My Old Man Said - An Aston Villa Podcast

After a quick look ahead to the game against an improving Leeds United team, the MOMS team takes a belated look back on the solid year of progress that was the year 2025. They profile the top five Aston Villa players of the year, look back at the year's high's and low's, as well as the surprises from the year and how Emery's Villa year rated compared to his others.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 - @prsgameMy Old Man Said - https://www.myoldmansaid.comThis Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast a

The narrative to the FA Cup 4th round clash between Aston Villa and Newcastle United writes itself.Goalkeeper sent off. Game swings. Villa lose. End of story.Except it isn’t that simple.This My Old Man Said post-mortem episode pulls apart the FA Cup tie from the moment of the red card onward and challenges the assumption that it was automatically over. Yes, the dismissal changed the balance. Yes, momentum shifted. But knockout football is rarely decided by a single flashpoint.The discussion centres on what Villa did next. The shape change. The substitutions. The tempo. The psychological reaction. Did Villa protect the game properly? Did they give up too quickly? Were there moments to reset that went unused?There is frustration, but not hysteria. Context matters. The red card altered the task, it did not remove it. We look at the fine margins that separate resilience from resignation.The bigger question running through the show is this:When the situation turns against you in a cup tie, how long do you stay in

It was flat. It was tense. It was not one for the purists or season highlights.But it was three points.Aston Villa laboured past Brighton in a game that never quite caught light. Tempo was slow, rhythm inconsistent, and the usual midfield control absent. Large spells felt like two teams cancelling each other out rather than one asserting itself.Then came the decisive moment.A late corner, a near-post run, and Tyrone Mings making sure someone attacked the space properly. In a match short on incision, it took authority rather than invention to break it.The performance lacked fluency. Brighton limited Villa’s creativity and exposed the absence of key midfield leaders. There were groans at over-elaboration and impatience at predictable build-up. Even the atmosphere reflected it, with noticeable empty seats and tension around ticket pricing bubbling beneath the surface.But the table does not ask how.Villa are still third and the Champions League conversation remains real. And at this stage of the campaign, wi

This game depends on context.On the surface, a draw after taking the lead feels frustrating. Dig deeper, and it looks very different.Aston Villa went to one of the league’s most awkward away grounds, against one of the form teams in the division, without their key midfield controllers. What followed was not control or fluency, but resilience.Villa started brightly, moved the ball well early, and took the lead through Rogers with a cracking finish that hinted at a comfortable afternoon. It didn’t last. Bournemouth raised the tempo, flooded central areas, and turned the game into a sustained physical and tactical test.Without Kamara, McGinn, or Tielemans, Villa struggled to slow the game down. Possession became survival rather than dominance. Bournemouth piled on pressure, racked up shots, and forced Emi Martinez into a genuine man-of-the-match performance.This episode breaks down why the lack of midfield control was inevitable, why the goal conceded was frustrating but out of character for the defence in

With Aston Villa dealing with a mounting midfield injury list and a January window shaped more by constraint than ambition, this main show takes stock of where things actually are. Not where fans would like them to be. Not where narratives suggest they should be.The transfer window assessment is framed through damage limitation, PSR pressure, squad balance, and the reality that replacing key midfielders mid-season is close to impossible.That context feeds directly into the on-pitch discussion, starting with a battling draw away at Bournemouth. Down bodies, short of control, and under pressure for long spells, Villa scrapped for a point that looked more valuable the longer the game went on. It wasn’t fluent. It wasn’t comfortable. But it was resilient.The Bournemouth game is treated as a stress test rather than a failure. A measure of how this Villa side copes when structure is disrupted and energy has to replace cohesion. There’s frustration, but also recognition that these are the moments that define whethe

The 1-0 home loss wasn't about a lack of effort, it was about what was missing.Aston Villa had the ball, the territory, and eventually a numerical advantage against Brentford. What they didn’t have were the midfielders who usually turn control into pressure. Kamara. Tielemans. McGinn. Without them, Villa’s dominance stayed neat, predictable, and ultimately harmless.This My Old Man Said post-mortem episode focuses on how midfield absences shaped the game. Villa circulated the ball patiently but lacked aggression between the lines, runners arriving with intent, or anyone prepared to take responsibility in tight central areas. Brentford were able to retreat, organise, and wait.Even after the red card, Villa struggled to change the pattern. Possession increased, urgency didn’t. The disallowed goal only deepened the frustration, with VAR dragging play back to find a marginal infringement and draining what little momentum Villa had built.Brentford didn’t steal this. They controlled any potential chaos and Villa lac

