Heskey or Cascarino?

[nick harper]

A certain David Geddes for me, a trier but absolutely useless in my opinion, I saw him miss one sitter from about six inches once, I couldn't believe it.  Anyone remember T-Shirts bearing the slogan "I saw Geddes score"?

Didn't Geddis get a couple at home to Small Heath in the championship year?

Christ. 30 years ago.

He did, and a crucial equaliser against Southampton at VP in the run in when Morley scored the winner a minute later.

Not a great player but he has earnt his place in Villa history.

[SteveN]

Neither is as bad as Tony Hateley another in our tradition of useless lumps miraculously dumped on some other gullible club.

I'd say Cascarino just slightly worse than Heskey, but only just.

Have to differ with Brian on Hateley.  I probably saw all his home games and in very poor sides his goal to games ratio was 68 to 127 according to Wiki. Better than most possibly better than any.

He was poor on the floor and was never really taken to by the fans.  He did have some shockers, I still shudder thinking about the 0-0 FA cup game with Aldershot but he also had his moments. Dave Woodall mentioned on previous topics about Hateley that someone (I forget who) said we all expected so much of Hateley.  If he scored from 6 yards we all moaned that he hadn't scored from 20 or 30 yards.

I awalys thought he ws more likely to score with his head from outside the area than his feet mind.

[Sleeuwenhoek]

Cascarino was almost worth it for the "Cascarino in the chair" song whilst being carried off injured

[Richie]

I remember going to Derby for Cascarino's debut and Shilton pulling off a blinding save from a header he had. If that would have gone in, maybe he would have been flying for the rest of the season.

What actually happened was he didn't score for us until the last home match against Norwich (ironically the day we handed the title to Liverpool officially).

The fan's stuck with him though. The final straw being when he missed a sitter in a Cup tie against Wimbledon, resulting the Holte singing "what a waste of money !". There was no coming back from there.

I reckon I probably saw him score more goals at Villa Park for Millwall than I did for us. 

[Brend'Watkins]

The final straw being when he missed a sitter in a Cup tie against Wimbledon, resulting the Holte singing "what a waste of money !". There was no coming back from there.

That was the defining moment of his Villa career.  I remember it well, the Holte got behind him throughout the match as he'd had many chances but that particular one was the last straw.  He couldn't believe it himself that he'd missed such an easy chance, still facing the crowd in the Holte he stood, curled his shoulders and dropped his head in total shame...as might well he should. 

[Rudy Can't Fail]

A certain David Geddes for me, a trier but absolutely useless in my opinion, I saw him miss one sitter from about six inches once, I couldn't believe it.  Anyone remember T-Shirts bearing the slogan "I saw Geddes score"?

I saw Geddis score a hat-trick in a 6-0 win at Notts County in the Cup around 1982!

He was a decent solid trier,who probably wasn't cut out for the main striking role. You could fault him for ability but not for effort and I shall always remember him for the 4 goals he scored in the championship winning season, specially the two against the Blues in a really hard fought game.

I remember being very nervous knowing Withe was out for that game but Geddis rose to the occasion, as you say, it wasn't for the lack of effort he failed, he just wasn't very good. Certainly not Ron's greatest signing.

[VillaSpen]

I just listened to Cascarino on My Sporting Life. He was full of praise for the Villa an said he was gutted that Graham Taylor was on his way out after signing him. Sounded really sorry that it didn't work out for him with us.

[ROBBO]

This is why i wonder about managers sometimes, the concensus on these pages before they were bought was that Heskey and Harewood were diabolical and shouldn't be touched with a barge pole and we were proved right. I got to thinking has any Villa manager bought a player that most fans were against and been proved right. Have we ever got it wrong?

[luke25]

This is why i wonder about managers sometimes, the concensus on these pages before they were bought was that Heskey and Harewood were diabolical and shouldn't be touched with a barge pole and we were proved right. I got to thinking has any Villa manager bought a player that most fans were against and been proved right. Have we ever got it wrong?

What was the reaction like to McGrath? I was only a wee nipper when we signed him.

[OzVilla]

That he was unboubtedly a good player but had had off the field issues and some long lay offs through injury.  I thought we'd signed a good player but wasn't sure how many games he'd play - a poor mans Jermaine Jenas if you like and certainly a gamble.

Little did I realise we'd just signed a player who would be the best player i've ever seen in a Villa shirt who barely missed a game.

[dave shelley]

I was always of the opinion that Peter Withe was a bit of a donkey and to say I was disappointed when Ron signed him stating that he was the final piece in the jigsaw is putting it mildly.  How wrong was I? the man turned out to be exactly that and having witnessed him in training at Bodymoor soon realised he was the consumate professional training exactly the way he played totaly committed.  I remember him bollocking Sid for not putting his foot in in one particular challenge.  Peter, you don't know me but please accept my humble apologies for doubting you.

[hipkiss92]

This is why i wonder about managers sometimes, the concensus on these pages before they were bought was that Heskey and Harewood were diabolical and shouldn't be touched with a barge pole and we were proved right. I got to thinking has any Villa manager bought a player that most fans were against and been proved right. Have we ever got it wrong?

Surely 7 million for Merse was questioned at the time considering his misdemeanors and the fact he was 30?