I will send a couple of  the lads a Text to wish the lads luck, and I will of course be watching,  will you ?

Express and Star: Villa are poised to offer Gerard Houllier a shock return to England after the Frenchman emerged as the leading candidate to replace Martin O'Neill.

Eurosport: Former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier has emerged as a leading candidate to replace Martin O'Neill as Aston Villa manager, according to reports.

ESPN: The agent of ex-Italy manager Roberto Donadoni has revealed that his client is "very interested" in the Aston Villa manager's job, adding that the former Azzurri midfielder "feels he could be a success there".

Sky Sports: Skysports.com understands former Italy coach Roberto Donadoni has applied for the Aston Villa manager's job.

Goal.com: Ex-Italy manager Roberto Donadoni has thrown his hat into the ring to become the next Aston Villa manager, according to his agent.

Aston Villa can confirm that Andy Marshall has been drafted into the claret and blues squad for the 2010-11 season.

The custodian has put pen-to-paper on a deal until June 2011.

The 35-year-old will act as goalkeeping cover for Brad Friedel and Brad Guzan.

Marshall was an integral member of Villa's title-winning Barclays Premier Reserve League South side last season.

"It's been in the pipeline for the last three weeks that it potentially could happen," he told avfc.co.uk.

"I was released in the summer with the possibility of coming back.

"I am absolutely delighted it has been done and I am very thankful for Kevin MacDonald for bringing me back because I have got a good relationship with Kev.

"I worked very well with him in the reserves with the young lads last season and he sees it as an opportunity to get Elliott (Parish) out on loan and get him some games.

"There is still the cover having myself here in case anything happens with either of the Brads."

Stiliyan Petrov and Ashley Young could come up against each other at Wembley tonight when the Villa skipper leads Bulgaria out to take on England in a European Championship qualifier.

The road to Euro 2012 kicks off this evening with a number of claret and blues stars in action for their respective nations.

Petrov is set to embark on his final international tournament qualification campaign, with Bulgaria getting their Group G campaign underway against the Three Lions.

With England in transition after a disappointing World Cup, Young will be hoping to add to his eight caps and stake his claim to be a regular in Fabio Capello's future plans.

In the same group, James Collins looks set to line up for Wales against Montenegro as John Toshack's team aim for a winning start to qualification.

The Welsh side face a tough away assignment at the City Stadium in Podgorica.

Collins brings crucial experience to the young Wales team and is likely to line up in central defence for his 35th cap.

Richard Dunne has been named in Republic of Ireland's starting XI to take on Armenia in Yerevan.

The defensive colossus takes his place alongside Preston's Sean St Ledger, John O'Shea of Manchester United and Hull City's Kevin Kilbane in Ireland's back four.

Giovanni Trapattoni's team will feel they have a good chance of competing in Group B, which also includes Russia, Slovakia, FYR Macedonia, and Andorra.

John Carew is set to sit out Norway's Group H clash against rivals Iceland, after sustaining a knee injury.

Nathan Delfouneso and Marc Albrighton are in Portugal for England under-21s' crunch Euro 2011 clash.

The under-21s still have hopes of reaching next summer's European Championship finals in Denmark but they must beat Portugal in the Group H clash in Barcelos.

England currently trail leaders Greece by five points, but a victory over Portugal could give them a fighting chance going into Tuesday's final qualifier against Lithuania in Colchester.

Barry Bannan's Scotland trail leaders by a point in Euro 2011 qualification Group I, ahead of tonight's crunch meeting between the two sides at Pittodrie, Aberdeen.

Moustapha Salifou's Togo are also in action this weekend. They travel to Botswana on Saturday in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

Aston Villa are preparing a surprise bid for Mark Hughes to become their new manager.

The current Fulham boss is just 33 days into his reign at Craven Cottage and The Times has reported Villa’s owner, Randy Lerner, has identified Hughes as his preferred choice to replace Martin O’Neill.

It’s uncertain if Hughes would be keen to open talks with the Midlands club or that Fulham chairman, Mohamed Al Fayed, is willing to allow his newly-acquired manager to leave West London.

