Villa_Grizzly is next for the Vital Villa interview.
Villa_Grizzly is next for the Vital Villa interview.
1) When did you become a Villa fan and why?
It involved my dip of a brother and his bed bouncing Karate move which smashed my Built-Like-A-Tank brother’s commemorative Aston Villa 1982 European Cup Winners mirror. Dip brother later put his hand through the bedroom window (separate incident) in another ill-fated and poorly executed kick. He also shot himself in the calf once with a high-powered air-rifle. Other mishaps included getting his hand super-glued to the receiver in a phone box, Smoky and the Bandit style outlaw runs on his Yamaha, police in tow (he didn’t get on with the police).
He hates football by the way. He’s an F1 nut so he didn’t see the problem with the mirror until Built-Like-A-Tank brother (who is AVFC mad) came home on leave from his army tour. I should add that Built-Like-A-Tank brother was also not liked by the local police, mainly owing to the fact that the last time he’d come home on leave, it had taken a riot van full of Birmingham’s finest just to get him to sit down. They dreaded him getting off the train and couldn’t wait for him to get back on it. It would be fair to say that he didn’t take the breaking of the mirror too well then.
In case you were wondering Built-Like- A- Tank brother and Dip brother once squared off in the garden. Dip brother was all earrings and sex pistols and I’m the ******* man after giving my mother a load of verbal. Built-Like-A-Tank brother overheard, put his knitting down (real men have nothing to prove, he used to say) and we all went out into the yard. I can picture Dip brother sailing through the air now from the seat on my space hopper. Along with a reformed armed robber I knew who’d done hard time, Built-Like-A-Tank brother was the business.
He had AVFC written everywhere: on single covers, on the inside of books, on his hands. All that plus the Aston Villa mirror (which I thought had a dragon on it and not a lion) made a considerable impression on a knee high, 8 year old Grizzly.
2) What is your favourite Villa moment of all time/most treasured memory?
Dubber’s winning goal in our Christmas win over Arsenal, the night Santa Claus crashed into the roof. We came back from 2-0 down. I really thought we’d win the title after that. One of the strangest, most dreadfully brilliant nights at Villa Park ever. I went absolutely mental. We we’re falling over each other in tears. I remember looking back up at the great slope of the Holte and thinking, this is where I belong.
3) If you could bring back a former Villa player into this team (at his peak) who would it be and why?
Ian Taylor. Legend. Villa through and through.
4) Paul Lambert? Your opinion please?
His chairman is off, his CEO is off, his first-team coach has been sacked, the club is still up for sale, half of the fans don’t want him, He has pennies to spend, the club are struggling to re-sign his best players and his star striker is crook. My opinion? In short: thank you for staying, Paul.
5) Best and worst moments of last season?
Best moment: Fab’s screamer for 3 points at Saints. Freezing cold on the south coast thinking we were going to cave in and then BOOM. I could not stop jumping.
Worst moment: going down to London the following Sunday only to watch us turn out like a bunch of clowns at Craven Cottage. Our worst performance in a poor season and then some. Truly dreadful. I still don’t understand it. I swore blue murder all the way back through Bishops Park. In the end Villa Button had to take me to one side and read me a polite but firm riot act as the Fulham’s fans passed by. I could have ripped someone a new one that day. The only moment worst that that was the behaviour of some of our ‘fans’ at Palace.
6) Your opinion of Randy Lerner now he has put us up for sale?
His incredible work in funding, rebuilding and restructuring Aston Villa off the field is second to none though he did not surround himself with ‘football people’ in regard to the actual football. As a result his legacy is now at risk owing to three calamitous seasons. As a man: I believe him to be a gentleman and an individual of standing. His donation of £1m to Acorns spoke volumes.
7) What sort of new owner would you like, what do you expect from them?
A person with a proven pedigree in sports investment and business, with an appreciation of the history and magnitude of this great Victorian club and what it can achieve.
8) Transfers are obviously up in the air as we are for sale, but any ideas of who (probably with the current regime) like to see us grab?
Cheap experienced midfield player wanted. Must have two legs and a head. Players with one good leg and one bad leg will be considered. Must be prepared to wash own kit. Locker and transport provided.
9) Which player/s should Villa get rid of this summer?
Aleksander Tonev is the worst player I have ever seen in a Villa strip. End of. That being said, Ciaran Clark is just dreadful. If there were holes on the pitch he’d run into them.
Weimann has really started to annoy me. Seeing his face in the now infamous end of season team bus photo really tipped me the wrong way. That tweeted picture was an insult to every fan who follows this team on the road, to every penny we spend and every mile we put in. That alone was deserving of a 25 mile hike across an inhospitable desert waste land under a burning sun, with nothing to drink from but a bottle of crystal. Celebrate the end of that.
10) Favourite and least favourite current player? (Explanation if you wish)
Favourite: Delph. That boy has a world class engine and the feet of an acrobat. Superb. Finally coming good for us. Please, for the love of God, give him his deal.
Least favourite: Tonev.
11) Who was your first footballing hero and who are your favourite all time player/s?
Favourite all time players: Platt, McGrath, Tony Daley, Spinksy, Birch, Teal, Angel, Benteke, Carew, Cowans. I had a soft spot for little Alan Wright. He was a good full back was Alan.
12) What do you expect us to do/finish this season if not sold… impossible to speculate if sold at the moment!?
Premier: 11th.
FA Cup: Quarter Final.
Capital One: Quarter Final.
13) You can ask yourself any question you want to about Villa and what is your answer?
Q:Is there anyway of getting that stupid Dafabet logo off the front of the shirt or getting Villa to put the Acorns logo on it instead before I spend £48 advertising an Asian-Pacific gambling house?
A: No. It’s important for us to associate betting with football so we can normalise football betting practices. You see! It feels normal already.
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