This Sunday’s Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Manchester City certainly has the makings of a decisive game in the outcome of the title race. With City’s stuttering away form over the last six weeks seeing them lose three times in the Premier League, would a defeat by Villa on Sunday represent a fatal blow to their title chances?

Clearly Villa this season have been playing a drab brand of football that can in truth explain their abject league position. This for a club of Villa’s stature is simply not good enough. The appointment of McLeish has divided many Villa fans and seven months on we are no nearer a consensus on his status. Nevertheless, Villa in spite of their patchy form, Villa has over the last month or so begun to deliver performances that should in truth have given them greater reward than they have accrued thus far. With players of the calibre of Bent, Ireland, Given and a rejuvenated Robbie Keane, Villa should pose some serious questions of a City rear-guard which has looked suspect over the last month or so. While accepting that the suspension to Kompany robbed them of their talisman for four games, this cannot explain the general malaise that has crept into City’s play in recent times. Gibson’s goal for Everton saw him standing on the halfway line with Richards prior to the goal, yet by the time he reached the edge of the box, Richards was strolling back to see his team concede.

As potent as City have been as an attacking force over the last month or so, Silva hasn’t been at his best nor has Aguero, while Dzeko hasn’t been firing on all cylinders for what seems like an age. This brings me to a certain Mr Tevez. If ever there was a time to call for the return of the gifted and mercurial Argentine, then Sunday would be the perfect opportunity for him to return as they have been lacking a spark that he could undoubtedly provide. Conversely, on the Villa side with Keane departing to sunnier parts in a few weeks, they need to make the most of his tactical nous while they still have him on board. Villa during their emphatic victory over Chelsea at the end of December demonstrated that they possess the qualities to challenge the strongest of Premier League teams, so why not adopt the same approach for City on Sunday?

With Ireland beginning to look like a player again after two years in the doldrums, what better place to showcase his obvious ability then against his former employers who cast him aside when the oil money was pumped into the club? With a solid structure Villa should now be aspiring to be where Newcastle are, on the brink of Champions League football. Yet, they are instead a few defeats away from being dragged into a relegation battle that a squad of their talent should be nowhere near. The time has come for Villa to illustrate that this season will not just be another confined to the past, forgotten in an instant. They now need to stand united and play a brand of football not like the puke football the home fans have been subjected to on many occasions this season. For the talent available to them their approach should be positive and if they adopt such a positive outlook to Sunday’s crucial encounter then by Sunday evening, perhaps the Villa supporters may be rejoicing on the appointment of Mr McLeish after all.

For the past few season, Aston Villa has been a club on the fringes of crashing the “Sky Six” party. Coming into the 2011-2012 season, despite the appointment of Alex McLeish as manager, many supporters had hopes that Villa could challenge for a Champions League spot.  To this point of the season, however, Villa have found themselves in the middle of the table with no real sense of direction of what the club will do during the rest of the season.

The current Villa roster includes an array of promising players and some solid veterans. The likes of Darren Bent and Gabriel Agbonlahor provide many of the scoring opportunities while Stephen Ireland and Charles N’Zogbia patrol the midfield. Plus, the summer transfer signing of Shay Given has helped to give consistency at the keeper position.

So with these talent players taking the pitch for the claret and blue, why do they find themselves sitting in twelfth place? First, I feel that much of the blame has to be put at the feet of McLeish whose tactics are often questionable. The former Birmingham City manager often deploys some of the most dour strategies in the Premier League. He tends to have his squads pack it in and try to play strong defensive football. Villa ranks towards the top of the league in tackles and interceptions per game. But this defensive style often leaves no offensive attack as they rank near the bottom in possession percentage, successful pass percentage, and shots per game.

This style has led to inconsistency in the Villa’s results this season. One week Villa plays Manchester United in tough match, then the next week they lose to Bolton.  Recently, in a home match against a struggling QPR club, McLeish’s men found themselves down two goals at half time.  As the second half resumed, Villa began to attack more and eventually came away with a 2-2 draw.  To many fans, that is a fixture that Villa should have definitely come away with the full three points.  Instead, with a draw, Aston Villa remains a drift in the middle of the table.

There is also the possibility that the talent at Aston Villa is not at the level that many in the media make it out to be.  The Lerner ownership group has spent some large transfer sums on a variety of players that have failed to live up to their contracts.  For example, while Bent can be a fine goal poacher, he does very little on the pitch to make his teammates better.  This might not seem like such a horrible thing, but ownership paid over twenty million in transfer fees to acquire Bent.  At this point, it’s safe to say Villa have not received a return on their investment.

What Villa really lacks is a creative midfielder to orchestrate the offense in those rare moments when they possess the ball. There is optimism that N’Zogbia could eventually turn into that player that is able to unlock opposing defenses and generate more scoring chances Bent.  This sounds simple enough; however, most of the clubs in England are looking for players that can be inventive with the ball at their feet so the cost of these footballers will continue to rise making it difficult for Villa to secure a talented midfielder at the right cost.

