KHV Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 cowans platt merson milner best midfielders I have seen in my time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pez1974 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Cowans Mortimer Platt Taylor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choffer Posted January 18, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted January 18, 2014 Sid, every day of the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McGregor1888 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Cowans. Check out Villa 6 Everton 2 on Youtube and watch Sid run the show - and this was him in his thirties. Young Sid was even better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Just a reminder for the older fans. The year we won the league.....Sid never had a great season in terms of performances. that's just an opinion of course, but I remember having this discussion with my pals at the time of how strange it was. Would be interested to hear other opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Used to see Sid in the "Yenton" friends of friends an all that....great lad. Stood on the "Tilton" at the blues with Sid watching them play West Ham....remember him commenting on the skills of Clyde Best There's a blast from the past. .....happy days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROTTERDAM1982 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Agree TRO, the year we won the League Cowans had a poor season, the year we won the European Cup though was probably his best. For me though, my favourite Villa player, and hence , in my eyes the best midfielder, Alex Cropley.For me a better passer than Cowans, liked a tackle, not as quick or as athletic though of Cowans, but them two stand out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I Loved Cropley Metaphorically speaking of course. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Cowans - no contest Loved Bremner, Platt, Mortimer and Cropley too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.I.C.O. Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Best I've seen was probably Merson, he was just the complete attacking midfielder. Never ever passed sideways, was always looking for the run and could create something out of nothing. Scored a fair few goals too. I wish I'd have seen Sid Cowans in his prime; he was the complete footballer by the sounds of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted January 18, 2014 Moderator Share Posted January 18, 2014 Sid. On the old VillaTalk site, now lost to wherever old internets go I wrote this Villatalk's "The Greatest Villan" Nomination - Gordon "Sid" Cowans Why do I nominate “Sid” as the greatest Villan? Well, Perhaps first I should explain the criteria I would use to determine whether anyone is deserving of Villa “greatness”. Ability above far the “norm”, Loyalty, Love - both ways “we” have to love them and they have to love the club. Committment too, both on and off the field. Vision, inspiration, perspiration and the ability to affect the course of history too are essentials too. Sid has all of these in buckets. Anyone who has seen Sid play will find it impossible to argue that he has footballing ability in spades. He’s the only truly two footed player I can recall seeing. With either foot Sid could pull the ball down from mid-air and stroke, caress even, a pass to a team mate in the best position to recieve the ball. Nearby or 50 yards away. Did he ever put a pass astray? He must have, but I don’t remember any. Perhaps the first indication of greatness - memories of him are all good. Although born in Durham Sid came to Villa as an apprentice in 1974 at 15 and was part of the bunch that won the youth Cup. An early indication of his talent. He soon made his first team debut, at 17 in 1975 whilst still an apprentice. He became a member of the England youth team, too. Progress continued and he was soon in the Villa first team on a regular basis during the season when we won the League Cup (eventually) at Old Trafford against Everton. Sid’s progress continued and he became part of the England U-21 side. Then later the B side and in ‘83 the full side, winning 9 caps and scoring against Scotland at Wembley. If it wasn’t for a strange preference for the very inconsistent and underperforming, London based, Hoddle he would have been capped far more often in what was a barren period for Enland’s national side. Back where his heart lies with Villa things were going just great. He was a pure class act in our midfield and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1979-80. Things got even better for Sid and for Villa, when after a few years of steady improvement the Club won the league in 1980/81. Sid, in this season was perhaps at his very best. He of course continued to make everything look easy, but he seemed to turn into the complete footballer - he would pick the ball up from Allan Evans, or Ken McNaught, turn and lay it off, out wide, or find Shaw or Withe and then suddenly he’d be recieving the ball again and playing through a pass to create a chance to score, or cross. he could tackle, too. Sid is lightly built, like a taller Lee Hendrie, but boy could he tackle. No bottling out, just straight in there, and more often than not winning the ball, and then maybe after a turn and drag through his legs the ball would be with Swain or Morley and off we’d go again. Like all of Ron Saunders’ team he was very fit and ran all day. Of course the whole side was fantastic - all 14 players used that season could perhaps be nominated. But Sid did more than any of them - he played more games for us - 399 League apps (+15 as sub), scoring 49 goals in 3 spells. After Ron Saunders left, courtesy of Ron Bendall, Tony Barton suddenly found himself manager of the team he led only a month or so later to become European Champions, 26 May 1982. And Sid, again, was an absolutely crucial part of the side that beat Bayern in Rotterdam (‘scuse me while i pause for a moment..). The next season we got to the quarter finals, but were knocked out by Juventus in the second leg, after a great game in the first leg, during which Sid scored a diving header in front of the Holte to get us back into the game. We did win the Super Cup though, and Sid scored a penalty in the 3-0 2nd leg win over Barcelona. He was assaulted by their keeper on retrieving the ball from the net, but just trotted back to the half way line. Far too cool to get involved in any ructions. Sid had his leg horribly broken in a pre-season “friendly” in Spain and missed the whole 83/84 season, but back he came, only to be sold to Bari, along with Paul Rideout in 1985. At a time when players wages were Ok, but nothing at all like they are today, Sid had a chance to earn real money and well deserved it was too. Fortunately we had an option of first refusal to buy him back. So obviously we did and in 1988 Graham Taylor brought him back and to our delight he was still the same old Sid. Same wiry frame, same talent and desire and there he was reading the runs of Platty and Rambo and controlling the midfield. We went on to finish as runners up before GT went off to manage England. Some turnaround isn’t it? - from relegated to back where