The Clowns up next, Osbourne to Blackpool and England

After what seemed like the longest summer on record, the season started again and I was happy. I had football back and everything made sense, but now it's gone again. Not for long and there is the matter of an England match today, but it isn't Aston Villa.

I'm confident England will qualify for the World Cup in South Africa and next summer will be a huge event and there is real hope we can do well, but all these friendly matches we seem to play these days does seem a little too much, it never used to be like this.

So, with no Aston Villa today, I thought I'd look at the match against The Clowns next weekend and some very lose ties to Aston Villa in the papers today.

Isaiah Osbourne off to Blackpool

First up, is the rumour that Isaiah Osbourne might be joining Blackpool on loan for the rest of the season. Now, I like Osbourne and think he is definitely a prospect for the future but it doesn't look like he'll get much of a look in this season, so a loan move to a club where he should play regular football seems like a good idea.

I think the loan window opens up on Monday (would need to do some digging to confirm this so I'm just going to run with it) and it also raises the potential for us to bring in a player or two on loan I think, so there is still every chance we might see someone come in. If we are allowed too that is, again I'd have to do some digging, so instead, I'm just going to leave it, that we could have another player come in, possibly.

Dwight Yorke quits playing football for management

In other news, Dwight Yorke has announced his retirement from the game. Now, say what you like about Yorke, he was an Aston Villa player for nearly ten years and I have fond memories of his time at Villa and he certainly made an impact at our club. How he left wasn't nice, but I think we can all accept that he went on to better things and there are not many players that wouldn't have done what he did.

He's taken a job as assistant manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national team for the rest of the World Cup qualifiers and hopes to one day manage in England. Good luck to him, bit I suspect he'll still get a rough ride if he ever comes back to Villa Park.

The Clowns at the circus

Now, to the important stuff and our next match. We face The Clowns at the circus next Sunday and it is going to be a cracker. I think it's nice to have them in the league for a season or two every now and then as it is a big match and we've sort of gotten used to picking up points from them.

I don't think it will be any different next Sunday, I expect us to win and while they are trying to play decent football, they'll come unstuck, much like they did against Spurs and also how they couldn't beat Stoke at home.

I also fancy they will stay up this season, mostly because there is usually one team that does and I fancy they have enough to scrape through. I don't think they'll last the following season, they're the typical type of club that you can see up and down all the time and while it is fun and the banter we will here next week from them will be hilarious, it's also quite sad.

Still, The Clowns next week is a match that we are all waiting for and I'm sure it will be a good match, but the prices they are charging for tickets to Aston Villa fans just about sums them up really; small time club trying to get what they can knowing that it isn't going to last for long.