So while there is some talent at Aston Villa Football Club, it is not of the same depth and quality as there is at the Sky Six clubs.  Maybe if McLeish alters his strict defensive tactics and gives the players more offensive freedom on the pitch, Villa can make a charge up the table and settle into a Europa spot which would give their fans optimism for next season.

Note: Follow Matt on Twitter @thehackreport

Two big FA Cup matches are on deck today. The 11am ET/4pm GMT kickoff between Arsenal and Aston Villa is the one that most will be interested in, but the 8.30am ET/1:30pm GMT match between Sunderland and Middlesbrough shouldn’t be overlooked either. Plus, we have the draw for the fifth round of the FA Cup, which is scheduled for approximately 10:40am ET today.

In 10 previous FA Cup meetings Arsenal have beaten Villa six times, lost three times with one draw, while Sunderland lead the Wear-Tees derby tally 59-45. This should be a straightforward win for Arsenal, but based on their confidence lately, it’s possibly that Villa could cause an upset. Arsenal will want to win especially knowing that Manchester United and City are out of the FA Cup. Winning some silverware this season would be vital for Arsene Wenger and the Gunners fans.

Having said that, Wenger will know that McLeish was the manager that helped Birmingham City beat Arsenal last season in the Carling Cup Final. This one should be an intriguing encounter.

In the early match, Middlesbrough, fifth in the Championship and hunting promotion under Tony Mowbray, have only won one of their last five. Meanwhile for Sunderland, Connor Wickham makes a rare start up front for the Black Cats.

Before, during and after today’s FA Cup matches, post your rants, raves, questions and observations in the comments section below.

Way back somewhere in the annuls of time; before the awe inspiring stadiums and the anti-sweat kits, before the mega millions and the sponsorship deals, before television and radio and the world wide web – back when the beautiful game was anything but. When football was little more than a pigs bladder and a muddy field, when the founding fathers sat down to discuss the soccer constitution – in those footballing scriptures it was written that an individual is destined to return to his former employer and net the winning goal… A tradition which has been handed down from generation to generation and it still prominent in the modern game.

When Robbie Keane’s first start for Aston Villa was decided to be the Wolverhampton Wanderers away fixture, it was almost like stating the bleeding obvious! The well-travelled former Wolves schoolboy turned Irish legend went Trans-Atlantic, returning from the glamorous backdrop of Hollywood to where it all began and won the game for Aston Villa with two classy strikes in this all West Midlands affair.

After lightning proved that it certainly can strike twice during two mind numbing FA cup ties with Birmingham City, (something that was borderline offensive to anyone that pays a TV licence fee) Wolves had much work to do to restore the faith that is forcibly ebbing away from their supporters. Having encouragingly proved much more difficult to beat during and since the festive period, Mick McCarthy was still looking for that 3 points that has eluded his Wolves side since that pivotal Sunderland game on December 4^th and returned with the same team and personnel that earned a respectable point at Tottenham one week previous. The 4-5-1 come 4-3-3 system with Jarvis and Kightly providing support for Steven Fletcher from the wings with the combative midfield trio of Henry, Edwards and Frimpong.

McCarthy’s opposite number for the day Alex McLeish is hardly flavour of the month himself. For a loyal and avid supporter of a football club, the fact that McLeish was ‘buried before he was dead’ when he joined Villa after relegating their bitter rivals Birmingham City is somewhat understandable. There remains a large number of the Claret and Blue that do not want the Scotsman to succeed purely on principle alone. The baffling inconsistency that has seen them defeat Chelsea away but lose to Swansea at home in the same week has not helped matters but is oh so frustratingly typical of the Premier League of today. Villa made clear their positive intentions finding starting roles for their three main strikers Agbonlahor, Bent and Robbie Keane all of whom have European Championship aspirations for the summer. Stephen Warnock fell victim to some recent costly errors and was replaced by youngster Ciaran Clark who was joined by another graduate of the Villa academy Gary Gardner who started in the centre of midfield.

The opening exchanges swept quietly through with little cause for concern for either side. Wayne Hennessey collected a low cross in the nick of time from the toes of Darren Bent whilst Gary Gardner headed narrowly wide as the away side looked to set the tempo. With both teams setting out similar stalls, that being a 4-3-3 when attacking and a 4-5-1 when defending, the early signs warned that they could easily cancel each other out in this important local derby.

That notion was quickly dispelled in the sixth minute as the action intensified and the game opened up. David Edwards helped on an initially poor Michael Kightly cross into the path of Steven Fletcher who from an unmarked position 6 yards out shot straight at Shay Given in a golden opportunity for the home side. The Irish number one’s handling and positioning was spot to spare his team not for the first time this season as he showed glimpses of why he is still one of the best around between the sticks.

