John Terry - Gone

[Risso]

I wasn't a fan at all when he first arrived, but he's been superb this season.  He's celebrated every win like it was winning the World Cup, so he'll do for me.  I reckon we've got under his skin in a good way.

[PeterWithesShin]

I wasn't a fan at all when he first arrived, but he's been superb this season.  He's celebrated every win like it was winning the World Cup, so he'll do for me.  I reckon we've got under his skin in a good way.

More than once in interviews he's mentioned copping it at VP. Good.

"We know what you are".

[cdbearsfan]

I don't know Chris Jameson's opinions on the underlying causes for the outbreak of the First World War, but I've just sent him a pretty stern PM demanding that he justify his despicable stance on the matter.

[AsTallAsLions]

I don't know Chris Jameson's opinions on the underlying causes for the outbreak of the First World War, but I've just sent him a pretty stern PM demanding that he justify his despicable stance on the matter.

Hilarious non sequitur, do you do children's birthday parties?

[cheltenhamlion]

I don't know Chris Jameson's opinions on the underlying causes for the outbreak of the First World War, but I've just sent him a pretty stern PM demanding that he justify his despicable stance on the matter.

Hilarious non sequitur, do you do children's birthday parties?

I don't think he would pass the DAB check.....

[dave.woodhall]

I wasn't a fan at all when he first arrived, but he's been superb this season.  He's celebrated every win like it was winning the World Cup, so he'll do for me.  I reckon we've got under his skin in a good way.

Someone else who didn't know how big we are until he got here.

[Brassneck]

I wasn't a fan at all when he first arrived, but he's been superb this season.  He's celebrated every win like it was winning the World Cup, so he'll do for me.  I reckon we've got under his skin in a good way.

I'm always of the opinion that it's what a player can do on the pitch that counts. Other than in the most extreme of cases where a player has been convicted of a serious criminal offence for example, I don't pay too much attention to his off field activities. Whilst Terry clearly had some skeletons in his cupboard, I never once considered them serious enough to prevent him playing for us. He may not have covered himself in glory but I had no issues with him wearing our shirt.

For me, I was more concerned about where he was in terms of being able to last the pace of a 46 game season and also how he would fare, given he hadn't played much for a couple of seasons. I have to say that he's been fantastic and fully appreciate what having a player/leader like Terry brings to a group of players. However, what has impressed me most has been how humble Terry has been. Not once has he given it the "Big I am" and has conducted himself impeccably during his time here.

If we don't go up this season, I will be sorry to see Terry leave us.

[dicedlam]

I wasn't a fan at all when he first arrived, but he's been superb this season.  He's celebrated every win like it was winning the World Cup, so he'll do for me.  I reckon we've got under his skin in a good way.

I'm always of the opinion that it's what a player can do on the pitch that counts. Other than in the most extreme of cases where a player has been convicted of a serious criminal offence for example, I don't pay too much attention to his off field activities. Whilst Terry clearly had some skeletons in his cupboard, I never once considered them serious enough to prevent him playing for us. He may not have covered himself in glory but I had no issues with him wearing our shirt.

For me, I was more concerned about where he was in terms of being able to last the pace of a 46 game season and also how he would fare, given he hadn't played much for a couple of seasons. I have to say that he's been fantastic and fully appreciate what having a player/leader like Terry brings to a group of players. However, what has impressed me most has been how humble Terry has been. Not once has he given it the "Big I am" and has conducted himself impeccably during his time here.

If we don't go up this season, I will be sorry to see Terry leave us.

Same here.

Everyone knows his off field antics have never covered him in glory, but I honestly cannot think of another player in England (with possibly the exception of James Milner) who I would rather lead us out over the next couple of games.

He is that important.

[Fred Crump]

I don't know Chris Jameson's opinions on the underlying causes for the outbreak of the First World War, but I've just sent him a pretty stern PM demanding that he justify his despicable stance on the matter.

Hilarious non sequitur, do you do children's birthday parties?

It’s  possible that he was mixed up with the outbreak of WW1 because it was caused by the assassination of Archduke Anton Ferdinand.

[boozey182]

I have never liked Terry and probably never will. I didn't want him to join us. I can't argue that he's not a good player, mind, as he clearly is. Moments like when he brought the ball down over his shoulder against Reading a few weeks back show his quality. He wouldn't have had the success he has had if he hadn't been a very good player.

I still don't think he's been a good signing though; which I know is an uncommon opinion even amongst the Terry 'haters'. I don't think he was the type of centre back we've needed, and for all his obvious quality, we still have almost exactly the same weaknesses at the back as we had last year - mainly against pace and power. He's obviously much better on the ball than any centre back we've had for aong time, but in this league, with our style of play, we don't really utilise this part of his game and have only really seen infrequent flashes throughout the season. He's also started to make silly, and costly mistakes since he's come back from his injuries. The one for the second against Norwich sticks in the mind; it was inexcusable and effectively finished off any hope of automatic promotion.

