Gregory on Talksport now

[Pat McMahon]

I still can't believe he signed Balaban for 6m without watching him. Christ.

Little did the same with Savo didn't he?

Yes, Sir Brian saw Savo as well on video, but he didn't turn out too bad really.

I think I remember hearing at the time that Venables had tipped Brian Little off about Savo and then came the video, or vice versa.

Not sure how reliable this memory is though.

[Irish villain]

I'm not sure Muzzy Izzet would have been the final piece of the jigsaw.

[eastie]

I'm not sure Muzzy Izzet would have been the final piece of the jigsaw.

I am sure muzzy izzet would not have been the final piece of the jigsaw.

[not3bad]

I wonder if Juninho would have been.

[eastie]

I wonder if Juninho would have been.

Juninho and Robbie Keane may well have been .

[Irish villain]

I wonder if Juninho would have been.

Juninho and Robbie Keane may well have been .

I was gutted when we missed out on both of those. Though, we may not have signed one or both of Merson and Dublin if we had signed Keane and perhaps Juninho couldn't have played in the same team as Merson?

We did always seem to be just a player short of being excellent, under both Little and Gregory, between mid 1995-2001 or so. Then we were just mediocre for a few years until Randy took over.

Can anybody remember if attendances improved after Gregory left?

[Irish villain]

Just found the answer myself here http://www.stadium-attendances.com/Aston%20Villa,historical,attendances.html

Hard to believe we were getting much better attendances under GT II and O'Dreary than when JG was at the helm.

[PeterWithesShin]

Yes they did. In his final season we were often under 30K while he was here, after he left our lowest for the rest of the season was 32K which was the only one under 35K.

[eastie]

I was so disappointed when doug went for Gregory , I was hoping for terry venables at the time and Greg was very much a cheap option.

[Ger Regan]

Judging on how he's gotten on since, we probably dodged a bullet with venables, though was he ever actually in the running?

[Irish villain]

I think I wanted Gullit at the time, I was only 11.

[eastie]

Judging on how he's gotten on since, we probably dodged a bullet with venables, though was he ever actually in the running?

Favourite with some bookies and available at the time, having left the England job the previous season I think.

[KevinGage]

Gullit was linked along with Platt as player coach in 1998. 

But I think that centered largely on them being teammates at Sampdoria for a bit, Gullit being freshly out of work having recently got the bullet at Chelsea and Platt being an ex player of ours. 

In his book JG said Stever Stride had put his name forward almost as soon as Sir Brian was out the door, suggesting there were no other real candidates. But then he would say that, wouldn't he.

[dave.woodhall]

Gullit was linked along with Platt as player coach in 1998. 

But I think that centered largely on them being teammates at Sampdoria for a bit, Gullit being freshly out of work having recently got the bullet at Chelsea and Platt being an ex player of ours. 

In his book JG said Stever Stride had put his name forward almost as soon as Sir Brian was out the door, suggesting there were no other real candidates. But then he would say that, wouldn't he.

He was certainly appointed very quickly and his name was mentioned by a Villa staff member at the Little resignation press conference

[eastie]

Gullit was linked along with Platt as player coach in 1998. 

But I think that centered largely on them being teammates at Sampdoria for a bit, Gullit being freshly out of work having recently got the bullet at Chelsea and Platt being an ex player of ours. 

In his book JG said Stever Stride had put his name forward almost as soon as Sir Brian was out the door, suggesting there were no other real candidates. But then he would say that, wouldn't he.

He was certainly appointed very quickly and his name was mentioned by a Villa staff member at the Little resignation press conference

I think doug probably saw Gregory as a cheaper option and a bit of yes man, in hindsight I think if venables had got the job he and doug would have soon fallen out.