Turning points ?

[Concrete John]

We didn't even try to sell Harewood, John.

How do you 'try to sell someone'?  Surely it's more a matter of waiting for another club to come in for him?  And how do we know that didn't happen and they were put off by his wages? 

[mal]

The signing  of M Harewood for me,
 I remember it well in shear disbelief, as daft as it seems i lost an awfull lot of trust in MON after that,  not really a turning point for Villa as a whole but for me things would never the same

Absolutely. We could have had Zamora for the same money...

[Dave P]

Stoke's equaliser.

No doubt whatsoever.

If we are talking about a moment in time then this has to be it.

[itbrvilla]

Stoke's equaliser.

No doubt whatsoever.

Me too.  Especially as we were cruising most the game untill they pulled one back.  Knew it would happen as well.  We're so predicatble.

[Toronto Villa]

Stoke's equaliser every time. Win that game, and the Moscow screams would have become a but faint noise in the background. We may even have ultimately missed out, but that equaliser, couple with our subsequent decline in our form was so dramatic that every storm converged at once. I also think it contributed to MON changing his views on the club and the fans, and he became more bitter and stubborn in his ways from there on in. He probably wanted to do things more than ever "his way" to the point that it fractured and eventually broke his relationship with our club.

[Rancid custard]

Hard to say the one difinitve moment but for me I'd go with Chelsea thumping us 7 - 1.  Our competition in the likes of Spurs, Everton et al never get battered like that and I'm sure that was a lightbulb on head moment for a lot of the players. Team collapse and a bit of a clueless tactics shocker from MON too, hard to believe it was the same team involved in a 2 -1 win and a 4 all thriller the year before.

[Rigadon]

Stoke.  All reasonable belief that we'd crack it that season left as that equaliser went in.  Then losing Milner.  We haven't yet recovered as a side.

[cdbearsfan]

Six league titles and five FA Cups in just over a quarter of a century. Plans in place to expand Villa Park capacity to 130,000.

Then some inconsiderate bastard shoots Franz Ferdinand.

We've never been (consistently) as good since.

Very good, although I assume you missed the original posters..."last five years"

Was World War One really more than five years ago? Time flies, eh!

No, I hadn't read it properly!

[brian green]

The Stoke equalizer ended the big dream.

The little dream was ended by Carew blasting a penalty over the bar against Newcastle last season.   If that had gone in we could have made a game of it instead of crumbling to a humiliating thrashing.

The Villa executive went into headless chicken mode and Kevin Mac never got a proper chance to steady the ship until a GOOD manager became available.   Houllier was parachuted in and proceeded to screw up in every way imaginable.   McLeish's appointment is fraught with danger but he has three things going for him 1.  We have got rid of Houllier  2. He is not Gerard Houllier and 3.   He seems to be lucky.   He has had the gentlest of baptisms against two crap teams and does not have to really watch his arse until December by which time his feet will be well and truly under the table at VP.

[AV82EC]

For me it was the FA Cup Semi Final that finally did it.  I realised with MON in charge we weren't going to make it with his limited tactics and team selections, and it was a blessed relief when he then resigned, though the selfish sod could have done it earlier.

[PeterWithesShin]

While THAT Stoke goal was a biggie, I think the 0-0 at home to Wigan a few weeks before was the start of the doubt creeping in.

[The Left Side]

The whole Moscow episode was it for me.

[Percy McCarthy]

When we had Laursen, Bouma and Mellberg (not forgetting some great players in front of them) the wage bill was £50m. The loss of those three helped the wage bill jump to £70m (and we all know how Randy liked that), and they still haven't been replaced by anything like the same quality.

So, for me, Laursen and Bouma's injuries.

[Percy McCarthy]

Stoke's equaliser.

No doubt whatsoever.

Me too.  Especially as we were cruising most the game untill they pulled one back.  Knew it would happen as well.  We're so predicatble.

Yes, I remember walking away from the ground and hearing so many snatches of conversations like 'I knew it would happen' and 'we always throw it away'.

Number of points lost from a winning position up to that point that season? None.

[maidstonevillain]

The Stoke equalizer ended the big dream.

The little dream was ended by Carew blasting a penalty over the bar against Newcastle last season.   If that had gone in we could have made a game of it instead of crumbling to a humiliating thrashing.

The Villa executive went into headless chicken mode and Kevin Mac never got a proper chance to steady the ship until a GOOD manager became available.   Houllier was parachuted in and proceeded to screw up in every way imaginable.   McLeish's appointment is fraught with danger but he has three things going for him 1.  We have got rid of Houllier  2. He is not Gerard Houllier and 3.   He seems to be lucky.   He has had the gentlest of baptisms against two crap teams and does not have to really watch his arse until December by which time his feet will be well and truly under the table at VP.

So Brian, who should be manager?