An Interview With Villa legend Ian Taylor
As a youngster growing up you frequently visited the Holte End, who was your favourite Villa player growing up?
My favourite player growing up was Gordon Cowans, because I was a midfield player I always looked to emulate other midfield players and Sid was, totally different to me to be fair, he was cultured! He was a great ball-player and I think he was underrated as well, I think he didn’t get the recognition that he should have got. He should have got more England caps, I think there was a stage where he was going to be a regular in the England team but he broke his ankle, and then he went abroad. He was my hero, and then to be coached by him later on in life was something special.
Arguably the biggest moment in Aston Villa’s history was the 1982 European Cup triumph, did you get to see the match?
Yeah, I watched it on the T.V at home. I can’t remember how old I was, I definitely wasn’t old enough to travel over to Rotterdam and watch the game. I watched the old shinner off the post and was jumping up and down in my living room like everybody else. It was amazing, because we’d never done anything like it before, it was brilliant.
You got your first job in the football league in 1992 with Port Vale, could you ever see yourself playing in the top-flight of English football back then?
Not at all. When I signed for Port Vale I was working in a warehouse in Rowley Regis, just outside Dudley. At the time I was playing part-time football as well, so I was earning a decent living between the two. I played in a cup final at the Hawthorns for Moor Green and there were a lot of scouts there because I was scoring quite a few goals from midfield. I scored in the cup final as well and John Rudge accosted me in the car park and asked me if I wanted to go and play for Port Vale. I had a choice of teams at the time; I was approached by Notts County who were in the top division at the time and there were a couple of others, Port Vale were the lowest team of the lot, but I chose to go there because I thought I’d get in the team straight away and have a good run - it worked out perfectly for me because I started the season. I actually took a pay cut to play for Vale from the money I was earning between playing part-time and working, but I just wanted to play in league football. I thought that I might never get the chance again so I just went for it and it worked out brilliantly, I started the season and had two really good years there.
And then onto Sheffield Wednesday?
Yeah, at Port Vale I scored like 35 goals in two seasons from midfield which was unheard of. Trevor Francis was the manager at Sheffield Wednesday and just took a punt on me, and again I had a choice of teams; I could have gone to Wolves but swerved that one! Sheffield Wednesday were in the Premier League at the time and had some great players there; Des Walker, Chris Waddle, David Hirst, Chris Woods, John Sheridan – players like that. I walked into that dressing room and that was when it was overwhelming, but they looked after me and they were great guys. They coached me a lot as well even though they were players, I learned such a lot in the six months I was there and then Villa came in for me. Brian Little was the manager and he had tried to sign me before I went to Sheffield Wednesday and I think he was having a problem at the time, he needed a midfield player. Sheffield Wednesday needed a striker and myself and Guy Whittingham made the swap with a little bit of money involved too, and I moved back home. It was a dream come true for me so it was an easy decision.
What was your relationship with Brian Little like?
It was great; he is such a nice guy. He liked players like myself, when I arrived it was sort of “out with the old and in with the new.” He was building a new team so there were a lot of players after me, I was his first signing and then he continued to build the team as we went along and built a really good team in the end. We won a cup and played in Europe and it was a really exciting time.
Who was your favourite teammate?
There was a few. There was Mark Draper, Tommy Johnson, Gary Charles; the Nottingham crew. I found myself going up to Nottingham with that lot, going out and socialising as well because they were such a good laugh. The team spirit was brilliant and there was so much banter in the dressing room. It was brilliant, but when we got out on the pitch we did the business, it was a great time because at that time teams like Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea would come and we’d beat teams like that.
Onto the League Cup Final win, you scored a cracking goal – was that one of the highlights of your career?
Well the goal was alright…! It’s just one of those dream days really, you dream of playing in a cup final and everything going right for you on the day. There’s been plenty of good teams play in cup finals and they’ve not played well on the day, but everything came together for us; 3-0, some really great goals and performances and you couldn’t have asked for anything better really. To go up the Wembley steps and lift the trophy when two years before that I’d watched the Villa play Man United in the same final when I was playing for Port Vale, I went as a fan with all my mates and then two years later I’m lifting the trophy myself which was unreal. It was an unbelievable feeling, all my family was there and loads of friends.
What was John Gregory like as a manager?
I like John Gregory, the same as Brian Little really. He liked players like myself, perhaps John Gregory even more so because I think he saw a little bit of himself in me, I remember he had a picture of me and George Boateng on the wall in his office because he just loved the kind of players that we were! And again, we pushed on and we played in Europe and I think the stumbling block with John was that he wanted to sign more players and he just couldn’t get the money to buy them. He had to sell the likes of Dwight Yorke which at the time when we were that far from being a really good team sort of killed us really, that was the disappointing thing about his reign. We were within touching distance of being a really good team and then the likes of Manchester United come and spoil it don’t they, buying your best players. That was probably the beginning of us (Villa) starting to sell our best players.
