Aston Villa News You Can Use: Carling Cup Tuesday Edition

Hi guys! Do you know what today is?!? Huh? Huh? TODAY IS CARLING CUP DAY!!!! Let's all get excited for Aston Villa's match with Bolton! It's going to be a total blast -- full-on attack, no fear, just beautiful, flowing football.

Right then. I'll presume you've all read Aaron's preview of the match, so why not head over to Lions of Vienna Suite and read Mattie's take on the Carling Cup tie? It's nice to have a balanced approach to these things. While you're there, ask why the Bolton blog is called Lions of Vienna. It's been bugging me.

Speaking of the League Cup, turns out ex-professional footballers really can't write. Andy Townsend explains, in basic three-word sentences, why the lesser of England's national tournaments deserves a little respect. And to be fair to the ex-Villan, he makes some decent points. Although I'm not sure about this statement: "Would Alex McLeish have got the Aston Villa job if he had not won the League Cup with Birmingham?"

I'm sure y'all have caught wind of this, but just in case you hadn't, our former manager Gerard Houllier has more or less said he won't be coming back to football management. Apparently attempting to keep a club out of the relegation zone while half the players are against you and your training methods isn't very good for a weak heart. Who knew?

Finally, I found something very special for us all today -- Twisted Blood's "Through Gritted Teeth" series featured a Birmingham City fan writing about Darren Bent. Unfortunately, Mr. Ivery got McLeish's approach to this game of football spot on -- which certainly isn't helping my mood this morning.