Inter The Lions Den... My Homecoming....

Really nice signings. Especially Ward-Prowse and Butland! Redmond is also nice addition. Nice story Keep it up!

ASTON VILLA SEASON PREVIEW - 2016 / 17

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FIRST TEAM SQUAD

GOALKEEPERS: Butland, Guzan, Allen

DEFENDERS: Lowton, Mongongu, Caulker, Boyata, Baker, Taylor, Laursen, Webb.

MIDFIELDERS: Mutch, Delph, Ward-Prowse, Redmond, Iancu, Albrighton, Gouffran, Grealish, Duncan.

FORWARDS: Agbonlahor, Keane, Zezik, Alvarado.

KEY PLAYERS:

Steven Caulker



England international Caulker formed and impressive partnership with Boyata in the centre of our defence as we romped to the Championship title last season. This season, he'll need to be on top form to face the likes of Sergio Aguero and Luis Suarez.

JAMES WARD-PROWSE



The young England star arrives from Southampton at a knock down price but with a huge reputation. His creativity and style as a box to box midfielder will be vital in the fight for survival and a lot will depend on his partnership with fellow youngster, Jordon Mutch.

GABBY AGBONLAHOR

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Now reaching his peak, club captain and talisman Agbonlahor will relish another crack at the big time after staying loyal to his boyhood club following their relegation. His 17 goals and 21 assists from the left wing last season were instrumental in Villa's promotion.

SEASON PREDICTIONS

League Position: 11th
FA Cup: Quarter Finals
League Cup: Winners

NEXT UPDATE: Pre-season.

Following the wins over Burton and Vicenza and a disappointing draw with Wolves, we headed to Northern Ireland - my homeland to take on Linfield and Glentoran - 'The Belfast Big Two.'

After dishing out a hammering apiece, I headed back to stay with my parents before flying back to Birmingham.



I was woken up at 3am by my phone ringing...

I jumped up with a start, it was an unknown number… It couldn't be him, could it?

Castral?

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hello, Jason, my name is Konkov, Anatoliy Konkov" said a heavily accented voice.

"Wh-Who are you?" I stammer.

"I am the President of the FFP, the Football Federation of Ukraine. I would like to offer you the managerial position of our National Team." Konkov responds.

I was a bit taken aback, I breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't Castral but didn't answer.

"I'm aware of the time and that I've sprang this on you, so please take some time to think it over. It would of course be split with your job at Aston Villa."

"I'll call you tomorrow for you answer. Good night!" and he hangs up.

I lie down and my head spins - should I?

Manage a national team… Manage at a World Cup… I like it.

Very good signings and a great pre-season
Ukraine should be interesting if you join.

I was on the way to the airport with my dad when Mr Konkov rang… This was it, the moment of truth.

"Hello, Jason. Have you decided to act upon my offer?" He asked.

"Yes, I'll take the job." I answer.

My dad (A lifelong Villa fan) nearly swerves off the road at this point upon hearing me say I have a new job!!

"Excellent, Jason!! I shall arrange for my private jet to pick you up in Birmingham and bring you to Kiev so we can finalise everything, I'll be in touch!! Goodbye!!" He finishes excitedly.

My dad stares a hole through me… "Are you gonna tell me what's going on?" he asks.

"Nah, I'll let you see it on Sky Sports News just like everyone else!" I laugh.

I give him a hug as he drops me off at Belfast City Aiport.

"You know how I always wanted to go to a World Cup?" I ask.

He nods.

"I might get my wish." I tease as I walk off.

IN OTHER NEWS….

In some Villa news, Cedric Mongongu departs for Roma in a £3.5m deal while Micah Richards arrives on loan from Arsenal.

We've been drawn away to Championship side, Bolton, in the Capital One Cup second round.

Carry on the legacy of Schevchenko!

I shall do my best good sir!!

It's very nice to manage a national team, wish you good luck!

2014-01-16 21:39#155199 alexhague123 : noob move but good story pal

Thanks but how is managing a National Team alongside a club a 'noob move'?

AAN: Thanks pal

Good luck with international management.