How did you feel after hearing that you would be released at the end of your contract under Graham Taylor?
Absolutely gutted. It’s really really hard to take. I think mainly because it was left until the end of the season and I didn’t really get to say goodbye to the fans either, I wasn’t told until just before the last game when we had a home game the week before when I could have been told before that and it would have been a nice send off. It was nice to have about 5,000 fans at the last game of the season at Leeds, ironic that it was Leeds really, but I didn’t really get to say goodbye so that was hard to take, but it happens.
You went on to play professionally for another four years with Derby County and Northampton Town, what was your time at these clubs like?
It was great, it’s great being at the top and achieving things there but I was getting over the hill, beginning to feel my body ache. I went to Derby during a rebuilding stage for them and helped them stay in the league, they were decimated by money problems and they had to sell all of their best players. George Burley bought me in as one of the old stages to steady the ship. I had a lot of younger players that I was playing with and just like when I went to Sheffield Wednesday and they were teaching me a few things, I was now passing on my knowledge to the younger players and that was really rewarding. I taught, in fact hopefully I taught some of the younger players a few good things. The likes of Tom Huddlestone who I played alongside at Derby and is now a Premier League player and I’d passed on a lot of my knowledge to him so I take a lot of credit for where he is now! Again at Northampton, my last two years in football, we got promotion and I still scored quite a few goals for them so I helped be part of their history as well to finish off, that was good.
A lot of Villa fans attended your last professional game for Northampton, and then at the Villa game the next day they were singing “there’s only one Ian Taylor” – what does that feel like?
Just amazing. Firstly it was amazing that a lot of fans travelled down to Northampton to see me off, I think part of that is because they didn’t get to give me a proper send off when I was playing for Villa so it was great that they all came down and really emotional on the day. The plan was for me to get substituted off with 20 minutes to go and get a nice round of applause, so 20 minutes to go I got the shout to come off. I came over to the touchline and took my boots off, threw my boots back on the pitch and walked off! Somebody just picked my boots up and threw them off which I wasn’t very happy about either! That was a bit of banter with the lads, something that I said I’d do when I came off. It was emotional because it was my last game in football, and that was it – but I’d helped Northampton get into the next division and that was a good ending.
What was the highlight of your playing career?
Obviously winning the Carling Cup, playing for Villa, there’s a few to be fair. The biggest highlight was scoring on my home debut at Villa Park. In front of the Holte End as well, a packed Villa Park against Chelsea and we beat them on the night too. That was the highlight because that was the combination of everything you’d want as a Villa fan. A lot of people think it might be the cup final but for me it was that. To be a Villa fan and score in front of the Holte End on your first game at Villa Park, the one you stood in as a boy; that was just amazing.
Obviously now your commitments lie elsewhere, but was there ever a time you considered venturing into coaching or management?
No, I’ve got enough grey hair as it is! For me, going into management, there’s only ever going to be 92 league clubs. There are players finishing all the time that want to go into management so they’re just topping up on top of the other people that want to get into it. I’ve always been interested in the kids’ part of it and developing the kids in the academies, but from outside I’d never want to be involved in the game. Management is too much of a headache; you see what managers go through and you just think “not for me”. I’ve always looked at the business side; I like that side of sport and football so that’s the side I wanted to be in and the one I’ve got into.
You are officially a club ambassador for Villa; what responsibilities and duties does that entail?
Not many, I eat a lot of prawn sandwiches! I travel with the team on pre-season tours, visit the fans clubs abroad and things like that, represent the club on match days home and away. I meet a lot of corporates doing it which helps my business. I think they (Villa) saw it as a nice fit really with my relationship with the fans and everything. I can talk to people on different levels and I’m outgoing; I don’t mind who I’m talking to and I love fraternising with the fans as well so it was a good fit really. I love doing it.
You are a part of the development of iT7 audio, how did you get into that?
Like I’ve just said I travel with the team on tour, pre-season. We went to Hong Kong last year and played in a tournament against Chelsea, Blackburn and one of the local Hong Kong teams. I travelled with the team, doing a lot of media and stuff in the communities over there. The guys who manufacture power supplies; car chargers and Bluetooth products but they’ve got offices in Hong Kong. The managing director is a big Villa fan so he came to watch us play in this tournament, we had a bit of a do where we had a Q & A evening with myself in one of the bars in Hong Kong and he was at the do. We got talking over a drink and he said that they were about to embark on a headphone project and do you fancy being involved - I’m into my music anyway so I thought it sounds good. When I got back he showed me a few things and that was it, off you go, through my company Stadia SAL we came up with the logo and the brand name, iT7, which was really hard! They had relationships with a lot of the stores already because they already sold stuff into them, and we got them involved with the England squad for Euro 2012, we supply the X Factor now as well – those are all our contacts. That’s it in a nutshell really, we’re trying to build up the PR around all that at the moment and sell lots of headsets. I really enjoyed it because as I’ve said I love the business side of things and I’ve learned so much doing that, so it’s been great.
