All-Time Premier League Villa XI

[Bent Neilsens Screamer]

If he had of stayed and stayed at his best, he would be the first name on the team sheet and we would have a won a trophy in the last 3 years.

I’d agree with that. I think there’s a bit of revisionism going on here, perhaps over the way it ended. It certainly left a sour taste in my mouth but it doesn’t detract from the fact he was absolutely fantastic for us, 2/3 more seasons and he’d be in the discussions of our greatest ever player imo.

[TaxDodger]

If he had of stayed and stayed at his best, he would be the first name on the team sheet and we would have a won a trophy in the last 3 years. 

I'm not sure about that. Grealish's exit set off a chain of events that lead us to having Unai Emery as our manager and reaching the Champions League. I'm not sure how much of that happens if he stayed. I certainly don't think we'd be in a better position than we are now if he had stayed.

[enigma]

I just think we had and still have a tendency to look at him through rose-tinted glasses and think he is better than he actually was as he was the only bright spot in a long, dark period

I'd argue the way he left us has led some to underrate what he did for us. Some comments here are way OTT. He was the unbelievable for us. There's a reason he went for £100m. Not many players of ours would have been a mainstay of that Man City team that won the treble.

[TonyD]

At his best he was utterly brilliant. 

[AV82EC]

I just think we had and still have a tendency to look at him through rose-tinted glasses and think he is better than he actually was as he was the only bright spot in a long, dark period

I'd argue the way he left us has led some to underrate what he did for us. Some comments here are way OTT. He was the unbelievable for us. There's a reason he went for £100m. Not many players of ours would have been a mainstay of that Man City team that won the treble.

Hands up I’m one of the “haterz” about how he left but he was in my team.

[Drummond]

He was brilliant for us, and stood out in an otherwise pretty average side at the time.

We did though, get better as a team after he left.

Ashley Young, the first time, had far more end product.

[Pat Mustard]

At his best he was utterly brilliant. 

I just think we had and still have a tendency to look at him through rose-tinted glasses and think he is better than he actually was as he was the only bright spot in a long, dark period

I'd argue the way he left us has led some to underrate what he did for us. Some comments here are way OTT. He was the unbelievable for us. There's a reason he went for £100m. Not many players of ours would have been a mainstay of that Man City team that won the treble.

Mainstay of that Man City team is pushing it - he had a good season, but I don't think he made that big a difference to them to be honest even in the treble year, and aside from that year he was largely anonymous.  He went for £100 million because they are C115y and they could - he was a largely marketing signing for them and they didn't want him going elsewhere.

I'd also note that we have beaten them pretty comfortably at Villa Park three years in a row now.  Our teams for the last 3 years are so far ahead of any team he played in that even at his best I couldn't honestly name him ahead of Tielemans, Kamara, Rogers or even McGinn in the types of matches we now win regularly.

[rob_bridge]

At his best he was utterly brilliant. 

I just think we had and still have a tendency to look at him through rose-tinted glasses and think he is better than he actually was as he was the only bright spot in a long, dark period

I'd argue the way he left us has led some to underrate what he did for us. Some comments here are way OTT. He was the unbelievable for us. There's a reason he went for £100m. Not many players of ours would have been a mainstay of that Man City team that won the treble.

Mainstay of that Man City team is pushing it - he had a good season, but I don't think he made that big a difference to them to be honest even in the treble year, and aside from that year he was largely anonymous.  He went for £100 million because they are C115y and they could - he was a largely marketing signing for them and they didn't want him going elsewhere.

I'd also note that we have beaten them pretty comfortably at Villa Park three years in a row now.  Our teams for the last 3 years are so far ahead of any team he played in that even at his best I couldn't honestly name him ahead of Tielemans, Kamara, Rogers or even McGinn in the types of matches we now win regularly.

I wouldn't have current Grealish in ahead of any of them nowadays.
Grealish of 5 years ago I would have had.

We've moved on and in the end after a difficult 18months after he left which was hard to adjust to and having not spend all the money wisely we turned it around.

He had a fine season the year they won the treble but aside from that it was a season either side of Ok and last season  of 'Meh'. Started well this season but needs to adapt his game. He also is at an age where he has to stop drinking to prolong his career.

[enigma]

At his best he was utterly brilliant. 

I just think we had and still have a tendency to look at him through rose-tinted glasses and think he is better than he actually was as he was the only bright spot in a long, dark period

I'd argue the way he left us has led some to underrate what he did for us. Some comments here are way OTT. He was the unbelievable for us. There's a reason he went for £100m. Not many players of ours would have been a mainstay of that Man City team that won the treble.

Mainstay of that Man City team is pushing it - he had a good season, but I don't think he made that big a difference to them to be honest even in the treble year, and aside from that year he was largely anonymous.  He went for £100 million because they are C115y and they could - he was a largely marketing signing for them and they didn't want him going elsewhere.

I'd also note that we have beaten them pretty comfortably at Villa Park three years in a row now.  Our teams for the last 3 years are so far ahead of any team he played in that even at his best I couldn't honestly name him ahead of Tielemans, Kamara, Rogers or even McGinn in the types of matches we now win regularly.

He absolutley was a mainstay in the treble winning season. His appearnces was among the highest in the squad.  As for the rest of it, well you don't win a treble carrying passengers. Churlish to suggest he didn't make much impact.

[Clive W]

Couldn’t find the “Paul McGrath - don’t worry” thread so this will have to do

Article about Ian Rush in today’s DT

Brilliant quote:-

“ The toughest I faced were Franco Baresi and Paul McGrath. Baresi wasn’t the quickest but he read the game so well you couldn’t get past him. In this country, McGrath was the hardest I played against. It took me 10 years to score against him. He never said a word during the game, and then at the end he’d shake hands and say: ‘Thank you very much, Mr Rush.’ The nicest man in the world.”