John Gregory Interview.

[BC Villain]

There was the timewarp interview and from then on his days were numbered. With flotation and the NTL money Villa could compete with almost any other club in the transfer market but as a couple of people whose judgment I trust said, for what he spent we should have done better. He signed a lot of average players on above-average wages.

Exactly the same as O'Neill.  The only difference was Gregory had a genuine affinity with the club, whereas O'Neill was only ever interested in protecting his own image.  Both spent vast fortunates of the club's money, yet left very little to show for it.

[Risso]

Yeah, started with Chelsea then moved to Leicester. Played a few games afterwards for another team in blue who shall not be mentioned.

His kids were at the same school as my lot.

[dave.woodhall]

There was the timewarp interview and from then on his days were numbered. With flotation and the NTL money Villa could compete with almost any other club in the transfer market but as a couple of people whose judgment I trust said, for what he spent we should have done better. He signed a lot of average players on above-average wages.

Exactly the same as O'Neill.  The only difference was Gregory had a genuine affinity with the club, whereas O'Neill was only ever interested in protecting his own image.  Both spent vast fortunates of the club's money, yet left very little to show for it.

The other difference is that O'Neill controlled the club from top to bottom while Gregory knew he could get the sack at a minute's notice.

[BC Villain]

Jack Grealish has laid into former Aston Villa manager John Gregory, who insists that he got the Manchester City winger substituted during a match while on loan at Notts County. Suffice it to say that Grealish does not agree with Gregory's version of events, despite their mutual affiliation with Villa Park.

Grealish joined Villa's academy at the age of six and worked his way through the various youth ranks before being sent for a temporary stint at Notts County in 2013/14.

As a fresh-faced 18-year-old, the playmaker notched five goals in 37 League One matches to set him up perfectly for a return to the top flight. But Gregory, who spent four years as Villa manager and two as a player, claims that it wasn't all plain sailing for Grealish in the third tier.

During a game between Notts County and Crawley Town, who Gregory managed at the time, the veteran boss claims that mind games got the better of the youngster.

"I actually got Jack Grealish taken off once," he told Undr the Cosh. "He was on loan at Notts County from Villa so this would be about 2014. He must have been about 18 or 19 at the time.

"I'm in the dugout and whenever he came near me, I said, 'F***ing Jack Grealish. Aston Villa. F***ing rubbish. No wonder they've f***ing sent you out to Notts County.' I'm right in his ear, 'No wonder they don't f***ing want you up there'. Getting into him.

"They take him off and he went home and told his dad and his dad spoke to one of my friends. He said, 'Hey, what about your mate Gregory having a pop at my Jack?'. So my mate said, 'Took him off though, didn't they?'."

Grealish replied to the story on the podcast's Instagram page, writing: "John Gregory - Episode 1 of things that never happened... What a lying clown." The Man City star is a lifelong Villa fan and would have been a bright-eyed schoolboy cheering on Gregory's side while growing up.

There appears to be no love lost between the pair now, however, with Grealish into his third season away from the West Midlands outfit. The 28-year-old banked Villa a whopping £100million when he joined the Sky Blues in 2021.

Grealish played an important role in last season's stunning treble triumph under Pep Guardiola, but he has found regular minutes hard to come by this campaign, with Jeremy Doku providing stiff competition on the left wing.

[Risso]

They took him off when Gregory said they did though.

[PeterWithesShin]

The fact that Gregory seems pleased with himself that he was giving shit to a kid that had just turned 18 says everything you need to know about the twat.

[Risso]

I guess if you're old enough to fall asleep drunk on a Spanish pavement, you're old enough to hear a bit of bad language on a football pitch.

[Bully2345]

The Proper Football Men Club (of which Gregory would be a fully paid up member) would say that it's part of the game

[BC Villain]

The Proper Football Men Club (of which Gregory would be a fully paid up member) would say that it's part of the game

Fair point.  Seem to recall him accusing Ugo of slacking not long after he'd nearly lost an eye playing for him.

[eamonn]

If he's got the robbie keane deal over the line I'm sure things would have worked out better for Gregory and Villa.
Look at the career Keane had compared to Izzet. Muzzy got his big move to chelsea and hardly played, I expected a similar out come if he'd moved to B6. I distinctly remember at the time even Fergie was so rattled at Villa getting KEane he leaked some stuff to his friends in the press saying he wasn't worth the money. Fair play to Cov for paying the extra 500k, they more than doubled their money a few years later.
I've watched a couple of interviews with Gregory and he's mentioned Muzzey izzet but it surprises me he never mentioned Keane and it was a long "will he wont he" saga at the time especially when red face stuck his nose in. Keane was definatly the one who got away more than izzet and Junhinio.

Didn't Gregory fuck-up the Keane move? Pretty sure he says in his book that he went to see Keane in a pre-season friendly, he had a quiet game (the horror!) and Gregory decided not to ask Ellis for the half a million more that Wolves wanted.

[dave.woodhall]

If he's got the robbie keane deal over the line I'm sure things would have worked out better for Gregory and Villa.
Look at the career Keane had compared to Izzet. Muzzy got his big move to chelsea and hardly played, I expected a similar out come if he'd moved to B6. I distinctly remember at the time even Fergie was so rattled at Villa getting KEane he leaked some stuff to his friends in the press saying he wasn't worth the money. Fair play to Cov for paying the extra 500k, they more than doubled their money a few years later.
I've watched a couple of interviews with Gregory and he's mentioned Muzzey izzet but it surprises me he never mentioned Keane and it was a long "will he wont he" saga at the time especially when red face stuck his nose in. Keane was definatly the one who got away more than izzet and Junhinio.

Didn't Gregory fuck-up the Keane move? Pretty sure he says in his book that he went to see Keane in a pre-season friendly, he had a quiet game (the horror!) and Gregory decided not to ask Ellis for the half a million more that Wolves wanted.

Alex Ferguson got to him, saying Keane wasn't worth the money. That was when he was worried about the Villa.

[BC Villain]

Didn't Gregory make a comment about baring his arse in Rackhams if Keane did well in the Premier League?

[Clampy]

Didn't Gregory make a comment about baring his arse in Rackhams if Keane did well in the Premier League?

No, that was Footy.

[AV84]

The fact that Gregory seems pleased with himself that he was giving shit to a kid that had just turned 18 says everything you need to know about the twat.

Have to say, this was my first thought when reading it. He sounded very proud of singling out a kid to bully from the sidelines.

[VILLA MOLE]

The Balaban deal was bizarre though , can’t believe we sanctioned it