Onto this season for Villa; what are your thoughts as a fan?
Of course you want us to be up there challenging; I think we’ve been spoiled in the past. When I was playing, we were playing against the top teams and beating them, now it’s hard to see us competing with the top teams so fans are going to be disappointed with the way things are going at the moment – but unless you’ve got money these days you’re not going to be a top team. We’ve not got the money of the Chelsea’s, the Arsenal’s and the Manchester United’s so we’re not going to compete are we. As long as we give them a good game every now and again, especially in front of the home fans, I think that’s all you can ask for really. I think we’re in a rebuilding stage at the moment; like I say we’ve not got the money to go out and spend £20m on a Darren Bent anymore so it’s a case of the fans understanding that really. It’s going to take a while and hopefully the likes of Paul Lambert can pick gems from lower leagues, he’s picked some decent players but we’re still going to have to be patient for the team to gel together. I’m sure he still wants to add to the team so it’s a case of patience and hope that we can stay in the division because at the moment things don’t look good.
What are your thoughts on Lambert?
I spoke to Paul a little bit on the tour (U.S.A, pre-season) and it’s funny because all of the things that you do on a pre-season tour, he just can’t be doing with. He just wants to get out onto the training pitch and coach the team and make the players better, he can’t be doing with all of the PR. He’s a proper football man; he just wants to manage and coach and do the football side of it. He’s desperate to do well, or he wouldn’t have come to the club. He seems a bit dour on the T.V sometimes but behind the scenes he has got a bit of banter about him, I think we saw that when we played Manchester City in the cup and he had a bit of a thing with Roberto Mancini on the touchline, that had me in stitches. He just wants to do well.
You touched on lower league signings; do you think it’s a step too far to sign players from the lower leagues these days?
I don’t know; I’ve got mixed feelings on it. I would never have played for Villa if somebody hadn’t taken a chance on me because I was playing in the lower leagues. I’m all for giving players from the lower leagues a chance because there are definitely players that could do a job for Villa if given an opportunity. More often than not when clubs do spend money on players from the lower leagues, they take to it very well and there aren’t too many that fail. I think they just need a chance and as long as managers have got the balls to give players a chance – the only reason they don’t is because they need results instantly so they would rather go with tried and tested than take a chance on somebody. It’s just about giving people a chance and hopefully they are good enough to take it, you’ll never know unless you try though.
Other than not getting to say goodbye at Villa Park, what was the biggest disappointment in your career?
Losing the FA Cup Final in 2000 against Chelsea. Like I said earlier about everything coming together against Leeds, everything went wrong against Chelsea! You get that far and you just hope that you give a good performance on the day, and our performance was so below par of what we could have played like. That was the biggest disappointment, getting to a cup final and not performing. You just dream that you perform on the day and we didn’t and the FA Cup Final is the ultimate. I’d have swapped them any day, the FA Cup and the League Cup. We were playing Chelsea as well and the amount of people that watch the FA Cup Final around the world is unreal so to not perform on the day is gut-wrenching. That and leaving Villa in the way that I did, you know there’s going to be a day that you have to leave but not the way I did.
The hot topic at the moment is who should start up front for Villa. What would your selection be?
I don’t envy Paul Lambert at all because that is such a tough decision, and you can tell he can’t make that decision at the moment because he’s trying them all. I think at the moment I’d probably go with Benteke, he’s on form, last week he scored a couple of goals for Belgium. I just base it on that; I know Bent is probably going to see this now on Twitter though! If I had to make a decision that’s probably the way I’d go for the next game anyway. Up there with Gabby; I think you either need to play Bent and Gabby or Benteke and Gabby because you need his pace in the team.
Who was your favourite partner in midfield?
It’s a difficult one. It was great playing with George (Boateng) because we had a great understanding. Under Brian Little we played with three midfield players, Andy Townsend I learned a lot off when I played with him, Mark Draper was a good player. I would have to say George because we had a really good understanding and we were good mates as well, but they are all good mates! I can’t decide who really. I think that’s the good thing about the time I had at Villa; all of the team were good mates as well, we really got on, especially in midfield. Go on, I’ll say George.
