Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Villa Memories => Topic started by: eric woolban woolban on November 10, 2013, 10:37:40 PM
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we had beaten Coventry 10.04.1993
and that ref hadn't played all that injury time to aide Man Utd with two late goals.
The title would have been ours.
#stillbitterafteralltheseyears
What other if only's do you have which could have changed our history (for better or worse)
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If only we'd signed Bergkamp and Arsenal had signed Savo - maybe we'd have played in the European Cup every year since (pretty much).
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What if Baros hadn't of scored them 2 goals when we Blues 3-1. What if Vidic had of been sent off is the obvious one.
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What if Baros hadn't of scored them 2 goals when we Blues 3-1. What if Vidic had of been sent off is the obvious one.
'...hadn't have...' not '...hadn't of...'
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What if Baros hadn't of scored them 2 goals when we Blues 3-1. What if Vidic had of been sent off is the obvious one.
'...hadn't have...' not '...hadn't of...'
22:46
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Saunders leaving in 1982. A few more trophies, likely as not.
.
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If only we hadn't thrown away a two goal lead Vs Stoke.
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- Pretty much everything about the Bradford semi-final
- What if we hadn't signed Bent in January 2011? Would we still be in the Premier League?
- What if we never appointed McLeish?
- What if MON hadn't thrown the game in Moscow.
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If only John Gregory had shown a bit more ambition in the FA Cup final Vs Chelsea.
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- Pretty much everything about the Bradford semi-final
- What if we hadn't signed Bent in January 2011? Would we still be in the Premier League?
- What if we never appointed McLeish?
- What if MON hadn't thrown the game in Moscow.
Still smarting about that one and will for a few more years I'm sure. I reckon we would have beaten Swansea in the final as well.
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Andy Lochead had hit that ball harder in the 1971 League Cup final, Perryman would never have cleared it off the line.
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- Pretty much everything about the Bradford semi-final
- What if we hadn't signed Bent in January 2011? Would we still be in the Premier League?
- What if we never appointed McLeish?
- What if MON hadn't thrown the game in Moscow.
Still smarting about that one and will for a few more years I'm sure. I reckon we would have beaten Swansea in the final as well.
I think about all the chances and near misses we had in the first half of the second leg... should have killed them off.
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If only John Gregory had shown a bit more ambition in the FA Cup final Vs Chelsea.
Oh, yes, please. I was so, so disappointed with the world watching. I'd have preferred to lose 7-3 or something.
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All those mentioned so far.
I would like to add 1998-1999 to the list. Leading the table at Christmas and we didn't even manage to cling on for European qualification. I know we harp on about Juninho, but I feel we couldn't have played Juninho and Merson in the same side. For me, the injury to Ugo cost us and I am not quite sure why we bought Steve Stone.
I have a feeling that losing away at Blackburn, with Oakes getting sent off, was the start of our collapse. We must have went about 8 games without a win in the second half of that season? Awful.
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Signed Sheringham instead of Cascarino, I feel we would won the league that year
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What if Baros hadn't of scored them 2 goals when we Blues 3-1. What if Vidic had of been sent off is the obvious one.
'...hadn't have...' not '...hadn't of...'
What if richtheholtender 'hadn't have' been corrected.
Oh no sorry, it would have made no difference whatsoever.
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If only Garry Parker had scored his easy chance at Norwich in early 1993 and if BFR hadn't dropped Yorke for the returning Dalian we would surely have won the league despite what happened at Old Trafford.
What if that Dean Saunders lob against Spurs, cleared by Justin Edinburgh "off the line" even though it was well over, had been given as a goal. If only Deano hadn't gone on to hit the post twice more in the same match that ended goalless.
If only Vinnie Jones shot hadn't deflected in vs Wimbledon in the game that got BFR the sack. It was headed out of the ground except it hit McGrath and went straight in. From then on in that match we were like frightened rabbits in the headlights.
If only we'd not signed Collymore.
If only we'd signed a better striker than Heskey.
If only we'd not fielded weakened sides in several cup competitions in recent years.
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More recent games....
If only we'd beaten Newcastle at the back end of 03/04. Pretty sure we missed out on champions league by something like 3 points that season, it was very close. Newcastle went down to 10 men very early in that game aswell but we couldn't score and it was 0-0, a massive missed opportunity.
I also wonder how different things would've panned out if we'd won the Carling cup in 2010. I can't believe things would've spiralled out of control as quickly as my did. I reckon MON would've hung around one more year as extra funds would've been released and likes of Milner and Young would've signed contract extensions.
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All those mentioned so far.
I would like to add 1998-1999 to the list. Leading the table at Christmas and we didn't even manage to cling on for European qualification. I know we harp on about Juninho, but I feel we couldn't have played Juninho and Merson in the same side. For me, the injury to Ugo cost us and I am not quite sure why we bought Steve Stone.
I have a feeling that losing away at Blackburn, with Oakes getting sent off, was the start of our collapse. We must have went about 8 games without a win in the second half of that season? Awful.
Bosnich getting injured around October time cost us aswell.
