Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Steve67 on April 10, 2020, 11:04:31 PM
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Mervyn Day - I always thought he was a good keeper but the Manager at the time fancied the other guy (was it Graham Turner?)
Earl Barrett - signed as a centre back and converted. Always did a reasonable job.
Jloyd Samuel - Started really well but then went downhill and was replaced. Could have been a really decent player
Shaun Teale - No great pace, nothing special as a player, but hard as fuck, dependable, good defender
Derek Mountfield - had had better days at Everton but came in and helped to keep us up in GT's second season
Paul Birch - Under-rated
Ian Taylor - England were crap at the time, he'd have done a job. Whole hearted, ran all day long.
Stan Petrov - after a dodgy first season, he got better and better. Worked so hard. Never amazing but such a trier.
Steve Stone - Was never brilliant, but worked really hard and earned England caps (was right sided, like Birchy, I know!)
Julian Joachim - was never quite good enough but scored 17 goals one season.
Simon Stainrod - lazy fucker but scored 22 goals in one season and kept us up. Not really a hero but the goals were important.
Manager would be Houllier. He did a lot better than we thought at the time but didn't really take to him and got TSM as a reward!
Players like Nigel Spink, Gary Cahill, Andy Blair, Steve Hunt, Garry Thompson, David Geddis and Steve Sims all came into consideration for various reasons. Have a go for fun.
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Frank Carrodus would be in my team
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Surely Des Bremner is the captain?
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Surely Des Bremner is the captain?
First name that came to mind, and Carrodus is a good shout too.
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Kevin Richardson. Won league titles with two different team and runners up with Villa. A class act.
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Kevin Richardson. Won league titles with two different team and runners up with Villa. A class act.
Won major trophies with three clubs., Two league titles, an FA Cup and the Cup Winners Cup with Everton, the title with Arsenal and the Coca-Cola Cup as captain with Villa. He was the 'midfield water carrier' and I mean that as a compliment as we weren't the same team when he was missing.
Des Bremner has gone down in Villa folklore as the classic unsung hero. Although he has been credited with the unsung hero title so many times he has become a very much sung hero and should probably be disqualified from the title. ;)
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Kevin Richardson. Won league titles with two different team and runners up with Villa. A class act.
Won major trophies with three clubs., Two league titles, an FA Cup and the Cup Winners Cup with Everton, the title with Arsenal and the Coca-Cola Cup as captain with Villa. He was the 'midfield water carrier' and I mean that as a compliment as we weren't the same team when he was missing.
Des Bremner has gone down in Villa folklore as the classic unsung hero. Although he has been credited with the unsung hero title so many times he has become a very much sung hero and should probably be disqualified from the title. ;)
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It is no surprise that both Frank Carrodus and Des Bremner have been mentioned. They were real Ron Saunder's types. He signed them both twice. For Villa and Small Heath.
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It is no surprise that both Frank Carrodus and Des Bremner have been mentioned. They were real Ron Saunder's types. He signed them both twice. For Villa and Small Heath.
I'd forgotten that Saunders signed Carrodus at Blues, he played under him at Man City as well.
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Kevin Richardson. Won league titles with two different team and runners up with Villa. A class act.
Won major trophies with three clubs., Two league titles, an FA Cup and the Cup Winners Cup with Everton, the title with Arsenal and the Coca-Cola Cup as captain with Villa. He was the 'midfield water carrier' and I mean that as a compliment as we weren't the same team when he was missing.
Des Bremner has gone down in Villa folklore as the classic unsung hero. Although he has been credited with the unsung hero title so many times he has become a very much sung hero and should probably be disqualified from the title. ;)
It's pretty hard to argue with that logic !
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Never thought John Deehan got the recognition he deserved at times. As a kid growing up Deehan was definitely a favourite player of mine back in the day.
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I'm putting little Alan Wright in mine.
Took a load of stick at the time but was a good solid full-back. Compared with some of the left-backs we've had since, he's Maldini-esque.
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Always liked Ashley Westwood, always available for a pass, kept the ball moving and made the team keep shape.
Gash when we were defending mind.
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Surely Des Bremner is the captain?
I must be honest, I don't class Des as an unsung hero. He won the league and the European Cup, and the Super Cup. Therefore, a proper hero rather than an unsung one.
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Delaney, 350k from the second division. Ran up and down that flank all game, positioned himself well and loved a sliding tackle.