Do you have a favourite current Villa player?
Blimey… I don’t know. I think the problem with the team at the moment is that there are no stand-out players. I do like (Karim El) Ahmadi but I’ll say Gabby. I think we’re a different team with him in; you miss him when he’s not playing.
Who out of the current squad, would you like to go back and play with?
Well I’ve played with Gabby. I’d probably as a midfield player enjoy playing with Benteke because of his style. He’d bring the likes of myself into play.
Who out of the current squad do you think could step up and do a job in the much publicised gap in midfield?
I like (Samir) Carruthers. He’s energetic and he’s got a bit of swagger about him. I think he did alright in pre-season and he’s been unlucky not to carry it on and be part of the squad really. I think Chris Herd was going to step and be a bit better than what he has done, but the manager seems to have gone for the quartet of Holman, El Ahmadi, Ireland and Delph. It’s tough for the others to get in really but I’d have thought Carruthers.
Who was the best player that you played against?
Paul Scholes I think. I hated playing against little players; I preferred playing against the likes of (Patrick) Vieira, players like him who were big you could have a good battle with but with Scholes you just never knew where he was. He was really hard to play against because he was so elusive. That and because Man United always beat us.
Would you like to step into central midfield for us again?
Damn right, definitely. If I could turn the clock back I would, they were the best years of my life. Nine good years that I didn’t want to end, so of course I’d go back and play. I’d be no good to them now mind. They say you never lose it but I have, it’s definitely gone! I’ve hardly kicked a ball in anger in three or four years. I just don’t play anymore. I’ve lost all the enthusiasm to play and I’m not really bothered any more. The old body is telling me to do one as well; I’ve had my time mate.
Any regrets?
No not really. Of course you’d like to win the big prizes but I think the most frustrating thing was that we were getting so close to being a big team and then it all fell apart.
By Jon Startin (@Jon_Startin)
My favourite player growing up was Gordon Cowans, because I was a midfield player I always looked to emulate other midfield players and Sid was, totally different to me to be fair, he was cultured! He was a great ball-player and I think he was underrated as well, I think he didn’t get the recognition that he should have got. He should have got more England caps, I think there was a stage where he was going to be a regular in the England team but he broke his ankle, and then he went abroad. He was my hero, and then to be coached by him later on in life was something special.
Arguably the biggest moment in Aston Villa’s history was the 1982 European Cup triumph, did you get to see the match?
Yeah, I watched it on the T.V at home. I can’t remember how old I was, I definitely wasn’t old enough to travel over to Rotterdam and watch the game. I watched the old shinner off the post and was jumping up and down in my living room like everybody else. It was amazing, because we’d never done anything like it before, it was brilliant.
You got your first job in the football league in 1992 with Port Vale, could you ever see yourself playing in the top-flight of English football back then?
Not at all. When I signed for Port Vale I was working in a warehouse in Rowley Regis, just outside Dudley. At the time I was playing part-time football as well, so I was earning a decent living between the two. I played in a cup final at the Hawthorns for Moor Green and there were a lot of scouts there because I was scoring quite a few goals from midfield. I scored in the cup final as well and John Rudge accosted me in the car park and asked me if I wanted to go and play for Port Vale. I had a choice of teams at the time; I was approached by Notts County who were in the top division at the time and there were a couple of others, Port Vale were the lowest team of the lot, but I chose to go there because I thought I’d get in the team straight away and have a good run - it worked out perfectly for me because I started the season. I actually took a pay cut to play for Vale from the money I was earning between playing part-time and working, but I just wanted to play in league football. I thought that I might never get the chance again so I just went for it and it worked out brilliantly, I started the season and had two really good years there.
And then onto Sheffield Wednesday?
Yeah, at Port Vale I scored like 35 goals in two seasons from midfield which was unheard of. Trevor Francis was the manager at Sheffield Wednesday and just took a punt on me, and again I had a choice of teams; I could have gone to Wolves but swerved that one! Sheffield Wednesday were in the Premier League at the time and had some great players there; Des Walker, Chris Waddle, David Hirst, Chris Woods, John Sheridan – players like that. I walked into that dressing room and that was when it was overwhelming, but they looked after me and they were great guys. They coached me a lot as well even though they were players, I learned such a lot in the six months I was there and then Villa came in for me. Brian Little was the manager and he had tried to sign me before I went to Sheffield Wednesday and I think he was having a problem at the time, he needed a midfield player. Sheffield Wednesday needed a striker and myself and Guy Whittingham made the swap with a little bit of money involved too, and I moved back home. It was a dream come true for me so it was an easy decision.
What was your relationship with Brian Little like?
