Gregory on Talksport now

[Matt C]

He comes across as a bit of a silly sod at times in that interview but seemingly nice bloke and clearly a top Villa man. Always struck me as a very decent coach (seemed to work well with Little/Evans) but not a manager.

[villan from luton]

Thing I liked about John Gregory when I spoke to him was his love of Aston Villa, and that was when he was manager of Wycombe. Maybe the pressure got too much and agree with earlier comment as to why no other fairly decent club came in for him when he had his hissy fit.

[usav]

Because he knew from 2000 onwards that the next bad run of results would get him sacked so he made not losing his main priority.

Unfortunately he went into the Cup Final with that mentality and we lost to a very poor Chelsea team.   For that alone, I will never forgive him, nevermind any of his other nonsense he got up to.

I have to disagree on the assessment of that Chelsea team.

Ok, they were very poor on the day, but came up against a Villa team that didn't want to cross the half-way line.  How's that?

[silhillvilla]

Its a shame that final will go down as one of the worst ever.

[saunders_heroes]

Its a shame that final will go down as one of the worst ever.

Lots of FA Cup finals are rubbish. It's only because we played in it that it sticks in our mind so much.

[PeterWithe]

Balaban really was awful for us. My mate covered the reserves for local radio and even at that level he said Balaban looked out of his depth. 11 years ago we spent £6million and 20K a week on him. Almost makes Hutton and his wages look a bargain.

I watched him in training at BH the once, he was absolutely terrible, that transfer stinks.

[Risso]

Balaban really was awful for us. My mate covered the reserves for local radio and even at that level he said Balaban looked out of his depth. 11 years ago we spent £6million and 20K a week on him. Almost makes Hutton and his wages look a bargain.

I watched him in training at BH the once, he was absolutely terrible, that transfer stinks.

He scored a lot of goals for a lesser team, couldn't hack it in England, then went on to score a lot of goals for other lesser teams.  It happens.  He scored 47 goals in 83 games for Club Brugge.

[Pat McMahon]

Because he knew from 2000 onwards that the next bad run of results would get him sacked so he made not losing his main priority.

Unfortunately he went into the Cup Final with that mentality and we lost to a very poor Chelsea team.   For that alone, I will never forgive him, nevermind any of his other nonsense he got up to.

I have to disagree on the assessment of that Chelsea team.

Ok, they were very poor on the day, but came up against a Villa team that didn't want to cross the half-way line.  How's that?

That pretty much corresponds to my memory of events, Usav, though I remember us simply being unable to cope with them once they really went for it after half time. We were dire and the whole day was a massive let down.

I have just checked on wikipedia and according to their stats we had 11 shots in that final to Chelsea's 5. I can only assume somebody has gone online and hacked those stats because they are utterly untrue (if my ailing memory of that day is correct).

[eastie]

Its a shame that final will go down as one of the worst ever.

Lots of FA Cup finals are rubbish. It's only because we played in it that it sticks in our mind so much.

I disagree, it was a dreadful final and the worst i can remember in the last 40 years and villa were an utter embarrassment that day - a dreadful inexcusable display on the biggest of occasions.

[Clampy]

Its a shame that final will go down as one of the worst ever.

Lots of FA Cup finals are rubbish. It's only because we played in it that it sticks in our mind so much.

I disagree, it was a dreadful final and the worst i can remember in the last 40 years and villa were an utter embarrassment that day - a dreadful inexcusable display on the biggest of occasions.

It was a dreadful game and we did'nt do ourselves justice at all but i would'nt go so far to call us an embarrassment.

[eastie]

Its a shame that final will go down as one of the worst ever.

Having waited so long to win the fa cup the display that day was just awful clampy and didn't do ourselves justice is an understatement. The players who played that day and John Gregory should be ashamed for that performance on the biggest stage of all.

[Jarpie]

How is his book, worth to read?

[not3bad]

Its a shame that final will go down as one of the worst ever.

Lots of FA Cup finals are rubbish. It's only because we played in it that it sticks in our mind so much.

I watched all the cup finals from the late 70s onwards and that one was the worst.

[asgpaul]

I have just checked on wikipedia and according to their stats we had 11 shots in that final to Chelsea's 5. I can only assume somebody has gone online and hacked those stats because they are utterly untrue (if my ailing memory of that day is correct).

Blimey.  That's not my recollection either, 11 shots!  Maybe David James's goal kicks up field counted as shots that day!!   

[saunders_heroes]

Its a shame that final will go down as one of the worst ever.

Lots of FA Cup finals are rubbish. It's only because we played in it that it sticks in our mind so much.

I disagree, it was a dreadful final and the worst i can remember in the last 40 years and villa were an utter embarrassment that day - a dreadful inexcusable display on the biggest of occasions.

Way way over the top. It was a poor game, but as I said there's been plenty of poor FA Cup finals over the years. From memory the Man Utd v Chelsea in 07 was dreadful as was Man Utd v Milwall, Portsmouth V Cardiff. Lots of others too. It was major disappointment for us, but at least Gregory got us there. No other Villa manager has got us there in about a million years. That match against Leeds will live long in the memory as well. So much for the shit football under Gregory that people love to spout on here.