Salut!

Sorry guys, last week was really hectic and I didn’t have the time to give you some news.

What a great feeling it was to be back in the Aston Villa team last weekend. The match was typical of that old cliche, a real game of two halves, but we certainly came good in the second period with two goals from Julian Joachim sealing our 2-1 win and three valuable points.

Ipswich are one of the Premiership’s surprise packages, and they certainly came to us on a high, so it was a real morale-booster to beat them.

I was delighted with the reception I got from the Villa fans. I have had a bit of a roller coaster ride this season, but I am totally committed to the club and it was great to be back in front of our loyal fans, who I think appreciated seeing me in the starting line-up.

Everyone has been buzzing in training this week as a result of that win, and now we are looking forward to taking on Arsenal at the weekend with renewed confidence. Even the gaffer came out this week and declared his allegiance to the club, saying he’d be happy to stay at Villa Park for life, which I think sums up the positive atmosphere here at the moment.

All I can do now is hope that I retain my place in the team to face Arsenal, who are of course another team at the top end of the Premiership. I shall continue to show the right attitude and give 100 per cent for the team.

I have a lot of friends at Highbury, none more so than fellow-Frenchman Patrick Vieira, plus their manager Arsene Wenger was a neighbour of mine when I lived in north London.

On the subject of north London, I was delighted for all my old friends at Tottenham on Sunday, as they beat West Ham to reach the FA Cup semi-finals, and set up a red-hot showdown with the Gunners at Old Trafford next month. Well done lads!

I played in a cup final for Spurs when we won the Worthington Cup, so I know how they are all feeling now, and they will be hoping to go all the way to the final, if they can overcome Arsenal.

With a bit of luck, we at Villa will experience such a cup run next season, when we re-group and start again. For now, though, it is Arsenal on our minds too, so raise the roof for us and hopefully we can get the right result!

A bientôt

David Ginola.

Please note that this news section is updated every Friday afternoon

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