A guest post from Andrew @anicoll5
Good morning Fellow Positivistas from a grey East Anglia morning with Autumn firmly camped across the land.
By land and sea, by air and digital pulse, our thoughts turn to Villa Park today. Even with the Holte End spoiled by seating, still a proper football ground full of long-suffering locals. We’ve not lost a PL game at the stadium this century, eight wins and seven draws, and even the bookies have us on very short money to win at 5-6 with Villa at an enticing 4 to 1. If I gambled I might be tempted to lob a shilling on the home side, disloyal though that would be. Surely you say “the points are in the bank?”
An oddity today as we kick off the game of association football at 3 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon! It is the ‘traditional’ time and day for the contest based no doubt on an 1872 FA agreement among fishmongers and hat makers in Sheffield. I admit as we move into Autumn and Winter there is something comforting about football in its proper place on a Saturday afternoon. Mellow fruitfulness.
So unusual was the Saturday at 3 p.m. kick-off however that I looked up the last time we avoided being rescheduled for the convenience of the global TV dollar and saw it was the game at the Britannia on the 1st March this year. By complete coincidence no doubt, the man with the whistle that grim day in the Potteries, referee Mike Jones, is on duty a Villa Park today.
It is lucky I am not a man given to heeding signs or portents.
On to the game however. The Villa riding high and I have no doubt their fans as surprised as everyone else that Lambert has managed to manoeuvre what is still a fairly young and inexperienced team to ten points from four games and a spot just behind Chelsea in the table.
Toward the end of last season Villa were shocking and getting worse so, with Benteke a long term crock, and without any noticeable recruitment beyond the much derided Phil Senderos, it is difficult to explain the turnaround. (Personally always liked Phil as I do any player prepared to put his head in where the boots fly, but I accept he had his limits). They don’t score much but have a good defensive record, three in four clean sheets in PL games.
The media seem to ascribe Villa’s improvement to the arrival of Roy Maurice Keane and the papers have had a few puff pieces this week about the young Villa players “inspired” “terrified” “in total awe of” the Irishman. Hmmmmm. The fist waving, eye rolling and the glaring might work for a little while with the kids Roy, but football managing is a little bit more complicated than that, as you know from your time with Ipswich and Sunlun. No doubt Keane’s presence has put the wind up Lambert a treat though but not a word of that anywhere.
For ourselves, as we touched on yesterday, I expect a few changes in the side and across midfield with Jack and Aaron rested, perhaps Sanchez too and the Ox. Tomas and Santi coming in. I see the changes as mixture of fatigue from some hard games over a short period and the fact that if you have a large squad you use it.
I do not anticipate a ‘hangover’ after our defeat in Dortmund and a night of some disappointing performances. I do however anticipate a difficult contest. A narrow victory and a solid performance would do very nicely.
Talk to you later.
Positively Arsenal 
Oh FFS, right I’ll do it.
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@Notoverthehill
Yeah, we miss Hunter, of course we do.
Arsenal won, only music can put it into perspective. The little [bitch ass m o f o s] were trying to put a dampener on things, but Ozil and Welbeck and Co. put things right. Lovely!! Fucken lovely!!
My music of the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQzW6wz2JQk
Random song for a random victory. They expected the Arsenal to lose but they lost. WE WON. Ahahahaahahh. Lalalalalalalalalala.
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Thank you NOTH and thank you for all the kind comments and feedback today, on what proved to be an encouraging afternoon with our lads earning the reward for their football.
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Andrew: We owe the day to you in some measure. You set a perfect sensible tone.
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Thanks Shotts ( not sure what to say)
Anyway not sure if ZimPaul/ Paul Brickhill is out there and if there is any chance he is picking up the games.
If he is then I hope he had a decent Saturday down in Harare.
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Wow. How perfect is that and by a fluke the hotel im in shows BBC so I can watch MotD. Sounds as if it was business almost back to normal and did Ozil and Welbeck really score? Bliss to be alive if they did and especially for young Welbz who I confidently expect to become the next huge fan favourite.
Wherever Hunter is please someone say Hi to him and I hope he enjoyed today.
That Liverpool slipped makes today even better and although I am pleased that some of our sell soul to the devil blogtastic fans may now begin to realise that Brenda only had one tactic and that was to give it to Suarez and hope, I am sorry for him as I suspect he knows that everything he has tried to build over the last two seasons will be all too quickly unravelled by Balotelli. As much as I know anything I know that he was very happy with Remy until JH stepped in and forced the mad Italian sale.
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Never a worry for me today. Folk should really stop worrying about what the doomers say or do. Reacting to their fickleness smells of fickleness itself. Chill in the knowledge you are correct.
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Respect to ZimPaul as well. He would be enjoying the football lesson we gave.
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@steve my sentiments, but you cant really help responding at times when each game is judged by how the last 3 seasons has been instead of independently as a game…
for example, did we lose to Dortmund cos we did not buy a cover for verm5… no, its cause the team did not play well or take his chances!
even though we have not lost at villa park for plus or minus 15 games, we heard today that villa were in imperial form and hence we were in trouble due to the midweek loss.. now all there is to say is that some villa players were unwell… hmm…
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NOTH , I miss Hunter.
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At the club where I was watching, the cheering was loudest not when the goals were scored but when Rosiscky was finally introduced into action.
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Tsk.
*taps watch*
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yes yes, here you go, New post is up you fine Positivistas
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