Guthrie, Taylor and Pardew on Aston Villa.

Don't ever forget this!
The last time we played at Villa Park on a Sunday it was a memorable affair, for all the wrong reasons.

That day – 24th May 2009 – will be forever etched in my memory.

Needing just one point to survive, a team that had one of the highest wagebills in the Premier League set about putting one of the weakest and limpest performances that I can remember from a side wearing black and white. We, the fans, needed those big money names to stand up and be counted, but we were let down and off we went to The Championship.

To make matters worse, Villa fans celebrated in the stands as though they had won the FA Cup. Banners were unfurled and fans rejoiced at the demise of a team that had no history with them. ‘Sob on the Tyne’ and ‘Who’s your next messiah?’ stick in my mind, and they have done ever since.

Now it’s the time for payback. You could argue some of that was dished out back in August when we beat them 6-0 at St James’ Park was just that, but it’s not the same as doing it in their own back yard.

In what is almost a carbon copy of the situation that we found ourselves in during the relegation season, Villa find themselves with off-field trouble, fan unrest, one of the highest wagebills in the Premier and a team that look so out of sorts and short of confidence that it’s hard to imagine just why those players earn such fantastic money in the first place.

Karma would be partially restored if we could beat them on Sunday, but it won’t be fully restored unless our defeat hammers another nail in their coffin and they end up relegated. Bitter? Just a tad.

My own personal view is that Villa are in a false position and have better players than their league position suggests (sound familiar?) so it wouldn’t surprise me if we lost on Sunday afternoon. The one thing that is different for Newcastle this time around is the attitude of our players though, and they will be more motivated than ever to set the record straight.

First up is Danny Guthrie, who played the full 90 minutes of that game at Villa Park:

“It’s strange – it seems like they’re in the position we were in,” Guthrie told The Chronicle. “It was a horrible day, and no one’s forgotten it. It would be nice to do it for the fans. Some of the lads are still here from that day, so it would be nice to put one over them.”

Then there is Steven Taylor, who also played the full 90 minutes that day. He told the Shields Gazette:

“Villa’s an important game, and we’ll go there looking to take the three points. We all remember what happened there, but we don’t need any added motivation.”

Whilst Alan Pardew, who had nothing to do with that day, has said that he understands the feelings regarding that day and wouldn’t be surprised if it was used to motivate the players.

“I’ve heard the story, but I didn’t witness it,” said Pardew. “I’m very much aware of the feelings of our fanbase. Subconsciously, a little bit of that might be taken into the game, I’m not going to disguise that.”

Realistically though, and as much as it would be nice be nice to send Villa deeper into the doo-doo, we need the points for ourselves regardless of their own situation. Karma should take second place on Sunday as what really matter is what is at stake for NUFC – and that is taking a step closer to Premier League football next season.

Howay the lads!

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

46 thoughts on “Guthrie, Taylor and Pardew on Aston Villa.

  1. “My own personal view is that Villa are in a false position and have better players than their league position suggests”

    I think they have a much better squad than we did then. They might be the best club on paper to ever get relegated.

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  2. have you seen the PFA nominee list Toonsy? It’s conspicuous by the absence of Tiote and Barton 😡

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  3. MikeAshleysWallet
    Posted April 8, 2011 at 2:30 PM

    “have you seen the PFA nominee list Toonsy? It’s conspicuous by the absence of Tiote and Barton”

    Aye I seen it the other day. It’s also missing Kevin Nolan. I mean if Charlie Adam is good enough then surely so is Nolan? He has outperformed Adam in pretty much every department so far this season….

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  4. I’m gutted I can’t be there to be honest, really want to go back and see us win after last time.

    If Villa go down it’ll be justice without a doubt – the way they went on, the banners they had out. Pisses me off even thinking about it.

    Anyways i’ll be watching it on TV, we need to put things straight get a win and put them in the relegation fight down there.

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  5. Am I right to be worried about this game? I have a feeling we’re going to get pumped 😕

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  6. No Toonsy, you’re right to be worried. Aston Villa have a team filled with the players we can’t handle.

    Fast, skilled players who can dribble the ball and run with it. We can’t handle these guys and if they play well, we’re gonna struggle to get a draw.

