Villa man seen stumbling out of spanish bar prior to game.

[Greg N'Ash]

yeah i understand all that, but it was a one-off amounts, not sustainable. The players Gregory bought on the whole would need to be replaced after a few years with no re-sale value and yet he gave the go-ahead anyway knowing that we'd be broke with no money to buy replacements as both GT and DOL found to their cost. I just wonder how he took his eye off the ball so totally under Gregory given his reputation

[dave.woodhall]

It's not true that Doug didn't spend  - he just didn't spend what we didn't have, and the late nineties was the time when we had more than ever before so he spent more.

[TimTheVillain]

I've met him. I've spoken to him. I've dealt with him. I don't share that opinion.

OK, but there is a bitter man out there who shares my view !

I have heard negative numerous things about the way he treated his son Peter too.

Time heals I guess.

[Clampy]

It's not true that Doug didn't spend  - he just didn't spend what we didn't have

As opposed to the likes of Leeds and more recently Pompey who spent what they did'nt have and look where it got them. Yes, there might have been times during his reign when it felt like he was holding us back, but to say he did'nt spend is wrong.

[WikiVilla]

He had the annoying habit of looking down his nose at "the common man" but I wouldn't say he was a nasty pice of work. A little eccentric maybe

[pauliewalnuts]

yeah i understand all that, but it was a one-off amounts, not sustainable. The players Gregory bought on the whole would need to be replaced after a few years with no re-sale value and yet he gave the go-ahead anyway knowing that we'd be broke with no money to buy replacements as both GT and DOL found to their cost. I just wonder how he took his eye off the ball so totally under Gregory given his reputation

Isn't that an accusation you could also make at Randy, though?

Habib Beye? Emile Heskey? How much resale value there?

The irony is that football supporters clamour for money to be made available for the manager to spend, but when it gets spent badly, rather than point at the manager and say "your fault", they point at the chairman and say "your fault for giving him the money".

That's great with hindsight, but what would you have said if Doug hadn't given Gregory the money?

[TimTheVillain]

He had the annoying habit of looking down his nose at "the common man" but I wouldn't say he was a nasty pice of work. A little eccentric maybe

Simply put - he treated people who worked FOR him like shit.

[Concrete John]

It's not true that Doug didn't spend  - he just didn't spend what we didn't have, and the late nineties was the time when we had more than ever before so he spent more.

The majority of that money was from the floatation of the club, plus the £12.6m we got for Yorke, as I recall.  Where we went wrong was that Gregory spent it on players of a certain age that meant no re-sale value.  Merson, Dublin, Steve Stone, etc.  What that meant was the funds effectively died and couldn't be recycled through the club.

Where I think MON and Randy got it right is that their big spends were on younger players, such and Young, Downing and Milner.  We've already seen the benefit of that with Milner and are about to with Ash.  Did they actually spend more than £5m, which is a modest fee in today's market, on a player over 25?