My Old Man Said — An Aston Villa Podcast

Aston Villa face SC Freiburg in the Europa League final in Istanbul on Wednesday — and this week's episode is a full lowdown on the opponents, covering their history, their identity, their key players, and the tactical shape of what awaits. It's everything you need to know.The episode opens with a verdict that captures the problem succinctly: Villa have to shoot Bambi. Freiburg are 100% fan-owned, operate on a fraction of Villa's transfer budget, have the lowest squad turnover rate in the Bundesliga. The rest of the world will be rooting for the virtuous underdog.Freiburg have been shaped over three decades by two long-serving managers and a philosophy that puts sustainability at the foundation of their success. Going into the final though they have been hit by a key injury after Suzuki, their Japanese attacking midfielder broke his collarbone earlier this month and is out of the final. His absence strips away the dimension that made Freiburg genuinely difficult to track in the Europa League and makes them a more straightforward proposition. Still, their set piece threat is real.The show also lands on a clear position going into Wednesday: there is no alternative to winning. Champions League is confirmed. The pressure is gone. This one is for the trophy, and for the supporters who have waited thirty years.UTVListen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Aston Villa beat Liverpool 4-2 at Villa Park on Friday evening, sealing Champions League qualification through the league and sending supporters into the Istanbul week in exactly the right frame of mind. The game that looked like a distraction turned into the best possible preparation.This week's My Old Man Said Post-Mortem opens with the moment that changed everything: the teamsheet. When Emery named the side that beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the European semi-final — essentially the expected starting lineup for Wednesday — the game instantly became something else. Not a Premier League fixture to be survived before the main event. The version of Ollie Watkins that turned up against Liverpool needs to be sent First Class to Istanbul. The aggressive one who fires up the crowd from corners, gives teammates a dressing-down when they get something wrong, and is sharp in front of goal. The version Villa supporters have been asking for all season. He produced a brace and an offside goal that said as much as the goals that counted.The main difference between the two teams was seen in the attitude of Alexis Mac Allister compared to John McGinn - one was cheaply rolling around feigning injury, while the other gave everything in a commanding performance. Champions League football is now sealed for Villa and Istanbul is set up nicely. The mood is right. The squad is sharp and firing.UTVListen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Aston Villa face Liverpool at Villa Park on Friday evening — the last Premier League fixture before the Europa League final in Istanbul on Wednesday. Champions League qualification still isn't mathematically confirmed through the league.It should already be wrapped up. It isn't. And that shapes everything about how the Liverpool game needs to be approached — not as a send-off but as unfinished business. The reality is though, Unai Emery and his players will rest up, but will there be at least enough application to make a fight of the game?This week's main show of the My Old Man Said podcast covers the ground before and after the game. Amadou Onana is touch and go off for Istanbul, Victor Lindelöf likely steps in again, and there's a brief but unavoidable discussion of the Wes Edens extortion story that's currently generating more headlines than any transfer activity.Emery's Clipboard goes long on Ollie Watkins — who has just been named Aston Villa's Player of the Month for April, a month where he bagged his 100th Villa goal. The show sets that form against a wider argument: where have all the English strikers gone? The numbers go back to 1992-93, and the conclusion is pointed.The Liverpool preview is the centrepiece. An aging squad, Mohamed Salah's dramatic decline in output, the Trent departure mismanaged, and a team that doesn't work hard without the ball. The show finishes on the Aston Villa Existential Question: how many new players does this squad actually need in the starting eleven next season?Istanbul might be a full stop, for this team, with a new era to launch afterwards.UTVListen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Burnley away. The home team had only one win during 2026 so far and hadn't scored at home in months. Villa needed a win to pretty much secure Champions League football. The 2-2 draw was bordering on predictable. The My Old Man Said post-mortem dissects a performance that tells you more about the bigger picture than the result: two goals from a corner and a long punt, a performance spectrum throughout this year that drops to low.Also, we take in Amadou Onana's latest injury and the familiar availability pattern that's plagued Villa across four seasons, Emery's recurring problem with complacency against the bottom three, and why those Forest highs only make the lows feel worse. With