Lerner has previously said he requires Premier League experience of his prospective manager, which would exclude USA coach Bob Bradley and Dutchman Ronald Koeman from his shortlist.

Hughes signed a two-year deal at Fulham on July 29, and has drawn all three of his Premier League games so far but he has not given any indication that he is unhappy with his new role at Craven Cottage.

Bookmaker William Hill has reduced Hughes’ odds from 12-1 to 3-1 favourite after they noticed a trend in high-profile bettors backed Hughes to leave his post at Fulham for Villa Park.

Caretaker-boss Kevin MacDonald has told Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner that he wants to be considered for the post on a permanent basis.

MacDonald has been in charge for Villa's opening five games of the season and has been determined to take his time before deciding on his future plans.

But the former Liverpool player wants to be considered as the full-time successor to Martin O'Neill who quit three weeks ago - five days before the new campaign got underway.

MacDonald previously had a spell as temporary boss at Leicester in the mid 1990s following the departure of Brian Little.

He has enjoyed mixed fortunes during his current tenure, steering Villa to two league wins out of three but also seeing them exit the Europa League at the final qualifying round stage.

MacDonald is aware that making himself available for the post does not mean he is guaranteed to be appointed.

"Who says I will be chosen? Whoever gets interviewed, if they come up with the right solution on how to take the club forward, that would be the right person for the job," he said after Villa's victory over Everton.

"It would help me being in the position. That would put me in a more favourable position than people who come in from the outside.

"But you then are going to look at people to be interviewed who have got a lot more experience, have won things and have done it at the highest level as well."

The likes of skipper Stiliyan Petrov, James Collins and Luke Young have all backed MacDonald to be made manager in the past few days.

USA manager Bob Bradley has signed a fresh contract to continue with his current job, effectively ending any possibility of becoming the new Aston Villa boss.

The 52-year-old had previously acknowledged that he would like to coach a European club someday, while recently admitting to have been interested in taking charge at Villa.

However, the US Soccer Federation has tied down the boss until the end of 2014, as a statement on their official website reads: "US Soccer has agreed to a contract extension with US men's national team head coach Bob Bradley.

"The agreement with Bradley, who guided the US team to numerous achievements including finishing in first place in their group at the 2010 FIFA World Cup for the first time in 80 years, will keep him at the helm through the end of 2014."

This comes in the light of Villa announcing that their hunt for a new boss is well under way, and that someone with prior experience in the Premier League — which Bradley does not have — would be the preferred person to succeed Martin O'Neill.

Luke Young has admitted he has received several calls asking if he fancies a move from Aston Villa - but isn't planning on going anywhere. Young rejected the chance to move to Liverpool earlier this month after being made available for transfer but now wants to play a prominent part for Villa.

He said: "I will feel more settled when the window shuts. There are still people ringing me, left right and centre to see if I'm available. "I want to play for Villa. That's why I came here in the first place because I knew it was a big club and for me, along with Tottenham, it's the two biggest clubs I've been at." Now Young is calling for Aston Villa to fill their managerial vacancy as quickly as possible and backed caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald for the role. MacDonald has promised to let Villa owner Randy Lerner know by tomorrow if he wants to be considered for the job on a permanent basis. Young believes he has the qualities to succeed but hopes Martin O'Neill's successor will be appointed sooner rather than later by Lerner.

The former England defender, hoping to rebuild his own career at the midlands club after scoring the winner in yesterday's Barclays Premier League clash with visiting Everton, said: "I hope now Kevin is given the chance if he wants to take it to be involved as manager. "I think it is important now to get this sorted out as quickly as possible. "God forbid if we had lost on Sunday. It would have been a long two weeks before we play again and there would have been a lot of doom and gloom around. "Perhaps we have given ourselves a little bit of breathing space to sort the managerial situation out. "But I think, as a club and as a squad, we need to know now if it is going to be Kev or someone else. "Hopefully that will be sorted out in the next week or so." Young believes former Liverpool midfielder MacDonald has the qualities for the job despite his limited managerial experience. He said: "I've worked with Kevin and I know he knows football inside out and he knows tactics and formations and he can see what is going right and what is going wrong. "I've played under a few people who don't know half of what Kevin does so footballing-wise he knows his stuff. "It's whether he wants to take the stress and what becomes with being a first team manager."