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If only we'd signed Bergkamp and Arsenal had signed Savo - maybe we'd have played in the European Cup every year since (pretty much).
I'm of the opinion that if Les Ferdinand had have signed for us (QPR accepted a £6m bid, if memory serves), rather than Newcastle that season, we could have won the league in 95/96. We had the best defence in the league, goals from midfield (Taylor, Draper, Townsend), and the emergence of Dwight Yorke as a world class talent. We won the League Cup, got to the semis of the FA Cup, and finished 4th. If we'd have had a prolific number 9, instead of Savo, who know how far we could have gone?
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What if Ken McNaught hadn't inexplicably handled the ball and conceded a last minute penalty at West Ham in the 1980 FA Cup FA Cup quarter final when we were seconds away from taking them back to Villa Park for a replay we would have been favourites to win? We could have had an FA Cup the year before the League title.
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What if that Dean Saunders lob against Spurs, cleared by Justin Edinburgh "off the line" even though it was well over, had been given as a goal.
This one for me. I can still see the ball hearing into the centre of the goal turned round to my mate to celebrate and they played on... One of the most one sided games ever where we were so dominant.
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If the ref had given the blatant penalty on ?Ian Taylor? in the FA semi vs Liverpool at OT
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Whats ifs work both ways.
What if Peter Withe had got a long term injury around Feb '81 ?
What if Boro' hadn't beat Ipswich ?
What if Jimmy Rimmer had tried to play on injured ?
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What if Brendon Batson hadn't tried to...
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If only we had a different first manager under RL.
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What if Sir Graham hadn't wanted a change of job when we needed a new manager?
What if his best mate hadn't worked round the corner from Villa Park?
What if Boro or Bradford hadn't both lost on the last day?
What if Dean Saunders had scored for Derby?
What if we hadn't gone on that Trinidad tour?
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On an England theme - IF
Sir Alf hadn't taken off Bobby Charlton when 2-0 v W.Germany - Beckenbaur would have spent the game marking him and therefore wouldn't have gone forward to make it 2-1
then they wouldn't have scored to force extra time and go on and beat us (still don't know how it happenned)
We would have beaten Italy in the semi final
Then beat Brazil in the final as we should have beaten them in the group game (Jeff Astle's miss is another if only.....)
As winners of the world cup we wouldn't have had to qualify for the 1974 tournament and the Poland game of 73 would never have needed to have been played........... I could go on
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If only my aunt had bollocks she'd be my uncle.
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That fa cup final still hurts
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Dont write off the Batson thing yet. The stupid, obsessed bastards might still want an enquiry.
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What if Kevin Keelan had pushed Ray Graydon's penalty in the '75 LC Final out for a corner rather than on to the post?
What if Doug Ellis hadn't invented the bicycle kick?
What if William McGregor had got homesick & headed straight back to Scotland?
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What if Kevin Keelan had pushed Ray Graydon's penalty in the '75 LC Final out for a corner rather than on to the post?
We would have had another corner, and this time Chris Nichol's header would have gone in directly - Mel Machin on the line would have been unable to save it !
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What if Ken McNaught hadn't inexplicably handled the ball and conceded a last minute penalty at West Ham in the 1980 FA Cup FA Cup quarter final when we were seconds away from taking them back to Villa Park for a replay we would have been favourites to win? We could have had an FA Cup the year before the League title.
I've never forgotten this - being born the year we last won the fa cup, I was brought up with knowing how proud we were to be its most times winners. By 1980 it had been 23 years and another win was already well overdue. I was sure 1980 was our year and by the time the 89th minute came - I remember thinking - deal with this corner and we've got them back at Villa Park - where we would have been clear favourites to beat them - as a top 8 old First Division side, our home form was pretty good, they were about 6th in the old 2nd division. Then they came that very dubious penalty - deliberate hand ball ???.
Another 33 years later - as Diana Ross would say "I'm still waiting"
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- Pretty much everything about the Bradford semi-final
- What if we hadn't signed Bent in January 2011? Would we still be in the Premier League?
- What if we never appointed McLeish?
- What if MON hadn't thrown the game in Moscow.
Still smarting about that one and will for a few more years I'm sure. I reckon we would have beaten Swansea in the final as well.
To be honest, I got over that one really quickly. I also got over losing the last CCC final at Wembley quickly, too.
I felt significantly more gutted after the Chelsea FAC semi final, miles worse.
I think the major "if only" in my time, by far, is the Fergie time two goals thing in 1993. I was staying with a friend in Oxford that weekend, and remember listening to it on the radio. I am thinking about it now, 20 years later, and getting the exact same knot in my stomach.
I also think that one had major significance for the rest of football, too. Had we won the league, not Man United, then I am not suggesting we'd be where Man U are now, but it makes you wonder whether Fergie would have been sacked after another title-less season.
Not only that, you also have to wonder, had that been the case and given when it happened, whether Man United would have gone on to be the club they are - they being the club which did so massively well at the exact right time to do it, ie just after Sky started pumping huge amounts into the game.