The righteous hand of footballing justice dealt it’s unforgiving blow to the home side as they were made to rue their previous miss and Aston Villa drew first blood on 11 minutes. Christophe Berra has been a large part of Wolves recent defensive resurgence with much improved showings as Wolves have looked to toughen up at the back, but it was his hesitancy that will leave all the fingers pointing his way for the opener. An attempted clearance was chased down by Darren Bent who was then misguidedly taken out by Berra in an act of desperation leaving the referee with little choice but to point to the spot. Villa’s number nine stepped up and slotted bottom right to complete the proceedings and give the visitors a welcome early lead.

With Wolves fans fearing the worst and that heads might drop after that costly individual error, their demons were quickly put to rest as the home side raised their game and took control of the remaining 35 minutes of the first half. Tough tackling in the midfield from Henry and Frimpong helped Wolves win the majority of the all important 50/50’s whilst Wolves were intent on utilising their speed and trickery on the wings through Matt Jarvis and Michael Kightly. In his most pleasing performance since his return thus far, Kightly’s energy was absorbed by the crowd who lifted at the sight of his willingness to beat his full back and create opportunities for a Wolves equaliser. The wide man who is arguably the greatest coop in the McCarthy era at Wolves signed from Grays Athletic for a nominal fee back in 2006. His youthful exuberance coupled with his obvious pace and ability quickly made him the talk of the town at Molineux and he was an integral part of the transformation of Wolves from Championship underachievers to title winning heroes. Kightly’s chances in the Premier League have been few and far between as a nightmare two years on and off the treatment table threatened the status of the former England under 21 who was seen as a shoe in to go on to bigger and better things. Following his return from a loan spell at Watford, it was pleasing to see him looking fully fit and judging by his first half performance close to a return to his best form. Always willing, Kightly’s first touch let him down on occasion but he chased and harried and gave the young left back stand in Ciaran Clark a torrid time twisting this way and that and delivering some telling crosses. So fitting it was then that the former non-league boy wonder should level the tie. Kudos to Emmanuel Frimpong who took a ball out of the air on the half way line, flicked it over his head before refreshingly controlling well and surging forwards laying the ball into the path of the lively Kightly who feigned a shot before rolling the ball inside, composing himself and slotting home left footed to the delight of the Molineux crowd.

The atmosphere in the stadium was as good as it has been for a long time as the energy on the field filtered through into the crowd. Aston Villa were on the ropes as Wolves took the ascendency in search of another goal to compliment their positive reaction to falling behind. Neat foot work from Kightly and Jarvis kept Wolves in the Villa half as they went to town on their full backs. With pressure mounting and Collins and Dunne dealing with crosses left, right and centre the ball broke in the area to Karl Henry who looked out of his depth that far up the pitch as he volleyed into the floor from inside the area as his shot was headed off the line for another of a procession of Wolves corners.

Frimpong, on loan from Arsenal began to show his added quality as he traversed the midfield landscape tirelessly for the cause. With Henry happy to sit and protect, Frimpong was given the freedom to burst from midfield with the ball once more to excite the audience. After a lung bursting run he passed into the feet of Matt Jarvis who had gone coast to coast before pulling back across the box perfectly for David Edwards who had advanced into the area but was once again foiled from 6 yards by Given in a near carbon copy of the earlier opportunity.

Wolves fans cranked up the volume to levels reminiscent of the better days at Molineux as they sensed the ensuing advantage looming for their team. From another corner which the linesman did his best to prevent from being taken by physically getting in the way at one point, the pressure paid off. After a verbal altercation with the official Kightly whipped in the set piece from the right, for the second game in succession Roger Johnson supplied the telling header which was flicked on into the net by David Edwards from under the nose of Shay Given.

With the crowd reacting to the teams increased tempo, Molineux was buzzing. Villa fans were left with a familiar sinking feeling as half time approached, a harmless looping header from Gabby Agbonlahor was their only other telling contribution to the first half which belonged in most part to the home side. As half time was called Wolves fans applauded their team but would take the character filled first half display with a pinch of salt. After all, building their team up for a huge fall is something that Wolverhampton Wanderers have a habit of doing especially this season.

In a second half which would ultimately leave Wolves fans wandering just what must have been said at half time, the game turned completely on its head. McLeish reacted to his sides first half frailties by bringing on Stephen Warnock at left back to quell the evident threat of Michael Kightly, whilst Marc Albrighton switched to the left side of midfield to toil against Kevin Foley rather than Stephen Ward. The midfield ‘switcharoo’ looked promising in the opening minutes of the second half as Albrighton found himself advancing to the Wolves by-line before crossing into the six yard box which Stephen Ward then endeavoured to hesitate with before taking a touch past his own goal keeper. The Welsh keeper spared his defender’s blushes after the breakdown in communication as he swiped the goal bound prod away with his long legs.