It was great; he is such a nice guy. He liked players like myself, when I arrived it was sort of “out with the old and in with the new.” He was building a new team so there were a lot of players after me, I was his first signing and then he continued to build the team as we went along and built a really good team in the end. We won a cup and played in Europe and it was a really exciting time.
Who was your favourite teammate?
There was a few. There was Mark Draper, Tommy Johnson, Gary Charles; the Nottingham crew. I found myself going up to Nottingham with that lot, going out and socialising as well because they were such a good laugh. The team spirit was brilliant and there was so much banter in the dressing room. It was brilliant, but when we got out on the pitch we did the business, it was a great time because at that time teams like Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea would come and we’d beat teams like that.
Onto the League Cup Final win, you scored a cracking goal – was that one of the highlights of your career?
Well the goal was alright…! It’s just one of those dream days really, you dream of playing in a cup final and everything going right for you on the day. There’s been plenty of good teams play in cup finals and they’ve not played well on the day, but everything came together for us; 3-0, some really great goals and performances and you couldn’t have asked for anything better really. To go up the Wembley steps and lift the trophy when two years before that I’d watched the Villa play Man United in the same final when I was playing for Port Vale, I went as a fan with all my mates and then two years later I’m lifting the trophy myself which was unreal. It was an unbelievable feeling, all my family was there and loads of friends.
What was John Gregory like as a manager?
I like John Gregory, the same as Brian Little really. He liked players like myself, perhaps John Gregory even more so because I think he saw a little bit of himself in me, I remember he had a picture of me and George Boateng on the wall in his office because he just loved the kind of players that we were! And again, we pushed on and we played in Europe and I think the stumbling block with John was that he wanted to sign more players and he just couldn’t get the money to buy them. He had to sell the likes of Dwight Yorke which at the time when we were that far from being a really good team sort of killed us really, that was the disappointing thing about his reign. We were within touching distance of being a really good team and then the likes of Manchester United come and spoil it don’t they, buying your best players. That was probably the beginning of us (Villa) starting to sell our best players.
How did you feel after hearing that you would be released at the end of your contract under Graham Taylor?
Absolutely gutted. It’s really really hard to take. I think mainly because it was left until the end of the season and I didn’t really get to say goodbye to the fans either, I wasn’t told until just before the last game when we had a home game the week before when I could have been told before that and it would have been a nice send off. It was nice to have about 5,000 fans at the last game of the season at Leeds, ironic that it was Leeds really, but I didn’t really get to say goodbye so that was hard to take, but it happens.
You went on to play professionally for another four years with Derby County and Northampton Town, what was your time at these clubs like?
It was great, it’s great being at the top and achieving things there but I was getting over the hill, beginning to feel my body ache. I went to Derby during a rebuilding stage for them and helped them stay in the league, they were decimated by money problems and they had to sell all of their best players. George Burley bought me in as one of the old stages to steady the ship. I had a lot of younger players that I was playing with and just like when I went to Sheffield Wednesday and they were teaching me a few things, I was now passing on my knowledge to the younger players and that was really rewarding. I taught, in fact hopefully I taught some of the younger players a few good things. The likes of Tom Huddlestone who I played alongside at Derby and is now a Premier League player and I’d passed on a lot of my knowledge to him so I take a lot of credit for where he is now! Again at Northampton, my last two years in football, we got promotion and I still scored quite a few goals for them so I helped be part of their history as well to finish off, that was good.
A lot of Villa fans attended your last professional game for Northampton, and then at the Villa game the next day they were singing “there’s only one Ian Taylor” – what does that feel like?
Just amazing. Firstly it was amazing that a lot of fans travelled down to Northampton to see me off, I think part of that is because they didn’t get to give me a proper send off when I was playing for Villa so it was great that they all came down and really emotional on the day. The plan was for me to get substituted off with 20 minutes to go and get a nice round of applause, so 20 minutes to go I got the shout to come off. I came over to the touchline and took my boots off, threw my boots back on the pitch and walked off! Somebody just picked my boots up and threw them off which I wasn’t very happy about either! That was a bit of banter with the lads, something that I said I’d do when I came off. It was emotional because it was my last game in football, and that was it – but I’d helped Northampton get into the next division and that was a good ending.
What was the highlight of your playing career?
Obviously winning the Carling Cup, playing for Villa, there’s a few to be fair. The biggest highlight was scoring on my home debut at Villa Park. In front of the Holte End as well, a packed Villa Park against Chelsea and we beat them on the night too. That was the highlight because that was the combination of everything you’d want as a Villa fan. A lot of people think it might be the cup final but for me it was that. To be a Villa fan and score in front of the Holte End on your first game at Villa Park, the one you stood in as a boy; that was just amazing.