Think back to what Old Trafford looked like in 1993 and what it looks like now, and you get a good idea how well they did.
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On a negative note - what would have happenned if Hoeness' "disallowed goal" had stood in the last few minutes of the 1982 European Cup Final ?
Full time 1-1 ?
Extra time ? who knows ? - glad i don't have to think about it :)
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- Pretty much everything about the Bradford semi-final
- What if we hadn't signed Bent in January 2011? Would we still be in the Premier League?
- What if we never appointed McLeish?
- What if MON hadn't thrown the game in Moscow.
Still smarting about that one and will for a few more years I'm sure. I reckon we would have beaten Swansea in the final as well.
To be honest, I got over that one really quickly. I also got over losing the last CCC final at Wembley quickly, too.
I felt significantly more gutted after the Chelsea FAC semi final, miles worse.
I think the major "if only" in my time, by far, is the Fergie time two goals thing in 1993. I was staying with a friend in Oxford that weekend, and remember listening to it on the radio. I am thinking about it now, 20 years later, and getting the exact same knot in my stomach.
I also think that one had major significance for the rest of football, too. Had we won the league, not Man United, then I am not suggesting we'd be where Man U are now, but it makes you wonder whether Fergie would have been sacked after another title-less season.
Not only that, you also have to wonder, had that been the case and given when it happened, whether Man United would have gone on to be the club they are - they being the club which did so massively well at the exact right time to do it, ie just after Sky started pumping huge amounts into the game.
Think back to what Old Trafford looked like in 1993 and what it looks like now, and you get a good idea how well they did.
Those are my thoughts on it too, but I think it would have been a one-off for us and United would probably have won it the year after anyway. The BFR 92-93 team were meant to burn brightly and they were the best team not to win the league in the PL era, certainly. But United probably had thoughts beyond football and arguably, it would have delayed the inevitable of them becoming the biggest club in the country by a season at most.
Ferguson getting the tin tack is an intriguing what-if, because he had that 93-94 team already without having to win the league first. Would another manager have used that first success to consolidate his position like Ferguson? I doubt it.
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What if Ron Saunders didn't resign when he did. How long would he have stayed?
What if the team of 1982 hadn't been broken up so quickly? How many more trophies would have followed?
What if the referee had spotted Kevin Richardson's handball on the line?
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What if Ron Saunders didn't resign when he did. How long would he have stayed?
What if the team of 1982 hadn't been broken up so quickly? How many more trophies would have followed?
What if the referee had spotted Kevin Richardson's handball on the line?
My dad always said that if Saunders had stayed we would have been Liverpool's main rivals for the next decade. And we wouldn't have won the European Cup.
I often think he was right.
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Again, probably a small one:
In 2007 we spent £5.5m on a season long loan for Scott Carson and Zat Knight to have a back five of Carson, Mellberg, Laursen, Knight and Bouma.
The following season we spent £8m on Luke Young and Brad Friedel to have a back five of Friedel, Young, Laursen, Knight, Shorey.
What if we'd just spent the money properly in 2007 to have a defence of Friedel, Young, Mellberg, Laursen, Bouma for that season (the first time we finished sixth under O'Neill)?
I don't think there would have been many better defences in the league. Rather than the endless "what if we'd bought Bent instead of Heskey" discussions, the above I think was the real missed opportunity.
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If only we'd left the trinity road stand alone and had it protected historically
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If only we'd left the trinity road stand alone and had it protected historically
It would have fallen down.
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Looking at some of the 'What ifs...' that have worked to our advantage, it is perhaps fair to extrapolate the footballing cliche and say that these things even themselves out of the course of a lifetime!
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Who's lifetime ?
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If only Luc Nilis hadn't clattered into Richard Wright. A really classy player. I think he would have been every bit as good, if not better than Merson (and the two in the same side could have been glorious to watch). Belgiums answer to Bergkamp. We had that one brief glimpse of the class he had.
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If only I hadn't trusted that fart.
Sorry.
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What if there hadn't been a gaslight in Heathfield Road ?
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If only we'd left the trinity road stand alone and had it protected historically
It would have fallen down. They could have kept it if they wanted to.
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If only we'd left the trinity road stand alone and had it protected historically
It would have fallen down. They could have kept it if they wanted to.
Of course they could. It was completely unsuitable, increasingly dangerous and meant that the ground had more obstructed view seats than any other in Britain, but they could have always kept it.
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I was there on the day they knocked it down.
In The Corner Flag restaurant.
Surreal.
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If only we'd left the trinity road stand alone and had it protected historically
It would have fallen down. They could have kept it if they wanted to.
Of course they could. It was completely unsuitable, increasingly dangerous and meant that the ground had more obstructed view seats than any other in Britain, but they could have always kept it.
Wasn't the original intention to simply remove the roof and replace it with a cantilever? I seem to remember that being suggested about four years before the stand was demolished.
It is a great pity the new stand didn't pay homage to the old in some way. Why built a beautiful, almost timeless, new Holte End only to go back to something very noughties for the new Trinity? I felt they should have built a classy facade into the new Trinity.