Tommy Docherty RIP

[Morleys left boot]

He was manager when I first started to go to the games
He started to wake up the sleeping giant
When Doug said "he was right behind him " he replied that
He would rather him be in front as he could keep an eye on him  lol
RIP Doc God bless x

[malckennedy]

The first real “hero” Villa manager in my memory.

That summer of 1969 after taking over the previous December., Villa trained at the Delta sports ground in Holly Lane Erdington and we went down to watch most days. Tommy Doc was brilliant with us and I remember him pipping the horn of his Daimler as he drove by me as I rode my bike on some shopping errand for my mom.

The crowds were back, we’d signed the Rioch brothers for a combined £110,000 (!) as well as Chico Hamilton. We were favourites to win the second division - but we got relegated! But I never lost faith in The Doc and remember shedding tears when my mom shouted up the stairs that he’d been sacked with a few months of the season remaining. I think it was after we’d lost 5-3 at home to Portsmouth despite being all over them (at least that’s how I saw it).

Doc helped revive the ailing giant that Villa were in the late 1960s. RIP Tommy Doc.

[Behind Bluenose Lines]

For anyone who's interested, Talksport are repeating the Tommy Docherty "My Sporting Life" with Danny Kelly at 7pm tonight. Well worth a listen!

RIP

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

25. On his career: "I’ve had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus."

24. On his reputation: "I've been called a sadist, a sergeant major, a Glasgow tough who lashes his players. I'm not in the game to make friends."

23. On the pressure at Manchester United: "I don't think Henry Kissinger would have lasted 48 hours at Old Trafford."

22. On the finest player he ever saw: "You can keep all your Bests, Peles and Maradonas, Duncan Edwards was the greatest of them all."

21. On Chelsea: "Chelsea is my club. I won’t have a bad word said against them. I love the Bridge. I go five or six times a year and they’re brilliant to me."

20. On Ray Wilkins: "He can't run, he can't tackle and he can't head the ball. The only time he goes forward is for the toss."

19. On growing up in Glasgow: "I remember this about the Gorbals. If you wanted a new pair of shoes you went down the swimming baths in bare feet and just nicked a pair."

18. On Lorenzo Amoruso: "Somebody compared him to Billy McNeil, but I don’t remember Billy being crap."

17. On his forwards: "Our strikers couldn’t score in a brothel."

16. On his former QPR chairman Jim Gregory: "When you shook hands with him, you counted your fingers."

15. On how the game should be played: "Football wasn't meant to be run by linesmen and air traffic control."

14. To his chairman at Chelsea: "Mr Chairman, when I want your advice I'll give it to you."

13. On Jimmy Hill: "He was probably one of the worst players I’ve ever seen. He once said to me: ‘I’m good in the air.’ I replied: ‘So was Douglas Bader.’"

12. On Aston Villa: "Villa have amazing support. If you hung 11 Villa shirts on a washing line five thousand fans would turn up to watch them."

11. On celebrity football club ownership: "Elton John decided he wanted to rename Watford and call it Queen of the South."

10. On Barry Ferguson: “He had no pace. I’ve seen malt turn quicker.”

9. On compensation: "They offered me a handshake of £10,000 to settle amicably. I told them that they would have to be a lot more amicable than that."

8. On modern players: "I’ve seen some recently who could trap a ball further than I could kick it. When they pass it, they should attach this message: ‘To whom it may concern!’ And they’re getting 50 grand a week and upwards."

7. On Jimmy Johnstone: "On my first day as Scotland manager I had to call off practice after half an hour, because nobody could get the ball off wee Jimmy Johnstone."

6. On surviving in management: "People ask me what makes a great manager and I say it is good players. Crap players get you the sack, it's as simple as that."

5. On the best player in the world: "Lionel Messi is an immature Tom Finney."

4. On Manchester City: "There are three types of Oxo cubes. Light brown for chicken stock, dark brown for beef stock and light blue for laughing stock."

3. On getting rid of George Best: "George just kept on going missing at the time - Miss America, Miss Canada, Miss Great Britain."

2. On the media: "I've always said there's a place for the press but they haven't dug it yet."

1. On being sacked by Manchester United after having an affair with the physio’s wife (who he later married): "I’m the only manager to be sacked for falling in love."

[Whiney MacWhineface]

I was off the scale when we appointed him. As shit as we have been these last few years, it's nothing compared to what we were when The Doc was made manager.

He really did re-start the motor.

[rob_bridge]

Wasn't he in charge when we got relegated to the 3rd tier

[dave.woodhall]

They missed out his opinion of Dwight Yorke.

[Villa Lew]

December 68, Doug's first manager, fans were excited at the appointment, made a great start to his Villa career winning 7 of his first 9 matches. Next season we were favourites to up, as we were the biggest spenders in the close season, sadly it all went wrong, sacked in January.

RIP Tommy

[nigel]

He was manager when I first started to go to the games
He started to wake up the sleeping giant
When Doug said "he was right behind him " he replied that
He would rather him be in front as he could keep an eye on him  lol
RIP Doc God bless x

I’ve always credited that to Vic Crowe.

I will always be grateful for the Doc bringing in Bruce Rioch, though.

[AlexAlexCropley]

We were on our knees.The Doc brought the crowds back.RIP

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

They missed out his opinion of Dwight Yorke.

‘If that lad makes a First Division footballer, then I’m Mao Tse-tung.’ for Yorke was about as accurate as "You've just seen a future captain of Scotland" for 15 year old Jimmy Brown.

[dave shelley]

He was manager when I first started to go to the games
He started to wake up the sleeping giant
When Doug said "he was right behind him " he replied that
He would rather him be in front as he could keep an eye on him  lol
RIP Doc God bless x

I’ve always credited that to Vic Crowe.

I will always be grateful for the Doc bringing in Bruce Rioch, though.

It was definitely the Doc, he was one of the top managers at the time and didn't take much persuading to join Villa I believe.  After all the shit the preceeding years had served up, the excitement the appointment of the Doc created was palpable.  Those of us old enough, had known nothing like it since 1957.

When I told Mrs S about his passing, she reminded me that his grandson went to the same school as our kids.  I said wasn't he in our lads class as I thought he may have been, she couldn't remember that.  Later on I got a text from my daughter asking had I heard the news about the Doc and asking about the grandson.  I told her and she said she thought the grandson may have been in the years between her and her brother.  Mrs S says she definitely remembers the Doc collecting the child on a few occasions.

RIP Tommy Docherty and thank you for the hope you gave us.

[Pat McMahon]

I think the first game where I had an inkling of how big we were was the Boxing Day fixture v Cardiff  in 1968. I was only 6 then but my dad told me how much he did to reinvigorate our support after several years of dross ( though the players were all heroes to me). RIP Tommy.

[malckennedy]

I think the first game where I had an inkling of how big we were was the Boxing Day fixture v Cardiff  in 1968. I was only 6 then but my dad told me how much he did to reinvigorate our support after several years of dross ( though the players were all heroes to me). RIP Tommy.

A crowd of 41,000 for Doc’s second home game in charge after gates had dwindled to 12,000 for the home game before his appointment. We soon had a 59,000 gate for the 4th round FA cup match against Southampton, which we won.

[darren woolley]

Very sad news RIP