On 51 minutes it was a case of cometh the hour, cometh the man, a journey which Robbie Keane made initially from a young boy with Wolves.  After spells at Coventry, Inter Milan, Leeds, multiple Tottenham stints, Liverpool, West Ham and Celtic on his widening CV whilst becoming the Irish national team’s all-time top goal scorer – Keane now plies his trade in the enviable surroundings of Los Angeles with Bruce Arena’s MLS Cup winning Galaxy team. He joined Aston Villa on what is becoming a fashionable two month off-season loan from America, Keane netted his first goal for his new side with the quality and precision of which we have become accustomed to over the years. Dropping off the strikers, Keane collected in an ominous position with his back to goal from twenty yards. In the blink of an eye he had turned and half volleyed beyond Hennessey’s reach into the bottom right hand corner of the net. Obviously excited by the fact he’d shown he’d still got it, Keane turned quickly but muted his celebration in respect for the Wolves fans who adored him all those years ago as he was mobbed by his team mates.

In a real disconcerting contrast to the even flow of the first 45 minutes, Wolves paled in comparison struggling to get any momentum and foothold in the game following the leveller. The crowd quickly turned sour hounding the team for every error as they drew on past experiences and feared the worst for the remainder of the tie. Whatever Alex McLeish told his players at half time had worked as Kightly and Jarvis were rendered almost useless as the second half wore on whilst Steven Fletcher was becoming more and more isolated up front.

Emmanuel Frimpong spent an age on the ground in the Villa goal mouth after a collision with Stilyan Petrov and was eventually stretchered off with an injury to which would later be revealed would keep him out for up to three months leaving a question mark over his loan spell which was just getting going.

As Villa took a grip on proceedings, Wolves began to crack. Their frustration all too evident as Karl Henry tussled with Albrighton as they battled for the ball on half way, before petulantly kicking out at the lively Villa winger and getting himself sent off. The reaction from the crowd was mixed as some chanted the number 8’s name whilst others recoiled in disgust of the mindless act which had left their team well and truly on the rails.

With Henry staring down the barrel of a three match ban, Frimpong having been carried off, Wolves looking overrun in a midfield which now consisted of only Milijas and Edwards, McCarthy made a change which appeared to signal that he was intent on limiting the damage and escaping with a single point which before half time he would have been disappointed with. Richard Stearman replaced David Edwards as Kevin Foley reverted to holding midfield in a possible rehearsal for the ‘Henry free’ period facing Wolves in the next three games.

Inevitably the misery was compounded by the former Molineux hitman as Wolves paid the price for their poor second half showing. From distance once again, Keane showed his quality striking sweetly against the bar and in to complete the turnaround and send the away fans into jubilation. A respectable lack of celebration once more was commendable from the Irish man who clearly held his footballing roots close to heart as along with Joleon Lescott he is the most successful product of the Wolves youth academy in the past decade.

McCarthy reacted by sending on Sylvan Ebanks-Blake in place of Kevin Foley in an act of hope rather than expectancy from his Wolves side unrecognisable from earlier on in the afternoon. As Wolves negated defence in search of an equaliser, Villa seemed happy with their efforts and were content to soak up the fledgling pressure and hold onto the lead which they had now gained twice in the day.

Villa withdrew the former Wolves man after his brace to which he received a questionably mixed reaction from the home crowd. For a man who has always held the club in high regard and sought only to admirably further his career, he would have been disappointed at the minority from the stands who jeered, labelling him ‘greedy’ and a mercenary. In reality, the previous three times that Keane has moved elsewhere rather than returning to Wolves has been a myth created in expectation from the stands. The boards scrutiny on wages, coupled with Mick McCarthy’s apparent eagerness to work with players of a lesser calibre meant that there was never an official approach for Keane, leaving the rest of us to wonder how those displeased supporters believe that he could sign a deal which was never offered in the first place…

Long balls, head tennis and a few innocuous set pieces later and the game was over. The talking points evidently again would focus on McCarthy’s half time instructions which produced a complete turnaround in fortunes for the opposition, the mindless actions of Karl Henry, the rolling reaction to Robbie Keane’s return to the club and where the club go from here.

After losing two first choice midfielders in the same game, it will be interesting to see how McCarthy reacts in the upcoming fixtures. Presuming that Frimpong returns to his parent club and Jamie O’Hara remains side lined; Mick will have Kevin Foley, David Edwards, Nenad Milijas, Adlene Guedioura and Eggart Jonsson from which to select a central midfield trio in the upcoming games. Based on previous experience however it would be of no surprise to Wolves fans to see the likes of Stephen Ward, Stephen Hunt and Kevin Doyle in the middle of the park – none of which play that position by trade.

