I hated Chelsea then as well
CHELSEA RUIN VENGLOS' CHAMPAGNE CELEBRATION - SOCCER.
By Philippe Naughton
3 November 1990
Reuters News
(c) 1990 Reuters Limited
LONDON, Nov 4, Reuter - Saturday started off very nicely for Aston Villa manager Jozef Venglos -- he was given an extra large bottle of champagne and the title of English soccer's Manager of the Month.
It was a popular choice. After three months as the first non-British manager of an English first division side, the former university professor from Czechoslovakia had begun to show his worth.
Villa had gone seven matches without defeat and a total of 599 minutes without conceding a goal in all competitions. They had also built up a superb 2-0 lead over Italy's Internazionale Milan in the UEFA Cup.
Then, at five minutes past three on Saturday afternoon, Chelsea's Graham le Saux put an early end to the party.
Le Saux's goal ended up being the only one scored in the first division match, but he could easily have hit a hat-trick. Four days before the away leg of Villa's UEFA Cup second round tie with Inter, Venglos' team were quite simply outclassed.
Villa keeper Nigel Spink had to make a string of fine saves to keep his side in the match, but could have done nothing about an acrobatic overhead kick from Le Saux that whistled an inch over the bar later in the match.
Even more worrying for Villa fans, who saw Ireland defender Paul McGrath return after injury, was the sight of dangerman Tony Daley leaving the field after 55 minutes, victim of several heavy tackles in the first half.
Daley was expected to be X-rayed for an ankle injury.
"We have played better," Venglos said afterwards, with characteristic understatement. "We have been playing quite well for a few games but today's performance was not really a team performance.
"We can take a lesson from this but I am sure that individually and as a team we will be sharper on Wednesday."
Asked if the Milan game was playing on his team's minds, Venglos said: "I don't want to find any excuses. The players know that it is a very important game on Wednesday and perhaps their thinking was a little wider than it should have been.
"I am sure that when the tackling came they were thinking about Wednesday."
Venglos is not the only foreigner making an impact in the English league this season. Arsenal's new Swedish import Anders Limpar broke the deadlock on his team's trip to Coventry with a double-strike in the last 10 minutes.
Apart from bringing the Swedish midfielder's tally to seven for the season, the goals could prove significant in Arsenal's bid for the title.
The three points earned at Coventry brought Arsenal to within a point of champions and league leaders Liverpool just one day before Liverpool's televised fixture at Tottenham.
Off the field, attention is still focused on the recent players' brawl during a league match between Manchester United and Arsenal.
Chelsea manager Bobby Campbell, himself a former Arsenal coach, wrote in Saturday's Chelsea match programme he was against Arsenal's decision to fine manager George Graham, saying: "I feel it is a degrading precedent."
Both clubs have been charged with bringing the game into disrepute since the incident, which involved 21 of the 22 players on the field.
Campbell added: "A manager is responsible for his team and responsible for setting disciplinary standards. But once the players cross that white line at 3pm on a Saturday, there is very little we can do.
"From day one a manager is judged by the results of his team. The game is not football these days, it is called winning."
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, meanwhile, pleaded for the brawl with Arsenal to be kept in perspective.
In United's own match programme Ferguson wrote: "The flashpoint and momentary loss of control does not reflect the state of the game: I say it simply serves to show how well disciplined our professional footballers are for 99 per cent of the time.
"Let's please keep a sense of proportion."
