Yes, it was only pre-season and no, it doesn't really matter, but a victory is a victory and well, three nil is a nice score and seeing so many of the kids make the squad was also very interesting.
Goals from Andreas Weimann, Curtis Davies and Steve Sidwell were enough and while I didn't see the game and am only going off what I have read on the club site, it looks like it was a stroll in the park and well, you would have really expected it to be, wouldn't you.
Loads more games coming up and the season starts in just over three weeks but do you think rather than spend money, Martin O'Neill is going to be bringing through some of the kids or do you think this is very much their last chance to demonstrate they have something to offer?
It could be that he is giving them a chance in this pre-season to really add to the numbers or it could also just be that he is resting some and giving these a run out, because there is nobody else. We will never know, but one thing we do know is that Martin O'Neill doesn't want to lose Ashley Young.
I mention Young because two papers, both owned by the same company that also own Sky, are running stories that two clubs are interested in Ashley Young. The teams are Liverpool and Spurs, if you didn't already know and the story is that Spurs have made an offer of £18mn. and that Liverpool are about to bid £20mn., while the Spurs story in the Sunday Times says that Spurs are reluctant to go any higher than £25mn. and that O'Neill has told them they value Young at £30mn.
The News of the World are basically saying that Martin O'Neill and The Fat Spanish Waiter are going to go head to head for Young and Liverpool are willing to pay £20mn. for his services. Well, they can say that if they want, they're just speculating, but the Sunday Times is quite specific.
The Sunday Times are saying that Spurs have actually made an offer and that Martin O'Neill has actually rejected it, saying the player is valued at £30mn. and if that is not true, I fully expect O'Neill to be issuing legal proceedings against the paper, because we know that newspapers that make allegations about O'Neill that are not true get taken to court.
If it is true, then what the paper is suggesting is we'd sell Young if a club made an offer of £30mn. which can't be true because this week O'Neill told us that anyone asking about Young would get 'short shrift'. So, they couldn't have made an offer and we couldn't have rejected it.
We were also told this week by DJ Stewey that he sought assurances from O'Neill that the current players would be remaining at the club and that was given to him, so for the last time this summer, Ashley Young is going nowhere because the last time O'Neill spoke with Young and his agent, there was no mention of anything to suggest he wanted to leave.
Ashley Young is staying at Aston Villa and these two papers, are just fishing, but like I said the other day, expect this type of speculation until September 1st, unless the player comes out and tells us he wants to stay and win stuff with Aston Villa.