Questions From Newcastle Fans

[oldhill_avfc]

For anyone who is any doubt SGT was the best manager of this club in modern era.

He rebuilt the club on a shoestring, came within a hair's breadth of emulating Saunders and left a squad packed with talent.

What he did first time here was no fluke either.  He did it at Lincoln and Watford (twice).  I believe Wolves missed a great opportunity as he was slowly getting them into shape and he wasn't the disaster that some believe here second time around either.

He will always have the respect and gratitude of my generation of Villa supporters and yes if it means to some that we will get on our high horses to defend him then so be it.

To us anything that faintly condones the turnip image is totally offensive.

He is the ultimate professional, a proper football man without ego - a true gentleman.

[Clampy]

This apparently makes me ignorant and somewhere between Robbie Savage and Paul Tait on the scale of "proper villa supporters" then so be it.

Who's over-reacting now?

Anyway, if you're going to come on here and accuse people of being on their high horse and 'circlejerking' just because they have a different opinion, then don't be surprised if they disagree and respond accordingly.

[Quiet Lion]

This apparently makes me ignorant and somewhere between Robbie Savage and Paul Tait on the scale of "proper villa supporters" then so be it.

Who's over-reacting now?

Anyway, if you're going to come on here and accuse people of being on their high horse and 'circlejerking' just because they have a different opinion, then don't be surprised if they disagree and respond accordingly.

OK fair enough - and as I appear to be utterly alone in my views on this subject. I suggest we agree to disagree and leave it there

[Chris Harte]

Is it possible that the Newcastle fan asked the question in the hope of being able to tittle and gaffaw over the reactions to the answer to the question?

Sir Graham - dragged us out of the gutter in 1987, and wasn't appreciated second time around when at least our home record had double figures in the "W" column. We'd kill for that now, wouldn't we?

[supertom]

Is it possible that the Newcastle fan asked the question in the hope of being able to tittle and gaffaw over the reactions to the answer to the question?

Sir Graham - dragged us out of the gutter in 1987, and wasn't appreciated second time around when at least our home record had double figures in the "W" column. We'd kill for that now, wouldn't we?

In his second spell I largely remember the football being pretty bad, but then I watched 2-3 highlights vids from that season where we actually played some half decent stuff. Granted it helped having good midfielders in there like Barry, Hendrie and Der Hammer, and Vassell was a good footballer on his day too. 4-1 against West Ham springs to mind. We played some great stuff in that.

In retrospect it probably wasn't as horrific a season as we might remember in 02-03. Not brilliant by any stretch but at least we had plenty of satisfying days at Villa park. The funny thing is we finished on 45 points that season, in 16th place. I reckon that total will be comfortably enough to finish 10th this season. I don't think we'll get near 45 points either, but I'd still fancy us to finish 10th or 11th.

I actually think too that while on paper it looked as if Taylor took a top 6 team and pulled them down to 16th, I do think Gregory left at a tipping point. I think we were going to head that direction under him in any case. Same goes for O Neill, he fecked off leaving a top 6 club but I think we could probably sense we were likely to head downward rather than maintain or head upwards.

[rob_bridge]

Is it possible that the Newcastle fan asked the question in the hope of being able to tittle and gaffaw over the reactions to the answer to the question?

Sir Graham - dragged us out of the gutter in 1987, and wasn't appreciated second time around when at least our home record had double figures in the "W" column. We'd kill for that now, wouldn't we?

In his second spell I largely remember the football being pretty bad, but then I watched 2-3 highlights vids from that season where we actually played some half decent stuff. Granted it helped having good midfielders in there like Barry, Hendrie and Der Hammer, and Vassell was a good footballer on his day too. 4-1 against West Ham springs to mind. We played some great stuff in that.

In retrospect it probably wasn't as horrific a season as we might remember in 02-03. Not brilliant by any stretch but at least we had plenty of satisfying days at Villa park. The funny thing is we finished on 45 points that season, in 16th place. I reckon that total will be comfortably enough to finish 10th this season. I don't think we'll get near 45 points either, but I'd still fancy us to finish 10th or 11th.

