Brian Little interview on TS.

[barrysleftfoot]

   Anybody hear it this morning?

   Quite interesting analysis of the Villa situation, and the club, and perception of the club.

  Basically said that , for some reason, probably over expectation of supporters, that managers at VP are only given 4 years to achieve success, or perceived success.Has a good point, BFR, BL, JG, MON, all relatively successful, and yet plenty of "has taken us as far as he can" comments after 3/4 yrs.In fact every one of the above named had that accusation thrown at them.

  This was an observation by BL more than a criticism, but when you look at his comments he does strike a chord.Last season, 6th, cheated out of winning the Lge Cup, and beaten by the eventual double winners in the FA Cup S/F, and because we never finished in the top 4 the season is deemed as a failure.

  BL, and JG, both regurlarly finished in the top 5, and yet apparently according to some of more knowing posters , they were not good enough to take us higher.Who is there, that is attainable who can take us higher, what is the expectations of Hou, what do we want?

[eamonn]

The ''cheated out of winning the League Cup'' thing just doesn't ring true for me. We couldn't break down 10 men when we played ManUre at home a couple of weeks earlier in the league (in fact they looked the likelier team to win), I'm not sure we could have done it at Wembley either. Our modus operandi under MON was to hit teams on the break away from home and I don't think we would have had the belief to take the game to United at Wembley even with an extra man.

As for BL his first full season was an unqualified success.
Had Champions League football been available to 4th placed teams in 1996 who knows how different things might have been for us thereafter.
I mean we probably would have fucked-up against Helsingborgs/Varteks/Vienna in the preliminaries but you never know..

[KevinGage]

If he said that I'm not going to say he was wrong.

But my overriding memory of both his and BFR's departure was one of disappointment. Most Villa fans I spoke to felt the same way, that both departures came too soon.

In the cold light of day, had BFR not been sacked when he had been there might have been no return for Sir Brian and the heights we managed between 1995-97. BFR also went (or was sent to) Coventry, spent shitloads (by their standards)  and still had them scrambling about in the lower reaches. So maybe he was in decline.

But I don't recall many Villa fans saying that in Nov 1994.

It was well known in Feb 1998 that Sir Brian was struggling and not getting the desired response out of the players. In that situation, a change of manager usually is advocated. It can be cheaper for one thing, rather than offloading all the players not doing the business or the twats gobbing off in print (Southgate). But Brian enjoyed a level of popularity whereby most would have rather seen him remain and a forced exodus of the players who let him down. And they did let him down, make no mistake about it.

[Irreverent ad]

MON was the manager we needed at that point in time. The reason he could not take us forward was his own ego. The picking of the same players, lack of tactics, lack of substitution, lack of technical players.

I heard a decent comment on R5 live last week by a pundit. MON is more of a director of football than a manger as he was hardly at training and liked to micro manage the rest of the club from pitches to PR etc.
Another interesting comment is that training under Walford & Robertson was mainly made up of fitness and 5 a sides. No tactical and technical coaching.

As I said MON was the right man for us 4 years ago, but IMO is not now and had taken us as far as we can. I am hoping GH can have a bit of a Wenger effect eg revolutionise training, tactics, professionalism, scouting etc.

Villa have all the tools to finish top 4. But we need to build it slower. I think Arsenal is the blueprint for us.

[Monty]

Villa have all the tools to finish top 4. But we need to build it slower. I think Arsenal is the blueprint for us.

Arsenal is the blueprint for all clubs, if they can. Not necessarily style of play, but certainly management structure and so on.

[smudger]

Ellis should have given Big Ron more money. We could have been challenging at the top for a long time. Much of the money spent had come from selling Platt.

Little built up a very good side very quickly, with a combination of established stars, his own quality purchases and giving Yorke a proper chance up front. He got rid of some dead wood from Big Ron as well. Unfortunately a combination of limited funds released by Ellis to build it further and him spending what money he did have on a couple of enormously talented nut jobs resulted in our rather equally quick decline thereafter.

A real shame.

Gregory and O Neill were similar in that they spent an awful lot of money on (largely) half decent won't let you down british players that were like watching paint dry and never had the extra bit of talent/flair to really acheive something. Gregory had his partly funded by sales. I think both owners grew tired of watching the same turgid football every week and despite having respectable teams, both looked quite a long way from winning something. Yes, we got to a cup final with both, but the lack of imagination/belief/flair on the day was strikingly similar and very typical of the teams they built.

Hopefully Houllier will get it right.

[hipkiss92]

The ''cheated out of winning the League Cup'' thing just doesn't ring true for me. We couldn't break down 10 men when we played ManUre at home a couple of weeks earlier in the league (in fact they looked the likelier team to win), I'm not sure we could have done it at Wembley either. Our modus operandi under MON was to hit teams on the break away from home and I don't think we would have had the belief to take the game to United at Wembley even with an extra man.

As for BL his first full season was an unqualified success.
Had Champions League football been available to 4th placed teams in 1996 who knows how different things might have been for us thereafter.
I mean we probably would have fucked-up against Helsingborgs/Varteks/Vienna in the preliminaries but you never know..

Considering we wouldn't have needed to take the game to United as we would have been 1-0 up against 10 men, the 'cheated of the Cup' thing still applies IMO.

[dave.woodhall]

How many times did Gregory 'regularly' finish in the top five?

BF's time had come - we'd had relegation form for twelve months. And Brian had a lot more than the players to contend with when he left.

[Toronto Villa]

My only question somewhat in response to that is what truly constitutes progress? Would we accept a step back in one year to progress at a greater pace in the following seasons? It goes to the 4 year thing that Sir Brian is hinting at. Would we accept that, or do we expect improvement (position or getting closer to silverware) year on year? As fans, are we patient enough to understand the bigger picture that true progress might take longer than 4 or 5 years?

[KevinGage]

I don't think there are many clubs where you could remain in a job for 4+ years having achieved very little.

The Fergie example often gets wheeled out at this point, but in his first four years he delivered a title challenge (2nd place) in his second year and a cup win in his fourth.

[hilts_coolerking]

My only question somewhat in response to that is what truly constitutes progress? Would we accept a step back in one year to progress at a greater pace in the following seasons? It goes to the 4 year thing that Sir Brian is hinting at. Would we accept that, or do we expect improvement (position or getting closer to silverware) year on year? As fans, are we patient enough to understand the bigger picture that true progress might take longer than 4 or 5 years?

I think this season, given the muddled start we've had (and are still having), I think if we can remain 6th, or at a push 7th, while Houllier gets to know the players and what needs doing, then most would accept that.  But, if Houllier's as good we're told he is, then next season we should be looking to move forward. If it's one place every couple of seasons then so be it but we need to be seen to be moving forward or at the very least making a bloody good fist of it. Cups have to be regarded as a bonus.

[dicedlam]

How many times did Gregory 'regularly' finish in the top five?

BF's time had come - we'd had relegation form for twelve months. And Brian had a lot more than the players to contend with when he left.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Brian had personal issues also at that time?

[berneboy]

How many times did Gregory 'regularly' finish in the top five?

BF's time had come - we'd had relegation form for twelve months. And Brian had a lot more than the players to contend with when he left.

What else did Bri have to contend with?

[dave.woodhall]

How many times did Gregory 'regularly' finish in the top five?

BF's time had come - we'd had relegation form for twelve months. And Brian had a lot more than the players to contend with when he left.

What else did Bri have to contend with?

See above.
 

[KevinGage]

Marital issues IIRC.