Aston Villa 2, Wolves 2: Bill Howell's post match comment
MICK McCarthy arrives home from training to a chips and mushy pea supper, washed down with a hot brew.
The pigeons have been fed out back but the whippet needs a run, nothing too brisk as he’s got a trip down to London in the morning as Allan Clarke’s Barnsley attempt to continue their recent revival at the Third Division’s basement side Wimbledon.
Mick parks his push-bike and heads for an early night. He nods to the pictures of Geoff Boycott, Len Hutton and Herbert Sutcliffe above his bed, and winks at the photo of Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey on his sideboard. Twenty push-ups, 20 sit-ups and a touch of Brylcream.
Just before he turns off the light he turns the dial of his wireless. Just one game in Division One tonight and Peter Jones’ dulcet tones are relaying the action from Villa Park where John Barnwell’s Wolves have warmed up for Wembley by handing out a darn good thrashing to Ron Saunders’ Villa.
A weakened Wolves too. A Wolves without Andy Gray, Mel Eves, John Richards or Kenny Hibbitt who will all be fresh to tackle Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest at the Twin Towers.
Forest have a game tomorrow too. They’re readying themselves for the visit of Tottenham to the City Ground and there’ll be no let-up with the return leg at Dynamo Berlin days after the League Cup final when a one-goal home defeat will have to be recovered.
Martin O’Neill has an early night too. He parks his brand-new Mini Metro, catches the new sitcom Yes Minister, finishes his Burgundy and kisses the photos of Clough and Peter Taylor beside his bed.
It’s Monday, March 10, 1980. Blondie’s Atomic has been replaced at the top of the charts by Fern Kinney’s Together We Are Beautiful.
It turns out to be a mixed week for O’Neill as they hammer Spurs, get beaten by Wolves but win handsomely in Germany. It turns out to be a good week for 20-year-old McCarthy as they win by the odd goal in three at Plough Lane. Within a year they’ll have notched up a second promotion in three years.
It was a bad week for Villa but within 14 months they would be champions. It was a glorious week for Wolves, but their search for a another win over Villa would go beyond 2010.
At least they’ll get another crack at it next year.
If Carlsberg did derbies they’d not be using this one as the mould for mass production – but there’ve been plenty worse. The quality was not great, Villa expected better but after a roaring 15 minutes fizzled out like a damp rocket on November 5.
Both sides wanted the win and went for the win. There was no acceptance of a point and for that they deserve credit.
Barring a freak two-season blip against Blues Villa have developed the knack of putting their unruly neighbours from across the city, across the Black Country and across Staffordshire in their place.
More’s the pity that great swathes of empty seats, blocks in both the home and away sections, signified too high a ticket price or, more worryingly, a lack of contentment with Villa’s playing style.
Arsene Wenger had called it “a very long-ball game”, which had infuriated O’Neill.
To be fair to O’Neill and to Villa that first 15 minutes had seen a mixture of medium and short passing and within that spell Ashley Young had indeed been “mesmerising” as O’Neill – as he often does – tagged him.