I actually think too that while on paper it looked as if Taylor took a top 6 team and pulled them down to 16th, I do think Gregory left at a tipping point. I think we were going to head that direction under him in any case. Same goes for O Neill, he fecked off leaving a top 6 club but I think we could probably sense we were likely to head downward rather than maintain or head upwards.

One of the problems was the 2 beatings dished out by That Lot who had their best season in 40 years. That was part of his problem at Wolves - Villa were having a great season in 95-96 and Blues and Albion were Top 3/4 in Second Tier despite spending much less and were 10 places above them.

He signed a lot of dross for Villa though. An awful lot.

I think like MON, if we had kept Gregory it would have been a slide to mid table as opposed to the relegation scraps we had after they left. We were certainly not going to get any better under either

[supertom]

Is it possible that the Newcastle fan asked the question in the hope of being able to tittle and gaffaw over the reactions to the answer to the question?

Sir Graham - dragged us out of the gutter in 1987, and wasn't appreciated second time around when at least our home record had double figures in the "W" column. We'd kill for that now, wouldn't we?

In his second spell I largely remember the football being pretty bad, but then I watched 2-3 highlights vids from that season where we actually played some half decent stuff. Granted it helped having good midfielders in there like Barry, Hendrie and Der Hammer, and Vassell was a good footballer on his day too. 4-1 against West Ham springs to mind. We played some great stuff in that.

In retrospect it probably wasn't as horrific a season as we might remember in 02-03. Not brilliant by any stretch but at least we had plenty of satisfying days at Villa park. The funny thing is we finished on 45 points that season, in 16th place. I reckon that total will be comfortably enough to finish 10th this season. I don't think we'll get near 45 points either, but I'd still fancy us to finish 10th or 11th.

I actually think too that while on paper it looked as if Taylor took a top 6 team and pulled them down to 16th, I do think Gregory left at a tipping point. I think we were going to head that direction under him in any case. Same goes for O Neill, he fecked off leaving a top 6 club but I think we could probably sense we were likely to head downward rather than maintain or head upwards.

One of the problems was the 2 beatings dished out by That Lot who had their best season in 40 years. That was part of his problem at Wolves - Villa were having a great season in 95-96 and Blues and Albion were Top 3/4 in Second Tier despite spending much less and were 10 places above them.

He signed a lot of dross for Villa though. An awful lot.

I think like MON, if we had kept Gregory it would have been a slide to mid table as opposed to the relegation scraps we had after they left. We were certainly not going to get any better under either

Ha ha. I'd genuinely forgot about THOSE two games. They must have been repressed. I shall be having nightmares about Pete Enckelman tonight no doubt.

Yes, I don't think we'd have slid below mid-table under JG or O Neill, initially at first anyhow. I think the manner in which they left, more so O Neill of course, did a lot of damage.

I don't think SGT was probably ever considered (or considered himself) to be anything more than a stop gap second time around. I wonder if a lot of his signings, experienced players who'd been around a long time and wouldn't stay too long, reflected that too. It's also funny thinking back to how excited many were at the prospect, and seeming ambition of having a manager like David O Leary come to the club.

[Drummond]

I'd say potato.

Dull as fuck unless it's prepared properly. Everybody thinks potatoes are ok and they're inoffensive, nothing special, but every now and again you get a portion of chips or dauphinoise that really is exceptional.

[Tayls_7]

I'd say potato.

Dull as fuck unless it's prepared properly. Everybody thinks potatoes are ok and they're inoffensive, nothing special, but every now and again you get a portion of chips or dauphinoise that really is exceptional.

They often end up getting roasted or mashed!

[rob_bridge]

I'd say potato.

