Alan McInally

[PeterWithesShin]

I don't agree that he only did well for 4 months as he was an important part of the 2nd division team that went up after his arrival. Was Shrewsbury away his debut? Or when the My old man song started? Anyway, he scored then and didn't he score a few around that time? Yeah, I recall him having a good spell in Div 2 and then was on fire at the start of the season in Div 1. Fizzled out, as did the whole side, after Christmas though.

He scored 4 in 26 in Division 2. His debut was a month before the Shrewsbury game and he didn't score.

[dave.woodhall]

History's a lot kinder to some players than others.

[jcsutv]

Anyone remember his miss from 1 yard when he ended up on his arse. I think it was in the fog against Huddersfield.

[WarszaVillan]

He was even dropped later on during the promotion season. I remember Platt taking his place on his debt away to Blackburn, when he scored (noone in the crowd was actually sure if it was Platt or the other recent signing Gareth Williams as I remember).

[Confusious says]

Alan Mcinally scored a solo goal running the length of the pitch from the Holte end beating
About 8 tackles to score in the Witton, after he was sold on a return to Villa he apparently
Took Doug to task about ambition and the motive to sell him was purely Money! Sounds like he was happy with us.
Saw Stainrods debut in Cup away at Exeter, he scored 4 if memory is correct

[KevinGage]

Had a really good half season with us as i recall it and then i believe he was tapped up by Bayern and never seemed the same . I must say i have never heard him say a bad word about the Villa and he does seem happy to see Villa do well

He sullied it a bit for me with that "Villa fans never gave McLeish a chance" pish.

[jcsutv]

I couldn't believe we got £1m for him. Superb business.

[LTA]

Had a really good half season with us as i recall it and then i believe he was tapped up by Bayern and never seemed the same . I must say i have never heard him say a bad word about the Villa and he does seem happy to see Villa do well

He sullied it a bit for me with that "Villa fans never gave McLeish a chance" pish.

He's big mates with McLeish (and Lambert come to that), I guess he always going to stick up for them, despite the mountain of evidence against them

[West Derby Villan]

Top guy, met him once in a restaurant in Amsterdam. Was quite happy to chat about the Villa for about twenty minutes and obviously cared about us. He also told me that he didn't want to leave us but the deal was done before he was told of any interest in him

[simboy]

We never got the friendly against Bayern that was rumoured to be part of his transfer fee.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

I couldn't believe we got £1m for him. Superb business.

We spent £1.5m on Cascarino the following season...

[Fingers]

Good bloke McInally but Benteke's got far more talent and finesse.  No comparison. 

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

Good bloke McInally but Benteke's got far more talent and finesse.  No comparison. 

To be fair, that's true of 99% of the strikers that have played for us.

However, he was pretty decent compared with his replacements, Olney and Cascarino*.  Imagine if we'd have had McInally up front for the 89/90 title challenge - stronger, quicker, more mobile, more experienced, and already integrated into the first team.  He might just have been the difference between the title and trailing off into second place.


*and Ormondroyd!

[PeterWithesShin]

I think it was just a case of an average player hit a freak 4 months spell. He did nothing close to those 4 months before or after.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

From wiki:

Bayern Munich
McInally's form for Aston Villa and Scotland caught the eye of German giants Bayern Munich, who were sufficiently impressed by McInally's overall season to bid a record fee for them at the time of £1.2 Million to take McInally to the Bundesliga. The Bayern attack was revamped for the 1989–90 season, with the Yugoslav Radmilo Mihajlović also bought in expensively as Bayern went to defend their Bundesliga crown and make headway in the European Cup.

McInally – now nicknamed Big Mac by the Bayern fans – began well in the Bundesliga, proving a handful for the defences, but then the referees clamped down on his style and his disciplinary record suffered. He was a regular throughout this season, but halfway through, the Bayern management decided that this strikeforce was not what they wanted and began to look for replacements for McInally and Mihajlović. At the end of his first season, McInally helped Bayern to the league title, and scored ten goals in his 31 league games, a respectable tally in his first season abroad. He also helped Bayern to the semi finals of the European Cup, where they fell to AC Milan, despite McInally's goal in the second leg in Munich.

In the 1990–91 season, McInally was now deemed a reserve at Bayern (Mihailjovic had now been sold), but he was regularly given a run out in Europe, where he scored some goals in the early rounds of the European Cup. Bayern were willing to let him go, and Chelsea came in for him, but McInally turned them down, preferring to fight on in Munich. This season, he only played seven goalless games in the league, and was unable to help Bayern to get past Red Star Belgrade in the European Cup semi final, despite a battering ram cameo performance in the first leg in Munich. This season was effectively McInally's last as a top level professional, as he began to succumb to injury.

McInally only managed two league games for Bayern in the 1991–92 season, before suffering a long term knee injury. This injury ended his time with the German giants, who supported McInally until his contract ran out with them at the end of the 1992–93 season.

So it seems like he performed at a decent level the following season, and then deemed not good enough for Bayern Munich, which isn't exactly damning; before his career was ended by injury.