This should not have been complicated. Villa allowed it to be.Knowing a win would guarantee a top-two finish and second-leg home advantage in the Europa League knockouts, Aston Villa approached the Salzburg game with management in mind. For too long, that drifted into passivity.The first half lacked tempo and bite. Defensive concentration wavered and a young, fearless Salzburg side were given encouragement they should not have had. Villa looked like a team trying to coast a European night that demanded focus.The second half changed when Villa did. 2-0 down and the tempo lifted, intent sharpened, and the physical and technical gap finally told. Once Villa switched on, control followed quickly and the outcome that mattered was secured.This post-mortem looks at where Villa misjudged the night, why youth and energy became decisive, and how fine the margins are in Europe when game management slips into over-management.Villa got what they needed. In the end.UTVGet a Great NordVPN DealGet a cracking deal o

This was never going to be a glamorous window, but certainly few would have expected such a twist.With Aston Villa hit by a cluster of midfield injuries at the worst possible time, this transfer catch-up looks at the merit of the triple signings of former players, that were originally signed by Dean Smith. Are we upgrading? Gambling? Or is it just damage limitation?The conversation centres on the loss of Kamara, Tielemans, and McGinn and why that trio underpins almost everything Villa do well. Defensive stability. Control. Goal contributions. Take all three out and you are not tweaking a system, you are protecting one.That context frames the return of Douglas Luiz, the intrigue around Tammy Abraham, and the pragmatic reality behind Leon Bailey’s situation. None are presented as silver bullets. All are discussed as players at career crossroads, arriving not to transform Villa but to stabilise them.The sentimentality that the trio brings makes the signings a cut above a punt on an unknown, and all three have pr

This was the kind of away win that changes perception.Aston Villa went to St James’ Park, absorbed the noise, managed the pressure, and left with three points without ever losing control of the game. Not through survival. Through composure.This post-mortem focuses on how Villa dictated terms in an environment that usually overwhelms visiting sides. Newcastle had the crowd and moments of momentum, but Villa had structure, discipline, and clarity in their decision-making.There’s discussion of how Villa managed territory, why conceding space was part of the plan rather than a weakness, and how game intelligence across the pitch prevented Newcastle from building sustained pressure. Individual performances are assessed through the lens of control rather than volume.Breaking the two decade St James’ Park hoodoo matters not because of history, but because of what it says about where this Villa side is now.UTVGet a Great NordVPN DealGet a cracking deal on NordVPN with four months FREE & a 30 days money-back

THIS MATCH IS CRUCIAL wrote Unai Emery in the match programme notes for the Everton game. The players it seems didn't get the memo.Everton came to Villa Park with a clear plan and left having disrupted the one area Aston Villa normally rely on for control. The midfield. Not through brilliance, but through physicality, timing, and exploiting a lack of cohesion caused by Villa's injuries and enforced changes.This My Old Man Said post-mortem focuses on why Villa never established rhythm, why second balls kept going the wrong way, and how Everton repeatedly bypassed what is usually Villa’s strongest platform. Without stability in the middle, everything else felt reactive rather than controlled.There is discussion of personnel issues, structural balance, and how quickly control can evaporate when familiarity is lost. This is not framed as a season-long flaw, but it is a problem in the present tense. One that matters if left unresolved.UTVGet a Great NordVPN DealGet a cracking deal on NordVPN with four months FREE

Some games are not about flair. They are about control.As Everton arrive at Villa Park, this main show looks past form lines and reputations to focus on why Aston Villa are structurally well suited to matches like this. Patient play, physical resistance, limited space, and an opponent built to frustrate rather than entertain.The discussion centres on Emery’s evolving approach. Positional discipline, intelligent rotation, and letting the ball do the work rather than chasing it. Villa are not running more than opponents. They are running smarter. The Opta data backs it up. Fewer pressures, fewer recovery runs, and a squad that is being preserved rather than burned out.Everton are assessed honestly. Organised, stubborn, but limited. Short of goals, short of creativity, and reliant on attrition rather than incision. This is not a game Villa need to force. It is a game they need to manage.There is also look at Villa's squad depth, Kamara’s absence and recovery timeline, Torres’ return, January transfer noise, and

This one had everything a cup tie should.Noise, needle, moments of quality, moments of chaos, and a sense that one team understood the occasion far better than the other. Aston Villa went to Tottenham, took the FA Cup seriously, and left having knocked Spurs out for the second season running.This post-mortem doesn’t run chronologically. It picks out the moments that defined the day. Villa’s control in the first half. Two exquisite goals that reflected preparation and confidence. Spurs’ brief second-half push. And the way Villa weathered it without ever losing their grip.There’s discussion of Buendía’s influence, Rogers’ physicality, Tielemans’ intelligence in tight spaces, and why this game suited Villa’s evolving style perfectly. There’s also a wider conversation about mentality. About why some Villa sides of the past have treated the FA Cup as a burden, and why this one clearly doesn’t.From the scenes in the away end to the handbags at full-time, this felt like a team enjoying competition rather than managi

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 Un

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 guarante

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 GE

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 resili

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,

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 a

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 sq

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