    If they play to form this season, however, we have a team full of players they can’t handle as they are not a physical team.

    I think this is gonna be a heavy loss for someone, not sure who though.

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  7. I think we will get a point , i know we are missing some inportant players but i think we have enough defensivly to get a point out of the game , Cant see us winning tho

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  8. I think our success will boil down to how well the wingers protect Simpson and Ferguson from Young and Downing. If they double up on them effectively I reckon it will limit them considerably. If we go too gung-ho and leave Young running at Simpson I fear for what will happen. I would love for us to beat them like or even a draw would be a v good result. If we won and it put them in more trouble it would be the perfect comeback from the last time we played there. I hope the significance of it isn’t lost on the players and we play with a bit emotion, without doing anything silly. In the 6-0 they started well and were on top until Carew missed that penalty, once we scored a couple they just seemed to crumble. I think just like the Wolves game it will be very important that we get the first goal.

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  9. there is ryan taylor on one level. okay he is versatile.

    then there is marcelino and alain goma

    then there is james perch. If I was james perch’s parents I would be ashamed at how he has conned this club by us paying upwards of £1,000,000 and paying his weekly wages which will be around the 10k mark. Abysmal

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  10. Liam – To be fair you can’t blame Perch for taking what was offered. Most people would do exactly the same.

    Blame the people who offered it to him 🙂

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  11. To be honest i’m one of those people who seek perch out as a scapegoat as often as possible. It would’ve been Calderwood ‘waxing lyrical’ about him and Hughton would’ve just took his judgement because Hughton is just a weak man in general.

    Atleast Perch knows his place now. That’s the main thing

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  12. LiamTheMag
    Posted April 8, 2011 at 4:01 PM

    “Hughton would’ve just took his judgement because Hughton is just a weak man in general.”

    😯 😯 😯

    That’ll upset some people 😆

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  13. Hahaha don’t get me wrong I like Hughton and he did well and I was the first to ask questions when he was sacked but you couldn’t see him taking us on to bigger things.

    You couldn’t imagine him to have full control of the dressing room when things weren’t going so well…

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  14. Liam the Mog
    I don’t think things were going well when we got hammered in the pre season friendly against L.orient.
    Things certainly improved after that.
    Are you sure you know how Hootz would perform under pressure?

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  15. I hope we batter those brum w@nkers. After our relegation season and the banners they so proudly displayed at Villa Park… I hope we absolutely annhilate them. 11-0. And then wor joey takes a **** on their pitch lol.

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  16. Stuart – I’d assume as it’s a little less intense after six months out, plus the fact that they will be training for a game on Tuesday and will more than likely have the Wednesday off.

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  17. Yes, I agree Bobby Sh*ton number 9.

    With characters like Nolan, Barton, Smith and co. you knew that once we sold all of the deadwood after that game, things were looking up.

    I give Hughton immense credit for that season but it is easy to give credit considering we had the best squad the championship has ever seen. The signings of Mike, Routledge and Best were quite astute as they got us winning by bigger margins in the second half of the season which helped us runaway with the league. I also give Hughton a lot of credit for bringing Carroll through but again, any manager would look at playing such a powerhouse of a front man as it’s what every good championship team has.

    The confidence of that season added with the Carr signings of Tiote and Ben Arfa plus the development of Carroll and Barton as some of the leagues stand out players and of course Hughton all get credit for our great start to the season.

    But you have to ask the questions: Why wasn’t he given a new contract? and after a slight downturn in results why was Hughton immediatley sacked? It’s not like we wanted a ‘bigger name’ because Pardew isn’t exactly massive but it’s obvious that word got through that Hughton wasn’t up to the job.

    There are bound to be people saying ‘FAT ASHLEY RUINING THE CLUB. COCKNEY MAFIA OUT!’ and all this sh*te. But you don’t just deliberately not give a manager a new contract after a successful spell for no reason?

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  18. Liam the mug
    (just jokin)
    Have you considered Hootz was after an improved contract and was in a strong negotiating position.?
    Pards has allegedly come in on a pay as you win contract. Hootz was after security if you read between the lines at the time.
    Was Pardew in debt to Ashley? Did Pardew talk the talk to Ashley and Lamearse and convince them he was their man? He’s more than capable of giving the big speech.
    It’s all guess work but you can’t rule it out just like you cant rule out Hootz could take the pressure of bad results.

