Sgl

What is this 'forward pass' our midfield are experimenting with?

some sort of witchcraft?

2 minutes ago, Heretic said:

I hope that today shines a light on how good he was as a manager. For too long he's been defined by the England job.

He took Watford from the 4th to the 1st division in five seasons. They played in the UEFA Cup.

He left Watford in 9th position in D1 to come to a relegated Villa. That's how much he wanted to come here.

He can tell you what he found in his own words:

 

To put things in perspective for younger Villans:

Sir Alex took over at Man Utd on 6 November 1986 when they were second from bottom in D1. Sir Graham took us over in May 1987 having just been booted out of D1 (finishing bottom) and starting life the coming season in D2.

Sir Alex had just over 6 months head start on Sir Graham PLUS he had a full season of D1 football over Sir Graham in which to attract better players.

Here's their standings at season's end 1990 in D1:

2nd, Aston Villa. P38, W21, F57, A38. P = 70.

13th Man Utd P38 W13, F46, A47, P = 48.

 

I hope this gives you some measure of his achievements. In 60 months we had built on the foundation of being kings of all we surveyed to being the bottom club in D1.

There is always pride in Aston Villa. It's an English football institution. What we lost was dignity. It was humiliating to watch the decay end in being dumped out of a division we ruled not so long ago.

In his first season with us in D2 we finished runners-up to Millwall and went back up to D1. In his second and our first season back, we scraped survival. In his third season, he took us to second in D1.

I am sorry for those who didn't see the 89/90 season. It was a hell of a time to be a Villa fan. He brought us Yorke, Platt, McGrath, Nielsen. He brought a grateful Sid back from Italy.

He built a side that feared nobody. The football was often far better than he was ever given credit for. It's true that Watford was often route one. But what could he do?

He showed at Villa why he came to Villa - we had the clout to extend his horizons, and how well he used this new canvas.

 

When he left, I was heartbroken. But when you look at what he built, younger Villans, you owe him gratitude. The shade you and we enjoyed under Big Ron was because Sir Graham planted the acorn those years ago. He found a foundation of clay and built a foundation of rock.

I've wondered, what would he have done if he stayed? Under HDE, I'm not sure he would have done much more. His standing would have grown, IMO. But eventually HDE would have penny-pinched him on a top player and Sir Graham would have walked.

He once said - 'HDE and I have a love-hate relationship. He loves me.'

The tantalising prospect is this - what if Sir Graham had a manager equally as ambitious and without ego? I think he would have strengthened us even further. I think we would have had more success. He probably would have stayed too long and we probably would have drifted, but who knows who we would have brought in at that time.

Ifs, buts, maybes, couldas, wouldas, shouldas.

What I know for sure is that Sir Graham was an old-school gentleman from the time when being a footballer was a profession and not a status. He treated players as adults and fans as friends.

Today is not just the loss of Sir Graham but of a treasure from a great age of football that I, through rose-tinted spectacles and as I write this, a tear in my eye, miss.

Younger fans don't know that time. You can never recapture what you never had.

As time marches on, we lose these wonderful characters - outspoken, unspun, usually the highest paid person at the club.

You may not have seen much of him, but due to what he built you will surely have felt his legacy. I feel privileged to have witnessed him and his work first-hand and I am very proud that this institution called Aston Villa is so closely entwined with the gracious, humble, fun, kind, and wonderful football man that was Graham Taylor.

 

Graham, thank you for giving us back not just our status but our dignity and making it thrilling to be a Villan once more. Give me best to Dalian when you see him.

Absolutely superb post - Sir Graham was the man in charge as I grew up. every ounce of frustration I feel when we lose and every jolt of joy I get from a win or a goal is because of the fanaticism his villa sides installed in me as I grew up. He was a giant for us in a time when we needed it most. 

4 hours ago, Phumfeinz said:

A traffic cone would change our current midfield dynamic.

I don't think I've ever seen a more accurate description of our longstanding midfield malaise than this. 

here's hoping Henri isint the only new recruit in midfield come Feb 1.

2 minutes ago, R.Bear said:

Frustrating. If Kodjia could consistently finish we would have about 10 more points but on the flip side, he would be a Premier League striker.

I agree. Also if Kodjia could pass to a teammate once in a while we would have a few more points too.

Well played westwood

Just now, AVTuco said:

And Bacuna and Westwood nowhere!

That's not true. I've already seen Westwood lose the ball about 3 times 

Very nervous about tomorrow. Derby games mean logic goes out the window and I'm concerned that a bad result tomorrow might kill the momentum we have going right now.  Really wish this game was over.

Miracle we weren't beaten

Just now, NurembergVillan said:

Jesus Christ...

We could do with him in midfield 

We are making wolves look amazing

I think Bruce is getting a dose of reality akin to being hit in the face by a jumbo jet 

57 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

As I've just demonstrated above he spent 6 years at Blues, 2 at Wigan, 2 and a half at Sunderland and 4 at Hull. He averaged finishes of 13th in the PL and 3rd in the Championship, promoted 4 times. 

I'm really not sure what Villa fans are expecting. There's a touch of unwarranted arrogance about the place. 

That last sentence sums up my thoughts reading the forums over the last week or so. What do villa fans think that managers see when they look at us at the moment? 

I'd be pleased with Bruce, he has demonstrated repeatedly he knows how to get out of this division - that has to be our first priority, the longer we are down here the worse our promotion chances get.

1 minute ago, GodsBarkeep said:

We've all overlooked the fact that there's one man who knows the club inside out, has grit and determination as well as hundreds of appearances for the club, and can lead the team to glory both on and off the field:

 

Its so obvious.

The hero was inside villa all along . . . . 

Tish on the bench ????

3 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

Speechless.

We all knew it would happen but it doesn't make it hurt any less.

Genuinely upset. I'd type 'RDM out' if I didn't feel such apathy towards it all. 

Night. 

This. Exactly This.

I thought baker was unlucky to be subbed today. A formation change was needed but elphick was wobbly and Nathan had just kept us in the game with a mint of a tackle where a few mm out would have meant a penalty and a red card. 

Just now, Demitri_C said:

Surprisingly i thought he had a good game. Suprised he is getting crucified

I just popped into this thread and there seemed to be a posse getting ready to linch him. I thought he had a good game, constantly looked dangerous going forward, was hamstrung in the first half by the managers dodgy formation to an extent but overall was positive (imo).

Absolutely superb today. We were a completely different proposition with him on the pitch 

Just now, Richard said:

Someone give me a coherent reason why he should retain his job other than "it could get better let's see"

I do think the next two games are crucial and should to some extent determine his fate. That being said, - I think a decent reason to retain a new manager is that chopping and changing a manager rapidly destroys stability and can do more harm than good. We have had a lot of changes at villa in the last 12 weeks, - bit of stability might not be a bad thing.

im not necessarily defending RDM, and I do think results have to improve given the cash spend but I do think the above is a coherent reason.

Regardless of the talk about managers decisions and result I think this game showed us we have some serious players in Tish and Codger; and Adomah is an upgrade on Adama.

Now, if we can just show that last half hours urgency for 90 min every week . . . .

Serious question: how is shelvey still on the pitch?

I am very tired of villa always looking like they haven't got a clue what they are doing 

6 minutes ago, Gompedyret said:

I hate football.

I love football. 

I love villa.

for the last number of years I have hated when villa play football

I genuinely don't know what to say. 

On 11/09/2016 at 15:25, KHV said:

He is past his sell by date

He is a sentient beard in a man costume, i'm not sure they have a sell by date