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Never thought John Deehan got the recognition he deserved at times. As a kid growing up Deehan was definitely a favourite player of mine back in the day.
We need to call Nev to this thread to post his John Deehan guitar story.
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Tommy Johnson and Mark Delaney.
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Tommy Mitchesson thought he was a great little mid fielder
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I can remember being gutted when Earl Barrett ("You'll never beat Earl Barrett") signed for Everton. Also loved Shaun Teal (the original "He's here, he's there, he's every fu**ing where Shaun Teal etc")
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Franz Carr. A handful of appearances but one goal which took us to an FA Cup semifinal. Younger Villa fans might have never heard of him but always going to be a cult figure for that alone.
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John Robson.
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John Burridge - keeper in a legendary side but less-remembered than the four regular number ones that followed.
Mark Delaney - one of Gregory's best signings and a real miss when injured.
Gary Williams - probably the least spoken about member of 80-82.
Leighton Phillips - proper skipper, proper centre half.
Derek Mountfield - overshadowed by his central defensive partners but vital to SGT's three.
Paul Birch - I don't think you can have an unsung heroes line-up without him.
Kevin Richardson - every side needs one.
Mark Draper - just for 95/6 when he was over-shadowed by more popular names, but brilliant nonetheless.
John Deehan - much needed back-up to the often injured Andy Gray.
Ian Olney - appalling goals per game record, but what a job he did to create space for Platt.
Mark Walters - simply stunning, worthy of similar praise to the wingers who sandwiched him, Morley and Daley.
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James Chester
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Surely Des Bremner is the captain?
I must be honest, I don't class Des as an unsung hero. He won the league and the European Cup, and the Super Cup. Therefore, a proper hero rather than an unsung one.
And a gentleman into the bargain.
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Bosko Jankovic - does he count?
Other than those already mentioned I have.....
Alan Hutton
Freddie Bouma
Chris Price
Garry Parker
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I’d add Eamon Deacy to the unsung heroes list too, he’d be at least on the bench.
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Gavin McCann, must be somewhere? Eamon Deacy, James Chester, Warren Aspinal.
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Keith Leonard - a potentially-great player, robbed by injury.
Neil Rioch - supported our acquisition of Bruce!
John Burridge - better than his antics suggested.
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Bouma needs to be in at left back.
Really struggled in his first season with the pace bur massively improved once we got a good run under MON halfway through the next season (I think we played Barry quite a bit at left back up to xmas). Can remember one game where he totally nulified Wright Phillips who was at Chelsea and he gained loads of confidence from that. Was excellent in 07/08.
Considering the dross we've had in that position since he did really well but then he was a regular Dutch international when we signed him. Pretty sure after we decided he was no longer fit enough for premier league after the injury he went back to Holland and got a few more caps for them.
Thought Ronny Johnsen was really good for the two years he was here aswell. Was surprised we didn't offer him a new deal for 2004-05. Had his injuries but he started 22 league games that season. Were playing Dublin at the back that season which didn't work well in first leg at Bolton (Johnsen was on the bench that night).
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George Boateng, one of my all time favourite villa midfielders. Hard as nails.
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George Boateng, one of my all time favourite villa midfielders. Hard as nails.
Gascoigne broke his arm trying to hit him.
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I think Ian Ormondroyd might need a place in the squad somewhere as well. Decent player, ungainly fucker, but had a good season before disappearing under Venglos.
I think Crouch has a shout too.
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Vassell
Solid Partnership with Angel , not a great goalscorer mind you
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Can't really think of wingers that fall into this category so gone with a 4-3-1-2 formation.
James - He did drop a bollock in the cup final but otherwise i thought he was pretty flawless for the 2 years he had with us, he didn't really seem to get much praise.
L Young - I thought he was a really good right back, but MON clearly didn't considering he played a center back there most of the time, and the Villa fans didn't give him the credit he deserved.
Wright - Struggling a bit with the left back side but i'll say Wright as he played a lot of games for us and didn't always get as positive a response as he might.
Mountfield - Quality player, was overshadowed by McGrath, but he's rarely mentioned in the years since.
R Johnson - I couldn't quite believe how good he was considering the age when we signed him. Another one that was largely forgotten.
Kevin Richardson - He was great for us until the last season, i think he even had an England call at a fairly late stage of his career whilst with us. Probably overshadowed by some bigger names back then.
Boateng - He did used to get on my wick a bit with the sideways and backward passes but he was a very important part of the team breaking up the opposition and i seem to recall we missed him once he left.
