Holtecast - An Aston Villa Podcast

Well, we're back. And aside from Idrissa Gana picking up a hamstring problem while playing for Senegal, the international break did not go too badly for Aston Villa. And now we get back to football that actually matters as Villa make the trip up the road to face Leicester City on Sunday. Last year this match got testy all three times it was contested, so hopefully we'll see some fireworks again.And for our Holtecast this week we will, of course, dive into the matchup. What can Villa expect from a newly-resurgent Foxes side? How do they stop Riyad Mahrez? And what about that pesky Albrighton lad?We also take your twitter questions, including a delightful one that asks us to imagine an alternate universe in which we never mention a premier league team again. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We could have taken the week off. We could have taken a cue from the rest of the footballing world and enjoyed a little bit of time on the couch. Or done like Saido Berahino and made use of the 7500 to Holte private jet. We could have followed the Brad Guzan route and gone for a walk in exotic Washington, DC.But no, we came back for you. And besides, I can take that walk in DC after we record.We're here to help get you through the international break! And what better way to do that than by casting our gaze back on the Summer transfer window. We'll also talk a bit about the match against Sunderland. And of course, we take your questions from Twitter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Let's ignore Crystal Palace, eh? And how about we ignore the first 90 minutes of Tuesday's Capital One Cup match. Will anyone be upset if we do that? No? Great.With that in place: VILLA ARE UNSTOPPABLE. Two goals in just 30 minutes and none allowed? Watch out Sunderland, we're coming for you And the 0-4 drubbing we put on in March is going to feel like Child's play. By my calculations of what happened against Notts County, Villa are on pace to... wait, we don't make predictions here.Instead, we talk about Crystal Palace and Notts County (yes, even the first half), and look ahead to Sunderland. Plus we've got a bumper crop of twitter questions this week, so we'll get to those as well! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

So it wasn't a win against Manchester United. Heck, Aston Villa couldn't even get the draw. But nevertheless, it's hard to feel too down-trodden after a solid performance on a Friday night against a club who will probably finish in the top 3 and have a shot at winning the whole league.We're back with another Hotlecast to dissect the match a bit. Who played well? What can be improved? How angry are we about the penalty that Micah Richards should have gotten but didn't?And then we dive into everything else. Adama Traore is now a Villan, and between him and Jordan Amavi we've got two of the most exciting outside talents around. Who knows, we might get to see his debut at Crystal Palace on Saturday! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

UNBEATEN HOLTECAST AHOY!And Jack returns from the wilds of the North American west to help anchor this week's episode. We obviously spend a fair amount of time rolling around in the glory of an opening day win at Bournemouth, but that's not all we have in store. Jack tells us a bit about the North American Villans meet-up in San Diego, too!We've also got a look at all of the transfer news surrounding the club this week. Adama Traore looks to be on his way! Maybe! For an unspecified sum of money!And there is a little match with Manchester United coming up, too. A nice, one-year-early preview of Friday night football. And hopefully Villa's chance to break a 20-year winless streak over United at Villa Park. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's almost here! In just twenty-four hours we'll have the return of Premier League football to enjoy. Aston Villa are set to kick off the season with a trip to newly-promoted (and Premier League debutant) AFC Bournemouth. FOOTBALL!We had a few scheduling issues this week, but we desperately wanted to get you one last Holtecast before the season began. So while Jack was out in the wilderness of Western North America, we had James come in and make his debut. Together we kept things short. Focused on figuring out what might be seen at Bournemouth and figuring out our expectations for the season.And of course, we found out who James REALLY hates. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Oh god, the season is just around the corner. Why is this summer so short? Jack wanted to podcast this week and I thought "eh, it's summer, we don't have to do every week" and then I remembered that "nah, it's not really summer any more because the season is basically here."So we're back! Two weeks in a row! And while last week saw us talking about the departure of Fabian Delph, this week sees us talking about Christian Benteke. With the big man off to Liverpool, Aston Villa are already looking at new striking options including Jordan Ayew from Lorient.We take on what Tim Sherwood might be doing, look at the preseason matches that have happened thus far, and start looking to the season ahead. And better still? We're joined by Alex Carson to liven things up a bit See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We haven't done this podcast thing in about a month. To put things into perspective, when we last brought you a show Aston Villa were about to be taken over, Tim Sherwood still hadn't made any transfer moves, and (perhaps most tellingly)Fabian Delph was still a Villan. It's been a long summer already, and even if most of it has been good.So yeah, it's time for another episode. We're back to talk (takes giant breath): Christian Benteke, Fabian Delph, Jordan Amavi, Idrissa Gueye, Micah Richards, Mark Bunn, preseason friendlies, collapse of the takeover, where to spend the money, the goalkeeper situation, annnnnnd more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Well, we have to do this. At least we think we do. If we don't have to, our apologies for the unnecessary flashbacks. But it's time for THE ASTON VILLA SEASON IN REVIEW HOLTECAST EXTRAVAGANZA!Come listen as we figure out how many ways we can say that this team was abjectly miserable. We've figured out thirty-six thus far, but we didn't use them all on the show. But that's not all we have in the episode, we promise. We've also got a look at what the summer holds, talk about the (possibly [maybe]) impending takeover. Can Tim Sherwood do much business before new owners arrive? Will new owners even arrive? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're back, and we've got an entire hour devoted to talking about the Burnley match. N'Zogbia sure was a weird left back choice, right? And how about that time when... uh... actually I don't even really remember the Burnley match. And we're barely touching on it this week.Why?Well because the is FA Cup final week. We're here to take a look at everything surrounding Saturday's trip to Wembley. What do Villa have to do to beat Arsenal? Can we finally score a goal on the Gunners this year? Will we be able to liit their damage to fewer than the four goals they've averaged against us.To help us figure this all out, we've got Travis King from The Short Fuse to give us a bit of an Arsenal perspective. Don't worry, we checked. He's a decent human being. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After a one-week hiatus that likely had you holding your breath in antici......pation, the Holtecast returns! We've got a lot to talk about, too. There's the slaughter at St. Mary's last weekend. The following demolition of Hull by an aimless Tottenham Hotspur. And, oh yeah, safety! After weeks of worrying, Aston Villa are, finally, officially safe.So we've got all of that, plus we dig into your questions on twitter. Mainly: what will be the fate of Christian Benteke? It seems as if everyone is assuming that he's gone this summer, but why have we all suddenly jumped on that bandwagon?And of course we look ahead to this week's friendly against Burnley. With the Clarets relegated and the claret and blues safe, there's naught on the line but pride. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

