Gregory on Talksport now

[ktvillan]

I'd waited 35 years, from the age of 5, for Villa to get to an FA Cup final.  And when we did, we didn't even try.  Whatever good stuff Gregory did is totally undermined by that one disgraceful performance.   

To say we didn't try is wrong. You don't get to an FA Cup Final and not try. It'd be much more apt to just say we were shit.

I disagree.  We just didn't look interested in taking the game to Chelsea, it was like watching a McLeish team just trying to limit the damage.     

[davevillan]

All the Gregory knockers should bear in mind with him in charge we were top of the league for a while , we got to a cup final and you could say we lost it due to a refereeing mistake awarding the free kick that should never have been, yes there was times it was dross but tell me another manager since he left who was better with the exception of MON in his early time with villa also more important than anything else he is a massive Villa fan try reading his tweets on twitter I still would have him back over all of the others we have had since and he would have got better look at Fergie

to blame our loss in that final due to the award of the free kick is clutching at straws to put it mildly!
wether it was or wasnt is down to opinion, and the one which counts (the ref) said it was. However, James dropped the ball and it bounced of southgate to rvd to score. Then 2 mins later, their keeper dropped the ball at carbones feet, and he passed it to lebeouf on the goal-line..Thats why we lost, no other reason, apart from we were crap on the day!

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

I'd waited 35 years, from the age of 5, for Villa to get to an FA Cup final.  And when we did, we didn't even try.  Whatever good stuff Gregory did is totally undermined by that one disgraceful performance.   

To say we didn't try is wrong. You don't get to an FA Cup Final and not try. It'd be much more apt to just say we were shit.

I disagree.  We just didn't look interested in taking the game to Chelsea, it was like watching a McLeish team just trying to limit the damage.     

Ok...but you're wrong. No player doesn't try in a FA Cup final. To suggest otherwise seems a bit silly.

[Grande Pablo]

I just have the memory that we were playing OK leading up to the final with the likes of Alan Thompson in the side, only for JG to bring in all his old favourites for them to stiff completely in the final.

[SoccerHQ]

Loved Dublin and the Holte chant "Dion Dublin in the air."

I never expected us to win the cup final, Chelsea just had too much quality littered all over the pitch and I think they also had a "goal" wrongly disallowed for offside just before they did actually score.

In my mind a much bigger regret was the 2010 cup final. I really did think we'd win that as that certainly wasn't a great Man. United team we faced and who knows winning that might have lead to Milner and Young wanting to stay and we certainly could've had a bit more confidence to get 4th that season.

[Percy McCarthy]

I spent that weekend at the Wembley Hilton with a super-cute 17 year-old girl who was willing to copy scenarios from the tug TV in the room. Was there a game on then?

[Rudy Can't Fail]

As for Gregory, bearing in mind one minute he was managing Wycombe Wanderers (his first managerial job i think) then next managing Aston Villa, he probably could'nt believe his luck. Yeah he overpaid on some dross (what manager has'nt) and the footy was'nt always great but overall i think he did a reasonable job.

He was a breath of fresh air at the time and we did well to stay top of the league for as long as we did that one season. He was unlucky to lose Yorke and who knows how good Luc Nillis would have been?

I think the one mistake he did make was taking the Derby job as soon as he did.

Wasn't it rumoured that Stuart Gray was brought in as first team coach on the advise of Graham Taylor with Gregory knowing nothing about it? The Gregory-Deehan partnership was when we looked like going places but it all went negative after Gray's appointment.

In the end, Gregory's downfall was due to him spenting too much time fighting Doug when he should have been focusing on the team.

[dave.woodhall]

As for Gregory, bearing in mind one minute he was managing Wycombe Wanderers (his first managerial job i think) then next managing Aston Villa, he probably could'nt believe his luck. Yeah he overpaid on some dross (what manager has'nt) and the footy was'nt always great but overall i think he did a reasonable job.

He was a breath of fresh air at the time and we did well to stay top of the league for as long as we did that one season. He was unlucky to lose Yorke and who knows how good Luc Nillis would have been?