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  19. Dont understand how you can sugeest Hughton is ‘ just a weak man in general ‘ ? What proof have you got of this? I would say he is a very strong willed person. He ran the team they way he saw fit. Fair enough Ashley didnt back him , but i dont think he is weak. Far from it.

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  20. JT would there be anybody that could be “strong” against ashley and stay in a job,if your strong your gone,has nowt to do with being weak imo

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  21. @Bobby

    Hughton could’ve easily been given a long deal after the Arsenal win or the 5under1and win and I admit I was one of them calling for him to get a contract. You’re right it is all guess work but all we can go on is facts.

    The facts are Ashley did not trust him with the team for one reason or another and that is obviously because he doesn’t see him taking us further on that getting us promoted (looking back I believe Hughton would’ve been sacked much earlier should we not got off to such a great start).

    By keeping us in the Premier League Alan Pardew has proved to me he is the man for the job and it’s a chance Chris Hughton never got and you have to underline that there is a concrete reason for that.

    @Johno

    Fair enough but you don’t know Hughton as a person. Yes he is dignified but can he pick the team after a bad run. Mike Ashley thinks not and you can’t argue if Pardew keeps us in the Prem.

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  22. thats how id see it as well ice. If ashley going to something wouldnt matter if it was Fergie or Jose in the job i think Ashley would do it , Hughton prob didnt have much clout out side of the 1st team but he ran it they way he wanted to , an example of this was the lack of stories been leaked to the press , everything was handled in house as that is they way he wanted it to be,

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  23. Im not saying I know him as a person but Im sure you dont either ,

    We had a bad run of results leading up to the win at the Emirates and the 5-1 win against sunderland so he could pick the team up after a few bad results. You are right its down to Ashley how Ashley runs the club , n most of it has been very good imo n Pardew has done a decent job so far but I think its unfair to label Hughton as weak

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  24. Lame the man
    So cos Ashley did not trust him you assume Ashley must be right about a football decision?
    Really? Need I say more?

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  25. Johno how do you know it wasn’t the senior players that picked the team up for the **** game.
    I have said all along that I thought the senior players had to much influence over CH and when it came down to making hard choices I honestly dont think CH had the Steel to make big decision. there was times that some big players should have been dropped or subbed but it never happened, even Joey came out and said he thought it was unfair that he was taking the place of one of the younger players while he was being played while carrying an injury. I just think he was too nice a guy that was honest and hard working but lacked the steel to say it how it was.
    I can remember a few games where the players hardly even turned up to put a full shift in, and you can expect that to happen once in a blue moon but generally the manager will make sure it doesn’t happen again by telling the players that it was not acceptable but it happened again.
    I also think the Fat c’nt would have been pretty pissed that he was trying to get the younger players to become part of the team but they never really got a chance even when promotion from the fizzy was secured.

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  26. Meant to add that if the players needed to be “picked up” for the 5under1and game then they shouldn’t be here, most managers will tell you that players are always up for a local Derby 😉

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  27. Dave why stop there with senior players picking the team? I bet Ashley picked the team….

    Im not saying Hughton hadnt got faults , he did and one of them was senior players did have too much influence and taking too long to making subs n its a fair point to say he is a nice guy and to question his lack of steal to say it how it was esp in the media. Fact us nobody will know what he was like with the players due to everything been kept behind closed doors. He did show steal n determination in finishing off the league campagin last season , we never took the foot off the pedal. Now you could say that was senior players again ( n maybe it was ashley ) but Hughtons name was on the managers door so he gets the credit in my eyes 🙂

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  28. Apart from the Mackems, Villa are my most hated team because of the way they acted.

    I hope they go down so I can celebrate the way they did. The only difference would be that we have a reason, they didn’t.

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  29. I hope we kick the **** out of them. 3 points and a big “**** you” please!

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  30. You could certainly see your enthusiasm within the work you write.
    The arena hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe.
    At all times go after your heart.

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