Gods Stand out performances.

[itbrvilla]

I've been a Villan since the mid-nineties so missed most  of God appearances for us. So as I am too young to remember, does anyone have any tales or stories about the great mans performances in the famous 'Claret and Blue'?

[Vanilla]

I've been a Villan since the mid-nineties so missed most  of God appearances for us. So as I am too young to remember, does anyone have any tales or stories about the great mans performances in the famous 'Claret and Blue'?

You don't mean the Ormondroyd do you? My brother always says he used to look up to the heavens when he played. 

[itbrvilla]

Talking about Paul McGrath.  I just want to know why he's regarded generally as our best ever play.  I've seen th 1994 match Ireland vs Italy which is incredible.

[Rico]

When we played Forrest away. The year we were runners up under Big Ron was the closest I have ever seen to absolute perfection on the pitch. He read the game like a genius. It was almost spiritual!!!! Along with Sid Cowans the best player in my life ever to pull on a Villa shirt!!!! (And that was with arthritic knees)

[The Laughing Policeman]

No memories of individual matches. It was just that he very rarely trained as hard as the rest of the team......he couldn't, his knees were shot. He had all sorts of crap going on in his personal life, and yet come 3 O'clock on Saturday afternoon you just knew that you would be treated to a master class in the art of defending.
What comes across in his book is that playing football, and especially when he played for the Villa, it was a release from all the other stuff that was going on in his life.
God bless you Paul, and I hope you have conquered some of the gremlins.

[Deano's Mullet]

Forest at home 1992-93 season he was absolutely immense. Back heels, flicks, tackles and he even scored as well. If you want to see him at his best check out the 5-1 vs Boro footage in the Memories Section, not only does he score but theres a couple of defensive blocks he puts in as well which were utter class.
Coventry at home 1995-96 i recall him getting to a cross before Noel Whelan and clearing it with a high back heel.

[usav]

I remember at Old Trafford him clearing a ball from our box with his head that went out at the half-way line and directly into the stand.   How anyone could head a ball that far, I'll never know.

[gervilla]

Watch Ireland v Italy USA 1994. It's on you tube. The greatest performance from a center back ever, and for God to praise Richard Dunnes performance v Russia so highly is the highest praise indeed.

[Dave Cooper please]

I honestly can't remember an absolute stand-out performance from Macca in a Villa shirt, but then again I honestly can't remember a bad one.
He set a fantastically high standard from day one and maintained it until he left.

[Flamingo Lane]

May be wrong, but I think his league debut for us was an away game, first day of season, at Notts Forest. Again stand to be corrected, but I think he made our goal in a 1-1 draw with a near post flick from a corner.  He was just generally awesome in that game and for ever after.

[Colhint]

I remember at Old Trafford him clearing a ball from our box with his head that went out at the half-way line and directly into the stand.   How anyone could head a ball that far, I'll never know.

This, I remember him doing it loads of times

[OzVilla]

Here are a few that sping to mind;

'The Mighty Reds YNWA' away in a 2-1 win in Jan 93, he was superb and read the game like he was playing in a parallel universe that happened to be 5 seconds ahead of reality.

Also Man Citeh home on an icy pitch - you'd have thought it was a leveller but his class just shone out all the more.

His debut away at Forest too, I recall after about an hour thinking, 'my God, if we can keep him fit we've got an absoulte bargain here'.  He was everywhere.

I know i'm biased but his performance for Ireland against Italy is the best best individual performance i've ever seen from a professional footballer.

[Pete3206]

I'll give you a stand out performance. The season after he left us he went to Derby. We drew them in the FA cup and he turned in an immaculate performance as Derby wiped the floor with us. "Oo ahh Paul McGrath went round the whole of The Baseball Ground and I was gutted.

[QBVILLA]

He remains the greatest player i've witnessed to wear a Villa shirt.He was that good that one of my most vivid memories was of him having an absolute stinker against Coventry (Boxing day??).It was the only time i'd seen him achieve less than a 8/10.Turns out he was totally pissed from the night before.
A couple of years ago my Dad was working just outside Liverpool and was using this pub for his evening meal.He said he recognised the barman but couldn't quite place him, turned out it was Shaun Teale.Dad along with two fellow Villans spent the rest of the evening reminiscing and Teale told my old man that McGrath was the best footballer he played alongside or against.Also said that they used to room together as no one else could put up with the smell of Teale's cigarettes or McGrath's Guiness farts

[Damo70]

The stand out performances were Wimbledon 1990 and Coventry 1992 because they were the only two occasions between 1989 and 1996 when he didn't look like he was as good as any defender in the world. Lesser players who are inconsistant have occasional very good stand out performances. We had Paul McGrath.