West Midlands football: Villa a top 5 PL team? Wolves feelings towards O’Neil and more

National World - LocalTV

Full version of the BirminghamWorld Q&A.

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00:00 Charlie, let's just take a look at Aston Villa. Obviously, incredible how much has changed

00:05 in the last year under Unai Emre. How well established are they in the top of the table

00:11 now? How are the fixtures looking ahead? It's certainly looking positive for them.

00:16 Yeah, it's incredible really what Unai Emre has done. We spoke last week about how he's

00:20 now reached a year at the club. It feels like a lot longer than that because of how much

00:24 has happened. Down in the relegation battle, of course, ends last season. On the final

00:29 day against Brighton, they got a win to get European football. This season, they've started

00:33 even better. The first game wasn't great. A 5-1 defeat to Newcastle United, but they've

00:37 really pushed on from then and only lost one match since then. Seven wins in their opening

00:42 ten matches, well into the top five. Five points clear of Newcastle, actually, which

00:47 is a bit incredible considering the opening day result. Five points clear of Brighton,

00:52 seven clear of Man United, eight clear of West Ham. I could go on. They are solidified

00:56 in that fight. Unai Emre, actually, in his press conferences, is still saying he doesn't

01:01 think they're contenders for top four. He's even unsure if they're contenders for top

01:06 seven and he keeps linking back to the seven clubs he thinks will go in there. Chelsea

01:10 are one of those he thinks will finish above them. I think he's just trying to stay humble

01:15 at the moment. If it carries on until beyond Christmas, surely Villa are going to be contenders

01:20 in there. It is looking very promising. In terms of next fixtures as well, Forest away

01:25 isn't easy, although they're not in the best of form. It's definitely a very difficult

01:29 place to go. Another European game followed by Fulham and Tottenham. Fulham as well, actually,

01:36 start to pick up results as well. It's not an easy run for them, but they've proven over

01:40 recent weeks that they can beat just about anyone.

01:43 Charlie, looking at Wolves, obviously, more VAR controversy this time against Newcastle.

01:49 It just seems to be a bit of a recurring theme there. What are the general feelings towards

01:56 Gary O'Neill now, though, as he's took over, he's had some fantastic results and unbeaten

02:01 in October. It was quite a fantastic month for them as a whole. How do you think he's

02:05 being received now from the modern new crowd?

02:09 I think it's very mixed, actually. The results have been very impressive. Five games now

02:13 in a row unbeaten in the Premier League, beating Man City amongst that, drawing against local

02:19 rivals Villa, beating Bournemouth, going back from being 1-0 down to winning 2-1, and then

02:24 drawing 2-2 of Newcastle, one of the best form teams in the whole division. I don't

02:28 see why people could be unhappy with it, but I've seen on social media lots of reactions

02:33 still to replying to Wolves posts saying, "Oh, what's Gary O'Neill doing here? PE teacher,"

02:38 all of this. He's getting quite a lot of abuse. I did think at first maybe he's not quite

02:44 the manager he makes out to be, but I'm starting to believe from my perspective that he's actually

02:48 very clever. He's very intelligent from his Sky Sports appearance as well on Monday Night

02:53 Football. I think he showed how much he goes into the tactical side of things before every

02:57 single fixture. You would expect that for a Premier League manager, but actually seeing

03:01 it and the genius behind it, I think it's quite encouraging. Maybe the Wolves fans sending

03:07 abuse didn't watch that and they haven't been considering the details on the pitch, but

03:11 I think definitely good signs. Of course, against Newcastle, if it wasn't for such an

03:16 awful VAR decision, it could have been a win.

03:19 How much do you put down to Wolves' success, the fact that they are scoring goals now?

03:24 Obviously, we spoke last season, they still were struggling to find the back of the net,

03:29 maybe 1-0, very unlikely 2-0 here and there, but they are scoring goals now. Huang Yichang

03:35 is down 6 already in the Premier League. It's just looking a lot more positive. This must

03:40 be a huge turning point for his side at the moment.

03:44 Definitely. We saw under Lopetegui that, although he got so much praise and did an incredible

03:48 job to keep Wolves up and to get to the 40 points, the goals from strikers were non-existent.

03:53 It was a calendar year without a striker goal and now we're seeing plenty. Whether Huang

03:58 Yichang can officially be counselled as a striker or not, it goes down as that. There

04:03 weren't any goals coming from attackers last season. I think it's definitely been a very

04:08 good improvement. Pedro Neto has been key to that as well, with his chance creation,

04:12 finally back to his best under a manager he seems to be enjoying playing under. I think

04:17 it has to go to the manager, the credit, because of the way he's playing. He's very expressive.

04:22 It's not long ball anymore, it's actually taking players on and trying to be clever

04:26 in possession. Definitely a great improvement from Wolves in the goals-scoring front.

04:30 Charlie, on to Birmingham City. Obviously Wayne Rooney coming in, controversially received

04:35 as a club decision. Three losses on the bounce. This is something that could very quickly

04:41 go from very bad to even worse, isn't it?

04:44 He came in and people were a bit apprehensive as he got the tactical ability to perform

04:50 in the Championship. His win rate wasn't very good at Derby County, of course lots going

04:54 on there so you can't blame him. But DC United as well, not the best record in the MLS and

05:00 it's carried on at Birmingham. Three games in a row without a win, all of them being

05:04 defeats, just one goal scored in that period, whereas six have been conceded. It is worrying.

05:10 And the next games to come, Ipswich Town at home on Saturday, which for Birmingham is

05:16 an incredibly difficult fixture. Ipswich look as if they're going to get top two, maybe

05:20 even fight for the title. And then Sunderland away, a team that in tremendous form at the

05:24 moment, Jack Clarke, the top scorer in the entire division. That could quickly go from

05:28 three losses to four to five. After that is Sheffield Wednesday at home, so you'd hope

05:34 that they'd win that one. They lost that as well. I think Rooney's head might be gone

05:38 already. So I think you've got to look at the opposition, they're tough. He's not had

05:43 an easy start and he's not really had much backing either from the fan base. So I can

05:47 get kind of feel a bit empathetic for Rooney, but at the same time, the results have been

05:51 appalling.

05:52 Charlie, finally on West Brom, obviously a clinical win away at Coventry last time out,

05:58 but they do face a tough run of fixtures now. Will this really be a big test for them moving

06:04 forward?

06:05 I think so. Yeah, two wins in a row now, back into the top six, but it's so tight in the

06:10 championship. Preston, who started the season so well, have fallen out of that now, but

06:14 they could well turn things around again. Middlesbrough lost, but they had five or six

06:18 wins on the bounce before that. There are loads of teams that are going to be trying

06:20 to take those places back from West Bromwich Albion, but two wins in a row that have been

06:25 two goals to nil as well, and they've been a lot more clinical. Can they do the same

06:30 though against Hull City, who've been not exactly high on the table, but Liam Rosini

06:34 is doing a fantastic job there tactically. Southampton away from home, Ipswich at home,

06:39 and then Cardiff City, who, you know, as a side last season, you think easy win, but

06:44 this is very different. And then Leicester at home and then Sunderland away. The run

06:49 throughout November and into December is just horrific. So it could go from the baggies

06:54 being in fifth place now to right in the bottom half after those games, or it could be very

06:59 decisive for their season. Either way, as I say, these matches are vitally important.

07:05 Can they beat the big boys home and away? We'll wait and see.

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