Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Villa Memories => Topic started by: LTA on July 28, 2015, 07:07:52 PM
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Sir Graham was the first Villa boss I can remember and was in charge for my first game on Boxing Day 1989.
I've been looking at some videos from his first spell and was wondering what people's memories of his arrival in 87 and how they felt about his appointment at the time.
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brilliant signing as he was clearly a manager on the up. Was staggered that he left Watford for us but genuinely excited.
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I've seen that video before. I remember some moron on WM last season saying he was the worst manager we've ever had. Outrageous.
His second spell was a mistake, but every Villa fan owes this man so much for what he did in the late 80's.
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If I remember right all the talk was about BFR, who was out of work at the time or possibly Dave Bassett taking over. I don't recall any talk of SGT before his appointment. It was quite surreal for me as he was appointed on the day I left school. I ducked into a newsagents to avoid a schools out forever eggs and flour rampage and saw the front page of the Evening Mail announcing his appointment. I was there for his first game at Ipswich, where we got to have a quick chat and autograph after the game (the joy and freedom that £28.50 a week YTS money brought) and his last game at Everton three years later and about 95% of the games in between, the vast majority of them with Nev. We also got to meet him and have a chat and a picture after the Nigel Spink testimonial forum, which was in Sutton Coldfield if I remember right.
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If I remember right all the talk was about BFR, who was out of work at the time or possibly Dave Bassett taking over. I don't recall any talk of SGT before his appointment. It was quite surreal for me as he was appointed on the day I left school. I ducked into a newsagents to avoid a schools out forever eggs and flour rampage and saw the front page of the Evening Mail announcing his appointment. I was there for his first game at Ipswich, where we got to have a quick chat and autograph after the game (the joy and freedom that £28.50 a week YTS money brought) and his last game at Everton three years later and about 95% of the games in between, the vast majority of them with Nev. We also got to meet him and have a chat and a picture after the Nigel Spink testimonial forum, which was in Sutton Coldfield if I remember right.
BFR was never in the frame, which was strange as he was out of work at the time. The odds-on favourite was Bassett, who ended up replacing Sir Graham at Watford.
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He was and is a wonderful man and a legend to me. His compassion towards God was not only decent, but also brilliant man management - he turned an alcoholic crock into the best centre back in the world, which was largely why we came second.
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It's largely forgotten now just how much of a coup it was to get him.
He was Sir Bobby Slaphead's choice when Yanited were thinking of getting rid of BFR (according to BFR himself).
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I remember feeling so angry when England nicked him.
It was exciting when he was manager.
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I remember my brother ringing me at work and telling me. I was shocked at his appointment and he came out of nowhere. He was the right man at exactly the right time and will always be a Villa legend to me, regardless of what happened in his second spell.
I always felt that SGT "got" the Villa, he understood us and what the club and it's history meant. A man of the highest integrity and one of my favourite Villa managers.
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It was a massive appointment for us who were in complete free fall. He was a brilliant boss who could run a football club from top to bottom. He's probably in my lifetime the most decent and and in many ways the most successful manager we have had. Maybe not for silverware but for turning us around and making us a force to be feared again. Great times.
I thought at the time the MON appointment was up there with on the same scale as Sir GT's arrival and thought MON would be reshaping the club from top to bottom in similar fashion. I was quite wrong.
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He'd left to me what appeared to be a job for life. I was absolutely shocked as, like others thought Bassett was most likely to take over.
Prior to this I thought we were in serious decline. There was a genuine malaise around West Midlands football. Wolves were in the bottom run having lost to Chorley I think in the FACUP. Blues and Albion had been relegated the season before and nearly fell through to the 3rd tier.
I think we had some pretty rubbish results to start with though signing the 2 Grays seemed to make a real difference.
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I think this has been posted on here before, but this article gives an insight into how he set about changing things:
http://www.google.co.uk/url?url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2135123/Garry-Thompson-Graham-Taylor-sorted-Aston-Villa-team-need-same.html&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ved=0CBQQFjAAahUKEwiz1PPY6f_GAhXrFNsKHbpsDzw&usg=AFQjCNGHSiDNKAvCGO4NNc5KXX3C7tfB6w
It's always been a case of 'what if' when considering what he might have achieved had he not left for the England job.