The most damming evidence to support this, I guess, is the fact we haven't missed him at all when he's been out of the team - at least in terms of results. In fact, I think we've done slightly better. For the best centre back we've had since X, it's odd that he can be adequately replaced by an out-of-position Mile Jedinak. But then again, for all Jedinak's weaknesses, he's better in the air than Terry. Which compliments Chester pretty well.

It's sort of like we're moving house and Dr Tony has gone out and bought a VW classic Campervan. It looks great, and can do a job, but maybe we'd have been better off with a couple of dented transit vans with a few dustsheets in the back. (To follow the metaphor through: when Terry the Campervan is out of action, we bring in Jedinak or Samba - the equivalent of having your boot open, but held with some string. It does the job but Christ it doesn't look great and it's a terrifying journey)

So I don't think he's added £60,000 a week of value to our team. I think he's another example of our team being less than the sum of its parts. He's much better than most of the cloggers in this league, but that's not been reflected on the impact he has when he plays. He's been part of arguably our best performance of the season (Wolves at home), but missed some of our best (Bristol and Cardiff at home). And he's certainly been a part of our worst performances (take your pick). For (I think) the highest paid player in the league, you want him to be indispensable, the heartbeat of our team. A game changer. And Terry isn't.

And as for him loving it here; of course he does. He'd been at Chelsea his whole career, and now he's at Aston Villa. There seems to be an odd sense that we're somehow lucky to have him, which is a mentality I just cannot get my head around. He's the highest paid player at the greatest football club in the world. He's the lucky one, and I think he knows it. I guess it's understandable after the Lerner years, which have so much to answer for, but as fans I think we need to get a bit of our swagger back. Let's start tonight and brush aside anyone that gets in the way of our unstoppable march to where Tony wants us to be. It's probably best for all parties if Terry retires after the match at Wembley a week on Saturday, having been part of a Villa win. He won't want to play against better opposition next year, he very much cares about his image these days.

[Tony Erdington]

Boozey, Well written, I enjoyed it. Don't agree mind, yes Terry is 36 yes its the end of his career, but we've got more than a footballer , his a great leader, he's helped bring players on (ask Jack) his a motivator, his professional, and he'll help you out with any problems at home,

What a Bloke!

[Chris Jameson]

I don't know Chris Jameson's opinions on the underlying causes for the outbreak of the First World War, but I've just sent him a pretty stern PM demanding that he justify his despicable stance on the matter.

Hilarious non sequitur, do you do children's birthday parties?

It’s  possible that he was mixed up with the outbreak of WW1 because it was caused by the assassination of Archduke Anton Ferdinand.

Which eventually lead to the formation of the beat combo Franz Ferdinand so surely you can understand why I'm not a big fan of War One.

[boozey182]

Boozey, Well written, I enjoyed it. Don't agree mind, yes Terry is 36 yes its the end of his career, but we've got more than a footballer , his a great leader, he's helped bring players on (ask Jack) his a motivator, his professional, and he'll help you out with any problems at home,

What a Bloke!

Cheers Tony. You may well be right about his qualities as a leader, but I guess I struggle with that as it's difficult to gauge or measure. For example, Jack has mentioned a few times that Terry has had a positive effect on him, but I've also seen him say the same about Bruce and saw a long piece about the fitness coach who helped build him up when he was injured at the start of the season. He also cites Gabby as his hero... I guess it's hard to put a value on that kind of thing. If we hadn't signed Terry, would Jack have had less of an impact this season? I genuinely have no idea.

[LeeB]

I don't know Chris Jameson's opinions on the underlying causes for the outbreak of the First World War, but I've just sent him a pretty stern PM demanding that he justify his despicable stance on the matter.

Hilarious non sequitur, do you do children's birthday parties?

It’s  possible that he was mixed up with the outbreak of WW1 because it was caused by the assassination of Archduke Anton Ferdinand.

Which eventually lead to the formation of the beat combo Franz Ferdinand so surely you can understand why I'm not a big fan of War One.

I always took "Take Me Out" as an invitation to do so, and rue not having the opportunity to do so.

[cdbearsfan]

I don't know Chris Jameson's opinions on the underlying causes for the outbreak of the First World War, but I've just sent him a pretty stern PM demanding that he justify his despicable stance on the matter.

Hilarious non sequitur, do you do children's birthday parties?

It’s  possible that he was mixed up with the outbreak of WW1 because it was caused by the assassination of Archduke Anton Ferdinand.

Which eventually lead to the formation of the beat combo Franz Ferdinand so surely you can understand why I'm not a big fan of War One.

That's probably my biggest problem with the whole era, too.