Obviously now your commitments lie elsewhere, but was there ever a time you considered venturing into coaching or management?
No, I’ve got enough grey hair as it is! For me, going into management, there’s only ever going to be 92 league clubs. There are players finishing all the time that want to go into management so they’re just topping up on top of the other people that want to get into it. I’ve always been interested in the kids’ part of it and developing the kids in the academies, but from outside I’d never want to be involved in the game. Management is too much of a headache; you see what managers go through and you just think “not for me”. I’ve always looked at the business side; I like that side of sport and football so that’s the side I wanted to be in and the one I’ve got into.
You are officially a club ambassador for Villa; what responsibilities and duties does that entail?
Not many, I eat a lot of prawn sandwiches! I travel with the team on pre-season tours, visit the fans clubs abroad and things like that, represent the club on match days home and away. I meet a lot of corporates doing it which helps my business. I think they (Villa) saw it as a nice fit really with my relationship with the fans and everything. I can talk to people on different levels and I’m outgoing; I don’t mind who I’m talking to and I love fraternising with the fans as well so it was a good fit really. I love doing it.
You are a part of the development of iT7 audio, how did you get into that?
Like I’ve just said I travel with the team on tour, pre-season. We went to Hong Kong last year and played in a tournament against Chelsea, Blackburn and one of the local Hong Kong teams. I travelled with the team, doing a lot of media and stuff in the communities over there. The guys who manufacture power supplies; car chargers and Bluetooth products but they’ve got offices in Hong Kong. The managing director is a big Villa fan so he came to watch us play in this tournament, we had a bit of a do where we had a Q & A evening with myself in one of the bars in Hong Kong and he was at the do. We got talking over a drink and he said that they were about to embark on a headphone project and do you fancy being involved - I’m into my music anyway so I thought it sounds good. When I got back he showed me a few things and that was it, off you go, through my company Stadia SAL we came up with the logo and the brand name, iT7, which was really hard! They had relationships with a lot of the stores already because they already sold stuff into them, and we got them involved with the England squad for Euro 2012, we supply the X Factor now as well – those are all our contacts. That’s it in a nutshell really, we’re trying to build up the PR around all that at the moment and sell lots of headsets. I really enjoyed it because as I’ve said I love the business side of things and I’ve learned so much doing that, so it’s been great.
Onto this season for Villa; what are your thoughts as a fan?
Of course you want us to be up there challenging; I think we’ve been spoiled in the past. When I was playing, we were playing against the top teams and beating them, now it’s hard to see us competing with the top teams so fans are going to be disappointed with the way things are going at the moment – but unless you’ve got money these days you’re not going to be a top team. We’ve not got the money of the Chelsea’s, the Arsenal’s and the Manchester United’s so we’re not going to compete are we. As long as we give them a good game every now and again, especially in front of the home fans, I think that’s all you can ask for really. I think we’re in a rebuilding stage at the moment; like I say we’ve not got the money to go out and spend £20m on a Darren Bent anymore so it’s a case of the fans understanding that really. It’s going to take a while and hopefully the likes of Paul Lambert can pick gems from lower leagues, he’s picked some decent players but we’re still going to have to be patient for the team to gel together. I’m sure he still wants to add to the team so it’s a case of patience and hope that we can stay in the division because at the moment things don’t look good.
What are your thoughts on Lambert?
I spoke to Paul a little bit on the tour (U.S.A, pre-season) and it’s funny because all of the things that you do on a pre-season tour, he just can’t be doing with. He just wants to get out onto the training pitch and coach the team and make the players better, he can’t be doing with all of the PR. He’s a proper football man; he just wants to manage and coach and do the football side of it. He’s desperate to do well, or he wouldn’t have come to the club. He seems a bit dour on the T.V sometimes but behind the scenes he has got a bit of banter about him, I think we saw that when we played Manchester City in the cup and he had a bit of a thing with Roberto Mancini on the touchline, that had me in stitches. He just wants to do well.
You touched on lower league signings; do you think it’s a step too far to sign players from the lower leagues these days?
I don’t know; I’ve got mixed feelings on it. I would never have played for Villa if somebody hadn’t taken a chance on me because I was playing in the lower leagues. I’m all for giving players from the lower leagues a chance because there are definitely players that could do a job for Villa if given an opportunity. More often than not when clubs do spend money on players from the lower leagues, they take to it very well and there aren’t too many that fail. I think they just need a chance and as long as managers have got the balls to give players a chance – the only reason they don’t is because they need results instantly so they would rather go with tried and tested than take a chance on somebody. It’s just about giving people a chance and hopefully they are good enough to take it, you’ll never know unless you try though.
Other than not getting to say goodbye at Villa Park, what was the biggest disappointment in your career?
