George Burley’s side pressed the self destruct button in Oslo last night and as a result seriously jeopardised the chances of Scotland claiming the runners up spot in a group already won by Holland. Former Liverpool man John Arne Riise started the scoring with a deflected free kick and two goals from Blackburn Rovers winger Morten Gamst Pedersen, including a great free-kick added to the Scots woes. The Norwegian’s third goal came after a good mazy run from Aston Villa man John Carew and was finished off by Erik Huseklepp.

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Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill has always been a hige admirer of his Norwegian international striker John Carew and insists that Carew has the potential of becoming a 20-goal hitman and one of the best strikers in Europe.

The Ulsterman says:

To see John up to the nine-goal mark is great – and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t go on to become a 20-goals-a-season man.

John had a knee injury earlier in the season, and to be a 20-goals-a-season marksman you have to play the requisite number of games.

But he should be able to do that and also reach that number of goals, no doubt at all.

That’s the sort of thing I’m looking for from him, and I think he’s a miles better player than he thinks he is himself.

He’s a nightmare for defenders – but not just with pace, power and presence.

He has great ability to get the ball down, manoeuvre and bring people into the game. John is looking for consistency.

You are striving for excellence every game you play. But if you don’t achieve that, you still want to cause a lot of problems to defenders.

Ironically, in some of the games I felt John wasn’t as effective as he can be – but opposition managers have said afterwards that he has been a handful all afternoon.

He has got the ability – and if he could get increase that consistency factor, there is no reason to stop him being one of the best centre-forwards in Europe.

But for those who have followed Carew since his days with Valencia at the start of the century, he is already a spent force, a past-his-prime player who is actually reinventing himself.

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Norwegian international striker John Carew is in red-hot form these days with Premiership high-flyers Aston Villa and declares that he wants to stay at Villa Park longer.

Carew, formerly at Valencia and Lyon, is tied to Villa until 2010 and insists that he is so happy working with manager Martin O’Neill and the club that he is ready to pen a contract extension and stay at Villa Park for years.

He says:

Would I sign for longer? Absolutely, but that is down to the club and whether they are still happy with me. It has been a good season for me.

I really love being here. The fans have been fantastic. It has been a great move for me.

You will have periods when your form goes up and down but generally I think my form has been pretty good.

Carew is certainly a reformed player under O’Neill and is playing much better than he did at Lyon. He is surely someone whom Martin O’Neill would very much like to feature in his team for a long, long time.

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Aston Villa youngster Ashley Young is getting heaped with praises after an excellent season with the Midlands club. First it was his team mate John Carew who hailed the 21-year England international and now his club manager Martin O’Neill has showered him with more praises.

O’Neill says:

After a very good opening game against Newcastle, the move had taken its toll and it was a case of trying to get that confidence going after that. But the confidence is sky high now and the crowd love him. He loves taking people on and there is no doubt we are a lesser team without him. He’s a class player. The great thing about his own self-belief and self-confidence is that teams are doubling up on him and ignoring other players, but he doesn’t mind at all. He’s able to manoeuvre the ball from foot to foot and whip the ball in from a set-piece or, more importantly, from anywhere on the pitch. It’s very dangerous and he’s absolute class.

Young was signed by Martin O’Neill in January 2006 from Watford for a considerable £9.6 million but 21-year old is proving that he is worth every cent of that amount.

Norwegian international striker John Carew has seen it all with Valencia and Lyon and knows a thing or two about quality. So when he speaks highly of young Aston Villa team mate Ashley Young, we may as well believe him. Carew even backs the Villa youngster to carve out a permanent place in the England set-up under Fabio Capello.

Carew sings this about his Young:

Ashley is really a young player with a great future. He has done the business for Villa and I think he can do it for England also. People have been talking about David Bentley, who is a very good player, but I think Ashley can have a similar impact with England. He causes defenders lots of problems and is also so dangerous at set pieces. Against Newcastle, the delivery from Ashley for my first goal was fantastic and he has done it so many times over the past year.

The right sided midfielder is still not the finished product but he is certainly a good promise and the fact that the intelligent Martin O’Neill is in charge of Aston Villa, Young would develop even more.

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At the heart of Aston Villa’s 4-1 comeback demolition of poor old Newcastle United was a certain hat-trick by a certain John Carew who was nothing less than sensational in the match. Everyone at the Villa Park on Saturday felt so and Villa manager Martin O’Neill is no exception.

The Ulsterman says:

He is fantastic. But we want to put the averages up. There is a consistency that, no doubt, he can achieve. We are delighted to have won the game and it keeps us going.

Carew was signed by Aston Villa in January 2007 from French giant Lyon. The Norwegian international has settled well in the Premiership and maybe next season he would play again in Europe with Villa.

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Not many strikers coming from mainland Europe manage to find their feet as quickly in the English Premier League as Aston Villa striker John Carew has. Martin O’Neill signed the Norwegian international in January last year from French giants Lyon and the player has been successful from day one.

Sky Sports reports that Carew is happy in the Premiership and believes that he has become a better footballer in the course of the 12 months that he has played in the Premiership. The Valencia hitman says:

My game has improved in England. It is more physical and I have had to cope with that. I am not just on my own up front, I now get around the pitch more and have a player alongside me who plays off me. All that is different and something for me to learn. I enjoy it here. Things have gone well for me and the team, and although we have had a couple of disappointing results of late we are still very close and can still fight for a European place.

Aston Villa are very much in the running for a UEFA Cup place and Carew is eager to add his contribution to the modest Midlands club to European football next season.

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Martin Laursen is threatening to be Aston Villa’s top goalscorer this season, with six to his name already. This includes three goals in his past five matches, a ratio anyone apart from Cristiano Ronaldo would be proud of right now. His ability to find the net (as well as some pretty stout defending!) has led to a number of clubs circling over Villa Park like vultures, although (as The Times report) the Dane has now committed himself to the Midlands club by signing a two-and-a-half year deal.

Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, said: “Everyone at Aston Villa is absolutely delighted that Martin is staying on for another two and a half years.

“He has become a firm favourite with the fans and I would think they are as pleased as we are that he is staying. Martin has been playing some wonderful football and he deserves everything he gets.”

Laursen added: “It is not a secret that I really like it here at Villa. I have been saying all along that I would like to stay at Villa and I am glad this has all been agreed.

“I feel settled outside the pitch as well. I really enjoy staying here and have a good relationship with the manager and everyone around the club.”

Can the prolific central defender reach double figures this season? Will he score more goals than Agbonlahor (6 to date) or Carew (also 6)?

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