Aside from the initial cracks, the successful return of Robbie Keane to haunt his boyhood club exposed the wider cracks emanating from inside of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Presuming for arguments sake that Keane had attempted to initiate a return to Wolves himself, a transfer which the majority of fans have been expecting since the clubs return to the top flight three seasons ago. The well documented ‘wage cap’ at the club would have limited any kind of deal even if they managed to agree a nominal transfer fee, and McCarthy’s voiced opinions of not wanting to work with any “Big time Charlies” i.e the better players from bigger clubs, is also a factor. The mystery figure that caps the expenditure is believed to be in the region of £25,000 a week which in this current footballing cauldron is quite minimal in comparison. It is also considered that only a select few, the likes of Roger Johnson and Kevin Doyle will earn anywhere near this figure. This limitation, however much financial sense it may make to the CEO and the money handlers, does not quench the thirst of the most important factor at the club – its paying public who expect to see something in return for the hundreds that they hand over per annum. Steady progression is the order of the day and they work on the belief that the longer you stay in the Premier league, the more attractive a prospect you become for the better players who will ultimately take your team to that ‘next level’. Of course however unjust it may sound, this comes at a price, it is the nature of the beast and the world we live in. In a sporting climate where agents are poisoning the minds of players who in turn are in cases holding their club to ransom, there is very little choice but to sink or swim. With a limitation on the funding, you are also preventing your own ambition.

In essence Robbie Keane would have been the perfect fit for Wolves in their current situation with the argument being that they too should have approached the Galaxy for a two month loan to bring the striker back to familiar surroundings. The argument against would be that his wages exceed the club’s personal salary cap and to take a player for only two months would be almost pointless. However, consider that the total expenditure for the two months would be £500,000 in wages give or take and CEO Jez Moxey would see it as ludicrous spending for someone who you could only get two months’ work out of. Next consider that Robbie Keane might next 6 goals in that period and win you 4 out of the 6 games, gaining an invaluable 12 points steering you away from relegation and ultimately saving you the all the money you would lose from falling out of the top flight and you have a suitable return on your investment. In addition for a club that has wasted double that figure in the past on transfer fees for the likes of Stefan Maierhofer, Greg Halford, Matt Hill and Steven Muoyokolo from whom they have had ZERO Premier League production and they become victims of their own hypocrisy. Although the £1 million transfer fees  seem nominal individually, they have all mounted up to over £20 million in wasted money on players who have made no contribution to the Wolves cause making a two month loan for Robbie Keane seem like very astute business considering what it promises to provide!

Stepping off of the soapbox, the current picture is now bleak at best. With Blackburn showing a willingness to compete, QPR looking to take off under Mark  Hughes and even Bolton’s fortunes on the up after beating Liverpool, Wolves have fallen into that perilous relegation zone for the first time this season. On the backs of a fruitless 10 game winless streak, the worrying aspect for their fans is after teetering above it for so long, how do their team and the seemingly ill prepared management plan on getting out of it for a third season in a row. There is a Gold n’ black S.O.S call ringing from the terraces, it’s up to you to decide whether it’s a case of ‘Save Our Season’ or merely ‘Same Old S**t’!

One day Robbie Keane will write/dictate his autobiography, and it will be filled with fantastic stories of playing football for some major clubs, living in Italy and the USA and full of scoring goals.

Keane marked his full Aston Villa debut on Saturday with two sublimely taken goals against relegation threatened Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Keane’s move to Villa was a surprise following a successful move to the USA’s Major League Soccer, where he help LA Galaxy to the MLS Cup. Though he only played in four regular season matches, due to signing at the end of August, Keane notched two goals. Though, he did play in the Galaxy’s play-off matches and Champions League games as well.

Perhaps his most important contribution was setting up Landon Donovan for the game winner in the Cup final.

Keane’s moved] to the Galaxy may have been one of the bigger moves he has made in his career. This is a man who has played for Internazionale, Liverpool, Celtic, Leeds, Tottenham and West Ham. Clubs he made significant contributions to (maybe not Internazionale and Liverpool), but there was always a time for him to leave those clubs.

Many believe money has been the most significant reason for Keane to move from club to club throughout his career. However, many of those times he moved to bigger clubs, and after his debacle at Liverpool it was a matter of playing time to preserve his position with the Republican of Ireland. Anytime a player moves to a larger club there is bound to be higher wages and transfer fees paid.

When Keane signed for the Galaxy last August, it was Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trappattoni who pushed Keane to find a club where he’d get regular playing time. That regular action was in the USA, rather, than in England or a return to Scotland with Celtic.

Keane’s loan move will end on February 25, allowing him to return to the USA for the MLS pre-season. Galaxy teammate Donovan is currently on loan at Everton, and David Beckham recently put his future on paper with the Galaxy as the club attempts to over take DC United as the winningest team in MLS history.

With Villa now reaping the rewards of a fit and firing Keane it can’t be denied that his move to MLS was successful. At 31, Keane still has years left in him. But in the immediate future the European Championships loom, and Keane will captain his country in the summer’s extravaganza.