I would love David Moyes, He buys good players and makes them great, he has a good record with Everton, he would be ideal.

Im sure we will win 3-0 tomorrow night !!

Andy Carroll hit a hat-trick as Newcastle thrashed managerless Aston Villa 6-0 to register their first win back in the top-flight.

The visitors could have taken a 10th minute lead when Ashley Young was felled by Steve Harper in the box, but John Carew blasted the resulting penalty miles over the bar.

Just two minutes later and Newcastle were on their way when Joey Barton - who had vowed to shave off his much-ridiculed moustache with a victory - struck a sublime 25 yard effort into the top left-hand corner.

Kevin Nolan then hit a brace (31, 87) but it was Carroll who stole the headlines with a fine hat-trick (34, 67, 90) to send a delighted crowd of 43,546 at St James' Park into raptures.

It was the perfect response for Chris Hughton's men after the Magpies' Premier League return began in sobering fashion with a 3-0 defeat at Manchester United six days ago.

The Magpies were handed a further boost at half-time when they announced the signing, subject to a work permit, of Ivory Coast international Cheick Tiote from Dutch club FC Twente.

But for managerless Villa, who ultimately sent the Magpies down in May last year, their trip to the North East was little short of disastrous.

Newcastle boss Hughton spent much of the summer acknowledging that this season would present far tougher challenges than last season's Championship romp, and his caveats were echoed by managing director Derek Llambias in his programme notes for the game.

Lone strikerHughton, perhaps wary of the pace within the Villa ranks, once again fielded 21-year-old Carroll as a lone striker and charged skipper Nolan with the task of getting forward to support him.

With Stephen Ireland among the Villa ranks for the first time on his 24th birthday, the visitors arrived having been installed once again as one of the candidates to push the big boys all the way, and their afternoon might have turned out differently had they taken the glorious opportunity which came their way with just 10 minutes gone.

Keeper Harper was stunned to see referee Martin Atkinson pointing to the spot after Young had gone down as he attempted to round him.

Few inside St James' Park expected anything other than Carew to ram the resulting spot-kick into the back of the net, but the striker blasted his effort high over the bar.

Just how costly the miss would prove became abundantly clear before half-time as the Magpies made the most of their great escape.

There were just two more minutes on the clock when Barton picked up the ball 30 yards out, made a little ground and steadied himself before smashing a dipping right-foot shot over Brad Friedel's despairing dive.

Villa then looked unlucky not to be back on level terms on 24 minutes when Ashley Young had the ball in the net but was adjudged to be offside.

The Magpies again took full advantage of the let-off and just after the hour mark Jose Enrique got forward down the left and delivered an inviting cross to the back post for Carroll to head back towards Nolan.

Responded swiftlyThe midfielder's initial effort was parried by Friedel, but Nolan responded swiftly to head the rebound home from four yards.

Carroll - watched by Alan Shearer, the man who wore the number nine shirt he has now inherited - did not have to wait long for his chance and when it arrived three minutes later, he was not found wanting.

Richard Dunne failed to clear Mike Williamson's header back across goal from a Barton corner and the ball dropped perfectly for the striker to thump a left-foot drive home.

Villa left the field reflecting on a half during which they had enjoyed plenty of possession, but done too little with it, and on a defensive display which verged on the criminally negligent.

Newcastle returned in confident mood, but all the while aware that the visitors still represented a threat, although there was little evidence of that as the game approached the hour mark, prompting Emile Heskey's arrival in place of Marc Albrighton.

Indeed, the Magpies would have been further ahead with 62 minutes gone had Friedel not made a vital save from Wayne Routledge after Carroll and Nolan had combined superbly on halfway to play him in.

The respite was only temporary, however, and when Williamson helped the ball over the top into the penalty area five minutes later, Carroll lashed his second home from close range.