Dull as fuck unless it's prepared properly. Everybody thinks potatoes are ok and they're inoffensive, nothing special, but every now and again you get a portion of chips or dauphinoise that really is exceptional.

They often end up getting roasted or mashed!

Half baked potatoes at home?

Apologies terrible quip

[supertom]

I'd say potato.

Dull as fuck unless it's prepared properly. Everybody thinks potatoes are ok and they're inoffensive, nothing special, but every now and again you get a portion of chips or dauphinoise that really is exceptional.

They often end up getting roasted or mashed!

Half baked potatoes at home?

Apologies terrible quip

Our potatoes are often better in someone elses field. At home we're bog standard smart price boiled in saltless water. Away from home we're a well roasted maris piper. At least some of the time anyway.

[ktvillan]

I have plenty of  disdain for use of the T word in connection with Villa/SGT, as I do when Villa fans are called Fickle (often by our own)  and Curtis Davies is dismissed as a pub player.  They are al examples of crass, empty cliches that are rolled out too easily and have become associated in the minds of many people with certain ideas.   However I find them irritating at worst and I'm not about to spontaneously self combust with unrighteous indignation when I read such comments, especially when used in an obviously light hearted context.  Since leaving the UK 9 yeas ago I've noticed an increasing trend for people there to go out of their way to find/take  offence at almost anything, and to come over all precious and pompous at the drop of a hat. I've had over-sensitive professional offence-takers taking me to task several times recently over literally nothing.    Asking someone to "explain themselves" is going a bit far in my book - isn't everyone entitled to an opinion, as long as it isn't promoting hate?  Or do we want to get all quasi-religious, and start using the word blasphemy if anything bad is said about club legends?   I think a bit of lightening up wouldn't go amiss in some quarters, especially n a situation where a mild tsk tsk would serve the purpose.  So tut tut SuperTom you Cheeky Monkey (oh Fuck I hope you isn't black) I mean Scamp.

[rob_bridge]

Well said KT

If people use racist, homophobic or other offensive language likely to incite hate or violence  - written or verbal or much worse threaten to harm / kill my family or friends I will get offended. Very offended.

Irritating and pathetic as well as extremely unoriginal and lazy would be my take on those cliches. Same as my take on Mark Lawrenson in fact.

[Quiet Lion]

For the record Mark Lawerenson is one of the few things that offend me deeply.

[pauliewalnuts]

However I find them irritating at worst and I'm not about to spontaneously self combust with unrighteous indignation when I read such comments, especially when used in an obviously light hearted context.  Since leaving the UK 9 yeas ago I've noticed an increasing trend for people there to go out of their way to find/take  offence at almost anything, and to come over all precious and pompous at the drop of a hat. I've had over-sensitive professional offence-takers taking me to task several times recently over literally nothing.    Asking someone to "explain themselves" is going a bit far in my book - isn't everyone entitled to an opinion, as long as it isn't promoting hate?  Or do we want to get all quasi-religious, and start using the word blasphemy if anything bad is said about club legends?   I think a bit of lightening up wouldn't go amiss in some quarters, especially n a situation where a mild tsk tsk would serve the purpose.  So tut tut SuperTom you Cheeky Monkey (oh Fuck I hope you isn't black) I mean Scamp.

Oh, please, you talk about people overreacting then put in a prime example of it yourself!

It's an opinion not many people agree with. I hardly think using terms like "explain yourself" or referring to things as blasphemy is over the top - not unless you're going out of your way to take things far too seriously yourself and forget to remember that we're talking about football, not matters of homophobia or racism or whatever, and people are keeping this in mind when reading what people write.

The way I read it, if someone comes on here and says "Paul McGrath was overrated" or "SGT was a total turnip" or whatever, and there are a slew of "explain yourself" / "how dare you" / "blasphemy" replies, people aren't really, actually expressing the same sort of indignation you'd get if someone started throwing around racist abuse or something.

In other words, whilst people's disagreement isn't fake, the way they phrase it is somewhat tongue in cheek.