Hourahane - Up until the start of last year i thought he's been a let down as many others did, but during that run we had at the end of last season he was really good, finishing with a MOM performance in the play off final. He's continued to do well this season in the PL when called upon and i don't think he's fully appreciated by Villa fans.
Draper - Seems to have a degree of ridicule in a lot of Villa fans eyes but he was excellent in his first season, decent in his second and then did go off the boil in his third. Still, he was an important part of that 95-96 team.
Angel - i know a lot of Villa fans appreciated him but there were plenty that didn't. He had a tough start to his Villa career but got going shortly after and although he was a bit up and down but he had a lot of personality and he was entertaining to watch. This was a bit scarce in the Gregory and O Leary teams so was very welcome.
Olney - His Villa career was pretty brief but i'll put him in there because it was decided to buy a replacement in the form of Tony Cascarino for the last dozen games or so of the 89-90 season. With the benefit of hindsight that proved to be a proper cock up and i think manager and fans had wished we'd stuck with him.
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Franz Carr. A handful of appearances but one goal which took us to an FA Cup semifinal. Younger Villa fans might have never heard of him but always going to be a cult figure for that alone.
I remember seeing the goal on Sportsnight in a Cardiff pub.
For his short time would include Benito Carbone. Should have started with him at Wembley.
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John Burridge - keeper in a legendary side but less-remembered than the four regular number ones that followed.
Mark Delaney - one of Gregory's best signings and a real miss when injured.
Gary Williams - probably the least spoken about member of 80-82.
Leighton Phillips - proper skipper, proper centre half.
Derek Mountfield - overshadowed by his central defensive partners but vital to SGT's three.
Paul Birch - I don't think you can have an unsung heroes line-up without him.
Kevin Richardson - every side needs one.
Mark Draper - just for 95/6 when he was over-shadowed by more popular names, but brilliant nonetheless.
John Deehan - much needed back-up to the often injured Andy Gray.
Ian Olney - appalling goals per game record, but what a job he did to create space for Platt.
Mark Walters - simply stunning, worthy of similar praise to the wingers who sandwiched him, Morley and Daley.
Good looking side, that.
Budgie Burridge was a wee bit before my time, so I'll go with Michael Oakes rather than him. As good a keeper as Bosnich was, I was never too worried when Oakes had to deputise for him.
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I think Ian Ormondroyd might need a place in the squad somewhere as well. Decent player, ungainly fucker, but had a good season before disappearing under Venglos.
I think Crouch has a shout too.
I remember being at Villa Park in 1987/88 for the 0-5 Simod Cup tie against Bradford. We couldn't handle Ormondroyd that night, he had a blinder and clearly caught the eye of SGT. He was in the mould of SGT's former strikers at Watford Ross Jenkins and George Reilly, although less physical. Ormondroyd struggled at first but in his second season SGT realised that playing 'Sticks' wide on the left gave us the option of hitting long
high balls out to him and the full backs who were usually about a foot shorter than him struggled to compete against him. I think he scored a couple of crucial goals at Derby and Spurs in 1990 when we were going for the title. Ormondroyd was like a prototype Peter Crouch but unfortunately not so prolific.
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Franz Carr. A handful of appearances but one goal which took us to an FA Cup semifinal. Younger Villa fans might have never heard of him but always going to be a cult figure for that alone.
I remember seeing the goal on Sportsnight in a Cardiff pub.
For his short time would include Benito Carbone. Should have started with him at Wembley.
We did didn't we? He had a shot cleared off the line in our one real shot on target. Pretty sure Joachim came on as sub. Perhaps Dublin shouldn't have started given it was only a month since his return from a broken net but he'd scored a few goals in that period.
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Franz Carr vs Forest 1996
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I went to that Forest game, and yes, Carbone did start the 2000 cup final. Unfortunately like the rest of the team he never really got going. Good player though and i was gutted we didn't sign him permanently.
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I went to that Forest game, and yes, Carbone did start the 2000 cup final. Unfortunately like the rest of the team he never really got going. Good player though and i was gutted we didn't sign him permanently.
I remember being at Everton for the FA cup in 2000 when Carbone scored and was also sent off. Merson had a blinder that day.
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Franz Carr. A handful of appearances but one goal which took us to an FA Cup semifinal. Younger Villa fans might have never heard of him but always going to be a cult figure for that alone.