So close and yet so far. After a dominating 3-2 win over Everton at Villa Park last weekend Aston Villa sit on 35 points. A month ago we probably would have told you that 35 was enough to guarantee safety, but surges from teams like Leicester and Sunderland mean that we're not quite over the hump yet. Today we tackle that win and the concurrent results over the weekend. To top it off, we analyze what it will take to actually ensure Premier League survival. The good news: it's not much more! We also take a look at the incoherent ramblings of Roy Keane, answer your twitter questions, preview this weekend's match against West Ham and more! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Huh. Two consecutive weeks and Aston Villa have played their best football of the season, and yet they've only gotten one win. Defensive miscues doomed the club on their visit to the reigning champions Manchester City, but the big issue is the relegation picture. A normal club would get to feel good about such a strong performance, but Villa have to immediately start looking below and above them. So this week we take on that City match: what went right? What went wrong? And then we turn to the bigger relegation picture. If you trust the bookies, we shouldn't be worried yet, but never trust the bookies. And as always, we get to your twitter questions and take a look at this week's match against Everton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome back to the Holtecast: the official podcast of a website that blogs about a team who are now FA Cup finalists! It's practically like having Christian Benteke whispering in your ears if Christian Benteke were white and American. But Jack and Robert are here to talk extensively about the incredible semifinal win over Liverpool. We also delve into the fact that Tim Sherwood now has the best winning percentage of any Aston Villa manager ever. And of course, we have injury news. We say of course because this is Aston Villa and injuries are just a normal part of life. This week it isn't so bad, though! Even baby steps are still steps. In between all of this we've also got answers to your questions on twitter as well as a preview of Saturday's Manchester City match. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Well this is unexpected. We're back for another week of podcasting and Aston Villa... won? They traveled to White Hart Lane and pulled off an unexpected victory. The Great Tim Sherwood Narrative™ was fulfilled and Villa managed to salvage a week that began with a disappointing result against QPR. And oh the things it did for their league standing.Now, although relegation safety isn't assured, it seems more likely than ever that Villa will be a part of the Premier League next year. And that means that we can turn our eyes to this weekend's FA Cup semifinal against Liverpool at Wembley. Unfortunately, Villa go in looking like a MASH ward and what once looked like a tough but winnable match now looks like an immense uphill climb.We dive into both matches as well as Jack's relegation poaching series, your questions from twitter, and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jack and Robert are back, one week older and one point to the better. But we all know it should have been three points.On this week's Holtecast, we break down Aston Villa's performances against Manchester United over the weekend and Queens Park Rangers on Saturday. One was expected, the other wasn't good enough. There are sure to be calls for heads to roll and things that we'll regret saying later, but what is a podcast for if not snap judgments?Then we turn our focus to the future. Can Villa get anything out of a tough trip to White Hart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur. Probably not! But we see if we can find something that might work for Tactics Tim. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jack and Robert return after taking their very own international break. And what a week to come back to. All was mostly quiet on the Aston Villa front, but in the next few days the club have three hugely important Premier League matches coming up.And the first is this Saturday's trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. We dig into that match with a bit of a preview and also glimpse ahead at the QPR match on Tuesday.We've also got injury news, Darren Bent rumours, your questions, and more! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jack and Robert are back and we swear that we won't make any predictions. Three matches without a prediction, and three wins for Aston Villa. The latest was last weekend's 0-4 drubbing of Sunderland at the Stadium of Light that led to Gus Poyet getting fired. Nice to be on the other side of that for once.We'll take a look at the relegation race as it stands after the weekend. With their win, Villa look much better, but Burnleytook a surprising 1-0 against Manchester City and made safety a bit harder to achieve. Jerks. We'll also be taking your questions from Twitter and Facebook.And of course we'll glance ahead at this weekend's match against Swansea. The last before a two-week international break. Can Villa keep up their winning ways? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're BACK with another scintillating Holtecast. Coming fresh off of two wins over West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa will be looking to put even more distance between themselves and the relegation fight this weekend. The trip to Sunderland comes as seemingly the entire defense is injured or dying, but improved performances in the past few matches are giving us a little bit of hope. Before we get to that, though, Jack and I look back at Saturday's glorious, amazing, wonderful, FA Cup quarter-final victory over the Baggies. Was this what we can expect going forward? Which goal was the best? How terrible and horrifying were the crowds rushing the field? What will happen when civilization falls thanks to those same mobs?We answer all of those, your questions, and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

So here's a novel idea: we're podcasting after an Aston Villa win. Yes, that's right. And what's more, it's a win in the Premier League. We haven't gotten to do a podcast like that in nearly three months, so you can imagine how excited we are.We begin, of course, by recounting the thrilling win over West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday. There is no shortage of gloating over the win, and especially the gut-punching manner in which it happened. After that we take on all sorts of Aston Villa news: the return of Stiliyan Petrov, the defensive injury crisis, and more.And how can we leave you except by looking ahead to Saturday's FA Cup quarter final clash against the Baggies? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.