Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Villa Memories => Topic started by: Rory on July 28, 2022, 12:23:50 AM
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Hi folks,
Hope you appreciate the punchy title.
This was inspired by the top goals this century thread, specifically the post about old players coming back to wave hello.
Of course there are Villa fans who love us (Taylor, Albrighton, Gardner.....) and those who achieved great things with us (Saint Brian, Peter McParland, the '80-'82 squads).
But there are also players out there who had no connection with Villa - until they played for us. Whether for two seasons or ten, some former players fell in love with our club.
Let's celebrate them. Any you can think of, any that mean the most to you, any that evoke specific memories & experiences. And just because one may already have been done, doesn't mean you can't name them and tell us why.
I'll start with an obvious one from recent years: Big John Carew. The day of his hat-trick against Newcastle was my 18th birthday, and I was in the Lower Holte. Even over the noise of the crowd, we could hear him celebrating his third, it meant so much to him.
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Tony Morley is No 1 in this category - total Villa The other player who I believe is as much Villa at Tony would be Shaun Teale - note both of them from West Lancashire
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Paul McGrath appears to love us as much as we love him. Considering who he played for before Villa, he talks far more affectionately about Villa than he does them.
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Paul Merson loves us.
He loves Arsenal too but has said many times how much he loved his time here and how big a club we were and are.
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Gary Neville - loves us, probably because his team always beat us when he played for them
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Paul Merson loves us.
He loves Arsenal too but has said many times how much he loved his time here and how big a club we were and are.
Merse said he cried when he left the Villa.
Olof Melberg and Martin Laursen love us too.
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Kevin Phillips? He always speaks well of us in the media.
Was only here 12 months and more associated with Sunderland. After leaving us he of course played for a few lesser teams in this area.
Guess he must get plenty of good messages from us after that SHA winner in 2005. Important win that considering that was our first actual win over them since their promotion.
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Dean Saunders and Andy Townsend - always always praising us. Deano even said we were bigger than Chelsea historically which naturally the narrow minded and short memory media ripped the piss out of.
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Paul Merson loves us.
He loves Arsenal too but has said many times how much he loved his time here and how big a club we were and are.
Merse said he cried when he left the Villa.
Olof Melberg and Martin Laursen love us too.
Merse was definitely one I had in mind.
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Kevin Phillips? He always speaks well of us in the media.
Was only here 12 months and more associated with Sunderland. After leaving us he of course played for a few lesser teams in this area.
Guess he must get plenty of good messages from us after that SHA winner in 2005. Important win that considering that was our first actual win over them since their promotion.
Phillips was only with us 12 months?! It felt longer. Not much longer, but longer.
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Garry Birtles always seemed to have a semi on for us whenever he was on commentary for some strange reason. Brian "we've done em" Cough also had a well known soft spot for us too so maybe it came from that.
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Gianluca Pagliuca springs to mind...probably one of the most unlikely.
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Declan Rice, twice I have seen him play at VP and twice he has made a point of coming and clapping the Holte End at full time.
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Juan Pablo Angel
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I remember vividly a league game on Sky in 1996 where we beat Spurs 2-1 and Martin Tyler commentated on the Villa Park noise and said something like "it reminds us what a truly big club Aston Villa are." I don't think he's probably said anything as complimentary in recent years and obviously club size appears to be judged differently now but that's how it was in the old days.
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Edit - although he's obviously not a player......
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John Carew
I'm convinced that had he found us at the start of his career he wouldve spent his entire career with us.
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Jamie Carragher always seems pretty complimentary
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Jamie Carragher always seems pretty complimentary
Danny Murphy has in the past described us as a proper big football club with a terrific stadium.
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Jamie Carragher always seems pretty complimentary
Danny Murphy has in the past described us as a proper big football club with a terrific stadium.
He's rowed back on that a fair bit since.
Tricky Trevor F was always very knowledgable and complimentary about the Villa when he was doing punditry years ago, almost as if he was trying to overcompensate.
In contrast to David Platt, who couldn't even pronounce the names of some of our players during the MON era.
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Jamie Carragher always seems pretty complimentary
Danny Murphy has in the past described us as a proper big football club with a terrific stadium.
I always got the impression Murphy hated us. Although his mate pitching up might have changed that
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John Gregory.
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Declan Rice, twice I have seen him play at VP and twice he has made a point of coming and clapping the Holte End at full time.
He nearly joined us on loan in one of the Steve Bruce seasons. Deal was agreed but then West Ham had injury crisis and he was put into the team.
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Jamie Carragher always seems pretty complimentary
Danny Murphy has in the past described us as a proper big football club with a terrific stadium.
Not anytime recently! Said in article a few years back when we were stinking out the prem he always found VP a negative place to play and Leeds had more of big club feel.
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Juan Pablo Angel
I was going to say JPA. Still gets excited about our results on twitter.
More recently, Conor Hourihane. Incredibly complimentary despite being eased out of the club. I reckon once he's packed up playing we may see him back at VP.
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Alan McInally acts like he loves us sometimes.
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Jamie Carragher always seems pretty complimentary
Danny Murphy has in the past described us as a proper big football club with a terrific stadium.
Welcome back Damo. How are you holding up, mate?
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Keith Curle, the man willing to do anything to make his own team lose so we could win the league.
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Slightly off topic but Kevin Keegan was quite complimentary in his 90s commentary days on ITV, the league cup games and Inter Milan
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I think we need to differentiate between people who genuinely quite like Villa, and those who are coming at it from the angle that we usually roll over and have our tummy tickled for the team they used to manage/play for.
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Brian Clough during the EC final.
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Brian Clough during the EC final.
I always thought that Cloughie saw the Villa as a potential job. If he’d not had the success that he had at Forest in the early years then there would have been an inevitability about him rocking up at Villa. Doug’s ego allowing of course.
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Doug's ego was why it could never have happened.
One martinet at the club was enough to be going on with.
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Brian Clough during the EC final.
I always thought that Cloughie saw the Villa as a potential job. If he’d not had the success that he had at Forest in the early years then there would have been an inevitability about him rocking up at Villa. Doug’s ego allowing of course.
I agree, I think we're a 'Clough' kind of club, albeit we're bigger than any of the clubs he did manage.
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Wasn’t Clough linked with us before Saunders was appointed? And didn’t he say he wanted the job, something like: ‘I don’t think Peter Taylor and I would do a good job for Villa, I know we would’?
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Tricky Trevor F was always very knowledgable and complimentary about the Villa when he was doing punditry years ago, almost as if he was trying to overcompensate.
I agree with this. In a way that BFR and McInally always seem complimentary about blues.
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Was it in Doug's book (one of them anyway) that Clough and Taylor went to his house and tried to badger him into giving them the job(s) at Villa? It might have been a figment to our erstwhile chairman's imagination though.
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I thought Jimmy Greaves had a soft spot for us.
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I thought Jimmy Greaves had a soft spot for us.
I think Jimmy and Doug used to fishing together.
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Elmo always loves us.
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Apparently, Clough and Taylor were fishing for the Villa job in December 1972, during the talks over us signing John Robson.
In the summer of '74, Clough gave an exclusive interview to a rookie reporter (Jim Waters?) saying how he and Taylor would transform Villa. The interview appeared in the Brum Mail.
He subsequently made his disastrous move to Leeds.
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More recently, I recall Ashley Westwood, at the end of the 2-2 draw with Burnley, clapping the fans.
Perhaps he felt bad about being part of our relegation team.
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More recently, I recall Ashley Westwood, at the end of the 2-2 draw with Burnley, clapping the fans.
Perhaps he felt bad about being part of our relegation team.
Despite his limitations one of the very few that could hold his head up after that debacle. Always felt a bit sorry for him, like he had to carry the midfield in a shit team for years when he'd just arrived from fourth division football himself.
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He was the last decade's Mings/Watkins/McGinn.
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I think I've heard Tony Cascarino and Guy Whittingham say how honoured they were to have been Villa players, which is mildly surprising as neither of them exactly had the happiest times here.
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I always remember Whittingham featured in a Villa programme when returning with Sheffield Wednesday. He claimed to have enjoyed his spell and scoring a penalty vs Inter Milan - claret tinted memories there, his penalty was saved if I remember rightly.
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Dion Dublin
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More recently, I recall Ashley Westwood, at the end of the 2-2 draw with Burnley, clapping the fans.
Perhaps he felt bad about being part of our relegation team.
I met him a few times when he was with us through some work, he was a really nice guy who I think just appreciated that he was playing for a top club who had given him a chance. He was very fond of the area as well. He wasnt too pleased mind, when Connor Hourihane pulled out of buying his house at the very last minute, IIRC.
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Yeah Westwood got stick so often on here and he was found out a bit after Delph left but I think it's just a case of we took a punt on him as a league 2 player at Crewe and he's since had a decade in prem with us and Burnley so he's done alright for himself despite the relegations.
Was MOTM in FA cup SF win over Liverpool so not like he didn't have good spells of form either.
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I liked Westwood. Looked good at the end of Lamberts first season and did well in the FA Cup run. One of the few who looked like he gave a shit in 15/16.
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The commitment of Ashley and Jordan Ayew that benighted season was never in doubt.
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Ashley Westwood is possibly the greatest scapegoat of our time. I now think of him as a reverse Sanson - every manager picks him, and probably because he always does what he's asked to do. The bile directed at him makes the criticism of Mings, McGinn and Watkins seem like a Ballon D'Or hagiography.
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Ha! You're giving me ideas.
Ashley was probably the best of the Year One Lambert policy of cheap and cheerful signings.
Sorry, "young and hungry."
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I reckon Benteke wins that award.
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Christian wasn't exactly cheap at £7m, though.
Imagine signing a striker as good as him for that sort of fee today!!
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David Seaman - we always used to give him so much shit, I remember seeing us at QPR when he was with them, in front of us we were singing "are you glad you left the Blues?" and he turned round and nodded. We gave him stick the whole half, but he turned and applauded us at the end.
A decent type.
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David Seaman - we always used to give him so much shit, I remember seeing us at QPR when he was with them, in front of us we were singing "are you glad you left the Blues?" and he turned round and nodded. We gave him stick the whole half, but he turned and applauded us at the end.
A decent type.
Tim Flowers was always good for a bit of bantz.
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Seaman usually had a big smile as he rubbed his nose while jogging towards the Holte during the 'blue nose' chant.
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David Seaman - we always used to give him so much shit, I remember seeing us at QPR when he was with them, in front of us we were singing "are you glad you left the Blues?" and he turned round and nodded. We gave him stick the whole half, but he turned and applauded us at the end.
A decent type.
Tim Flowers was always good for a bit of bantz.
I saw him on Sunday. Often see him around Leamington. Every time we walk past him, I tell the Mrs, that's a Premier League winning, international goal keeper we just walked past, and she never remembers it from the previous time I said the same thing.
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^^ doesn't fucking listen, always been her problem.
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"Whatever you do, don't marry him"
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More recently, I recall Ashley Westwood, at the end of the 2-2 draw with Burnley, clapping the fans.
Perhaps he felt bad about being part of our relegation team.
I met him a few times when he was with us through some work, he was a really nice guy who I think just appreciated that he was playing for a top club who had given him a chance. He was very fond of the area as well. He wasnt too pleased mind, when Connor Hourihane pulled out of buying his house at the very last minute, IIRC.
Didn’t he live in the house next to Wishaw golf club?
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Keith Curle, the man willing to do anything to make his own team lose so we could win the league.
Do we all agree that was very deliberate?
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Keith Curle, the man willing to do anything to make his own team lose so we could win the league.
Do we all agree that was very deliberate?
The way he caught the ball, took it over to the ref and then placed it on the spot was a bit of a giveaway. Tony Coton leaning on the goalpost when the kick was taken was a clue as well.
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It’s amazing more wasnt made of it at the time.
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I can remember a friend of mine ,a manure fan but as sensible as any of them can be, telling me the day before that it was all over Manchester that KC would give away a penalty if necessary.
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I can remember a friend of mine ,a manure fan but as sensible as any of them can be, telling me the day before that it was all over Manchester that KC would give away a penalty if necessary.
I'd heard it; it was common knowledge.
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Wes Houlihane when he played for Norwich. IIRC there was talk of him coming to us and then he scored for the Canaries at VP in front of the Holte End and shrugged his shoulders in apology. He also said some complimentary things about us afterwards.
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That's one of the strangest things I've ever seen down the Villa. It was almost like he wanted to apologise for scoring.
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Yannick Bolasie seems to be a full time Villa fan on twitter. Comments on nearly every game and always bigs up the club.
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Yannick Bolasie seems to be a full time Villa fan on twitter. Comments on nearly every game and always bigs up the club.
One of those you wished played for us.......oh wait.
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We've made sure he'll be comfortable in retirement so it's the least he can do.
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Bolassie didn't love us enough to stick around in January 2019 -he scooted back to Everton pretty quickly.
Still, that's his hard luck; he missed out on all the fun at Wembley.
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Beni Carbone on Aston Villa 3 Leeds 2 in Jan 2000:
"Oh my God, that game was brilliant. I scored three beautiful goals and it was a special atmosphere at Villa Park.
Aston Villa are one of the greatest and biggest clubs I played for- people who haven't played there never understand what I'm talking about.
I was there for only one season, but it was enough to understand the size of the club. The crowd went crazy for my second goal, it was pure instinct to shoot from 40 yards, but it was one of the best and most important goals of my life.
We went all the way to the final and although we lost to Chelsea it was still a wonderful season. It was a mistake to leave Villa when I had the chance to sign for four more years. John Gregory was like a father and it was an honour to play for that team."
From this month's FourFourTwo Magazine.
I liked Beni aswell and wished he'd have signed permanently. Would've meant no Ginola although that cringe take on Volare would've probably still been played over the tannoy after he scored so pros and cons.
Took the 40k at Bradford and they were in administration 18 months later in the championship so not a great decision from him as he now acknowledges.
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Deja vu
“David Pleat was like my father and he treated me like a son,” Carbone says. “But something was broken between me and Danny Wilson, the new manager. We had an argument. I never wanted to leave Sheffield. Even now, a generation later, you’d never expect the fans to recognise you. But I went back for a charity game, over 20 years after I left, and the crowd went crazy for me. Danny Wilson was there. I picked him up and told him I wanted to say sorry. I was really young. My head was different. It was my mistake, definitely.”
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I loved Carbone
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It’s amazing more wasnt made of it at the time.
Manager by a scouser too.
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I really liked Carbone as well. He had the great ability to create space for himself with clever turns that always gave him a couple of yards to work in.
A shame his finishing wasn't better and a shame he made a bad decision and chose not to stay.
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I loved Carbone too. Wasn't he only with us for half a season? Given the love he received from our fans it left a sour taste when he chose to leave us for Bradford City. Clearly, playing for a big club and being adored by the supporters wasn't as important to him as playing in Bradford for a bit of extra money.
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He was a fanny merchant.
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I loved Carbone too. Wasn't he only with us for half a season? Given the love he received from our fans it left a sour taste when he chose to leave us for Bradford City. Clearly, playing for a big club and being adored by the supporters wasn't as important to him as playing in Bradford for a bit of extra money.
From looking at free library it seems Gregory was still expecting him back as late as mid July 2000 but think we were offering about 25k and Bradford came straight in with 40k. They ended up in administration 18 months later.
Just love Carbone for that Leeds cup game which is one of my all time favourite home games and kicked us on for an exciting second half of the season that year.
If he'd stayed we'd surely never have signed Ginola and he'd have combined well with Angel coming in so it was pretty costly to be miserly and not up the contract offer considering he was already part of the group but Ellis....
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Looks like he pretty much had a career of making the wrong decisions and falling out with people. Exciting player on his day, but moody and rubbish when it wasn't going well for him.