I remember seeing the goal on Sportsnight in a Cardiff pub.
For his short time would include Benito Carbone. Should have started with him at Wembley.
We did didn't we? He had a shot cleared off the line in our one real shot on target. Pretty sure Joachim came on as sub. Perhaps Dublin shouldn't have started given it was only a month since his return from a broken net but he'd scored a few goals in that period.
Yeah, I've got the short front men back to front.
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Please, please someone tell me what was so good about Benito 'fanny merchant par excellence' Carbone.
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I think Ian Ormondroyd might need a place in the squad somewhere as well. Decent player, ungainly fucker, but had a good season before disappearing under Venglos.
I think Crouch has a shout too.
I remember being at Villa Park in 1987/88 for the 0-5 Simod Cup tie against Bradford. We couldn't handle Ormondroyd that night, he had a blinder and clearly caught the eye of SGT. He was in the mould of SGT's former strikers at Watford Ross Jenkins and George Reilly, although less physical. Ormondroyd struggled at first but in his second season SGT realised that playing 'Sticks' wide on the left gave us the option of hitting long
high balls out to him and the full backs who were usually about a foot shorter than him struggled to compete against him. I think he scored a couple of crucial goals at Derby and Spurs in 1990 when we were going for the title. Ormondroyd was like a prototype Peter Crouch but unfortunately not so prolific.
Wow, that brought back some memories. Me and mate went to that and knew the crowd would be sparse (5000)? So for a laugh, we sat with the few Bradford fans who were there, and yep, they won 5-0!
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Please, please someone tell me what was so good about Benito 'fanny merchant par excellence' Carbone.
Well Leeds at home in the cup is one of the most memorable games I've ever been to. Carbone with his hat-trick (that second goal is also one of the best I've seen scored at VP) and Merse with a divine set up for the third goal (spilling blood for the cause) more than played their parts. I remember him fondly for that game.
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Carbone was great, for a while. Was gutted we didn't keep him but his career afterwards suggests that we didn't miss much.
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Please, please someone tell me what was so good about Benito 'fanny merchant par excellence' Carbone.
Well Leeds at home in the cup is one of the most memorable games I've ever been to. Carbone with his hat-trick (that second goal is also one of the best I've seen scored at VP) and Merse with a divine set up for the third goal (spilling blood for the cause) more than played their parts. I remember him fondly for that game.
So that's one game.
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He wanted 40k a week. Bradford pay him that and went into administration two years later (although he did waive what he was owed for final two years of his deal when they released him).
We just used that cash on Nilis (unlucky) and Ginola (oh ah).
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Phil king
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Lots of full backs for some reasons - maybe because we've been craving decent ones in recent years - Delaney, Bouma, Luke Young, Alan Wright, Earl Barrett, Chris Price, Bryan Small, Dariusz Kubicki
I always though Garry Parker was a class player
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Please, please someone tell me what was so good about Benito 'fanny merchant par excellence' Carbone.
:-)
Technique, vision, scored from anywhere, he wasn't the most robust but he was usually the smallest guy on the pitch, almost ball boy esq. What more do you want?
To be fair though i'd forgot that the rumour at the time was that he didn't come because of money. If you would sooner go to Bradford than the Villa for a bit more cash you must be a bit of a twat really. We were pretty good at the time too.
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Please, please someone tell me what was so good about Benito 'fanny merchant par excellence' Carbone.
:-)
Technique, vision, scored from anywhere, he wasn't the most robust but he was usually the smallest guy on the pitch, almost ball boy esq. What more do you want?
To be fair though i'd forgot that the rumour at the time was that he didn't come because of money. If you would sooner go to Bradford than the Villa for a bit more cash you must be a bit of a twat really. We were pretty good at the time too.
Were there two Beni Carbones then? Only the one I saw pissed around in the centre circle most of the game, occasionally got a bit further upfield when he could be arsed and scored four league goals in a season where he played so well Bradford were the best offer he could get.
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Please, please someone tell me what was so good about Benito 'fanny merchant par excellence' Carbone.
My mate and I have been going to the games for over 35 years together. The only time we have ever come close to blows was who should be substituted in the FA Cup Semi Final, Carbone or Jochim ... I agree with you Dave, Carbone was the ultimate show pony
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I think it’s the same geezer, I think we’ve both described him quite well but you’ve focused on the bad side of his game as he clearly got on your tits which I can understand, I focused on the positives because I just loved a bit of flair. You’ve got to say Gregory’s teams weren’t known to have massive amounts of flair!