After a couple of days in Kiev, negotiations were finalised and I had officially been announced as the new manager of the Ukraine national team.

The opportunity was too much to turn down and I was inundated with congratulatory tweets, texts, phone calls and e-mails.

The country as a whole seem excited by my appointment and have instantly taken me in as one of their own.

We had been drawn alongside Romania, Sweden, Iceland and Cyprus in the 2018 World Cup Qualifying Group 8 - obviously we've avoided some of the heavyweights of European football like Spain, Italy and Germany but this group still presents a task - but one I am confident of getting through.

The squad is packed with quality but I have identified my three key men plus a few others...

DMYTRO CHYGRYNSKIY



Central defender, Chygrynskiy plays for Shakhtar and had an unsuccessful spell in La Liga with Barcelona - the national team captain is a vital cog in the team as a big presence on and off the pitch.

DENYS GARMASH



Central midfielder Garmash is a creative midfielder who puts himself about and is no stranger to a tackle. He left Dynamo Kiev for Juventus at the beginning of last season and has flourished in Turin alongside Arturo Vidal.

ANDRIY YARMOLENKO



Winger Yarmolenko is one of the main attacking figures in the team, he left Dynamo Kiev for Monaco in a £24m deal and has recently been linked with Bayern Munich.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Andriy Pyatov - Goalkeeper - Shakhtar

Eugene Konoplyanka - Winger - FC Porto

We commence our campaign at the beginning of September at home to Sweden with a trip to Iceland three days later.

I head back to Birmingham to face Everton in the opening game of our season. I sit in the Kiev airport and sup a latte when an e-mail pings through to my phone.

It's from Randy.

"We got him, he'll report for training tomorrow and will be available to play Everton!"

oh i thought left villa:/ sorry mate

Following the departure of Will Keane to Watford for £7m - an offer we couldn't refuse - we pulled off quite a coup by snapping up Real Madrid and Spanish international, Jese Rodriguez on loan for the seasons.

The fans really got on board with this deal and flooded Twitter with enthused tweets...

@AVFC_Andy: Great signing by JC and the club, looking forward to seeing Jese in action for #AVFC!!

@gibson1375: Woahhhh as IF we just signed Jese!! Booooom!! #UTV



AUGUST REVIEW

To start back away to Everton and Tottenham was a big ask but two draws was a creditable start, however the point at home to Fulham was extremely disappointing as we led twice.

We made hard work in beating Bolton in the cup but winning dirty is something we need to get used to.

AUGUST RESULTS



AUGUST TABLE



An international break puts paid to league fixtures and this usually a time where I try to unwind but I head to Kiev to meet up with the Ukraine squad ahead of making my international managerial debut at home to Sweden.

Great signing mate! And nice one being undefeated in your first month back in the BPL!

The day had finally arrived. My first foray in to International football.

I settled in to my seat at the 70,050 capacity Olimpskiy National Sports Complex in Kiev, the setting for the Euro 2012 final.

It was a magnificent arena and hearing the National Anthem being belted out by the home support gave me goosebumps.

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UKRAINE v SWEDEN



Sweden were a good side, some good players but the former main man, an ageing Zlatan Ibrahimovic was no longer a regular starter and took his place on the bench.

We raced in to a 2-0 lead thanks to Yarmolenko (8') and Konoplyanka (19') before Guidetti pulled one back (30').

An own goal (55') from Olsson made it 3-1 before Konoplyanka added a second to make it 4-1 (76'). Guidetti got his second to make it 4-2 (89') but a solid performance and three points sent the fans home happy.

FINAL SCORE: UKRAINE 4-2 SWEDEN

ICELAND v UKRAINE



Again we went 2-0 ahead early doors with a brace from Yarmolenko (13' & 27') but after a great start, we laboured to add a third and kill the game off.

Finbogasson pulled one back on 71' to set up a nervy final 20 minutes but we only just clung on for the win.

FINAL SCORE: ICELAND 1-2 UKRAINE

Two wins from two started us off well - the fans were happy, the players were happy and I was elated… I never doubted myself for a second.

GROUP TABLE



As soon as the game was over, I departed Reykjavik and headed back to Birmingham… This is tiring work.