My Old Man Said Podcast

The season is done. The trophy is in the cabinet. The top-four finish is banked - literally. And now — with the confetti swept and the open-top bus parked — it's time for the honest debrief. This week's episode is a free-form end of season conversation covering everything from the new 2026-27 home kit to Ollie Watkins' late-season renaissance, from the tipsy final day at Manchester City to the question that will define next season before it has even started: does this summer's transfer window signal genuine ambition or cautious consolidation? There's also the numbers. A set of statistics on Emery's Clipboard that reframes the entire 2025-26 narrative, and they're not entirely comfortable reading despite the trophy and the top-four finish. When you look at how Villa performed against the teams they should be beating, the picture is rather different from the one the league table tells. On pricing, the annual conversation takes a sharper turn. The normalisation of a 5% rise — supporters beginning to treat it as expected — is identified as the real problem, not just the percentage itself. And the summer. What kind of signing changes the trajectory? What does a catalyst look like? Why does it matter for the players already in the building, not just the ones arriving? Europa League winners. Fourth in the Premier League. A UEFA Super Cup against PSG on the horizon. The MOMS end of season conversation has a great starting point. UTV Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out all the 2026-27 home kit options and new training range, here Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aston Villa are Europa League winners. Three-nil against SC Freiburg on a rain-soaked Wednesday night in Istanbul, that ended in the early hours with a trophy cabinet that finally has something new in it. This post-mortem covers what actually happened — and what it means. From Youri Tielemans' opening volley, which settled every nerve in the ground the moment it hit the corner of the net, to a second-half of focused control. Three picture-perfect strikes. A goalkeeper who broke a finger in the warm-up and played on regardless. A fanbase that spent two seasons fluent in PSR and amortisation getting to remember what football is actually for. The show also gets into the detail: the jeopardy that never quite materialised, the Freiburg threat that had been flagged and was effectively nullified, and the moments where the game could have tilted differently — and didn't. There's a longer conversation about what winning a second major European trophy does to the meaning of the first one, why this squad's achievement is more improbable than it looks on paper, and what the summer now looks like through a completely different lens. Thirty years is a long time to wait. Istanbul was worth it. UTV Cover photo courtesy of Paul Stringer Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aston Villa face SC Freiburg in the Europa League final in Istanbul on Wednesday — and this week's episode is a full lowdown on the opponents, covering their history, their identity, their key players, and the tactical shape of what awaits. It's everything you need to know. The episode opens with a verdict that captures the problem succinctly: Villa have to shoot Bambi. Freiburg are 100% fan-owned, operate on a fraction of Villa's transfer budget, have the lowest squad turnover rate in the Bundesliga. The rest of the world will be rooting for the virtuous underdog. Freiburg have been shaped over three decades by two long-serving managers and a philosophy that puts sustainability at the foundation of their success. Going into the final though they have been hit by a key injury after Suzuki, their Japanese attacking midfielder broke his collarbone earlier this month and is out of the final. His absence strips away the dimension that made Freiburg genuinely difficult to track in the Europa League and makes them a more straightforward proposition. Still, their set piece threat is real. The show also lands on a clear position going into Wednesday: there is no alternative to winning. Champions League is confirmed. The pressure is gone. This one is for the trophy, and for the supporters who have waited thirty years. UTV Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aston Villa beat Liverpool 4-2 at Villa Park on Friday evening, sealing Champions League qualification through the league and sending supporters into the Istanbul week in exactly the right frame of mind. The game that looked like a distraction turned into the best possible preparation. This week's My Old Man Said Post-Mortem opens with the moment that changed everything: the teamsheet. When Emery named the side that beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the European semi-final — essentially the expected starting lineup for Wednesday — the game instantly became something else. Not a Premier League fixture to be survived before the main event. The version of Ollie Watkins that turned up against Liverpool