Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air on June 19, 2011, 01:25:42 PM
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“It is only one man’s decision and that man is Randy Lerner,”
“It is up to him to pick the manager and the fans should get behind him.”
“I did not have any real trouble when I crossed the city so I don’t see why he should,”
http://www.sundaymercury.net/midlands-sport/aston-villa-fc/aston-villa-fc-news/2011/06/19/ron-saunders-backs-former-birmingham-city-boss-alex-mcleish-to-succeed-at-aston-villa-66331-28900983/
P.S. I dont know who this Adam Aspinall is, but I have already e-mailed him for inaccurately saying Saunders resigned after a disagreement with Doug Ellis.
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"Back in February 1982, Saunders quit Villa after a row with former chairman Doug Ellis – and nine days later walked into a job at Blues."
9 days later???
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i always thought it was bendall who was the chairman
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i always thought it was bendall who was the chairman
It was, Ellis was, at the time, the former chairman.
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How long was it before he took the post at Blues?
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How long was it before he took the post at Blues?
I think he was in charge for them when we played them the week after he left us?
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Ron - you had won the First Division championship and the team you moulded went on to
win the European Cup - is it any wonder one side of the City were quite chuffed ?
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Old Porky on TalkSport, who was a reporter in the city at the time, always maintained that Sir Ron walked out on Villa over something stupid like a parking space or something.
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How long was it before he took the post at Blues?
I think he was in charge for them when we played them the week after he left us?
I didn't remember it being that quick. I remember going to St Andrews at Christmas as a kid and seeing us get battered 0-3. I couldn't believe it, as a kid it just didn't compute - spoilt my Christmas and everything
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I am not sure of the time it took Saunders to cross the city but it felt ridiculously short. He may say he had no problems but the game at St Andrews that February was very violent - Villa fans in the kop before kick off, Saunders taking pelters all game (You must be fucking mad, Saunders, Saunders) and Bendall receiving dogs abuse too (We've won the league we've won the cup, now Ronnie Bendall has fucked it up). It was kicking off big time all the way back to Digbeth after the game. A Geordie mate of mine came to the match and although he liked a few scrapes he thought it was absolutely mental. He was on a one man campaign in Newcastle after that to tell the city that Villa fans were as bad as any in the country.
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Saunders resigned on 9th Feb 82.
Small Heath sacked Jim Smith on the 15th and on the 18th they held discussions with Saunders.
On the 19th Jasper Carrott resigned as a director because he hadn't been consulted about Smith's sacking.
On Saturday 20th it was Small Heath v Villa at The Sty (we won 1-0) and I believe Saunders was officially appointed two days later on the Monday.
These dates are from the 82-83 Rothmans Yearbook diary, it doesn't actually say when Saunders was appointed but I'm sure they waited until the derby was out the way.
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Saunders resigned on 9th Feb 82.
Small Heath sacked Jim Smith on the 15th and on the 18th they held discussions with Saunders.
On the 19th Jasper Carrott resigned as a director because he hadn't been consulted about Smith's sacking.
On Saturday 20th it was Small Heath v Villa at The Sty (we won 1-0) and I believe Saunders was officially appointed two days later on the Monday.
These dates are from the 82-83 Rothmans Yearbook diary, it doesn't actually say when Saunders was appointed but I'm sure they waited until the derby was out the way.
That's about right.
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Good to see the chronology of the events which I dont really recall in detail. For a start, the moment someone left Villa they were immediately irrelevant to my world (even a championship winning manager). Also the controversy and uproar would not be so instantaneous in those days. Discussion and opinions would have revolved around phoning up Tony Butler or writing a letter to the Evening Mail.
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Old Porky on TalkSport, who was a reporter in the city at the time, always maintained that Sir Ron walked out on Villa over something stupid like a parking space or something.
Didn't he leave because he wanted a rolling contract amd Bendall was trying to cut back after the League 1 title almost bankrupted us due to bonus payments.
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It was reported that he left because the board had scrapped his rolling contract. He later said it was because they were interfering: "I am paid to manage Villa, not be a puppet or an office boy." It was also reckoned that he wanted to be a paid director (the rules had recently been changed to allow this) and Don Bendall also fancied the job.
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Thanks Dave. I remembered it was something to do with a rolling contract but not the exact details.
