Marka Ragnos Posted December 19, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted December 19, 2023 (edited) Amazing stuff in the Guardian by Ben Fisher about the painful and weirdly inscrutable collapse of Villa's last title challenge in 1998. Be warned, it's like reading late-night horror stories. I found this bit from Lee Hendrie especially chilling. Sometimes, things just go pear-shaped and there's no explanation even decades later, like a love affair gone sour or a bad summer of golf. @mjmooney Quote I thought we were going to go and win the league that season. I look back and still to this day cannot put my finger on why things unravelled. To go from one half of the season where you think you’re untouchable to one where you put the shirt on and don’t feel like you can win a game, it was hard to digest. We were winning games quite freely and then two defeats became three defeats and you think: “We’re falling away, here.” The gaffer tried everything to galvanise us to get back to winning ways – we went to Kingsbury water park and had a team-bonding army day – but we really struggled. It was a sickening end to the season. Edited December 19, 2023 by Marka Ragnos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 7 hours ago, Marka Ragnos said: Amazing stuff in the Guardian by Ben Fisher about the painful and weirdly inscrutable collapse of Villa's last title challenge in 1998. Be warned, it's like reading late-night horror stories. I found this bit from Lee Hendrie especially chilling. Sometimes, things just go pear-shaped and there's no explanation even decades later, like a love affair gone sour or a bad summer of golf. @mjmooney Bosnich getting injured was the first disaster. Secondly we had a small squad. Not signing Juninho hurt us as well. Doug didn’t want to spend that extra little something. Fatigue crept in and we fell away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted December 19, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted December 19, 2023 Interesting that Merson was so against having a team photo after Southampton. I always felt like it was just commemorating the record being broken, not so much “Hey, we’ve won the league”. I suppose I wouldn’t expect Dean Smith to do similar after 10 league wins in a row or Unai Emery following 15 home wins…but I don’t know, it didn’t seem out of place at the time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted December 19, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted December 19, 2023 3 hours ago, Sulberto21 said: Bosnich getting injured was the first disaster. Secondly we had a small squad. Not signing Juninho hurt us as well. Doug didn’t want to spend that extra little something. Fatigue crept in and we fell away. Really appreciate your perspective. It's just so cool to read how someone on VT saw it versus what's in the paper. I think I was struck by how the players STILL seem almost haunted by that year. Shows you how much of themselves players pour into the squad, at least with these players. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veloman Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Did anyone see the piece on BBC today about Coventry wanting to put up a statue (or something ) in honour of Management the team that won the F.A. Cup ? George Curtis was there, so is anybody else old enough to remember when he came to Villa ? We were in the Third Div IIRC and a very poor team. George made a huge contribtion to the defence, just as ,argueably , John Terry did. If you got past George once, you probably wouldn't do it again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 1 hour ago, veloman said: Did anyone see the piece on BBC today about Coventry wanting to put up a statue (or something ) in honour of Management the team that won the F.A. Cup ? George Curtis was there, so is anybody else old enough to remember when he came to Villa ? We were in the Third Div IIRC and a very poor team. George made a huge contribtion to the defence, just as ,argueably , John Terry did. If you got past George once, you probably wouldn't do it again I am and have said before that I will never forget seeing that giant of a man emerging from the tunnel for his first game at Villa Park. Players just bounced off him. He had thighs the size of my waist back then, not any longer though... His best days were behind him by then, but he did a lot to improve our central defence in the third division, as did JT more recently in the Championship. They both played a big part in getting our club back up to where we needed to be. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Townsend Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 One of my favourite games 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichfield Dean Posted January 20 VT Supporter Share Posted January 20 19 minutes ago, Brumstopdogs said: The atmosphere at that game was unbelievable. Even with all our recent success that one stands out. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 5 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said: The atmosphere at that game was unbelievable. Even with all our recent success that one stands out. Yes agree that night was a really special atmosphere. Certainly an entertaining match! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted February 16 VT Supporter Share Posted February 16 Been reported that Pete the Greek has passed away. Those who know will know. Headbutting police horses in heaven HEITS 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted February 17 VT Supporter Share Posted February 17 On 21/11/2023 at 20:47, Captain_Townsend said: It annoys me more than it should that they haven't put that on YouTube, or even instagram, platforms that are easier to share around than Musk's toxic hell hole Need to get a branding expert in to sort this shit out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 (edited) 23 hours ago, Follyfoot said: Been reported that Pete the Greek has passed away. Those who know will know. Headbutting police horses in heaven HEITS Different era then but I'm sure some will have interesting stories. UTV! Edited February 17 by Brumstopdogs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 23 hours ago, Follyfoot said: Been reported that Pete the Greek has passed away. Those who know will know. Headbutting police horses in heaven HEITS Thought he'd died years ago to be honest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
withes_shin Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 On 17/02/2024 at 12:01, Brumstopdogs said: Remember watching that game on a big screen in the Aston Villa Leisure Centre 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted February 20 VT Supporter Share Posted February 20 On 19/02/2024 at 04:48, withes_shin said: Remember watching that game on a big screen in the Aston Villa Leisure Centre Tony Daley's acceleration in the box is incredible. He just flips a switch and ... zoooooom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted February 20 VT Supporter Share Posted February 20 33 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said: Tony Daley's acceleration in the box is incredible. He just flips a switch and ... zoooooom. He truly was fast as ****. When he got away no one was catching him. If he could only play football he'd have genuinely been one of the greatest of all time. Unfortunately speed was 90% of his game. No less exciting though, talk about getting the crowd off their seat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted February 20 VT Supporter Share Posted February 20 20 minutes ago, sidcow said: He truly was fast as ****. When he got away no one was catching him. If he could only play football he'd have genuinely been one of the greatest of all time. Unfortunately speed was 90% of his game. No less exciting though, talk about getting the crowd off their seat. Sounds similar to Adama Traore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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