Losing the FA Cup Final in 2000 against Chelsea. Like I said earlier about everything coming together against Leeds, everything went wrong against Chelsea! You get that far and you just hope that you give a good performance on the day, and our performance was so below par of what we could have played like. That was the biggest disappointment, getting to a cup final and not performing. You just dream that you perform on the day and we didn’t and the FA Cup Final is the ultimate. I’d have swapped them any day, the FA Cup and the League Cup. We were playing Chelsea as well and the amount of people that watch the FA Cup Final around the world is unreal so to not perform on the day is gut-wrenching. That and leaving Villa in the way that I did, you know there’s going to be a day that you have to leave but not the way I did.
The hot topic at the moment is who should start up front for Villa. What would your selection be?
I don’t envy Paul Lambert at all because that is such a tough decision, and you can tell he can’t make that decision at the moment because he’s trying them all. I think at the moment I’d probably go with Benteke, he’s on form, last week he scored a couple of goals for Belgium. I just base it on that; I know Bent is probably going to see this now on Twitter though! If I had to make a decision that’s probably the way I’d go for the next game anyway. Up there with Gabby; I think you either need to play Bent and Gabby or Benteke and Gabby because you need his pace in the team.
Who was your favourite partner in midfield?
It’s a difficult one. It was great playing with George (Boateng) because we had a great understanding. Under Brian Little we played with three midfield players, Andy Townsend I learned a lot off when I played with him, Mark Draper was a good player. I would have to say George because we had a really good understanding and we were good mates as well, but they are all good mates! I can’t decide who really. I think that’s the good thing about the time I had at Villa; all of the team were good mates as well, we really got on, especially in midfield. Go on, I’ll say George.
Do you have a favourite current Villa player?
Blimey… I don’t know. I think the problem with the team at the moment is that there are no stand-out players. I do like (Karim El) Ahmadi but I’ll say Gabby. I think we’re a different team with him in; you miss him when he’s not playing.
Who out of the current squad, would you like to go back and play with?
Well I’ve played with Gabby. I’d probably as a midfield player enjoy playing with Benteke because of his style. He’d bring the likes of myself into play.
Who out of the current squad do you think could step up and do a job in the much publicised gap in midfield?
I like (Samir) Carruthers. He’s energetic and he’s got a bit of swagger about him. I think he did alright in pre-season and he’s been unlucky not to carry it on and be part of the squad really. I think Chris Herd was going to step and be a bit better than what he has done, but the manager seems to have gone for the quartet of Holman, El Ahmadi, Ireland and Delph. It’s tough for the others to get in really but I’d have thought Carruthers.
Who was the best player that you played against?
Paul Scholes I think. I hated playing against little players; I preferred playing against the likes of (Patrick) Vieira, players like him who were big you could have a good battle with but with Scholes you just never knew where he was. He was really hard to play against because he was so elusive. That and because Man United always beat us.
Would you like to step into central midfield for us again?
Damn right, definitely. If I could turn the clock back I would, they were the best years of my life. Nine good years that I didn’t want to end, so of course I’d go back and play. I’d be no good to them now mind. They say you never lose it but I have, it’s definitely gone! I’ve hardly kicked a ball in anger in three or four years. I just don’t play anymore. I’ve lost all the enthusiasm to play and I’m not really bothered any more. The old body is telling me to do one as well; I’ve had my time mate.
Any regrets?
No not really. Of course you’d like to win the big prizes but I think the most frustrating thing was that we were getting so close to being a big team and then it all fell apart.
By Jon Startin (@Jon_Startin)
Who needs Bent when we've got Benteke?
In the wake of Aston Villa’s 1-0 away win at Sunderland on Saturday I’d be happy if we sold Darren Bent in January, provided we get the right price for him. What is the right price? I don’t know; I’ll let Paul Lambert decide. I think it’s pretty clear now for all to see that he won’t be playing in an Aston Villa shirt next season though…
Bent did recover from a bad injury at the tail-end of last season and that could well be the reason to his sloppy form at the beginning of this season, but lately we are such a better team with him either on the bench or not in the squad at all. After some good early team performances, against Newcastle and Swansea in particular, we seemed to be set well as a team and be on for a decent season – or so we thought. Things soon turned out to be very different, and we had to take note of the real danger of relegation that we were (and still are) in. So does a team fighting to stave off relegation really need a 20-a-season striker like Bent?
You simply can’t deny that he is a brilliant goal-scorer and you’ll never find me arguing that; but I now see an argument once made to me that Bent is a luxury player. In a game which you are dominating and creating many chances then he’s a great addition, but in a game where you need all ten outfield players involved in build-up play then he’s a luxury Villa can’t afford. We don’t dominate many games, we don’t create endless chances game after game, and we don’t need a poacher whose only contribution to the team is a goal every now and then.
