An insight into VILLA!! [31 Mar @ 1:25pm]

First we got the opportunity to meet the Gaffer! Martin Wallis has started his 2nd campaign as Villa boss and we got a few insights into his own footballing lifestyle! Wuz was born in the comfortable surroundings of Derby on May 10 1976 and was alienated into supporting Manchester United, however he does hold his home town team in good faith as he wears the Derby shirt more times than his Man Utd kit - (and quite rightly too!) bizarrely! He was blagged out of a 5- yr hiatus to return to football, and Villa in 2005 and he's glad he did! Wuz reckons Villa are Unibond prem material and sights Dee's ball-in-face moment as arguably the funniest thing at Villa; i'm sure a lot of people will think that too! He thinks the manager should be payed - either in beer tokens or hard cash and he is just living the managerial dream Muchos Gracias Gaffer ------------------- Now for our very own number 9 - DOUG FARQUHARSON... Ok Doug, its been a solid, if not spectacular start to the 08/09 season, so i thought we had better catch up on some 'El' Cap'' footballing thoughts!! Doug supports his home town team of Liverpool. He hopes Villa will win promotion to Div 3 in the next 2 seasons. Doug also claims to hold Ian Rush as his footballing hero, well who wouldn't if your'e a Liverpool fan! Doug's funniest moment he claims was when the Dog saved us all 3 points against Furness Rovers (and i thought i had a memory!) He also feels Villa can do better at defending set-pieces, and also claims the proudest moment as captaining the team during our debut season. Thanks Doug. ------------------ Next up was the diminutive Full-Back Ali Dyson Born in Lancaster, Ali loves Man City and dearly hopes Villa can be playing Premier Division football in 10 years and he still being a part of it. He tells me his footballing hero was Stuart Pearce, but now holds Henry, Dunne and Joe Cole amongst his favorites. His funniest moment came in the Bentham changing room last campaign (07/08) and the famous Dee statement to Jordan about needing one banana for each leg to cure his cramp! What Ali feels Villa can do better is keeping the ball on the floor and utilising the wide players quicker. Finally, Ali's proudest Villa moment came when scoring against Ingleton in Apr 2007 and celebrating a superb victory over Overton in Feb 2007. Thanks for that Big Al. ------------------ Up next, i caught up with Jim Bousfield and he gave me a clear and fairly funny insight into his Villa lifestyle! Jim was born at Lancaster on March 5th 1979 and is a Villa legend already - he never lets us down. Jim follows Preston North End and hopes they will acheive a premiership baptism soon, although he clearly would prefer VRFC to go up. He joined Villa as literrally one of the founder members and has never looked back - his favorite Villa moment came every week playing alongside Dee, well it was a comedy!! His footballing hero is King Kenny (Dalglish) himself and he has two Villa memories, the Bentham comeback and the 4-0 derby win over BLS up the road!! Thanks to Jim for that. ------------------ Next up was Phil Savage who despite missing a large number of games throughout season 2 with injury has been a solid, dependable stalwart at the back ever since. Phil was born again at Lancaster on Feb 19 1979 and is a Blackburn and Morecambe fan by right. Phil, too was, like Jim, a Villa founder and has entered his 4th season for the club. Like so many other players, promotion is high on Sav's "to do" list for 2008/09, his footballing hero is Bryan Robson (of Man Utd). He feels we can improve by training harder and being more composed. Phil's comedy moment came when he was actually injured and had to ref the game and one of the opposing players (the goalie) was attacked by a local individual during a game - no one knows why though! Phil's proudest moment came when at 2-3 down in extra time last season his 30 yard scorcher gave us a draw and, of course victory on penalties against Burton Thistle. Good luck to Phil for the rest of the campaign. ------------------- Next stop was West Yorkshire and Kieren Brooks... Kieren was born in Halifax on March 30 1984. He joined Villa in 2006 and has played a variety of positions to suit the clubs needs. He joined Villa as it was the best way to spend his Saturday afternoons, rather than watch Huddersfield Town, debatable, but probably true! His comedy moment came when Jim smacked a clearance straight into Sven's mush!! Kiz's aspirations are, like many others, promotion and a good cup run. Kieren's footballing hero is Gazza, there playing styles to mirror - comitted, full hearted and determined whilst being skillfull. He feels we have to stop conceding first in games and quite more importantly conceding altogether. In Kierens VRFC highlight it was probably Overton and the 9-1. To be on the pitch when we finally produced a result to match our potential was great. Kiz also stated that it's good to see that all the hard work put in come to fruition for the players, management and supporters. Thanks to Kieren for those answers -------------------