God and Sir Graham talking about the 89/90 Season

[Newquay_AVFC]

That was really great to listen to. Nice one.

[Irish villain]

Interesting too that, like Bent, God said he used to love playing at Villa Park before he signed for us. I've heard other players say that too.

[lordmcgrath5]

Thanks very much for posting the link, Ger, great effort. A very enjoyable 45 minutes. Those who've read "Back from the Brink" will be familiar with a lot of the ground covered, but it was fantastic to hear the warmth that's still there between the two of them. Great to hear Paul saying how he absolutely loved being at the Villa. SGT came over superbly as well, which he doesn't always manage on 5 live. Ah, the memories......

[The Left Side]

I didn't realise Paul had tried to commit suicide, I really hope he is doing well and is not plagued by his addictions to much. I am going to get a copy of his book, it sounds like great reading.

[Ger Regan]

I didn't realise Paul had tried to commit suicide, I really hope he is doing well and is not plagued by his addictions to much. I am going to get a copy of his book, it sounds like great reading.

It is good reading, but it's very tough going.

He does seem to be in a relatively good place at the moment, but it wasn't too long ago that I really did fear for him. A couple of interviews he gave showed that he was at rock bottom.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

I wish Sir Graham had explained why he bought Cascarino instead of Sheringham.

[The Left Side]

I wish Sir Graham had explained why he bought Cascarino instead of Sheringham.

Doug could get Cascarino for several hundred thousand pounds cheaper so he did and told GT who knew Sheringham was the better player, Millwall were happy and so we thought were we!

[dave.woodhall]

I wish Sir Graham had explained why he bought Cascarino instead of Sheringham.

He has, several times. He wanted Sheringham, Millwall's chairman Reg Barr wouldn't sell. Doug said he'd try to talk his mate Reg into selling. Still no go, but did we want Cascarino? Okay says Sir Graham, he's worth maybe 7-800k. Deal done, Doug says. For £1.5 million.

[curiousorange]

I thought this was brilliant. The two obviously have a lot of affection for one another and McGrath is such a naturally eloquent character (not that SGT isn't eloquent, but he's been exposed to the media a hell of a lot more) that the interview passed really swiftly. Puts the gobshites on Sky and Talksport to shame.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

I wish Sir Graham had explained why he bought Cascarino instead of Sheringham.

He has, several times. He wanted Sheringham, Millwall's chairman Reg Barr wouldn't sell. Doug said he'd try to talk his mate Reg into selling. Still no go, but did we want Cascarino? Okay says Sir Graham, he's worth maybe 7-800k. Deal done, Doug says. For £1.5 million.

Have you got a link supporting that - I've heard rumours along those lines, but never from Sir Graham himself.

If it's true, then Doug misered us not only of a League Title, but someone who would have been a Villa legend (or else someone we could have flogged for a tidy profit).

EDIT: Haha, just googled it and came up with an amazon link to one of your books!

[dave.woodhall]

I wish Sir Graham had explained why he bought Cascarino instead of Sheringham.

He has, several times. He wanted Sheringham, Millwall's chairman Reg Barr wouldn't sell. Doug said he'd try to talk his mate Reg into selling. Still no go, but did we want Cascarino? Okay says Sir Graham, he's worth maybe 7-800k. Deal done, Doug says. For £1.5 million.

Have you got a link supporting that - I've heard rumours along those lines, but never from Sir Graham himself.

If it's true, then Doug misered us not only of a League Title, but someone who would have been a Villa legend (or else someone we could have flogged for a tidy profit).

I've got an entire interview with the great man. It's in the managers book which is well out of print and I keep thinking about updating, then we keep changing manager. 

It wasn't Doug being miserly; he couldn't get the player we wanted so he wasted a small fortune on another one.

[gervilla]

I didn't realise Paul had tried to commit suicide, I really hope he is doing well and is not plagued by his addictions to much. I am going to get a copy of his book, it sounds like great reading.

It is good reading, but it's very tough going.

He does seem to be in a relatively good place at the moment, but it wasn't too long ago that I really did fear for him. A couple of interviews he gave showed that he was at rock bottom.

When he said in the interview on the DVD  " My Life And Football" that he is just wasting away at the moment I thought Jesus could someone just give him something to do. He did have that "Director of Football" job with Waterford a few years back but it didn't last too long . I think it was more of a publicity stunt on behalf of the club  more than anything else, which I think they admitted  to themselves.

[lordmcgrath5]

I wish Sir Graham had explained why he bought Cascarino instead of Sheringham.

Of course you're right in retrospect but at the time I remember feeling vindicated when Cascarino was signed. I'd been banging on to anyone who would listen (and probably quite a few who wouldn't) about how he was just the player we needed. So in retrospect: hmmm.

[curiousorange]

I didn't realise Paul had tried to commit suicide, I really hope he is doing well and is not plagued by his addictions to much. I am going to get a copy of his book, it sounds like great reading.

It is good reading, but it's very tough going.

He does seem to be in a relatively good place at the moment, but it wasn't too long ago that I really did fear for him. A couple of interviews he gave showed that he was at rock bottom.

When he said in the interview on the DVD  " My Life And Football" that he is just wasting away at the moment I thought Jesus could someone just give him something to do. He did have that "Director of Football" job with Waterford a few years back but it didn't last too long . I think it was more of a publicity stunt on behalf of the club  more than anything else, which I think they admitted  to themselves.

Someone I know says that his propensity for falling off the wagon might just be his ultimate undoing. They said at Paul Birch's funeral he was in a terrible state of disrepair, although I think that's justified though not necessarily healthy.

[eamonn]

But if Graham had just said he didn't rate Cascarino we wouldn't have made any bid for him and maybe got someone better instead. Considering he unearthed three of Villa's best players of the past 25 years I suppose slack should be cut.