Istanbul eight days away, the league campaign is limping to a close. The floor needs raising. UTVListen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Villa beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 at Villa Park to reach the Europa League final in Istanbul. Freiburg await. One more job to do to end 30-years of hurt.Some nights you have a feeling about before a ball is kicked. On a European night, not many English grounds can hold a candle to Villa Park on a European night. The atmosphere was electric and the players on the pitch also made sure they made it an unforgettable night, as well — four goals, a complete performance, and a European final earned in the most emphatic fashion possible.In this episode the show breaks down a night that had everything. Buendia's unpredictability unlocking the tightest defence in the Premier League's last six games. Watkins aggressive, physical, the version of himself that makes Villa a different team. McGinn having the time of his life, as the autumn of his career is hitting its highest notes. And the Victor Lindelöf decision, questioned beforehand, vindicated completely.There is also a broader conversation about what this moment means. Also, we look at Freiburg, Villa's silverware drought, and the prospect of a Super Cup, if all goes to plan.Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Before the biggest night at Villa Park in years, a solo My Old Man Said show, with some personal memories and reflections back to 1994, and an honest assessment of what the second leg of the Europa League semi-final requires.In 1994, Villa were three-nil down at Tranmere in a League Cup semi-final first leg. The fanbase were feeling angry that the club were squandering a real good chance of silverware to put them back on the map, after a difficult decade. The build up to the second leg has parallels, as does the build-up to the final against Manchester United, when Villa's league form had dropped off a cliff before the trip to Wembley.It was all an example of what a team is capable of when it decides to be.Recorded in the hours leading up to the Europa League semi-final second leg against Nottingham Forest, the show sets out what tonight requires — from Watkins, from Rogers, from McGinn and Tielemans, from the crowd, and from a manager who has four of these trophies already. The Onana absence. The Bogarde question. Whether Forest come to shut up shop or play with the freedom that has defined their recent form. And what it would mean - for the club, for its European legacy, for everything - to be talking about Istanbul tomorrow morning.No rally call. No clichés. Just the honest picture before the biggest night of the season.Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What happened against Spurs on Sunday night? Unai Emery elected to shuffle his pack, and there were seven changes, but the line-up wasn't too dissimilar from the one that beat Fenerbahçe away 1-0 in the Europa League. The back four was the same apart from the left-back; the base of the midfield was the same with Bogarde next to Tieliemans, with Sancho and Rogers further forward, and Barkley and Abraham in instead of Watkins and Buendia (who both did come on), but they have been patchy at best anyway. At least against Spurs, you also had Martinez in goal, as Bizot played in Turkey.Nobody complained about the line-up as they tackled a tough trip to Istanbul.It was the effort and application of the players that let the team down, not the team sheet. The performance was indefensible, regardless of Thursday.Conor Gallagher, who had not scored for Spurs all season, scored. Richarlison, who had never scored against Villa, scored. When Buendia's consolation header arrived in the ninety-fifth minute — it was Villa's first shot on target of the entire game.In this episode the show does not dress it up. The performance was an embarrassment. The team that started was good enough, every player a full international bar one and they put in absolutely nothing. Emery's programme notes talked about laser focus and determination. His body language on the touchline told a different story.The harder question is what it means for Thursday. With Forest a goal up from the first leg. Villa need to score at least twice at Villa Park to win without penallties. The crowd that was asked to put up with ninety minutes of nothing against Spurs is now being asked to roar the team into a European final.Everything on the line on Thursday night at Villa Park and only a win can banish what happened against Spurs before it.Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Villa are building a bigger stadium… but as the age profile of the current Aston Villa squad suggests, they will soon need to build a new team too.With the Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest bubbling away on the horizon for Aston Villa, the main show of My Old Man Said gets up to speed on a series of key issues like Villa's aging squad and the North Stand development, while also looking at the BBC's decision to cancel Football Focus. Need a ticket to the City Ground for the first leg of the Europa League semi-final? We may have a solution for you too.Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.