needs to be sent First Class to Istanbul. The aggressive one who fires up the crowd from corners, gives teammates a dressing-down when they get something wrong, and is sharp in front of goal. The version Villa supporters have been asking for all season. He produced a brace and an offside goal that said as much as the goals that counted. The main difference between the two teams was seen in the attitude of Alexis Mac Allister compared to John McGinn - one was cheaply rolling around feigning injury, while the other gave everything in a commanding performance. Champions League football is now sealed for Villa and Istanbul is set up nicely. The mood is right. The squad is sharp and firing. UTV Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aston Villa face Liverpool at Villa Park on Friday evening — the last Premier League fixture before the Europa League final in Istanbul on Wednesday. Champions League qualification still isn't mathematically confirmed through the league. It should already be wrapped up. It isn't. And that shapes everything about how the Liverpool game needs to be approached — not as a send-off but as unfinished business. The reality is though, Unai Emery and his players will rest up, but will there be at least enough application to make a fight of the game? This week's main show of the My Old Man Said podcast covers the ground before and after the game. Amadou Onana is touch and go off for Istanbul, Victor Lindelöf likely steps in again, and there's a brief but unavoidable discussion of the Wes Edens extortion story that's currently generating more headlines than any transfer activity. Emery's Clipboard goes long on Ollie Watkins — who has just been named Aston Villa's Player of the Month for April, a month where he bagged his 100th Villa goal. The show sets that form against a wider argument: where have all the English strikers gone? The numbers go back to 1992-93, and the conclusion is pointed. The Liverpool preview is the centrepiece. An aging squad, Mohamed Salah's dramatic decline in output, the Trent departure mismanaged, and a team that doesn't work hard without the ball. The show finishes on the Aston Villa Existential Question: how many new players does this squad actually need in the starting eleven next season? Istanbul might be a full stop, for this team, with a new era to launch afterwards. UTV Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Burnley away. The home team had only one win during 2026 so far and hadn't scored at home in months. Villa needed a win to pretty much secure Champions League football. The 2-2 draw was bordering on predictable. The My Old Man Said post-mortem dissects a performance that tells you more about the bigger picture than the result: two goals from a corner and a long punt, a performance spectrum throughout this year that drops to low. Also, we take in Amadou Onana's latest injury and the familiar availability pattern that's plagued Villa across four seasons, Emery's recurring problem with complacency against the bottom three, and why those Forest highs only make the lows feel worse. With Istanbul eight days away, the league campaign is limping to a close. The floor needs raising. UTV Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Villa beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 at Villa Park to reach the Europa League final in Istanbul. Freiburg await. One more job to do to end 30-years of hurt. Some nights you have a feeling about before a ball is kicked. On a European night, not many English grounds can hold a candle to Villa Park on a European night. The atmosphere was electric and the players on the pitch also made sure they made it an unforgettable night, as well — four goals, a complete performance, and a European final earned in the most emphatic fashion possible. In this episode the show breaks down a night that had everything. Buendia's unpredictability unlocking the tightest defence in the Premier League's last six games. Watkins aggressive, physical, the version of himself that makes Villa a different team. McGinn having the time of his life, as the autumn of his career is hitting its highest notes. And the Victor Lindelöf decision, questioned beforehand, vindicated completely. There is also a broader conversation about what this moment means. Also, we look at Freiburg, Villa's silverware drought, and the prospect of a Super Cup, if all goes to plan. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before the biggest night at Villa Park in years, a solo My Old Man Said show, with some personal memories and reflections back to 1994, and an honest assessment of what the second leg of the Europa League semi-final requires. In 1994, Villa were three-nil down at Tranmere in a League Cup semi-final first leg. The fanbase were feeling angry that the club were squandering a real good chance of silverware to put them back on the map, after a difficult decade. The build up to the second leg has parallels, as does the build-up to the final against Manchester United, when Villa's league form had dropped off a cliff before the trip to Wembley. It was all an example of what a team is capable of when it decides to be. Recorded in the hours leading up to the Europa League semi-final second leg against Nottingham Forest, the show sets out what tonight requires — from Watkins, from Rogers, from McGinn and Tielemans, from the crowd, and from a manager who has four of these trophies already. The Onana absence. The Bogarde question. Whether Forest come to shut up shop or play with the freedom that has defined their recent form. And what it would mean - for the club, for its European legacy, for everything - to be talking about Istanbul tomorrow morning. No rally call. No clichés. Just the honest picture before the biggest night of the season. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happened against Spurs on Sunday night? Unai Emery elected to shuffle his pack, and there were seven changes, but the line-up wasn't too dissimilar from the one that beat Fenerbahçe away 1-0 in the Europa League. The back four was the same apart from the left-back; the base of the midfield was the same with Bogarde next to Tieliemans, with Sancho and Rogers further forward, and Barkley and Abraham in instead of Watkins and Buendia (who both did come on), but they have been patchy at best anyway. At least against Spurs, you also had Martinez in goal, as Bizot played in Turkey. Nobody complained about the line-up as they tackled a tough trip to Istanbul. It was the effort and application of the players that let the team down, not the team sheet. The performance was indefensible, regardless of Thursday. Conor Gallagher, who had not scored for Spurs all season, scored. Richarlison, who had never scored against Villa, scored. When Buendia's consolation header arrived in the ninety-fifth minute — it was Villa's first shot on target of the entire game. In this episode the show does not dress it up. The performance was an embarrassment. The team that started was good enough, every player a full international bar one and they put in absolutely nothing. Emery's programme notes talked about laser focus and determination. His body language on the touchline told a different story. The harder question is what it means for Thursday. With Forest a goal up from the first leg. Villa need to score at least twice at Villa Park to win without penallties. The crowd that was asked to put up with ninety minutes of nothing against Spurs is now being asked to roar the team into a European final. Everything on the line on Thursday night at Villa Park and only a win can banish what happened against Spurs before it. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some Villa supporters have spent the week since the Fulham defeat getting increasingly pessimistic about the Europa League semi-final tie against Nottingham Forest. Especially after the Tricky Trees tonked Sunderland 5-0 in their own backyard. Have they forgotten about Unai Emery's record in this tournament? In a first impressions solo preview, My Old Man Said host David Michael takes a clear-eyed look at the reasons for genuine confidence, and what Villa actually need from the first leg at the City Ground to set up Villa Park for the occasion it deserves. UTV Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Villa are building a bigger stadium… but as the age profile of the current Aston Villa squad suggests, they will soon need to build a new team too. With the Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest bubbling away on the horizon for Aston Villa, the main show of My Old Man Said gets up to speed on a series of key issues like Villa's aging squad and the North Stand development, while also looking at the BBC's decision to cancel Football Focus. Need a ticket to the City Ground for the first leg of the Europa League semi-final? We may have a solution for you too. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One Eye on Fulham, Both Eyes on Forest A 1-0 defeat at Craven Cottage that was never really about Fulham. Villa lost to Fulham on Saturday. Ryan Sessegnon, who has made a habit of tormenting Villa over the years, scored the only goal. Rogers and Watkins missed big chances within thirty seconds of each other that, on another day, would have settled the game before half-time. The four substitutions made simultaneously at the seventy-fourth minute told you everything about where Emery's priorities lie this week. In this episode the show dissects a passive, lethargic performance and asks the honest question: was this always going to happen in the lead up to the Europa League semi-final first leg at the City Ground? As well as the usual post-mortem proceedings, it also touches on the clash with Forest as it goes along. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The most chaotic win of the season. And potentially one of the most significant. Three-one up and coasting. Then Sancho came on. Then it was three-three. Then Martinez stood up when it mattered most. Then Abraham scored the winner from a Digne cross that could have been measured with a ruler. Ten points clear of Chelsea. Champions League football confirmation is getting closer. The latest episode of the My Old Man Said podcast show unpacks the full emotional spectrum of a game that had everything — brilliant team goals, inexplicable defensive gaps, a substitution that nearly cost Villa everything, a goalkeeper save that may define their season, and a winner scored by the man whose bench time has been one of the running debates of the past three months. There is also a wider conversation about what this result means beyond three points. Spurs losing. Chelsea crumbling. The Premier League landscape potentially transforming. If Villa finish fourth and win the Europa League, two of the so-called top six miss out on the Champions League next season. Will it be potentially transformative? Plus: Emery admitting he expressed all his emotions and needed a rest day to full Match Club meltdown in real time, and the definitive answer to whether Emery's "control" buzzword can survive the Sunderland game. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A 4-0 win on the night, 7-1 on aggregate. Aston Villa dispatched Bologna with comfortable ease to set up an all-English Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest. Villa were three goals up before half-time, Buendia was the player of the night in what may have been his most complete performance in a Villa shirt, and the second half became an extended exercise in managing minutes ahead of Sunderland on Sunday. In this episode of My Old Man Said, the show breaks down a night that confirmed Villa as legitimate Europa League favourites, and what it revealed about this team when everything clicks. The Bologna captain said after the game that his side simply could not lay a glove on a far superior team. That tells you everything. There is also a reassessment of the semi-final draw. How Porto flunked their quarter-final against Forest — missed chances, a man sent off inside ten minutes, hitting the woodwork twice despite being down a man. So are Forest lucky to be there? Plus: We discuss Villa's missed spot-kicks in Europe, the 1897 group getting the whole Trinity Stand on their feet, the Bologna fans buying Villa merch and Sunderland, a proper test this weekend with their two away wins on the bounce and nothing to fear at Villa Park. UTV Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After Villa's first leg 3-1 win in Bologna, the second leg at Villa Park seems to be a formality, but Unai Emery will take in the lessons of Bologna's win in Roma in the previous round. Champions League football isn't quite in touching distance just yet. In this Europa Vision episode of the My Old Man Said podcast show, we take in the full picture: the Bologna second leg and what Emery needs to do tactically to see it out, the Forest versus Porto quarter-final that is poised far more delicately than expected, and what the rest of the draw means for Villa's route to Istanbul. On the other side: Freiburg dismantled Celta Vigo 3-0. Betis face Braga. Neither represents the sort of obstacle that has stopped Emery winning this tournament before. Villa's analysts were already spotted at the Braga versus Betis game. The show's read is clear - if Villa get their league business done in the next four games and arrive in Istanbul without Champions League anxiety, this could be the performance everyone has been waiting for all season. Also: the Champions League maths, the surprising points target, Victor Lindelof dragging Sweden to the World Cup despite Graham Potter, the warehouse that was sold back to the club for millions and Albert Adomah's impressive milestone in the EFL. UTV Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Villa drew 1-1 at the City Ground. The result was frustrating. The context is encouraging. Villa came away from the City Ground with a point that felt like less than they deserved. An own goal. A Morgan Rogers chance that clipped the bar. A Watkins one-on-one that should have been buried. A McGinn effort that forced a brilliant save. The xG may have said 0.98 to Villa, but the show's assessment is it should have been three or four. This Post-mortem episode of the My Old Man Said podcast show breaks down the three pivotal moments of the game — Rogers' contribution to Forest's equaliser, the recurring clinical edge problem, and the Emi Martinez situation that is becoming harder to ignore after a third warm-up withdrawal of the season. There is also a broader assessment of what the draw means in context. Meanwhile, in the Europa League, Porto's unconvincing performance against Forest in the other quarter-final has shifted the Europa League picture. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The international break debrief — fixture analysis, form tables, and the stat that puts the West Ham win in optimistic context. Two wins. Momentum restored. Six points clear of Chelsea, five of Liverpool, with seven games remaining and destiny firmly back in Villa's own hands. The question now is simple: can they do it themselves and not have to rely on others? In this episode the show takes stock of where Villa are, where their rivals are, and what the fixture list actually looks like for the final stretch. We take a closer look at Chelsea's home form, with a double-header of Manchester City and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in their next two games. Liverpool are juggling the FA Cup and a two-legged PSG tie. United have been the form team since Christmas but face both Chelsea and Liverpool before the season is out. Elsewhere: injury updates including the new recruits to sickbay and a Viking manuscript that has absolutely nothing to do with Aston Villa. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The West Ham game was a non-negotiable. Once again, Chelsea and Liverpool had handed Villa the opportunity to take control of the Champions League race and unlike previous fumbled times, his time they took it. A McGinn free-kick, a much-needed Watkins' goal, twenty-three shots, and a performance that looked more like the team that had won eleven games in a row than anything seen in the previous two months. In this episode the My Old Man Said podcast show we break down what actually changed — why the tempo was different, why Sancho suddenly looks like the player clubs have paid six figures a week for, and what McGinn's return means beyond the obvious. There is also a discussion of whether this is sustainable or whether it took a relegation-threatened West Ham side, forced into an unplanned formation after a warm-up injury, to make Villa look this good. Elsewhere: Watkins dropped from England and what that means for his remaining season, Tielemans' neat twenty-minute cameo, the Digne versus Madsen question, and why Villa have scored more goals from outside the box than any other team in Europe's top five leagues. Destiny is in Villa's own hands and it's time for them to do it themselves. UTV Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A controlled first half, a second half that finally came to life, and two goals that sent Aston Villa into the Europa League quarter-finals 3-0 on aggregate. Martinez's pinpoint clearance, Sancho's backheel, and McGinn's composed finish, the elements of a great opener, before Leon Bailey finished the tie off. We look back at the Villa Park conclusion to the Lille two-legged Europa League tie — including a first half at Villa Park so deliberately passive that even those in the ground were losing the will to watch — and discuss the highlights of a much improved second half performance. There is also a look at the quarter-final draw. Bologna are the opponents, but Porto, currently crushing the Portuguese league, having won 22 of 26 games, loom as the most dangerous side left in the competition. Nottingham Forest face them in the other quarter-final in Villa's side of the draw. Elsewhere: there's talk of croissant mutations, the Premier League £30 away ticket cap being extended, the Bologna quarter-final pricing that brought on a familiar fury, Lindelof's Batman mask and the case for him being the signing of the season, and a tifo poem that nobody is claiming authorship of. It's West Ham on Sunday, with an international break following straight after. Then the final chapter of a twin-prong attack for Champions League football begins in earnest.  UTV Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A third consecutive Premier League defeat. Eight league games left. And a set of questions about structure, recruitment and ambition that will not wait until the summer. Villa's 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford was not a shock. It was, as this podcast noted immediately, an expected result, an expected performance... and an expected xG. What makes it significant is the context and manner of it - three consecutive league defeats, a Champions League place that is now being held by inertia rather than form, and a set of structural problems that are becoming harder to attribute to bad luck. In this episode, the show dissects the latest misery inducing trip to Old Trafford, including the moment that may have defined Villa's entire season. Then the post-mortem episodes broadens out into the harder questions about what has gone wrong, whose responsibility it is to fix it, and whether there is still time. The structure versus creation argument reaches crunch time. It's Lille in the Europa League second leg next, but then relegation threatened West Ham and Forest back-to-back mean it's do or die time. UTV Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Become a MOMS Member for ad-free & extra shows -  MOMS Membership Join the show’s listener Facebook group The Mad Few. Credits: David Michael - @myoldmansaid  | Chris Budd - @BUDD_music / Phillip Shaw - @prsgame This Podcast has been created and uploaded by My Old Man Said. The views in this Podcast are not necessarily the views of talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.