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It was rumoured at the time of the construction of the Holte End that when Doug said there was no money in the pot for buying new players, because the stand and ground improvements cost so much, that Ron went out and counted the workers and then found that twice that number were officially on the books. He did not last long after that bringing the matter to Doug's attention...so I was told.
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It was rumoured at the time of the construction of the Holte End that when Doug said there was no money in the pot for buying new players, because the stand and ground improvements cost so much, that Ron went out and counted the workers and then found that twice that number were officially on the books. He did not last long after that bringing the matter to Doug's attention...so I was told.
? ? Doug wasnt there when things blew with Saunders? ?
? ? No major works were going on with the Holte End ? ?
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OK Ground improvements and no money for players were the cause imo.
http://www.lerwill-life.org.uk/astonvilla/a_villa_vp.htm
"By 1981, the old Lower Grounds buildings that had served as offices were pulled down. Further, as Villa mounted their challenge for the championship, electronic scoreboards were placed at the ground. Villa also installed a mechanically powered plastic cover to try to protect the pitch which, because of the erection of the North Stand, lacked much needed sunlight and ventilation and suffered badly throughout the 1980s." OK North stand ground improvements.
Ron did not get any money for new players and quit, allegedly!
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Lerwill... The Villa historian of hearts.
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Ron built on that legend of our Championship manager by getting small Heath relegated I think!
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more Lerwill
In the late 1970s, as Villa began to re-establish themselves back among the top clubs after a lengthy spell in the lower divisions, plans were laid for the next major development of the ground, with the building of the North Stand at the Witton Lane end. The new stand was to be an impressive feature and after completion Villa Park was completely under cover for the first time ever. However, although the North Stand was much admired, the manner in which it was paid for caused an enormous amount of publicity and left the club deep in debt for a number of years. Never before had the construction of a sporting arena caused such a scandal as a police investigation and an internal inquiry found that around three-quarters of a million pounds of work had been unaccounted for. The heads of two directors rolled but this could not prevent the club's relationships with their supporters being irretrievably damaged.
back to basics eh?
The Villa's disregard for fans opinion hasn't changed.
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Ron built on that legend of our Championship manager by getting small Heath relegated I think!
And the Stripeys, the full set.
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The finance dealings involved in the building of the North Stand were highly dodgy.
Who were the two directors whose heads rolled ?
If memory serves me right, much of the building project was kept 'in house' rather than just tendering out the work to a construction company. I think someone on the Villa staff was in overall charge of the day to day work and when too many people started asking too many questions, they had to leave quite quickly
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What Ron Saunders misses is that he went from us to Blues and not the other way around. A big difference.
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From what I can remember about the building of the North Stand. It was loudly proclaimed to be the first time a football club had kept such a major work in house. It was claimed that this was done to keep costs under control. Which patently didn't work, which the ensuing scandal showed.
However I don't remember that as the reason Ron Saunders resigned, it most certainly wasn't over something as petty as a car parking space. The two reasons I heard were a lack of commitment from the Bendalls to provide money for team strengthening and an effort to change his contract without negotiation.
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more Lerwill
In the late 1970s, as Villa began to re-establish themselves back among the top clubs after a lengthy spell in the lower divisions, plans were laid for the next major development of the ground, with the building of the North Stand at the Witton Lane end. The new stand was to be an impressive feature and after completion Villa Park was completely under cover for the first time ever. However, although the North Stand was much admired, the manner in which it was paid for caused an enormous amount of publicity and left the club deep in debt for a number of years. Never before had the construction of a sporting arena caused such a scandal as a police investigation and an internal inquiry found that around three-quarters of a million pounds of work had been unaccounted for. The heads of two directors rolled but this could not prevent the club's relationships with their supporters being irretrievably damaged.
back to basics eh?
The Villa's disregard for fans opinion hasn't changed.
He's lifted that from Tony Matthews' A Complete Record, and we all know how accurate that is.
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The management of Villa, whoever they may be, at whatever time, have stuffed the fans from as far back as can be recalled.
I sincerely hope that they have not done so again.
They take our money in our expectation of deliverance and hope that we will reassert the highs of former times. Bar 1981 there has been little to crow about in terms of great achievements over the last 50 years.
it is about time to deliver again, in my humble opinion, before I have time called on me.
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All very interesting reading, thanks for posting.