we belong in the top division, and finishing second to Liverpool. And for Sid too, as he was called back into the England side under GT the next season. So plenty of evidence of his talents all round - broken leg, recover, move abroad, adapt well, come back to the club he loves, huge influence on our history and back as an international. Still the tale’s not over, Big Fat Ron sold Sid in ‘91 to Blackburn (where he helped them to promotion). The attraction to VP was still there though and he came back again for the 1993-1994 season. Sold again to Derby he spent his last playing days doing a good job for a number of first division teams - Wolves, Sheffield United (from one of their sites, here’s a neutral testimony on his talent)“The first thing I noticed about Gordon Cowans was how many times he actually touched the ball in a game....I could not believe a player could receive and pass the ball THAT many times in a game. Also, no matter how many times he touched the ball he nearly always found another United player with his pass... For a man of 37 he buzzed around and passed and moved all afternoon whilst still managing to bring a calming influence to the midfield. The part of Cowans game that impressed me most was his ability to come short, receive the ball from either Kelly, Vonk or Ablett, turn and bring someone else into the game. He was the link between defence and midfield/attack....Gorden Cowans took control of midfield and he wasn't scared to bring others into the game, he made other players "tick". It was difficult to hide when Gordon Cowans was playing because he'd give you the ball and make you play and he was always ready to receive a return pass or find space to give you an option once he'd despatched the ball. One of the last things I saw Gordon Cowans do was set Andy Walker up for a marvellous goal at Reading in April. Nothing special, just a simple 15 yard pass and Walker did the rest. BUT that was Gordon Cowans, so simple, yet so effective.” Sid moved from Shef Utd to Bradford, Stockport and Burnley where he started into coaching, before yes you’ve guessed it, returning back to VP for a 4th time, in ‘98, to coach the youth team. And as with all the other times, he’s done a great job - the youth team won the FA youth cup last season and more than that the players that are coming through all seem properly coached in the footballing skills that Sid is remembered for. There’s a lot of facts and figures in all that lot above, but in truth the things I remember Sid for are the things on the pitch, the perfect 30 yard pass down the line on a wet wednesday at Stoke, the ball spinning backwards so as not to run out of play on the greasy surface. Perfect. No one else on the pitch could do that. So there you have it really. Pure class. All the other people nominated ARE great Villans, but none has given us as much as Sid, none have had such an influence and continue to do so. Finally, almost as an afterthought, anyone heard of anything bad about Sid? - fights, drink or Drugs, controversy of any kind? Failure? No obviously not. A great player, a winner, a modest man, a nice bloke and one of us. THE GREATEST VILLAN has to be First Division Champion, European Champion, League Cup winner, promotion winner, youth Cup winner, youth cup winning coach. Sid Sid Sid Sid Sid.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Gavin McCann [/thread] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 Just a reminder for the older fans. The year we won the league.....Sid never had a great season in terms of performances. that's just an opinion of course, but I remember having this discussion with my pals at the time of how strange it was. Would be interested to hear other opinions. what was he 21/22 that season. I can't remember too well but one 50 yard pass on the volley inch perfect that season and I thought wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avfc96 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 In my lifetime it would have to be Barry. He made everything tick in midfield and was head and shoulders above what we had for years in the CM area. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Cropley Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Nobby Solano for me. Class. He had a great season here but best ever? Nah. I'm not sure what we're judging it by. Cowans in terms of long term servant yes. My view on Nobby was individual talent and skill / technical ability. In terms of being a winner and a leader, Kevin Richardson would get my vote. Great captain he was. You're either trolling or you're a mental defective.....either way, ask your carer to log you in next time... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Tony Daley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ_Villain Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Merson was quality... Loved watching him play when I was a teenager... Taylor is obviously 'one of us' so he has a special place in most, if not every, Villa fans heart. Always liked George Boateng as well... Its hard to pick one... Kinsella and Leonhardsen are most definitely not in the mix though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie09 Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Top post Blandy. Sid was a joy to watch, and a gentleman too. We should name a stand after him and not after the bloke who lined his owned pockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Cowans Platt Barry Milner Merson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolteExile Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Sid by a mile -and I can only base that on his second spell, as I was too young to remember his first. Just a ridiculous player at times, probably the only player I have seen who could volley passes (with pinpoint accuracy, and with either foot) into space to set up attacks on the flank. Just for his workrate alone, he'd have got into many sides. But with the craft and guile he had too, he was one of the finest players of his generation. I do wonder whether he'd have had more recognition for his talent had he been playing for a Liverpool, or even Spurs. The counter argument to that of course is he won the biggest prizes in football with us. But between that EC win in 82 and our runners up push in 1990, we were off the radar somewhat, and Sid's international career suffered too. But it's no surprise that when Kenny Dalglish first went to Blackburn he signed Sid. All the money that side had at the time, they could have had a pick of many players and they opted for him. Dalglish had said he always wanted to work with him too. McGrath, who -let's be frank- played alongside some outstanding players in Bryan Robson, Ronnie Whelan and Liam Brady said Sid was up there in the very top category. Even Houllier, who quite obviously knew next to nothing about the club or it's traditions when he took the job in 2010 name checked Cowans as one of the players that had always stood out for him in the 80's. People in the game (and Villa fans, naturally) had far more appreciation of his talent that the media and gormless bandwagon jumping fans of the Sky 4/5 lot, it seems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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