After the Republic of Ireland’s failure (or whatever it was ) to qualify for the last World Cup, they are in a group in which a second place finish is not out of the question. It will, however, be a hard fight to obtain. If Keane can continue to fire he could seal his fate as one of the best players to come from the Republic of Ireland and finally get (some) respect that he deserves from his fellow countrymen.

Though Keane will return to the Galaxy in a month don’t be surprised to see him gracing the pitches of England again. If there’s one thing Keane has proved throughout his career, that is, he’s never in one place for too long.

On day three of cleaning out my garage, I found a pleasant surprise in a 1962 collection of 25 cards entitled “Football Clubs and Badges” from a company named Lamberts Of Norwich.

The cards were included in packets of tea from Lamberts. Each card features an English club with the club’s name, football kit, crest and kit colors, which are all beautifully designed. During the 1961-62 season, there were 22 clubs in the top flight. In the 61-62 season, Ipswich won the title, while Everton won it the season after.

The quality of the cards is exceptional. Click on the above image to get a larger view of the front of the cards to see the detail. It’s interesting to note how plain the Manchester United crest looks, how intricate the one is for Ipswich, the odd character emblazoned on the Nottingham Forest card (a forester, which is one of Nottingham Forest’s many nicknames), and the sad looking cockerel of Tottenham.

You’ll notice that there’s no Liverpool. The Reds were in the second division in the 61-62 season. And how about the surprise inclusion of Colchester United, who were in the Fourth Division at the time. Each of the cards contains a short history of the club, and the back of Colchester’s card mentions how their best season was in 1956-57 when they finished third. I can only presume that Colchester was included in the set of 25 cards because of its proximity to Norwich.

Eagle-eyed readers may notice that there are only 24 cards featured. The one that’s missing, which I do have, is the one for Luton Town.

See any other interesting observations about the cards? Share them in the comments section below.

Day two of cleaning up my garage unearthed some more gems. This time it’s “Football ’90,” which is a small stack of Panini stickers from the 1990-91 season. There are about 50-75 stickers in all, nowhere near the entire collection. But the first thing that jumped out at me is all of these long forgotten names who have drifted on to other lives. Maybe they’re still involved in soccer somewhere, or maybe they now have new careers.

Some more recognizable names are the ones pictured above. Everyone from a very young looking Alex Ferguson (before he was a sir), an even younger looking David Platt, the recently deceased Gary Ablett, ITV commentator and analyst Andy Townsend, Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker and, last but not least, the late great Brian Clough.

Another thing that jumped out at me while looking through the football stickers were the names of Luton Town and Charlton Athletic. While Charlton is in League One (the third tier of English football), Luton is now in non-league conference. How the mighty have fallen.

Here is what the Premier League clubs are wishing for in 2012:

Arsenal: Gunner fans are wishing that scoring machine Robin van Persie continues his torrid streak.

Aston Villa: That Alex McLeish has a method to his “managerial tactic” madness.

Blackburn: Steve Kean is renting and not buying.

Bolton: Club officials are wishing the F.A. will bring in two more clubs into the Premier League in hopes that Bolton won’t be relegated.

Chelsea: Andre Villas-Boas decides on the correct starting eleven for his club so that they can make another run at the title.

Everton: That Landon Donovan can breathe some fresh air into the Toffees offensive attack.

Fulham: Hopefully Martin Jol can unite his squad to make another run at a Europa spot next season.

Liverpool: Luis Suarez starts to be known for his play and not for his antics.

Manchester City: That the club continues their blistering pace.

Manchester United: Alex Ferguson uses his genius to figure out the midfield problems.

Newcastle: Demba Ba decides to stay with the club through the January transfer window.

Norwich City: That the club can continue their steady pace and enjoy a second season in the first division.

QPR: The Rangers magically figure out how to score more goals at Loftus Road.

Stoke City: To make sure that an away trip to Britannia Stadium remains a difficult test for opposing clubs.

Sunderland:  That the likes of Sebastian Larsson and Nicklas Bendtner give the Black Cats an offensive identity.

Swansea City: The Super Swans wish that Michel Vorm continues his ridiculous form at goalie.

Tottenham: That the Spurs finish in the top four and qualify for next year’s Champions League.

West Brom: The Baggies wish that Shane Long and Chris Brunt can continue to inspire their teammates in hopes of finishing in the top half of the table.

Wigan: That Victor Moses keeps playing with flair and goalie Ali Al Habsi remains one of the best keepers in the league.

Wolverhampton: Wolves wish that Bolton, Blackburn, and Wigan remain below them in the Premier League table.

Note: Readers can follow Matt on Twitter @thehackreport

As a 22-year-old American postgraduate student at the University of Reading, I’m in heaven.

Let me explain. Like an already massive and ever-growing number of American kids, I grew up playing soccer, and continued playing until I went to college. Watching soccer at its highest level, though, was difficult. Major League Soccer, when I was younger, was nowhere near as popular, successful, and competitive as it is now.