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Prior to this I thought we were in serious decline. There was a genuine malaise around West Midlands football. Wolves were in the bottom run having lost to Chorley I think in the FACUP. Blues and Albion had been relegated the season before and nearly fell through to the 3rd tier.
I've always thought that with someone other than Taylor in charge we could have stayed down in the old second division for many years like Blues, WBA and Wolves did. He really turned us around.
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I was very happy when he left Watford to join Villa. He was a top young manager on the way up and Villa were in danger of falling further than we already had. SGT stopped the rot almost immediately. A great manager in his first spell and I was gutted when he took on the poison chalice role that is England (both for Villa and him).
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My best times watching Villa were the Graham Taylor years. I was 16 when he was appointed, spent the 2nd division season travelling the country on the special trains before my mate and I got our driving licences and could make our own way to away games in his clapped-out mini.
Never forget his final game at Everton, the look on the faces of the Evertonians in the adjacent stand as "Graham Taylor's Claret & Blue Army" was sung at full voice throught halftime.
I disagree with many that his second stint was a disaster. The 02/03 season wasn't the best but I thought he put a lot of things in place that O'Leary benefitted from the following season.
Thanks Sir Graham, you'll always be the greatest in my book.
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If I remember right all the talk was about BFR, who was out of work at the time or possibly Dave Bassett taking over. I don't recall any talk of SGT before his appointment. It was quite surreal for me as he was appointed on the day I left school. I ducked into a newsagents to avoid a schools out forever eggs and flour rampage and saw the front page of the Evening Mail announcing his appointment. I was there for his first game at Ipswich, where we got to have a quick chat and autograph after the game (the joy and freedom that £28.50 a week YTS money brought) and his last game at Everton three years later and about 95% of the games in between, the vast majority of them with Nev. We also got to meet him and have a chat and a picture after the Nigel Spink testimonial forum, which was in Sutton Coldfield if I remember right.
BFR was never in the frame, which was strange as he was out of work at the time. The odds-on favourite was Bassett, who ended up replacing Sir Graham at Watford.
I'm sure I read somewhere that SGT was quite put out when the two big jobs on his doorstep went to George Graham and David Pleat in 1986. He then decided he might have to take a different route if he wanted to manage a big club. Am I right in saying he contacted Doug rather than it being the other way round?
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I'm sure I read somewhere that SGT was quite put out when the two big jobs on his doorstep went to George Graham and David Pleat in 1986. He then decided he might have to take a different route if he wanted to manage a big club. Am I right in saying he contacted Doug rather than it being the other way round?
It was nothing to do with earlier jobs going elsewhere. "I felt that things had gone as far as they could...I couldn't see Watford ever winning the championship, they would either stay where they were or go back down, and some of my enthusiasm was going."
Plus the England job would be coming up in 1990 and he needed a big club on his CV. "I could have anything I wanted at Watford, yet they were never going to be able to achieve anything like Villa could."
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I've said this before, but relegation, the general state of football in the mid-eighties and my personal circumstances meant that I could have quite easily walked away from being an active Villa fan. Graham Taylor walking in through the door was the catalyst for reigniting my passion and, in many ways, the first and final seasons of his first spell were the most enjoyable supporting days I've ever had.
The view has been expressed here previously that had he not landed the England job then he would have won us a Championship in the early nineties. I tend to agree.
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If I remember right all the talk was about BFR, who was out of work at the time or possibly Dave Bassett taking over. I don't recall any talk of SGT before his appointment. It was quite surreal for me as he was appointed on the day I left school. I ducked into a newsagents to avoid a schools out forever eggs and flour rampage and saw the front page of the Evening Mail announcing his appointment. I was there for his first game at Ipswich, where we got to have a quick chat and autograph after the game (the joy and freedom that £28.50 a week YTS money brought) and his last game at Everton three years later and about 95% of the games in between, the vast majority of them with Nev. We also got to meet him and have a chat and a picture after the Nigel Spink testimonial forum, which was in Sutton Coldfield if I remember right.
£28.50? I was only getting £23.50 5 years before!
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My best times watching Villa were the Graham Taylor years. I was 16 when he was appointed, spent the 2nd division season travelling the country on the special trains before my mate and I got our driving licences and could make our own way to away games in his clapped-out mini.
Never forget his final game at Everton, the look on the faces of the Evertonians in the adjacent stand as "Graham Taylor's Claret & Blue Army" was sung at full voice throught halftime.
I disagree with many that his second stint was a disaster. The 02/03 season wasn't the best but I thought he put a lot of things in place that O'Leary benefitted from the following season.
Thanks Sir Graham, you'll always be the greatest in my book.
Absolutely agree.
It's so easy to underestimate what he did. Again he took over with things in a mess and brought about all important stability.
The best Villa manager for me in terms of results achieved with the resources available.
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My best times watching Villa were the Graham Taylor years. I was 16 when he was appointed, spent the 2nd division season travelling the country on the special trains before my mate and I got our driving licences and could make our own way to away games in his clapped-out mini.
Never forget his final game at Everton, the look on the faces of the Evertonians in the adjacent stand as "Graham Taylor's Claret & Blue Army" was sung at full voice throught halftime.
I disagree with many that his second stint was a disaster. The 02/03 season wasn't the best but I thought he put a lot of things in place that O'Leary benefitted from the following season.
Thanks Sir Graham, you'll always be the greatest in my book.
In fairness our away form made the season look worse. We only won one away match that season I think.
He certainly never deserved the abuse he got from some fans at the end of his second spell.
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During our stint in the second division, our away form actually got us promoted. We were terrific on the road.
memorable trips (for me) to Sheff United (tho we drew there), Man City and Barnsley
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Villa would have tumbled into the lower divisions if Graham Taylor hadn't pulled the club back from the brink.
Who remembers the mail headline after we'd knocked Spurs out of the league cup
VILLA! THE GIANT AWAKES!
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If I remember right all the talk was about BFR, who was out of work at the time or possibly Dave Bassett taking over. I don't recall any talk of SGT before his appointment. It was quite surreal for me as he was appointed on the day I left school. I ducked into a newsagents to avoid a schools out forever eggs and flour rampage and saw the front page of the Evening Mail announcing his appointment. I was there for his first game at Ipswich, where we got to have a quick chat and autograph after the game (the joy and freedom that £28.50 a week YTS money brought) and his last game at Everton three years later and about 95% of the games in between, the vast majority of them with Nev. We also got to meet him and have a chat and a picture after the Nigel Spink testimonial forum, which was in Sutton Coldfield if I remember right.
BFR was never in the frame, which was strange as he was out of work at the time. The odds-on favourite was Bassett, who ended up replacing Sir Graham at Watford.
Wasn't Rioch also in the frame? maybe not realistically as I think he had been at Boro for only a short while? Maybe that was after SGT left.
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During our stint in the second division, our away form actually got us promoted. We were terrific on the road.
memorable trips (for me) to Sheff United (tho we drew there), Man City and Barnsley
One of my all-time memorable away days: much of the league programme was postponed because of snow (Manchester itself was just slushy and wet) - we were supported that day by a minibus load of Wimbledon fans were en route to Everton when they heard that their match was called off. A few good lunchtime beers with my mate who was at Salford University and then a couple of hours keeping warm by dancing on the benches in the Platt Lane Stand. And to round off a great day, Villa won 2-0 and the goal scorers in the Manchester evening sports paper read: Daley Thompson.
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So much to be thankful for from Graham Taylor, not least him taking up the option to bring back Sid from Bari. For those of us who were too young to see/properly appreciate him the first time around, it was a real gift. Watching him completely changed my view of how the game could be played.
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The way he just got on and transformed the club and team was inspiring. It felt like there was a credible bigger plan for the first time since Saunders/Barton.I think that he also connected because of his honesty and the way he explained what he was aiming at.
Still one of the bravest acts by a manager I've seen was at the end of his second stint with us when he came on the pitch after the last game of a bad season to address the crowd.The crowd we're a lot less reasonable then he deserved.
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During our stint in the second division, our away form actually got us promoted. We were terrific on the road.
memorable trips (for me) to Sheff United (tho we drew there), Man City and Barnsley
So many memorable away games, more so as I had just left school so it was my first season travelling away regularly. The atmosphere at Ipswich on the first day, a trip to Skegness after the defeat at Hull, a friend of a friend going straight to Leicester still pissed after getting off a plane and being sick into his sombrero (SGT also came over to the fans before the game), George Reilly's hilarious attempt at being a centre half at The Hawthorns, getting soaked at Huddersfield, two wins at Elland Road, breaking down on the way back from Shrewsbury, beating Bradford (to go top if I remember right) and the last day at Swindon. Unfortunately I missed the small Heath away game and others around Christmas but remember ringing home from Australia to find out the result from the sty.
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If I remember right all the talk was about BFR, who was out of work at the time or possibly Dave Bassett taking over. I don't recall any talk of SGT before his appointment. It was quite surreal for me as he was appointed on the day I left school. I ducked into a newsagents to avoid a schools out forever eggs and flour rampage and saw the front page of the Evening Mail announcing his appointment. I was there for his first game at Ipswich, where we got to have a quick chat and autograph after the game (the joy and freedom that £28.50 a week YTS money brought) and his last game at Everton three years later and about 95% of the games in between, the vast majority of them with Nev. We also got to meet him and have a chat and a picture after the Nigel Spink testimonial forum, which was in Sutton Coldfield if I remember right.
BFR was never in the frame, which was strange as he was out of work at the time. The odds-on favourite was Bassett, who ended up replacing Sir Graham at Watford.
Wasn't Rioch also in the frame? maybe not realistically as I think he had been at Boro for only a short while? Maybe that was after SGT left.
I think there was a lot of talk about Rioch when SGT left in 1990. Along with Joe Jordan and Gerry Francis if I remember right.
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Sir Graham signed Platt, McGrath and Yorke.
A great man. Nothing else to say.
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Sir Graham signed Platt, McGrath and Yorke.
A great man. Nothing else to say.
And Kent Nielsen.
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The way he just got on and transformed the club and team was inspiring. It felt like there was a credible bigger plan for the first time since Saunders/Barton.I think that he also connected because of his honesty and the way he explained what he was aiming at.
Still one of the bravest acts by a manager I've seen was at the end of his second stint with us when he came on the pitch after the last game of a bad season to address the crowd.The crowd we're a lot less reasonable then he deserved.
re the second paragraph, absolutely typical of the man.
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There are so many stories about him, which show both decency and his professionalism. When he arrived he was turning up at pubs he knew players used, checking up on how they behaved and who they were mixing with. When he was at Wolves, Steve Froggatt was getting marrieed, "He asked me if I was happy, if everything was fine and when I said I was okay, he asked 'So who was that blonde woman who was in your.house yesterday?' He'd been going round checking everything out to see I really was alright - and she was from the estate agents."
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If I remember right all the talk was about BFR, who was out of work at the time or possibly Dave Bassett taking over. I don't recall any talk of SGT before his appointment. It was quite surreal for me as he was appointed on the day I left school. I ducked into a newsagents to avoid a schools out forever eggs and flour rampage and saw the front page of the Evening Mail announcing his appointment. I was there for his first game at Ipswich, where we got to have a quick chat and autograph after the game (the joy and freedom that £28.50 a week YTS money brought) and his last game at Everton three years later and about 95% of the games in between, the vast majority of them with Nev. We also got to meet him and have a chat and a picture after the Nigel Spink testimonial forum, which was in Sutton Coldfield if I remember right.
BFR was never in the frame, which was strange as he was out of work at the time. The odds-on favourite was Bassett, who ended up replacing Sir Graham at Watford.
Wasn't Rioch also in the frame? maybe not realistically as I think he had been at Boro for only a short while? Maybe that was after SGT left.
I think there was a lot of talk about Rioch when SGT left in 1990. Along with Joe Jordan and Gerry Francis if I remember right.
Joe Jordan was offered the job, but turned it down. According to the man himself.
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It was strange how second and third division managers turned down a job that had so much going for it.
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I'd really come to dislike Doug after all that he got up to in the late 70s. By the time McNeill got the hoof I was convinced that HDE was dragging us back to the third or even worse.
I couldn't believe it when I read that GT was taking over.
I think that GT's biggest achievement was drawing a line for Doug exactly where he (GT) thought it should be. We needed - and got - so much more than a new manager. I dread to think where we'd be now if it wasn't for him.
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I seem to remember rumours on BRMB that he had quit or threatened to quit after a disagreement with Doug very early on in his first season. I have a Friday night in September in my mind for some reason and have no idea if my memory is playing tricks on me or not.
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I seem to remember rumours on BRMB that he had quit or threatened to quit after a disagreement with Doug very early on in his first season. I have a Friday night in September in my mind for some reason and have no idea if my memory is playing tricks on me or not.