The whistle could not come soon enough for the visitors, but it did so only after Nolan had toe-poked home a fifth and Carroll had completed his hat-trick after a one-two with substitute Xisco to make it a memorable afternoon on Tyneside and ensure that Barton's moustache is a thing of the past.

Gabby Agbonlahor, Carlos Cuellar and James Collins are all out of Sunday's top-flight clash with Newcastle United.

But manager Kevin MacDonald hopes to have the trio available for the Europa League play-off decider against Rapid Vienna next Thursday.

Agbonlahor [back, hamstring], Cuellar [hamstring] and Collins [calf] all missed the opening Barclays Premier League clash with West Ham.

And none of the three have recovered in time for the St James's Park match this weekend.

Steve Sidwell [achilles] misses out too while Andreas Weimann was stretchered off in the Europa League first leg clash at the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium with an ankle injury.

MacDonald is waiting for the results of a scan before assessing the severity of the problem.

But in better news, the manager expects new signing Stephen Ireland to play a part this weekend.

He said: "Stephen is obviously going to be involved - whether he starts I can't tell you that.

"Regarding the others, Andy will not be available for a while now and the scan will tell us more.

"James , Carlos and Gabby are hoping to play in some kind of game early next week to hopefully be available for next Thursday but they won't be available for this week.

"The only other one is Steve, with an achilles tendon injury. Apart from that, it is just everybody back."

Stephen Ireland insists joining a "family club" was absolutely key to his Villa move.

Ireland was glowing in his praise of Villa - a "friendly" organisation he has admired from afar for many years.

He also said he was looking forward to a successful spell on the pitch, insisting he would be giving his all for both team-mates and fans alike.

He said: "I did a lot of research into Aston Villa before I came. I spoke to Darius Vassell, Richard Dunne - I spoke to a lot of people.

"I knew this was exactly where I wanted to go. I think Aston Villa is a very good family club - a club that will get the best out of me.

"With it being a family club, I know I'm going to see the same faces day-in and day-out.

"I spoke to some of the staff and they have been here for 16 or 17 years.I definitely want to be part of that.

"I have actually been shocked at how good it is - even though I have only been here for two or three days.

"I have settled in so well and so fast - they are really nice people. The chairman is really good here. I am really impressed with him. I really like him. I'm really fond of him.

"The club has really impressed me - the full package and that family feel. I feel I am going to be very comfortable in those surroundings.

"Even the young lads are just so polite. I am quite shocked with that too. I can really see myself having a good time here.

"I speak to Richard Dunne regularly - even last season I did - and he spoke so highly of the club.

"I have always liked Aston Villa, always liked coming here and playing. They were always a team I was wary of too.

"I feel the style of play, the fans - it's just really exciting. For me I can definitely push on and get back to playing the way I can.

"I am really looking forward to working with Kevin too.

"A lot of players will be wondering who it's going to be [the manager] but at the moment Kevin is calling the shots. We're all more than happy to be working with him now so until then we're just going to knuckle down and get as many points as we can.

"We might not have the same finances [as Manchester City] but we definitely have team spirit.

"We have a good bunch of lads who really want to achieve something. We are all a good age group as well and we have good ability at a young age so it could be a good journey for us all to do something together and achieve something big.

"I am impressed with the play on the pitch. Villa always play at a high intensity and that's the way I like to play as well.

"I like to attack and I like to defend - be involved as much as I can. With my first training session today, I haven't worked that hard in months.

"I was shocked at how hard it was and what high intensity it was too. For me I feel I can fit in quite easily and obviously bring something to the table. I think we can do something good together.

"I want to work hard for my team-mates and for the fans. When that whistle blows the least I can offer is hard work. I want to get assists and goals too, of course.

"But the very least I am going to bring to the game is hard work.

"I am extremely determined and really fired and ready to go. I want to start playing again because I have been missing it a lot. I want to play - and play regularly."

WE SHOULD ALL BE AS ONE !!