The Premier League hadn’t yet come to television in the United States as it does now, but times have certainly changed. Trust me. By living in England at the moment, I can watch far more Premier League games on TV in a given week in the US than I can in England.

I’m looking forward to getting home for Christmas and spending my mornings and early afternoons watching as many of the festive fixtures as I can. The jam-packed schedule at this time of year is the busiest part of the Premier League season, and there’s no place I’d rather be than home to watch it all.

With that said, however, as much as I love being able to watch games on TV, there’s nothing quite like attending a match in person. Television simply doesn’t capture the atmosphere of 30,000-40,000 fans chanting on any given matchday. It is an experience that is indescribable, other than to say that if you ever have a chance to go to a Premier League game, you have to do it.

As someone who loves soccer, though, I don’t just love the Premier League. I studied for a semester in London last year and was able to get to a number of games, including Fulham v Wolfsburg in the Europa League quarterfinals. I watched my favorite club, Aston Villa, on their away trips to Chelsea, Portsmouth, and Fulham. I saw Q.P.R. host Cardiff in the Championship, and League One Brighton host Bristol Rovers at the Withdean Stadium (perhaps the worst ground I’ve ever attended). Being in London was great; tube and train links to almost any stadium in London and cities beyond are fabulous, and travel was easy.

I’ve been in Reading since the beginning of October. Travel hasn’t quite been as easy, I must admit. Trains in England are now much more expensive than they were last year. That hasn’t stopped me from going to games, though, and here are some of my personal highlights:

Reading v Derby County (October 18): Sitting right next to the Derby bench, I watched their manager Nigel Clough repeatedly curse his own players with some of the worst expletives you’ll ever hear, and engage in entertaining banter with the home supporters in the crowd. The match ended 2-2, with all 4 goals coming in the last 30 minutes of the game. Oh, and Robbie Savage performed a Strictly Come Dancing routine on the field at halftime with his gorgeous partner.

Aston Villa v West Brom (October 22): This was my first trip ever to Villa Park, which gave me goosebumps when I saw it, despite the fact that the stadium is in the middle of a terrible neighborhood. On top of that, this is a heated local derby. West Brom stole a 2-1 win against 10-man Villa, and from my seat in the famous Holte End, I saw a penalty scored and a penalty missed, as well as that (incorrect) sending off.

Fulham v Wisla Krakow (November 3): £10 for a ticket to this Europa League game seemed like a great deal to me, and I was rewarded. Fulham won 4-1 with Andy Johnson scoring one of the best goals you’ll see all season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjBVJgWxad0

Villa v Norwich (November 5): My second trip to Birmingham was successful, with my boys winning 3-2 behind a great performance from Gabby Agbonlahor. My seat was right next to where some of the Norwich staff and players who couldn’t fit on the bench were sitting, and it was fun talking to them throughout the 90 minutes. Not as high-and-mighty as I expected professionals in their position to be. On the contrary, they were all decent guys, even in defeat.

Swindon Town v Aldershot (November 26): This was the most dominating performance I’ve seen, with the home side thoroughly deserving their 2-0 win and playing some great stuff on the way. Just as entertaining, though, was watching Swindon boss and West Ham legend Paolo di Canio, in typical Italian fashion, gesticulating wildly with his hands, talking excitedly throughout the game, and looking immaculately stylish in his expensive Italian clothes while doing so.

Television is great – don’t get me wrong – but you’re relying on the producer to give you views of everything. At a game yourself, you can watch whatever you want, and the beauty of soccer is you can see something different at every single game. It is the only sport where a team can be significantly worse than its opponent for 90 minutes and still win, or significantly better for the duration and still lose. As I said above, if you ever have a chance to attend a match in person, you simply can’t pass it up. You never know what you’ll see.

This Saturday, I’ll be going down to the South Coast to watch Southampton play Blackpool, and the hosts have won 19 league games in a row at St Mary’s Stadium. Even so, with the way Ian Holloway likes his teams to play, I wouldn’t be shocked if Blackpool came out of there with a result, and again, that’s just what is so special about this game we love so much.

Over the past few Premier League seasons there has been much debate about the growing number of foreign players in starting line-ups.  Much of this has surrounded FIFA’s proposed “6 + 5 rule” in which a team would have to field a starting line-up of at least 6 domestic players and no more than 5 foreign players.  Also in this debate is the Premier League’s rule requiring a team to name at least 8 “home grown” players to its 25 man roster.  The home grown player rule is less contentious, however, as it does not affect starting line-ups, it only takes up 32% of the roster, and a home grown player can technically be a foreign player as long as he has played 3 seasons in England before he turns 21 years old.  For the purpose of this article I do not wish to dive into further debate over these rules, but for the sake of speculation, let’s consider which current rosters would come out on top of the Premier League if they had to field an entirely “local” starting 11.

If you take a look at team sheets from a few decades back you will find every English club consisting almost entirely of players native to the British Isles. [For the sake of this article I am considering a “local” player to be from either the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland) or The Republic of Ireland.  Throughout the history of British Football there have been a consistent number of Irishmen plying their trade in England, therefore I do not wish to exclude them from consideration.]

