Richards was stunned to learn that Manchester City team-mate Mario Balotelli had been subjected to monkey taunts during the Europa League tie in Portugal on Thursday. Balotelli suffered similar abuse in Italy when playing for Inter Milan and England play

ASTON Villa wag Chantelle Tagoe has hit out on Twitter after a shopworker abused her mother over a bag of potatoes. The 27-year-old fiancée of striker Emile Heskey tweeted yesterday afternoon about how the worker branded her mum a “dirty scouser” because

ASTON Villa wag Chantelle Tagoe has hit out on Twitter after a shopworker abused her mother over a bag of potatoes. The 27-year-old fiancée of striker Emile Heskey tweeted yesterday afternoon about how the worker branded her mum a “dirty scouser” because

IT’S not just Aston Villa fans wanting wanting their say on Alex McLeish’s team tactics. Emile Heskey’s fiancée Chantelle Tagoe has been giving her opinion on where to play the out-of-form striker. The 27-year old had a Twitter rant, clearly showing her

I have to hand it to Alex McLeish - the man is fast becoming a tactical visionary. How else to explain the gift he has, the extraordinary ability to see the potential in the team formations he selects, the tactics he chooses to implement, and the players

Fernando Torres has been at Chelsea for just over a calendar year now and he has managed to score a grand total of 3 goals. Remember we are not talking about Emile Heskey or Shola Ameobi, we are talking about a man who was once considered to be the deadl

Soon to depart Robbie Keane started in support of Darren Bent alongside Emile Heskey in the absence of the injured Gabriel Agbonhalor, with Sunderland man Craig Gardner’s brother Gary formed the midfield duo alongside skipper Stiliyan Petrov. Carlos Cuel

It may come as a surprise to you, but the fact that Andy Carroll did not start for Liverpool against Manchester United this weekend meant that Carroll, Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard went one more week without ever starting together in the Premier League

Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League table thanks to a Joleon Lescott goal as they defeated Aston Villa 1-0 at Villa Park. Lescott was left unmarked in the six-yard box to turn the ball home after Gareth Barry had flicked back James

PLEASE MANUALLY REFRESH THIS PAGE All times in GMT GET INVOLVED: Tweet me chrisbevan_bbc using the hashtag #bbcfootball or text me on 81111 (UK). Make sure YOU PUT YOUR NAME on those texts though. By Chris Bevan ASTON VILLA v MAN CITY TEAM NEWS Both tea

The nationality of the manager is not the cause of England's long litany of failure, writes Dion FanningThe English have always understood irony. On Thursday, the FA announced that they would prefer an English successor to an Italian who had resigned whe

The DailyExpress is running a story suggesting that Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is ready to make a move for talented Sunderland attacker Stephane Sessegnon. The report indicates that Wenger could be willing to offer as much as £12 million in a deal also t

When is criticism going to far? Aston Villa blogger Matthew Turvey asks if there needs to be some restraint in a period where the club have a lot of bad feeling surging around the fan-base. As we know, sadly, there has been a lot of bad feeling around As

The Football Association's stock response to any criticism of appointing Fabio Capello in December 2007 was "you cannot argue with his CV". And it was true the former Real Madrid, Juventus, Roma and AC Milan boss came into the job complete with a glitter

Birmingham Mail: Captain Stiliyan Petrov admits defensive deficiencies are continually costing Villa precious Premier League points as they lack the resilience to grind out results. Positive aspects of the claret and blue performance were overshadowed by

Fabio Capello marked four years in charge of England on Sunday. Here, we look at the highs and lows of Capello's tenure. February 6, 2008 - Capello's first game in charge ends in a 2-1 win over Switzerland at Wembley. Jermaine Jenas scores the first goal

Aston Villa winger Charles N’Zogbia has revealed his current unhappiness with a blast on Twitter, after he was substituted against Newcastle on Sunday. The France international was replaced by Emile Heskey on 66 minutes in the Midlands club’s 2-1 defeat

Thirteen months. That was the length of time since the last time St James' Park had seen a striker in the Newcastle No 9 shirt scoring a goal. Much can happen in 13 months on Tyneside. Big players can leave in helicopters, unexpected stars can emerge, th

Aston Villa's last appearance at St James' Park ... Andy Carroll plundered a hat-trick to ensure Joey Barton's moustache was living on borrowed time as Newcastle demolished Aston Villa. Six days after the Magpies' return to Barclays Premier League began