I’m surprised at the goal stats, I thought they’d be better but he did provide I think as well. I’m not saying he was all that great but he wasn’t bad either most of the time and he got me off my seat more than most in those days.
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Lots of full backs for some reasons - maybe because we've been craving decent ones in recent years - Delaney, Bouma, Luke Young, Alan Wright, Earl Barrett, Chris Price, Bryan Small, Dariusz Kubicki
I always though Garry Parker was a class player
Not a full back but he played there a lot - Stuart Gray.
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Gordon Lee and John Neal were fairly decent full backs for us IIRC.
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I used to think Gary Charles got undeserved stick from the crowd but for a season he was an integral part of Villa's set-up.
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I liked Fernando Nelson. Has he been nominated yet?
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Kevin Gage would be in my team. Always rated him
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Kevin Gage is a great shout. Bullet of a shot.
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I think it’s the same geezer, I think we’ve both described him quite well but you’ve focused on the bad side of his game as he clearly got on your tits which I can understand, I focused on the positives because I just loved a bit of flair. You’ve got to say Gregory’s teams weren’t known to have massive amounts of flair!
I’m surprised at the goal stats, I thought they’d be better but he did provide I think as well. I’m not saying he was all that great but he wasn’t bad either most of the time and he got me off my seat more than most in those days.
I do like flair players, but it always strikes me that the ones we had then get a lot more praise than they deserve, while those from other eras are overlooked.
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Garry Parker. Scored some fantastic goals for us.
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Neil Rioch. We got him basically for free with his brother. Played only a little but went on to become a tireless and loyal club servant off the field.
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Brad Friedel
Darren Bent (although his fee may disqualify him I guess)
Stephen Warnock (although he latterly lost his form)
Derek Mountfield
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Kevin Gage is a great shout. Bullet of a shot.
Yes but not unsung.
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John Gregory the player must fall into this category. We bought him for peanuts, he played in every outfield shirt and position under Ron Saunders to a very effective level and was instrumental in our mid seventies rise, then he had the cheek to ask for a pay rise and was sold for six times what we paid for him. Gregory then went on to enjoy a long and successful career and play for England.
Another guy from the mid seventies - Keith Leonard. While lacking pace he was an underrated target man who was strong and could hold the ball up and bring team mates into the game. He could also finish. Unfortunately his career ended early through injury.
Leighton Phillips - another mid to late seventies player, bought as a midfield player by Ron Saunders but ended up being a reliable central defender. Very under rated in my opinion though he could be hot headed. I remember being at the Sty when Phillips was sent off for sticking his fingers up in the face of the referee. I'm not sure but that might not have been the only occasion he was sent off for a similar offence.
We had unsung heroes even in our title and European Cup winning team. Gary Williams played left back, central defence and even in midfield for Saunders. A quiet and unspectacular performer who always performed to a high level.
John Robson - a full back who ultimately had to retire in his late 20s with multiple sclerosis. Always consistent and defensively sound.
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Lots of full backs for some reasons - maybe because we've been craving decent ones in recent years - Delaney, Bouma, Luke Young, Alan Wright, Earl Barrett, Chris Price, Bryan Small, Dariusz Kubicki
I always though Garry Parker was a class player
Parker wasn't much of a grafter but had some skill and had a decent eighteen months under BFR if I remember correctly. He had a good spell at Forest when they won a couple of League Cups in the late eighties. I also recall a rather poor chant of his name. "Oh Garry Garry, Garry Garry Garry Parker ker". It never quite worked.
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Kevin Gage is a great shout. Bullet of a shot.
Yes but not unsung.
One of SGT's first signings and right back in our promotion season. Then SGT moved him into midfield and he did well there until he got a bad knee injury at the old Den Millwall in 1989.
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Paul Birch as captain for a start
Chris Price
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Still remember tiny Alan Wright out jumping Vinny Jones during our demolishing of Wimbledon, 6-1 was it?
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John Robson - a full back who ultimately had to retire in his late 20s with multiple sclerosis. Always consistent and defensively sound.
The thing i remember about Robson was he was bought as an aspiring international right back by Crowe and when we got Gidman, Saunders had him playing left back. I don't recall him looking out of place in either role. Played in the 1975 triumph at right back and in the three games of 1977 at left back. I think he also won the league with Derby 71/72 [?] although i may be wrong. A brilliant versatile player, who gave his best years for the Villa. Such a shame when he had to retire, diagnosed at 28 years of age with MS
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Robson played quite a few games in midfield for Ron, as well.