At 2PM on Saturday the Villa team news was announced for the game against Sunderland, and Bent hadn’t even travelled to Sunderland with the rest of the squad. The official line from the club was that he had injured his foot in training the previous day, how true this is I’m not sure. Surely if he had injured himself in Friday’s training session then it would have been talked about in the Friday press conference? It could be that Lambert didn’t want to give any tactical clues away to Martin O’Neill for what kind of strike-force he may deploy, but it’s not like Bent being out of the starting 11 is even a surprise anymore. There’s also a photo of Bent with Chris Herd’s girlfriend doing the rounds, and rumours of Bent being disciplined for a fall out with Herd – again how much of this is true I have no idea but it’s too much to all be a coincidence now.
So match-time and we start with Benteke again. The formation from the last league game however has changed, with more of a 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 look about it. Gabby Agbonlahor to the left and AndiWiemann to the right of Benteke, it seemed to work pretty well! Benteke was absolutely unplayable and despite not scoring, I find it hard to think of a game where he has performed better and influenced it so much. Like John Carew a few seasons ago, he bullied the opposition defence and won header after header, held the ball up superbly, and showed some more of the clever touches we’re becoming accustomed to seeing. He didn’t score and it was against a less than impressive Sunderland side that have had their fair share of problems so I can understand any scepticism, but the influence he had on play is what was most encouraging for me. With Benteke we have a focal point and with the money we would receive from selling Bent, we could definitely bring in some more experienced players and look towards a far better second half of the season.
Personally, I’m at the stage now where I’d sell Bent. I’m sure there’ll be a game in the not too distant future where I’ll regret saying it, but that’s football. We need reinforcements and this is far more likely to happen with the sale of Bent than if he were to stay at Villa – Lambert no doubt knows his plans already.
By Jon Startin (@Jon_Startin)
Bent did recover from a bad injury at the tail-end of last season and that could well be the reason to his sloppy form at the beginning of this season, but lately we are such a better team with him either on the bench or not in the squad at all. After some good early team performances, against Newcastle and Swansea in particular, we seemed to be set well as a team and be on for a decent season – or so we thought. Things soon turned out to be very different, and we had to take note of the real danger of relegation that we were (and still are) in. So does a team fighting to stave off relegation really need a 20-a-season striker like Bent?
You simply can’t deny that he is a brilliant goal-scorer and you’ll never find me arguing that; but I now see an argument once made to me that Bent is a luxury player. In a game which you are dominating and creating many chances then he’s a great addition, but in a game where you need all ten outfield players involved in build-up play then he’s a luxury Villa can’t afford. We don’t dominate many games, we don’t create endless chances game after game, and we don’t need a poacher whose only contribution to the team is a goal every now and then.
At 2PM on Saturday the Villa team news was announced for the game against Sunderland, and Bent hadn’t even travelled to Sunderland with the rest of the squad. The official line from the club was that he had injured his foot in training the previous day, how true this is I’m not sure. Surely if he had injured himself in Friday’s training session then it would have been talked about in the Friday press conference? It could be that Lambert didn’t want to give any tactical clues away to Martin O’Neill for what kind of strike-force he may deploy, but it’s not like Bent being out of the starting 11 is even a surprise anymore. There’s also a photo of Bent with Chris Herd’s girlfriend doing the rounds, and rumours of Bent being disciplined for a fall out with Herd – again how much of this is true I have no idea but it’s too much to all be a coincidence now.
So match-time and we start with Benteke again. The formation from the last league game however has changed, with more of a 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 look about it. Gabby Agbonlahor to the left and AndiWiemann to the right of Benteke, it seemed to work pretty well! Benteke was absolutely unplayable and despite not scoring, I find it hard to think of a game where he has performed better and influenced it so much. Like John Carew a few seasons ago, he bullied the opposition defence and won header after header, held the ball up superbly, and showed some more of the clever touches we’re becoming accustomed to seeing. He didn’t score and it was against a less than impressive Sunderland side that have had their fair share of problems so I can understand any scepticism, but the influence he had on play is what was most encouraging for me. With Benteke we have a focal point and with the money we would receive from selling Bent, we could definitely bring in some more experienced players and look towards a far better second half of the season.
Personally, I’m at the stage now where I’d sell Bent. I’m sure there’ll be a game in the not too distant future where I’ll regret saying it, but that’s football. We need reinforcements and this is far more likely to happen with the sale of Bent than if he were to stay at Villa – Lambert no doubt knows his plans already.
By Jon Startin (@Jon_Startin)