My Old Man Said - An Aston Villa Podcast

What does Aston Villa actually play like?It’s a question people keep trying to answer with labels. Possession-based. Pragmatic. Ruthless. Transitional. And it’s a question that keeps missing the point.This main show uses the goalless draw at Crystal Palace, the looming FA Cup trip to Spurs, and Villa’s broader winter form to step back and assess the current questions. Not just results, but method. Not just systems, but intent.There’s discussion of why the Palace game told us very little that we don’t already know, why defensive control is often mistaken for stagnation, and why Villa’s ability to adapt matters more than any single tactical identity. The FA Cup conversation strips away sentiment and focuses on priorities, squad depth, and realism in a congested season.Kamara’s structural importance, Tielemans’ influence, Watkins’ contradictions, and Villa Park’s growing authority all feed into the same conclusion. This is not a team chasing an aesthetic. It’s a team executing a plan.The Lovers Walk Unlimited Orchestra also return for the new year to celebrate Villa's winter and their midfield maestro.Get a Great NordVPN DealGet a cracking deal on NordVPN with four months FREE & a 30 days money-back guarantee here: nordvpn.com/momsGET AD-FREE SHOWS and JOIN MATCH CLUBGet ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS MemberJoin the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.Credits:David Michael - @myoldmansaid Chris Budd - @BUDD_musicPhillip Shaw - @prsgameMusic production & creation - David MichaelMy Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.comThis Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT

A new year, the same authority.After the winning run ended at Arsenal, Aston Villa returned to Villa Park and did exactly what mature sides do. They took control, strangled transitions, and dealt with Nottingham Forest without drama.Forest pulled one back, but it never felt like a turning point. Villa remained composed, dictated the tempo, and reasserted themselves through midfield dominance, intelligent pressing, and clinical moments at the right time.This post-mortem focuses on the substance rather than the scoreline. Kamara’s immediate impact. Tielemans running the game. McGinn delivering again. Watkins trusting himself and finishing instinctively.More importantly, it examines the bigger picture. Villa absorbed the Arsenal defeat, learned from it, and moved on. No overreaction. No hangover. Just control.This is what good teams look like at home. And Villa Park is now very clearly their ground.UTVGet a Great NordVPN DealGet a cracking deal on NordVPN with four months FREE & a 30 days money-back guarantee here: nordvpn.com/momsGET AD-FREE SHOWS and JOIN MATCH CLUBGet ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS MemberJoin the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.Credits:David Michael - @myoldmansaid Chris Budd - @BUDD_musicPhillip Shaw - @prsgameMusic production & creation - David MichaelMy Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.comThis Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT

The winning run had to end somewhere. Unfortunately, it ended at the hardest place in the league to do anything at all.Villa went to the Emirates chasing history and left with a 4–1 defeat that looks brutal on paper, but tells a far more nuanced story when you strip it back. A controlled first half, big chances missed, then everything pivots on one moment: Onana off at half-time and the midfield grip disappearing instantly.This post-mortem picks through where the game actually swung, why Arsenal’s second goal effectively killed it, and how injuries, set-piece fragility and wasted chances turned a competitive contest into a harsh scoreline.There’s frustration at refereeing inconsistencies, disbelief at McGinn’s miss, a word on Watkins getting back on the scoresheet, and a reality check on what losing away to the league leaders really means.The run is over. The position isn’t. And Villa are still very much where they need to be. UTVCheck out the Lovers Walk Unlimited Orchestra's A Holte End Christmas EP GET AD-FREE SHOWS and JOIN MATCH CLUBGet ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS MemberJoin the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.Credits:David Michael - @myoldmansaid Chris Budd - @BUDD_musicPhillip Shaw - @prsgameMusic production & creation - David MichaelMy Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.comThis Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT

Aston Villa were bullied, outplayed, and offered nothing for an hour at Stamford Bridge. Twenty-nine percent possession. No shots. One goal down. Seasoned Villa fans were already bracing themselves.Then Unai Emery changed everything.On this My Old Man Said post-mortem show, we dissect one of the most revealing wins of the season. A game that looked dead and buried until a triple substitution flipped the script, Ollie Watkins reminded everyone what a proper centre-forward does, and Villa scored twice in a twenty-minute burst that left Chelsea flat on their backs.We get into why the first half was arguably Villa’s worst of the season, how Chelsea’s energy and game management exposed familiar issues, and why Emery’s in-game reading of matches is now a genuine competitive advantage. There’s deep discussion on Watkins’ impact, the mentality shift under Emery, and the growing pattern of Villa winning games without control, possession, or apology.This isn’t about pretty football or stats. It’s about resilience, timing, and a team that no longer folds when things go wrong. Villa are now ten points clear of Chelsea, racking up wins from losing positions, and quietly building the foundations of a serious Champions League push.Unsustainable? Maybe. Uncomfortable? Definitely. Effective? Absolutely.UTVCheck out the Lovers Walk Unlimited Orchestra's A Holte End Christmas EP GET AD-FREE SHOWS and JOIN MATCH CLUBGet ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS MemberJoin the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.Credits:David Michael - @myoldmansaid Chris Budd - @BUDD_musicPhillip Shaw - @prsgameMusic production & creation - David MichaelMy Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.comThis Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT

The Manchester United post-mortem usually involves burying Villa’s latest trauma and promising not to speak of it again until the next time. Not this time.On this episode of My Old Man Said, Villa are resurrected. Unai Emery finally gets his second win over United, Christmas is officially saved, and Morgan Rogers announces himself properly with two moments that decide a game Villa did not fully control but absolutely deserved to win.We break down the key moment that mattered, Watkins’ understated role in the winner, and why Rogers has crossed the line from “promising” to “decisive”. There’s an honest look at a midfield that got outworked, a defence that stood firm anyway, and why Villa’s ability to grind out one-goal wins is no accident.We also ask the uncomfortable questions. Did United tactically get it right? Did Villa rely on magic rather than control? And why, despite the win, this still felt nervier than it needed to be.Add in Martinez doing Martinez things, Emery losing his mind on the touchline, and the quiet reality that Villa are now ten points clear of United, and you have a night that finally feels like a line drawn under decades of nonsense.The corpse stays buried. For now.  UTVCheck out the Lovers Walk Unlimited Orchestra's A Holte End Christmas EP GET AD-FREE SHOWS and JOIN MATCH CLUBGet ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS MemberJoin the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.Credits:David Michael - @myoldmansaid Chris Budd - @BUDD_musicPhillip Shaw - @prsgameMy Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.comThis Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT

Aston Villa arrive at Christmas in form, winning ugly, and climbing quietly. The league table looks healthy. The mood should be festive. And yet Manchester United turn up again, dragging decades of baggage with them.On this week’s My Old Man Said, we ask the only question that matters. Is this finally an Emery Christmas, or are Villa about to be visited once more by the ghosts of United past?We strip away the noise around title talk, dig into why Villa still cannot relax against United, and question whether this run of one-goal wins signals control or simply survival. There is Europa League progress, Basel reflections, United’s injuries and absences, and the uncomfortable truth that history keeps intruding no matter how poor they look on paper.No hype. No festive false comfort. Just a clear-eyed look at where Villa really are and what beating United now would actually mean.Also, we hear the first track on the Lovers Walk Unlimited Christmas EPListen here to A Holte End Christmas EP UTVGET AD-FREE SHOWS and JOIN MATCH CLUBGet ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS MemberJoin the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.Credits:David Michael - @myoldmansaid Chris Budd - @BUDD_musicPhillip Shaw - @prsgameMy Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.comThis Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT

Villa go behind. Again. Villa wobble. Again. Villa win. Again.This post-mortem from the London Stadium digs into a game that should have been a banana skin and nearly was. West Ham had momentum, Jarrod Bowen was running the show, Villa looked leggy after Europe and yet somehow, once noses were in front, the door slammed shut.We get forensic on the turning point. Digne on, Bowen gone. Control reclaimed. Emery-ball reasserted.There’s a brutal assessment of the first half, Watkins dithering when the game was there to be killed, and why Villa are still making life harder than it needs to be. We also take aim at the growing xG moral panic and the uncomfortable truth that winning efficiently is now being treated as a flaw.Nine wins on the bounce. Three times conceding inside ten minutes. Still perfect after European Thursdays.Villa are not clicking. That should worry everyone else. UTVDownload and play for free the newly updated retro football manager mobile game RM2026 hereRM26 now has Villa's updated squad to play with - can you get a tune out of Harvey Elliot and maybe win the Europa League?GET AD-FREE SHOWS and JOIN MATCH CLUBGet ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS MemberJoin the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.Credits:David Michael - @myoldmansaid Chris Budd - @BUDD_musicPhillip Shaw - @prsgameMy Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.comThis Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT

Villa Park erupted. What looked like a hard-earned point turned into a afternoon of strangers hugging, tears in the Holte, and a goalmouth scramble that bent time. In the chaos of stoppage time, Emi Buendia stepped through the noise and curled in a winner that crushed Arsenal and brought Villa within three points of their visitors and... gave them the title of Linear Unofficial World Club Champions for the forty seventh time.The show pulls apart the tactical swings, the substitutions that made no sense until they suddenly did, Arsenal’s strange lack of urgency, the late shift in momentum, and the way Emery’s bench forced the decisive moment. From Matty Cash’s hammer strike toBoubacar Kamara’s ground-level heroics to the eruption that followed, this episode captures a statement performance from a team that is starting to believe in itself.Villa are grinding, adapting, evolving, and winning games they used to let slip. And the rest of the league has no choice but to take them seriously.UTVGET AD-FREE SHOWS and JOIN MATCH CLUBGet ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS MemberJoin the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.Credits:David Michael - @myoldmansaid Chris Budd - @BUDD_musicPhillip Shaw - @prsgameMy Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.comThis Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT

This week’s My Old Man Said podcast opens with the Lovers Walk Unlimited Orchestra summing up the Villa week in song, before the show dives straight into the fallout from a chaotic few days. From David’s Dublin airport delay courtesy of Zelensky, to a Brighton game that veered from disaster to delirium, it has been peak Villa in every imaginable way.The show pulls apart the Brighton match first. Emery’s rage in the dugout. A tactical plan that looked too respectful. A comeback powered by firepower off the bench. Questions about the squad answered by Onana bullying back posts, Watkins waking up again and Marlon emerging as a genuine asset. Emery’s long-range revolution gets dissected too. The pundits are baffled, the xG merchants are twitching, but Villa are simply doing what good teams do. Take the right shot when it is on.From there the episode moves into the Arsenal preview. A match that could tilt the entire narrative of the season. Beat Arsenal and suddenly the door creaks open to something bigger. As MOMS say, the T-word is banned until further notice, but the implications are impossible to ignore.There is also Villa News: Barkley’s injury setback, Martinez disappearing again in the warm-up, Young Boys away-end arrests, merch-line overload and the progress of the North Stand redevelopment. Emery’s Clipboard returns with a forensic look at Martinez’s numbers, Bizot’s impact, and how fine margins in goalkeeping shape the entire season. The Villa Engine gets a nod with the under-18s hammering Fulham.Then there is the bigger picture. The Football Supporters’ Association “Stop Exploiting Loyalty” campaign gains parliamentary backing. BBC research highlights the rise of abusive posts aimed at managers. And Juan Sebastián Verón gets banned for refusing a guard of honour in Argentina.It is a sprawling, funny, chaotic and insight-packed episode that captures Villa’s strange reality this season. Emery’s side are grinding, exploding, wobbling and rising again, often in the space of a single match. And as the show suggests, if Villa beat Arsenal, things might get very interesting indeed.A proper bumper edition. Listen. Strap in. And avoid airports whenever world leaders land.UTVGET AD-FREE SHOWS and JOIN MATCH CLUBGet ad-free shows and extra shows, and join My Old Man Said's 24/7 Villa community, Match Club.For more details and to become a member, click here: Become a MOMS MemberJoin the show’s listener facebook group The Mad Few.Credits:David Michael - @myoldmansaid Chris Budd - @BUDD_musicPhillip Shaw - @prsgameMy Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.comThis Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT