Villa man seen stumbling out of spanish bar prior to game.

[WikiVilla]

DOL got us to 6th didnt he ? So he matched MON in terms of achievement ?

[Chris Smith]

DOL got us to 6th didnt he ? So he matched MON in terms of achievement ?

Do you really believe that or have you been overdoing the sangria?

[Rip Van We Go Again]

DOL got us to 6th didnt he ? So he matched MON in terms of achievement ?

He did it once, but no way would he have done it 3 seasons on the bounce as O'Neill did.

[WikiVilla]

DOL got us to 6th didnt he ? So he matched MON in terms of achievement ?

He did it once, but no way would he have done it 3 seasons on the bounce as O'Neill did.

Of course he wouldn't but the cold hard facts of what their maximum achievement was in the PL is equal, isn't it?

[Jimbo]

Yeah,i should imagine that being chauffuer driven to every game,never paying for a ticket,sitting in the best seats in the house every week,and knowing he's made a massive profit on his original investment must be hard on him

Fuck his commitment,i reckon my 300 mile round trip to a home game outdoes that old scroat

Let's see you do it when you're 87.

Ahhh bless you.
Is it because he's 87 or because your the self appointed "voice"of villa fans that makes you post that

I would hardly say "Let's see you do it at 87" if he wasn't 87 would I? And if you're looking for attention, there are much better ways than your silly little second bit.

If it wasnt for Doug saving the club in the 60s and appointing the doc I probably wouldnt be supporting the club. Good luck Doug and yes he did sit in the holte end recently.

Thanks b 2 Fuc he was'nt around from 1980-1982.He did enough damage when he returned with a catalogue of crap managers.Correct me if i'm wrong but Graham Taylor did say the Club was in a mess in 1987,that's after 4 years of Deadly Doug being back in control.1st time round yes..2nd time round never.

I think the word GT used was 'shambles'.

[TopDeck113]

For at least the last decade of his reign, I couldn't wait to see the back of him.  But do you know what? I now sort of miss him being in charge.  Its probably a nostalgic thing, but for all his faults, his toe-curling excursions into the media, his alleged parsimony, the Stand naming, etc, etc, etc, he was as much part of the Villa supporting experience as Andy Gray putting his head where others wouldn't put their feet or Paul McGrath flicking away a clearance with the outside of his foot. 

Last season I was behind his Roller going to Wigan.  He tried to turn right to get to the stadium and realised he was about to turn into a service bay for one of the stores on the retail park.  The resulting manoeuvre could have been made by any octogenarian, on any supermarket car park in the land - albeit in a beige Rover 200, as oppose to AV1.  Bless!

[Greg N'Ash]

DOL got us to 6th didnt he ? So he matched MON in terms of achievement ?

He did it once, but no way would he have done it 3 seasons on the bounce as O'Neill did.

Of course he wouldn't but the cold hard facts of what their maximum achievement was in the PL is equal, isn't it?

yep and without the benefit of the biggest spending spree by a Manager in Villa's history

[Rip Van We Go Again]

DOL got us to 6th didnt he ? So he matched MON in terms of achievement ?

He did it once, but no way would he have done it 3 seasons on the bounce as O'Neill did.

Of course he wouldn't but the cold hard facts of what their maximum achievement was in the PL is equal, isn't it?

yep and without the benefit of the biggest spending spree by a Manager in Villa's history

But
After having virtually no funds, at the start of season 3, O'Leary was given around £16m for signings, not brilliant, but good for us.
The end result was near relegation.

[Greg N'Ash]

still very very meagre pickings compared to MON and indeed GH. He spent that on a forward a while back

[Risso]

Yet he still appointed the likes of the aforementioned Taylor, BFR, Little and MON.

Some absolute howlers (Turner, McNeill, Venglos, O' Leary) but it's inaccurate to paint it as all bad.

I'd say that for a ten year spell or so from the start of the Premier League, we probably had it about as good as it could have got.  Runners up, two League Cups, a variety of top six finishes, and an FA Cup final.  All that seems miles away now.

[not3bad]

Yet he still appointed the likes of the aforementioned Taylor, BFR, Little and MON.

Some absolute howlers (Turner, McNeill, Venglos, O' Leary) but it's inaccurate to paint it as all bad.

I'd say that for a ten year spell or so from the start of the Premier League, we probably had it about as good as it could have got.  Runners up, two League Cups, a variety of top six finishes, and an FA Cup final. 

And we were still moaning through most of it.

[dave.woodhall]

Yet he still appointed the likes of the aforementioned Taylor, BFR, Little and MON.

Some absolute howlers (Turner, McNeill, Venglos, O' Leary) but it's inaccurate to paint it as all bad.

I'd say that for a ten year spell or so from the start of the Premier League, we probably had it about as good as it could hav
e got.  Runners up, two League Cups, a variety of top six finishes, and an FA Cup final. 

And we were still moaning through most of it.

Ain't that the truth. It's embarrassing to look back at the hysteria of that time considering where we were.

[TimTheVillain]

Doesn't detract from the fact that the man is a nasty piece of work.

No-one has a god word to say of him.

He 'found' Villa when it was opportune, otherwise he would have been Chairman at Blues or Wolves.

Sorry, let bygones be bygones and all that, but the fact is that £llis held us back by being stubborn and antiquated.

[Nigel Macdougall]

Doesn't detract from the fact that the man is a nasty piece of work.

No-one has a god word to say of him.

He 'found' Villa when it was opportune, otherwise he would have been Chairman at Blues or Wolves.

Sorry, let bygones be bygones and all that, but the fact is that £llis held us back by being stubborn and antiquated.

I thought we'd already had your final word on this subject ?

[KevinGage]

Yet he still appointed the likes of the aforementioned Taylor, BFR, Little and MON.

Some absolute howlers (Turner, McNeill, Venglos, O' Leary) but it's inaccurate to paint it as all bad.

I'd say that for a ten year spell or so from the start of the Premier League, we probably had it about as good as it could hav
e got.  Runners up, two League Cups, a variety of top six finishes, and an FA Cup final. 

And we were still moaning through most of it.

Ain't that the truth. It's embarrassing to look back at the hysteria of that time considering where we were.

I don't recall a huge amount of negativity/ hysteria during the BFR era and a fair chunk  of Brian Little's stint as manager was positive.

There was perhaps understandable concern that we were unwilling/ unable to go the extra mile- a scenario that played out with a fair degree of frequency in those ten years, and that the gap wouldn't be able to be closed.  That's largely how it's played out too.

We missed the opportunity to get in at the ground floor in the early years of the Premiership boom -to truly maximize our status and the size of the club- when we had as good a chance as about 3/4 sides. And we've suffered the consequences since.

So, yes, praise for Herbert (and the managers of the time) for ensuring the conditions were right for us to at least look like challengers on occasion. Criticism/ disappointment/ hysteria call it what you will, for not actually delivering on that promise.