Steve Hodge

[markus209]

Being fairly young, Steve Hodge was before my time but from the message boards and other Villa fans it's quite obvious that to say he's disliked would be somewhat of an understatement.

I gave him a quick google and I can't see any obvious reason why he is hated so much.

Can anyone clear it up for me? Why is he hated so much?

[django]

I though you were suggesting him as the only other person who could be less popular than McLeish.

[Pete3206]

THAT back pass against Norwich is my most bitter memory of the little shit.

[JJ-AV]

Well before my time but I believe he openlywanted out of the Villa, said it was harming his chances of playing for England - and gave away a goal with a dodgy backpass and didn't look the slightest bit arsed about it.

[KevinGage]

Stephen Hodge was the prototype for the modern, greedy self serving knobhead footballer.

If he did what he did then today, it probably couldn't cause too much of a stir. Not when you have had the likes of Van Hooyjonk going on strike, Cashley Cole rubbishing Arsenal's substantial wage offer in print, Barry telling the NOTW he wants to play for Liverpool whilst still a highly paid player for us and all the rest of it.

Players have always been liable to get itchy feet and move on, it's true.  But back then it was pretty much unheard of for a player to act in the manner he did to achieve that aim.

[darren woolley]

Stephen Hodge was the prototype for the modern, greedy self serving knobhead footballer.

If he did what he did then today, it probably couldn't cause too much of a stir. Not when you have had the likes of Van Hooyjonk going on strike, Cashley Cole rubbishing Arsenal's substantial wage offer in print, Barry telling the NOTW he wants to play for Liverpool whilst still a highly paid player for us and all the rest of it.

Players have always been liable to get itchy feet and move on, it's true.  But back then it was pretty much unheard of for a player to act in the manner he did to achieve that aim.

I agree with you Kevin.

[pooligan]

I seem to recall him announcing to the football world that Villa were not good enough for him and wanted a transfer, while he was with the England squad .It came as shock to hear our star player to talk like this .Then in the next game against Norwich he played as if he did'nt give a fuck, gave Norwich their first goal with a dreadful back pass and was booed everytime he touched the after.We signed him from Notts Forest and a couple of their fans who i knew warned me he was a good player but nasty piece of work.How right they were.

[TopDeck113]

No fan likes it when one of the better players or manager wants away from their club, but if I was an recently-established England international and on the back of a good World Cup, about the last place in 1986 I would have wanted to return to ply my trade was Villa Park. Whilst the way he went about it goes completely against the grain, it is hard to argue with his assertion that playing for that Villa team would harm his international career. Indeed, his subsequent career honours compared with virtually everyone else in that relegation-bound squad suggest he made the right call. 

His performance against Norwich was shocking, but I have never bought in to the conspiracy theory that his back-pass was a deliberate act to hasten his exit.

[*shellac*]

We still hate him though.

[dcdavecollett]

Where did I hear the story that Hodge was 'homesick' for Scabingham so wanted to leave -then rocked up at Spurs!!!

[nodge]

Didn't he turn up on Talksport a few years ago?  Whatever happened to that? He couldn't have lasted a couple of months.

[Duncan Shaw]

He then went and scored a fucking hat-trick for Spurs against us in one of his first games (i think!)

[olaftab]

Stephen Hodge was the prototype for a footballer.

[Charlie8182]

He then went and scored a fucking hat-trick for Spurs against us in one of his first games (i think!)

He scored 2 in a 3-0 Spuds win against us not long after he left at WHL(where he got dogs abuse from our fans), then he went and scored another 2 at Villa Park against Watford in the FA Cup Semi Final soon after which made me hate him even more.   But I do remember him lying on the pitch looking utterly dejected after Coventry beat them at Wembley and scuppered his chances of a medal which cheered me up no end, despite our relegation.

[Chris Jameson]

Steve Hodge was the inspiration for Bono.