THE GAME THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING Martin O'Neill causes controversy in real time as he selects arguably the most unrepresentative line up in Villa's history outside of war time football to take to the field in Moscow. Unsurprisingly this mix of fringe, third choice and youth players come unstuck and Villa's chance of more European glory is thrown away.
It had happened before of course, in fact it was a relative novelty for Martin O’Neill to play anything approaching a full strength line up in a Cup game as he had done earlier in the month at Everton. The FA Cup was one thing but the UEFA Cup was another. Perhaps giddy with success in the League - Villa were third at the time - O’Neill gambled and .... lost.
For the away leg in Moscow however O’Neill took “fielding a weakened team to new heights.” With all due respect to the players involved this wasn’t weakened, it was surrender. Of course if Villa had gone on to secure a 3rd place or better finish in the League it would have been a gamble that paid off. At the time, and subsequently however, it was at best a gamble that hadn’t worked and at worst an insult.
Of the 16 players O’Neill named in the squad, three had yet to make their debuts, two had made 6 starts, one had made 4 starts, another just 3 this season. Yet another had appeared just once as a substitute, another hadn’t been selected in the squad for over 6 months, one had played in just 4 of the last 17 games, and one was a centre forward who had scored just once all season.
Martin O’Neill spoke of “decisions not taken lightly” but regardless a wrong decision was obvious and the performance of the Cup side through the season to date had shown as much.
If a first chink in the armour of the Martin O’Neill armour had been exposed a year earlier by the sale of Gary Cahill, this second chink opened a gaping hole that would take some real mending.
Centre forward Marlon Harewood, 29, makes his 40th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (9 Starts) before moving on to Blackpool on a free transfer in July 2010. O’Neill had signed Harewood just 18 months before his final appearance for £4,950,000 and he went on to record W16 D10 L14, 7 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings across his time with Villa.
Midfielder Moustapha Salifou, 25, makes his 13th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (7 Starts) but would remain with the club until June 2011, 4 years after he joined and 2 and a half years after his final appearance. Villa had paid FC Wil 1900 £450,000 for his services and his record on leaving was W6 D2 L5 and 1 Assist. After leaving Villa, Salifou spent 8 months with German fourth tier side 1.FC Saarbrücken but was then without a club for 20 months before 4 months with another 4th Division side TSV 1860 Rosenheim ahead of another 13 months out of the game since when he has joined German fifth tier side Türkspor Augsburg.
Winger Marc Albrighton makes his Villa debut aged 19 despite having yet to sign professional forms with the club. Something he would do in July 2009, 5 months after his premature debut, having come through the ranks as a schoolboy to become the 816th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.
Albrighton wouldn’t play again for Villa this season, neither would midfielder Barry Bannan who also made his first start for the club. Stuart Taylor would not appear on the bench again and Brad Guzan would only make one further substitute appearance this season.
In addition Defenders Shane Lowry and Chris Herd would neither make their debuts or appear on the substitute bench again this season and £5,670,000 signing Steve Sidwell would only feature for Villa once more this season in the final game of the campaign.
In total then of the 16 players O’Neill selected for this fateful game, 10 saw their Villa careers interrupted or ended completely.
Brad Guzan concedes his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 7th appearance to make it W2 D1 L4, 10 Goals Conceded, 1 Clean Sheet and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.
Nicky Shorey makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (23 Starts) in ‘that’ Moscow game despite having not made a League start since November 9th. Shorey’s contribution in the Russian capital makes it W10 D2 L5, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

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