I think the one mistake he did make was taking the Derby job as soon as he did.

Wasn't it rumoured that Stuart Gray was brought in as first team coach on the advise of Graham Taylor with Gregory knowing nothing about it? The Gregory-Deehan partnership was when we looked like going places but it all went negative after Gray's appointment.

In the end, Gregory's downfall was due to him spenting too much time fighting Doug when he should have been focusing on the team.

Sir Graham said that the first he knew of it was when Gray's appointment was announced and he wasn't happy as it might have seemed he was involved in the decision.

[villan from luton]

I'd waited 35 years, from the age of 5, for Villa to get to an FA Cup final.  And when we did, we didn't even try.  Whatever good stuff Gregory did is totally undermined by that one disgraceful performance.   

To say we didn't try is wrong. You don't get to an FA Cup Final and not try. It'd be much more apt to just say we were shit.

I disagree.  We just didn't look interested in taking the game to Chelsea, it was like watching a McLeish team just trying to limit the damage.     

Ok...but you're wrong. No player doesn't try in a FA Cup final. To suggest otherwise seems a bit silly.

Lets be honest, how positive were Villa in that final? We only had one decent chance from what I recall, but we seemed in awe of them when we didnt need to be

[Rudy Can't Fail]

As for Gregory, bearing in mind one minute he was managing Wycombe Wanderers (his first managerial job i think) then next managing Aston Villa, he probably could'nt believe his luck. Yeah he overpaid on some dross (what manager has'nt) and the footy was'nt always great but overall i think he did a reasonable job.

He was a breath of fresh air at the time and we did well to stay top of the league for as long as we did that one season. He was unlucky to lose Yorke and who knows how good Luc Nillis would have been?

I think the one mistake he did make was taking the Derby job as soon as he did.

Wasn't it rumoured that Stuart Gray was brought in as first team coach on the advise of Graham Taylor with Gregory knowing nothing about it? The Gregory-Deehan partnership was when we looked like going places but it all went negative after Gray's appointment.

In the end, Gregory's downfall was due to him spenting too much time fighting Doug when he should have been focusing on the team.

Sir Graham said that the first he knew of it was when Gray's appointment was announced and he wasn't happy as it might have seemed he was involved in the decision.

Cheers for clearing that up, Dave. The football certainly didn't improve after Gray joined us, though how much that was down to him is another matter.

[not3bad]

I'd waited 35 years, from the age of 5, for Villa to get to an FA Cup final.  And when we did, we didn't even try.  Whatever good stuff Gregory did is totally undermined by that one disgraceful performance.   

To say we didn't try is wrong. You don't get to an FA Cup Final and not try. It'd be much more apt to just say we were shit.

I disagree.  We just didn't look interested in taking the game to Chelsea, it was like watching a McLeish team just trying to limit the damage.     

Ok...but you're wrong. No player doesn't try in a FA Cup final. To suggest otherwise seems a bit silly.

What's so sad was that we were that shit it was difficult to tell.

[Irish villain]

The 2000 FA Cup final was as bad as anything I have seen as a villa fan. It was a terrible let down, it was like he was playing for penalties. Today there is a gulf between ourselves and Chelsea, back then there wasn't, we were pretty evenly matched that day and yet we didn't try. That was a serious mark against JG.

Still, he did well enough with us even if he was more fortunate than some of his successors to have had a more even playing field.

[Vancouver]

I really dont remember much about the final except hating chelsea so much.  I managed to blag a couple of tickets from my football team chairman which were in the Chelsea end. I was pretty hammered as well. I remember passing a pub full of chelsea and they were throwing all kinds of abuse at passing villa fans, including kids, from behind a locked gate. From then on I vowed to hate Chelsea.

Whilst we are on the topic, I fell asleep during the extra time of the semi. bored and drinking way too much.

[Percy McCarthy]

I was so stressed during the semi I kept wishing I'd never got interested in football.

[willywombat]

I was so stressed during the semi I kept wishing I'd never got interested in football.

That's exactly how I felt, a feeling which got more intense after the final. I honestly got quite depressed for a while afterwards. I've never let myself get that emotionally involved since