that clipped the bar. A Watkins one-on-one that should have been buried. A McGinn effort that forced a brilliant save. The xG may have said 0.98 to Villa, but the show's assessment is it should have been three or four.This Post-mortem episode of the My Old Man Said podcast show breaks down the three pivotal moments of the game — Rogers' contribution to Forest's equaliser, the recurring clinical edge problem, and the Emi Martinez situation that is becoming harder to ignore after a third warm-up withdrawal of the season.There is also a broader assessment of what the draw means in context. Meanwhile, in the Europa League, Porto's unconvincing performance against Forest in the other quarter-final has shifted the Europa League picture.Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
  • 606. Why Aston Villa Are in the Driving Seat for the Champions League

    25:21||Ep. 606
    The international break debrief — fixture analysis, form tables, and the stat that puts the West Ham win in optimistic context.Two wins. Momentum restored. Six points clear of Chelsea, five of Liverpool, with seven games remaining and destiny firmly back in Villa's own hands. The question now is simple: can they do it themselves and not have to rely on others?In this episode the show takes stock of where Villa are, where their rivals are, and what the fixture list actually looks like for the final stretch. We take a closer look at Chelsea's home form, with a double-header of Manchester City and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in their next two games. Liverpool are juggling the FA Cup and a two-legged PSG tie. United have been the form team since Christmas but face both Chelsea and Liverpool before the season is out.Elsewhere: injury updates including the new recruits to sickbay and a Viking manuscript that has absolutely nothing to do with Aston Villa.Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
  • 605. Villa Back in the Driving Seat After Reseting Season in a Week

    25:19||Ep. 605
    The West Ham game was a non-negotiable. Once again, Chelsea and Liverpool had handed Villa the opportunity to take control of the Champions League race and unlike previous fumbles, this time they took it. A McGinn free-kick, a much-needed Watkins' goal, twenty-three shots, and a performance that looked more like the team that had won eleven games in a row than anything seen in the previous two months.In this episode the My Old Man Said podcast show we break down what actually changed — why the tempo was different, why Sancho suddenly looks like the player clubs have paid six figures a week for, and what McGinn's return means beyond the obvious.There is also a discussion of whether this is sustainable or whether it took a relegation-threatened West Ham side, forced into an unplanned formation after a warm-up injury, to make Villa look this good.Elsewhere: Watkins dropped from England and what that means for his remaining season, Tielemans' neat twenty-minute cameo, the Digne versus Madsen question, and why Villa have scored more goals from outside the box than any other team in Europe's top five leagues.Destiny is in Villa's own hands and it's time for them to do it themselves.UTVListen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
  • 604. Villa Advance and Further Ticket Price Bad Blood Ignites

    21:07||Ep. 604
    A controlled first half, a second half that finally came to life, and two goals that sent Aston Villa into the Europa League quarter-finals 3-0 on aggregate. Martinez's pinpoint clearance, Sancho's backheel, and McGinn's composed finish, the elements of a great opener, before Leon Bailey finished the tie off. We look back at the Villa Park conclusion to the Lille two-legged Europa League tie — including a first half at Villa Park so deliberately passive that even those in the ground were losing the will to watch — and discuss the highlights of a much improved second half performance.There is also a look at the quarter-final draw. Bologna are the opponents, but Porto, currently crushing the Portuguese league, having won 22 of 26 games, loom as the most dangerous side left in the competition. Nottingham Forest face them in the other quarter-final in Villa's side of the draw.Elsewhere: there's talk of croissant mutations, the Premier League £30 away ticket cap being extended, the Bologna quarter-final pricing that brought on a familiar fury, Lindelof's Batman mask and the case for him being the signing of the season, and a tifo poem that nobody is claiming authorship of.It's West Ham on Sunday, with an international break following straight after. Then the final chapter of a twin-prong attack for Champions League football begins in earnest. UTVListen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
  • 603. Do or Die: Villa's Season at the Crossroads After Old Trafford

    20:29||Ep. 603
    A third consecutive Premier League defeat. Eight league games left. And a set of questions about structure, recruitment and ambition that will not wait until the summer.Villa's 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford was not a shock. It was, as this podcast noted immediately, an expected result, an expected performance... and an expected xG. What makes it significant is the context and manner of it - three consecutive league defeats, a Champions League place that is now being held by inertia rather than form, and a set of structural problems that are becoming harder to attribute to bad luck.In this episode, the show dissects the latest misery inducing trip to Old Trafford, including the moment that may have defined Villa's entire season. Then the post-mortem episodes broadens out into the harder questions about what has gone wrong, whose responsibility it is to fix it, and whether there is still time.The structure versus creation argument reaches crunch time. It's Lille in the Europa League second leg next, but then relegation threatened West Ham and Forest back-to-back mean it's do or die time.UTVListen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
  • 602. Job Half Done in Lille. Now for Old Trafford.

    30:08||Ep. 602
    France Has Fallen. Now for Old Trafford.Villa win 1-0 in Lille to take control of the Europa League tie — but the harder test arrives Sunday.In this double-header episode, the show analyses Villa's controlled but unconvincing win in France — the goal, the Watkins miss that should have killed the tie, and the moment John McGinn walked off the bench and immediately reminded everyone what Villa have been missing.Then it's forward to Sunday and a trip to Old Trafford, where the show sets out exactly why this fixture matters beyond three points, and why, despite United's impressive form under Carrick, this may be the moment Villa's season turns.Plus the MOMS panel prediction for Old Trafford, and a Tim Sherwood comparison that will not be retracted.UTVCheck out the best current deals on Aston Villa Merchandise