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And a Gentleman
When he was diagnosed with MS I wrote him a letter, (no internet then) wishing him the best and thanking him for his service.
He wrote back in a very sincere and honest way
A true Lion
players aside , what about Terry Weir ?
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And a Gentleman
When he was diagnosed with MS I wrote him a letter, (no internet then) wishing him the best and thanking him for his service.
He wrote back in a very sincere and honest way
A true Lion
players aside , what about Terry Weir ?
Terry wasn't unsung, he was as popular and well-known as most of the players.
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And a Gentleman
When he was diagnosed with MS I wrote him a letter, (no internet then) wishing him the best and thanking him for his service.
He wrote back in a very sincere and honest way
A true Lion
players aside , what about Terry Weir ?
I have a friend who also suffers from MS, has had it for a good many years and is still alive thankfully. I'm not certain about this but I think John Robson's marriage failed for what reason I don't know but they attended some form of therapy centre and my mate used to pick him up (he could still drive then). They even went fishing together and he said he was a nice bloke.
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David Geddis. Overshadowed by Withe and Shaw, but always seemed to Get goals when called into the team. Very unsung hero in my opinion.
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Neil Rioch. We got him basically for free with his brother. Played only a little but went on to become a tireless and loyal club servant off the field.
First englishmen to touch the ball in 1966 world cup final.
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/694865/World-Cup-1966-England-champions-memories-final
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Fred Turnbull. Scored an own goal at home to Preston which ignited the 1968 revolution.
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I had a cut out of Fred from the old official magazine
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David Geddis. Overshadowed by Withe and Shaw, but always seemed to Get goals when called into the team. Very unsung hero in my opinion.
In 80/81 he scored some very important winners against Wolves, Southampton and of course two against Blose.
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Going to throw in a controversial one now. How about Gary Shaw? League Championship winner, European Cup winner, Super Cup winner, UEFA young player award. If injury hasn't cruelly ended his career early, then I believe he could have gone on to be the the best player in England (possibly Europe/World). Better player than Grealish. I know that for us fans who lived through the Saunders era then Shaw is reverred, but in the wider footballing world he's very much forgotten.
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Ray Graydon. Played in all three divisions with us. Some of his crossing made Neil Taylor look accurate, but actually so much came from his movement and crossing. Chipped in with a few goals as well.
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Going to throw in a controversial one now. How about Gary Shaw? League Championship winner, European Cup winner, Super Cup winner, UEFA young player award. If injury hasn't cruelly ended his career early, then I believe he could have gone on to be the the best player in England (possibly Europe/World). Better player than Grealish. I know that for us fans who lived through the Saunders era then Shaw is reverred, but in the wider footballing world he's very much forgotten.
Could say that about a lot of the greats down Villa Park though. No real love outside VP for the whole of the 1981/82 team was there? Not many went to the World Cup in Spain in 82. Nowadays that would be unheard of if any team won the league and then went on to win the European cup the same year the World Cup.
In 1990 we finished second in the league, the only player to start the first game for their nation was McGrath, the only other person in any of the Home Squads was David Platt ... now you tell me why they didn't take Sid, at least!
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I’ve been going down since early 80s, and this would be my team of unsung heroes. This all blighted by memory and seeing things through rose tinted glasses.
1. Kevin Poole: just remember as a kid thinking he was a top shot stopper in struggling sides.
2. Chris Price: rampaging forwards from full back for a year or two and that winner at Highbury.
3. Garry Williams. Quiet, unassuming, quality player.
4. Sean Teale. Rock solid. Big Tash
5. Derek Mountfield. Bigger Tash
6. Birchie. Loved him when villa were largely crap. Never forget his chipped winner against Cov in front of the Holte the year we got relegated. Got an old programme here and he’s the featured player, he’d just moved to a new house in Great Barr, how times have changed, love that his name still gets sung occasionally, the ultimate unsung hero for me. RIP.
7. Ian Ormondroyd. Just because SGT had the temerity to put a 6ft 5 lanky streak on the wing and we nearly won the league with him.
8. Warren Aspinall. Not the greatest and his villa career ended with an embarrassing pre season 1988-89 incident, but his goals helped to get us promoted in 88.
9. Garry Thompson. Again not the greatest, but as a teenager I loved him. Socks rolled down, hard as nails, scored headers from 20 yards (as it seemed to me), would battle till the end. Helped to get us up in 88 inc 2 goals in 2-1 away at the noses. The year we got relegated we came bk from 1-3 to draw at home with Man U 3-3. Think Thompson got the 2nd and my abiding memory was him stood in front of the Holte arms stretched out either side of him, every muscle straining, pure aggression, loved it.
10. Steve Hunt. Only saw him second time round in the 80s, not in his heyday.
11. Mark Walters. Probably too good for an unsung, but I think forgotten sometimes as he buggered off to Rangers over Xmas 87. Great skill and that step over, I was forever trying to emulate that over the park as a kid. If we’d kept him that season might have won division 1 not been runners up
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6. Birchie.
love that his name still gets sung occasionally, the ultimate unsung hero for me
🤔
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What was the pre-season Aspinall incident?
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I also only remember Steve Hunt when he resigned for us (alongside Andy Blair) in '86. You could see he was a classy player and was the original recipient of the 'has not hair but we don't care' (sung later to Chrissy Price) song.
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What was the pre-season Aspinall incident?
I can’t remember exactly, I was only about 13 at the time, but he was our top scorer the year we got promoted, then something went on, on a pre season tour in Scotland and Graham Taylor fecked him out the door.
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6. Birchie.
love that his name still gets sung occasionally, the ultimate unsung hero for me
🤔
He had a tight perm, a slight hunched back, lived in Great Barr and give it his all, what’s not to like
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I don't disagree, but read your sentence again...
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A player who I always felt gave 100% for Villa was Brian Godfrey. We were undoubtedly shit during his period with us but to me (and I was only a kid at the time) he always looked and acted like he cared. One of ours who perhaps gets forgotten but for me he took pride in wearing the claret and blue.
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I don't disagree, but read your sentence again...
Took me ages, ;D ;)
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Going to throw in a controversial one now. How about Gary Shaw? League Championship winner, European Cup winner, Super Cup winner, UEFA young player award. If injury hasn't cruelly ended his career early, then I believe he could have gone on to be the the best player in England (possibly Europe/World). Better player than Grealish. I know that for us fans who lived through the Saunders era then Shaw is reverred, but in the wider footballing world he's very much forgotten.
I wouldn't describe Shaw as an unsung hero Rico. As you say, he was the European Young Player of the Year in 1982 having been the PFA Player of the year in 1981 so was clearly destined for great things. Unfortunately, although he played on for Villa another five years, the injury he got at Forest in 1983 effectively ended his top level career. The football world only saw the best of him for less than three years, but what a career he crammed into that period.
A bigger candidate for unsung hero from that period would be Denis Mortimer. The inspirational captain of the League and European Cup winning teams and didn't receive a single England cap! And at a time when the national team performed particularly unsuccessfully at international level. Scandalous.
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Seconded
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Very surprised no-one has mentioned Charlie Aitken, appearance record-holder for Villa over 17 seasons, almost an ever-present. Unspectacular but so reliable left back, he had that strange 'splayed' way of running. I'll never forget standing on the old Witton End in the dying embers of a game against Spurs when he ran the length of pitch towards the Holte End, crossed and we score the equaliser (I think - anyone help me out here?). Great servant and I think he's still around VP in some capacity.
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Charlie Aitken: 1959 - 1976, just to remind everyone.
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I don't really think of him as unsung though bearing in mind pretty much everyone on here will know who he is even if they never saw him play. I thought the thread was more for players who tend to be a bit forgotten about or under the radar, or those whose skills were never appreciated but have come to be recognised in hindsight.
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I agree. For me he was a bit of a hero as he always seemed to be in the team from when I started watching Villa. But he was almost like part of the furniture, a player who was only missed when he wasn't there (if you get my drift) - I take your point though.
Anyone remember that Spurs game?
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Stuart Gray rarely gets mentioned, but he was a solid performer and captain of a team that nearly won the league.
Cost buttons as well.
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I don't disagree, but read your sentence again...
That’s hilarious!! 😂 I’m almost up there with Merson saying Wenger fave him unbelievable belief!!
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Martyn mentions left back the great Charlie Aitken, but I would say more of an unsung hero from the 60s was right back Michael Wright, who went onto to play over 300 games for us, whose career cut short by injury at the age of 26.
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When he broke into the first team he was Mickey Wright. It was only later he became Michael Wright.