Arsenal  v  Blackpool         3-0

Bham   v   Blackburn          1-1

Everton  v  Wolves               2-1

Stoke v Spurs                       1-3

WBA  V  Sunderland            1-0

West Ham v Bolton              1-1

Newcastle v Villa                  1-2

Fulham v Manchester United      1-1

Man City v Liverpool    2-0

Newcastle v Aston Villa, Sunday, 22 August 2010, 13:30

Aston Villa are set to hand a debut to midfielder Stephen Ireland in Sunday’s Barclays Premier League clash with Newcastle at St James’ Park.

Ireland is in line to make his bow after his arrival in midweek from Manchester City as part of the deal which took James Milner in the opposite direction.

Villa caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald is set to make sweeping changes to the side that started last night’s 1-1 Europa League draw against Rapid Vienna with central defender Richard Dunne returning after being suspended for the clash in Austria.

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel, midfielder Stiliyan Petrov, full-back Luke Young and winger Ashley Young are also set to return.

Striker John Carew should be fit after a knee injury but fellow forward Gabriel Agbonlahor (hamstring), midfielder Steve Sidwell (Achilles) and central defenders James Collins (calf) and Carlos Cuellar (hamstring) are under treatment.

Rookie Austrian striker Andreas Weimann is out after suffering an ankle injury against Rapid - his former club.

Team (from): Friedel, Guzan, Warnock, Dunne, Davies, Beye, L Young, Albrighton, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Ireland, Downing, A Young, Carew, Bannan, Delfouneso, Hogg, Heskey, Osbourne, Clark, Lowry, Baker.

Aston Villa caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald praised the performance of his youngsters following their draw against Rapid Vienna.

The Scot, who is in temporary charge following Martin O'Neill's shock departure earlier this month, once again gave youth a chance against the Austrian side in a 1-1 draw at the Gerhard Hernappi Stadion.

MacDonald fielded youth team graduates Marc Albrighton, Barry Bannan, Jonathan Hogg and Eric Lichaj from the start and was immediately rewarded, with Albrighton setting up Bannan to score an early opener.

Despite the impressive Albrighton and Bannan being withdrawn due to fatigue, MacDonald insisted that his choices were justified and was proud of his players.

"I'm very proud indeed," said MacDonald when asked for his feelings on his young players.

"It was an education for the boys, who played in patches, but I was pleased with all of them because it's not an easy place to come.

"But it was gratifying to score a goal away from home, with the two of them (Bannan and Albrighton) doing very well.

"It was a good finish, a good goal, and I'm sure you could see the elation in their faces when we did score.

Camaraderie"There's a very strong camaraderie amongst that group of players."

MacDonald has been praised for his willingness to persist with some of Villa's younger stars, prompting many, including captain Stiliyan Petrov, to appeal to owner Randy Lerner to reward him with a full-time role.

However, the former youth coach would not be drawn on his future, stating that he did not know whether he wanted the position on a permanent basis.

"I still don't know about that," said the 49-year-old.

"It was good, but I don't know how good it was. Sat down there (in the dugout) you don't see everything.

"I'll have a look at the video because it's not just the play, it's reacting to the place you're in that gives you an education."

West Ham line up £2.5m bid for Luke Young

Manager Avram Grant is desperate to sign a right back before the end of August after West Ham failed to bring in a replacement when Lucas Neill left the club.

Young was recently linked with a move to Liverpool, but despite the two clubs agreeing a fee, reports suggested he was not keen to move up north and would favour a move back to London.

The 31-year-old enjoyed successful spells with Tottenham and Charlton and would be guaranteed first-team football at Upton Park.

West Ham’s defensive problems continued as they crashed to a 3-0 defeat against Villa on the opening day of the season.

Grant is keen to bring in some big name signings and has the backing of his co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan.

James Milner hopes Aston Villa fans understand his decision to leave for Manchester City.

Milner hopes there will be no hard feelings from Villa supporters, who gave him a warm send-off in Saturday's 3-0 win over West Ham.

He said: "I loved every single second at Villa.

"Hopefully the fans know that every time I stepped out on the pitch I gave 100 per cent for them."

Now lets Kill them at the church Villa Park

UTV

I said 1-1 at the start, but we can nick this,  Bannan is great we have to play him and keep him.