For example, the legendary ’68, Champions of Europe, Manchester United team was entirely UK/Irish (7 Englishmen, 2 Irishmen, 1 Scot, and 1 Northern Irishman).  The Benfica side they faced was an entirely Portuguese roster.  Almost every other notable team sheet in this era was comprised of entirely homegrown players.  Jump ahead to the 1980 Nottingham Forest side that became back to back European Champions, and we see an all UK roster.  Brian Clough’s much lauded team had a starting lineup in the European Cup Final which included 6 Englishmen, 3 Scots, and one Northern Irishman.  Interestingly enough, the Hamburg side Forest defeated was entirely German except for a Yugoslav and an Englishman, Kevin Keegan.  Even as recent as 1992– the inaugural season of the Premier League–  the first round of matches only included 11 foreign starters out of all 22 teams.  Naturally, as our world has become increasingly globalized the Premier League has done the same.  In my opinion, this globalization benefits the league as a greater number of foreign players creates a more competitive and entertaining product.  That being said, however, I would like to take an in-depth look at current Premier League rosters and see who would reign supreme if teams had to field an entirely UK/Irish starting 11.

In order to build a fair argument I had to establish a few ground rules.  I analyzed every roster in detail, rather than simply tallying the number of Brits and Irishmen per team.  No one is allowed to play out of position and each team is required to use a standard formation (i.e. no outlandish 2-7-1). Therefore each team’s starting line-up must have at least 1 goalie, 3 defenders, 3 midfielders, and 1 forward.  Only the first team roster of 25 is eligible; reserve team and youth team players are not considered. Teams are allowed to call in domestic players currently out on loan as long as they have played with the first team before.

Here is how it all shakes out:

* Denotes teams that would need to call in players currently on loan.

Of the current 20 Premier League sides, only 15 could name an all UK/Ireland team sheet.  Of the 5 ineligible teams, 3 are technically only 1 player off.  Liverpool and Tottenham both could name rather strong domestic team sheets. However neither have a UK/Irish goalie on the books. Similarly, Manchester City boasts some of the most talented English players, yet cannot name a domestic striker in its roster.  Coming as no surprise to most, Chelsea and Arsenal are the two teams that are a ways off.  Chelsea weighs in with only 7 local players, all English, while Arsenal can only contribute 5 British players (4 Englishmen and one lone Welshman Aaron Ramsey). Of Chelsea’s 7, Ross Turnbull, Daniel Sturridge, Josh McEachern, and Ryan Bertrand have only been with the team since 2009.

Looking at the 15 teams capable of fielding an all UK/Irish starting 11, there are several interesting things to consider.  First, the teams that have been promoted over the past few seasons tend to have mostly domestic rosters.  Most notable of these is Norwich City, which only has 4 foreign players on the books.  This does not come as a shock, as local players tend to be more thrifty buys and the lower leagues frequently reflect this.  Second, a few teams would be forced to field significantly weaker sides.  The likes of Wigan, Blackburn, Everton, and Fulham would be missing some very key contributors.  And third, two teams stand out as being able to field very competitive sides: Manchester United and Aston Villa.  Both of the teams would have to omit some key players, Manchester United more than Villa, but each could turn out a solid all UK/Irish team sheet.  Let’s take a look at a sample starting line-up for each:

Manchester United

GK: Ben Amos

DF: Chris Smalling, Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Phil Jones

MF: Ashley Young, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs

FW: Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck

Subs: Tom Cleverly, Michael Owen, Darron Gibson, Ravel Morrison, Ezekiel Fryers, Ryan Tunnicliffe

Aston Villa

GK: Shay Given

DF: Alan Hutton, Richard Dunne, James Collins, Stephen Warnock

MF: Marc Albrighton, Stephen Ireland, Fabian Delph,

FW: Darren Bent, Emile Heskey, Gabriel Agbonlahor

Subs: Nathan Delfouneso, Ciaran Clark, Barry Bannan, Nathan Baker, Andy Marshall, Daniel Johnson, Graham Burke, Gary Gardner, Elliot Parish

After taking a look at these possible starting line-ups, I think it is Manchester United that has the edge.  While Villa’s 11 is a fairly recognizable team sheet, there is still more class in an all UK/Irish United side.  Although United would be without the likes of De Gea, Evra, Anderson, Berbatov, Park, Hernandez, Vidic, Nani, the Da Silva twins, and Valencia, the names remaining are a talented bunch.  With the exception of Ben Amos, the above starting 11 would not be a far-fetched team sheet for Sir Alex to call upon.  With Manchester United declared the winner, I would not go as far as to say that this makes them a better team, nor is it a key reason as to why they are reigning champions.  However, this fact should be a proud feather in the cap of a team with a long and prestigious history in Britain.