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A bigger candidate for unsung hero from that period would be Denis Mortimer. The inspirational captain of the League and European Cup winning teams and didn't receive a single England cap! And at a time when the national team performed particularly unsuccessfully at international level. Scandalous.
[/quote]
Absolutely bang on regarding Dennis Mortimer. Scandalous that he didn't receive even one solitary cap for England. Equally scandalous though was the general omission of Villa players in the squad for the 82 World Cup. With Mortimer, Cowans, Withe, Morley and Shaw in the team, surely we would have won the World Cup?
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This appeared on Brian Little's Twitter feed on Friday.
https://twitter.com/BritPop94/status/1253605379306655744?s=19
Just one cap between them all (although I would probably not have included Garry Thompson in that four).
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I've always said that England would have had a great chance of winning the WC in '82 if they had had a policy of picking midlands players with a few guest players from the rest of the country, the opposite of the current system, whereby the squad is full of players from Manchester Liverpool and London and a few others!
Back to '82, how about this for starters? Shilton, Anderson, Swain, Gibson, Statham, Cowans, Robson, Mortimer, Morley, Withe, Regis, Shaw and Francis.
Of the above, those not playing for midlands clubs at the time of the WC had started their careers in the region.
Not a bad squad, eh? though it is missing the great Graham Rix, of course...
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Kevin Keegan was top scorer in 1981/82 with 26 goals for Southampton, not sure he deserves dropping.
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So he can be our first 'guest' player, then!
Though Keegan started the competition injured and wasn't fit until after the qualifying group, if I remember correctly.
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I've always said that England would have had a great chance of winning the WC in '82 if they had had a policy of picking midlands players with a few guest players from the rest of the country, the opposite of the current system, whereby the squad is full of players from Manchester Liverpool and London and a few others!
Back to '82, how about this for starters? Shilton, Anderson, Swain, Gibson, Statham, Cowans, Robson, Mortimer, Morley, Withe, Regis, Shaw and Francis.
Of the above, those not playing for midlands clubs at the time of the WC had started their careers in the region.
Not a bad squad, eh? though it is missing the great Graham Rix, of course...
You could probably have done the same for Scotland. Off the top of my head - Evans, McNaught, Bremner, Gray, Gemmill, Robertson, Burns, McGovern, Gillespie, Hendrie plus a sack of potatoes in goal.
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I've always said that England would have had a great chance of winning the WC in '82 if they had had a policy of picking midlands players with a few guest players from the rest of the country, the opposite of the current system, whereby the squad is full of players from Manchester Liverpool and London and a few others!
Back to '82, how about this for starters? Shilton, Anderson, Swain, Gibson, Statham, Cowans, Robson, Mortimer, Morley, Withe, Regis, Shaw and Francis.
Of the above, those not playing for midlands clubs at the time of the WC had started their careers in the region.
Not a bad squad, eh? though it is missing the great Graham Rix, of course...
You could probably have done the same for Scotland. Off the top of my head - Evans, McNaught, Bremner, Gray, Gemmill, Robertson, Burns, McGovern, Gillespie, Hendrie plus a sack of potatoes in goal.
The sack of potatoes was unlucky not to get more caps ahead of Alan Rough.
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I've always said that England would have had a great chance of winning the WC in '82 if they had had a policy of picking midlands players with a few guest players from the rest of the country, the opposite of the current system, whereby the squad is full of players from Manchester Liverpool and London and a few others!
Back to '82, how about this for starters? Shilton, Anderson, Swain, Gibson, Statham, Cowans, Robson, Mortimer, Morley, Withe, Regis, Shaw and Francis.
Of the above, those not playing for midlands clubs at the time of the WC had started their careers in the region.
Not a bad squad, eh? though it is missing the great Graham Rix, of course...
You could probably have done the same for Scotland. Off the top of my head - Evans, McNaught, Bremner, Gray, Gemmill, Robertson, Burns, McGovern, Gillespie, Hendrie plus a sack of potatoes in goal.
I can't recall the Hendrie from that period that you put on the list. Who did he play for?
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I'm guessing John Hendrie?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hendrie_(Scottish_footballer)
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I'm guessing John Hendrie?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hendrie_(Scottish_footballer)
Lee's uncle wasn't he?
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I'm guessing John Hendrie?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hendrie_(Scottish_footballer)
Lee's uncle wasn't he?
Cousin I think.