He had his resignation letter in his desk waiting to be signed from then until he left.
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A gentleman.
How very different to the managers at Wembley today.
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I seem to remember rumours on BRMB that he had quit or threatened to quit after a disagreement with Doug very early on in his first season. I have a Friday night in September in my mind for some reason and have no idea if my memory is playing tricks on me or not.
He had his resignation letter in his desk waiting to be signed from then until he left.
yeah i remember that but never quite believed it. Are you sure it wasn't figuratively speaking? I mean the original letter may have been written but still having it 3 years later? Yellowing and written with a 1987 or 88 perspective rather than a 1990 one? I'm not sating Sir Graham isn't telling the truth but I'd be surprised if the letter was still there waiting to be signed 3 years on? Did he bring it back with him a few years later? No, not convinced on that one.
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I remember him claiming he was very close to being sacked in early 89/90 and was actually summoned to a meeting with Ellis after we played Derby and beat them. Ellis said it was discus plans for Bodymoor, but SGT reckoned the meeting was planned to sack him if we lost.
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As Dave Woodhall said in his book on Villa Managers he was the only manager to get the better of Doug.
I love the story of Doug approaching the dressing room and Sir Graham shutting the door on him.
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I seem to remember rumours on BRMB that he had quit or threatened to quit after a disagreement with Doug very early on in his first season. I have a Friday night in September in my mind for some reason and have no idea if my memory is playing tricks on me or not.
He had his resignation letter in his desk waiting to be signed from then until he left.
yeah i remember that but never quite believed it. Are you sure it wasn't figuratively speaking? I mean the original letter may have been written but still having it 3 years later? Yellowing and written with a 1987 or 88 perspective rather than a 1990 one? I'm not sating Sir Graham isn't telling the truth but I'd be surprised if the letter was still there waiting to be signed 3 years on? Did he bring it back with him a few years later? No, not convinced on that one.
That's what he said, and who am I to disbelieve him?
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I've said this many times before i'm sure but the job he did first time round is forgotten. I do kind of wish in a way that he hadn't come back second time round because thats what a lot of fans remember of him which is a shame.
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I've said this many times before i'm sure but the job he did first time round is forgotten. I do kind of wish in a way that he hadn't come back second time round because thats what a lot of fans remember of him which is a shame.
He let his heart rule his head
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I've said this many times before i'm sure but the job he did first time round is forgotten. I do kind of wish in a way that he hadn't come back second time round because thats what a lot of fans remember of him which is a shame.
I agree. He was excellent first time round but I didn't want him back over a decade later. Similarly I don't want former players to come back as boss and risk having their memories tarnished.
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I remember him claiming he was very close to being sacked in early 89/90 and was actually summoned to a meeting with Ellis after we played Derby and beat them. Ellis said it was discus plans for Bodymoor, but SGT reckoned the meeting was planned to sack him if we lost.
There appeared to be quite a few who wanted him sacked after the QPR game if I remember right from the letters to the Mail and calls to BRMB. I seem to recall a heated night out around that time when Nev and I were fighting his corner against two of our Villa fan mates who would happily have seen him sacked.
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I remember him claiming he was very close to being sacked in early 89/90 and was actually summoned to a meeting with Ellis after we played Derby and beat them. Ellis said it was discus plans for Bodymoor, but SGT reckoned the meeting was planned to sack him if we lost.
There appeared to be quite a few who wanted him sacked after the QPR game if I remember right from the letters to the Mail and calls to BRMB. I seem to recall a heated night out around that time when Nev and I were fighting his corner against two of our Villa fan mates who would happily have seen him sacked.
I remember it being pretty common knowledge that if we hadn't beaten Derby (who were a pretty handy side at the time), he was toast.
We did, then went on an incredible run which still ranks as my most enjoyable period as a Villa fan.
The reaction to him coming on the pitch at the end of the second spell is one of the very few times I've felt ashamed to be a Villa fan. If you happened to be booing from the lower Trinity that day, then I make no apologies for the foul mouthed tirade I probably aimed in your direction.
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I remember him claiming he was very close to being sacked in early 89/90 and was actually summoned to a meeting with Ellis after we played Derby and beat them. Ellis said it was discus plans for Bodymoor, but SGT reckoned the meeting was planned to sack him if we lost.
There appeared to be quite a few who wanted him sacked after the QPR game if I remember right from the letters to the Mail and calls to BRMB. I seem to recall a heated night out around that time when Nev and I were fighting his corner against two of our Villa fan mates who would happily have seen him sacked.
I remember it being pretty common knowledge that if we hadn't beaten Derby (who were a pretty handy side at the time), he was toast.
We did, then went on an incredible run which still ranks as my most enjoyable period as a Villa fan.
The reaction to him coming on the pitch at the end of the second spell is one of the very few times I've felt ashamed to be a Villa fan. If you happened to be booing from the lower Trinity that day, then I make no apologies for the foul mouthed tirade I probably aimed in your direction.
If memory serves me right, we had a fair bit of luck on our side against Derby with Paul Goddard and especially a certain Dean Saunders missing good chances. I could have turned out so differently.
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You're right from memory, and IIRC there were extended highlights of the game on Central the next day.
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I've said this many times before i'm sure but the job he did first time round is forgotten. I do kind of wish in a way that he hadn't come back second time round because thats what a lot of fans remember of him which is a shame.
As i remember, there was an Ellis out campaign going on at the time. Appointing a popular manager like Sir Graham got the fans off his back for one thing.
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I've said this many times before i'm sure but the job he did first time round is forgotten. I do kind of wish in a way that he hadn't come back second time round because thats what a lot of fans remember of him which is a shame.
I agree. He was excellent first time round but I didn't want him back over a decade later. Similarly I don't want former players to come back as boss and risk having their memories tarnished.
It's not that I didn't want him back, It's further respect to the bloke that he did. In hindsight, maybe he shouldn't have. I've no idea what he thinks about it now.
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I've said this many times before i'm sure but the job he did first time round is forgotten. I do kind of wish in a way that he hadn't come back second time round because thats what a lot of fans remember of him which is a shame.
I agree. He was excellent first time round but I didn't want him back over a decade later. Similarly I don't want former players to come back as boss and risk having their memories tarnished.
It's not that I didn't want him back, It's further respect to the bloke that he did. In hindsight, maybe he shouldn't have. I've no idea what he thinks about it now.
"It's not what you do that you regret, it's what you don't do. I knew I would always regret not taking that chance."
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You're right from memory, and IIRC there were extended highlights of the game on Central the next day.
My memories from being at the game are the same as Charlie8182. We were battered with Saunders and Goddard missing chances. My memories from the highlights were Derek Mountfield getting away with a defensive mistake and doing a gun to the head gesture of relief.
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You're right from memory, and IIRC there were extended highlights of the game on Central the next day.
My memories from being at the game are the same as Charlie8182. We were battered with Saunders and Goddard missing chances. My memories from the highlights were Derek Mountfield getting away with a defensive mistake and doing a gun to the head gesture of relief.
1-0? Platt goal? didn't Phil Gee also miss a few that day? Or is that another Derby game?
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How is SGT these days? I heard he wasn't too well last year?
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Our away record in the old 2nd Division was amazing I seem to recall.
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You're right from memory, and IIRC there were extended highlights of the game on Central the next day.
My memories from being at the game are the same as Charlie8182. We were battered with Saunders and Goddard missing chances. My memories from the highlights were Derek Mountfield getting away with a defensive mistake and doing a gun to the head gesture of relief.
1-0? Platt goal? didn't Phil Gee also miss a few that day? Or is that another Derby game?
Platt yes. And 'Sticks' in the return game at the Baseball Ground, when we were packed like sardines in searing heat in the away end.
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You're right from memory, and IIRC there were extended highlights of the game on Central the next day.
My memories from being at the game are the same as Charlie8182. We were battered with Saunders and Goddard missing chances. My memories from the highlights were Derek Mountfield getting away with a defensive mistake and doing a gun to the head gesture of relief.
1-0? Platt goal? didn't Phil Gee also miss a few that day? Or is that another Derby game?
Platt yes. And 'Sticks' in the return game at the Baseball Ground, when we were packed like sardines in searing heat in the away end.
Yes it was hot. Yes it was packed. Cacarino's debut and a brief reappearance from Nigel Callaghan.
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You're right from memory, and IIRC there were extended highlights of the game on Central the next day.
My memories from being at the game are the same as Charlie8182. We were battered with Saunders and Goddard missing chances. My memories from the highlights were Derek Mountfield getting away with a defensive mistake and doing a gun to the head gesture of relief.
1-0? Platt goal? didn't Phil Gee also miss a few that day? Or is that another Derby game?
Platt yes. And 'Sticks' in the return game at the Baseball Ground, when we were packed like sardines in searing heat in the away end.
Yes it was hot. Yes it was packed. Cacarino's debut and a brief reappearance from Nigel Callaghan.
Derby seemed to have it's own micro climate at this point, every time we went it was hot, even the midweek cup game in February was unseasonably warm.
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Still one of the bravest acts by a manager I've seen was at the end of his second stint with us when he came on the pitch after the last game of a bad season to address the crowd.The crowd we're a lot less reasonable then he deserved.
I think a lot less reasonable is putting it mildly. The way he was treated by some people around me in the Lower Trinity that day was disgraceful. For a man who'd done so much for the club and saved it from the abyss to be treated like that incensed me.
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His first stint is my most memorable as an attending fan.
Is was 15 when he signed and got to see my first live match the following year when we played Liverpool at home and it was a 1-1 draw. I never looked back from that moment.
The first season was a roller coaster to say the very least. Highlights being smashing small heath three times in as many weeks. Beating Arsenal 3-2 at Highbury, and Daley's scissor kick against Everton. Then the slide where we almost went down.
The following close season I thought he had lost the plot when he signed McGrath.
Losing 3-0 to QPR with a Beelzebub hattrick still makes me shudder, but then the turnaround and what a turnaround it was.
The Christmas period where we took them all on and beat them. That night at Tottenham when we went top... with a game in hand no less!!
It was an awesome time for a villa fan. Even the end of the season when it slipped from our grasp.
3-3 against Norwich. For a neutral is was great but for us, it meant it was all over.
The following week at Everton where almost everyone in Liverpool had a brummie accent that day. Another 3-3. Sadly the great man wasn't there to take his swansong so Uncie Herb decided to take to the pitch.
It should have been the start of something almost Fergusonesq, but it wasn't to be.
My favourite three seasons as a villa fan.
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It was 1-3 against QPR not 0-3 wasn't it? Although I'm buggered f I can remember who got our goal. Coming out of White Hart Lane that night after the 0-2 I was convinced we were going to win the league.
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It was 1-3 against QPR not 0-3 wasn't it? Although I'm buggered f I can remember who got our goal. Coming out of White Hart Lane that night after the 0-2 I was convinced we were going to win the league.
"Hand it over
Hand it over,
Hand it over, Arsenal"
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How is SGT these days? I heard he wasn't too well last year?
He was a guest on the Jeremey Vine show on R2 earlier in the year, sounded in good form although, naturally, aging. He had some very entertaining stories albeit, mostly about Watford.
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It was 1-3 against QPR not 0-3 wasn't it? Although I'm buggered f I can remember who got our goal. Coming out of White Hart Lane that night after the 0-2 I was convinced we were going to win the league.
Yes you may be right about the score against QPR. I was so hacked off I must have forgotten that we had scored.
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His first stint is my most memorable as an attending fan.
Is was 15 when he signed and got to see my first live match the following year when we played Liverpool at home and it was a 1-1 draw. I never looked back from that moment.
The first season was a roller coaster to say the very least. Highlights being smashing small heath three times in as many weeks. Beating Arsenal 3-2 at Highbury, and Daley's scissor kick against Everton. Then the slide where we almost went down.
The following close season I thought he had lost the plot when he signed McGrath.
Losing 3-0 to QPR with a Beelzebub hattrick still makes me shudder, but then the turnaround and what a turnaround it was.
The Christmas period where we took them all on and beat them. That night at Tottenham when we went top... with a game in hand no less!!
It was an awesome time for a villa fan. Even the end of the season when it slipped from our grasp.
3-3 against Norwich. For a neutral is was great but for us, it meant it was all over.
The following week at Everton where almost everyone in Liverpool had a brummie accent that day. Another 3-3. Sadly the great man wasn't there to take his swansong so Uncie Herb decided to take to the pitch.
It should have been the start of something almost Fergusonesq, but it wasn't to be.
My favourite three seasons as a villa fan.
Just to point out that SGT was there at Everton. After Ellis and when it had become patently clear that we weren't going anyway until he came out he eventually did.