THE HOMECOMING

'And lo, it did come to pass that He did return unto the town of Leicester. And the people did not fulfil the prophecy as none did offer praise unto Him. Yea, did they wail and nash their teeth, crying "Judas" and lobbething coins of silver at His ass. The sages did evinceth disgust at the actions of the Leicestercees and sayeth that naught like it had they seen afore.'

Obviously the commentators who feigned shock at the welcome Brian received at Filbert Street had short memories. I seem to recall Fatron's first game in charge of Villa. In both cases the normal treatment of people returning to pastures old was exacerbated by the circumstances in which our last two managers have been appointed. I don't know the legal definition of poaching, but my limited legal knowledge prevents me from accusing people of stealing other teams bosses. What is without doubt, however, is that the appointment of Little could have and should have been better handled. Speedie, Stas, Atkinson, Saunders and now the Lord. There's a link there somewhere.

As for the Leicester fans, it's difficult to condone their actions but a shock they weren't. I do, however, recall one of their fanzines stating a couple of years ago that it was inevitable Little would jump at the Villa job were it offered. Perhaps one day the world will know the full story behind Little's - and Atkinson's - departure.

Now that we have our man, the change in both performances and results has been instant. Gone - save in occasional spasms - is the flowing football which was the BFR trademark. I don't suppose many wish to see a dull Villa side but I much prefer the scorelines Brian has Doug (sorry) out to the aesthetically pleasing under-achievement of yore. The side seems more prepared to battle now. Time will tell whether this is merely down to a desire to impress the new boss or if the players feel genuine pride in the club.

It hasn't taken Brian long to spot our deficiencies. lan Taylor appears to be just the type of player wave been missing of late. "Whilst not being in the same class, he has a similar style to Plattman in that he gets box to box for the full ninety and ghosts into goalscoring positions. His strike against Chelsea was a classic example of this and at the Gooners his was often the furthest Villa shirt forward. Returning to his goal, I doubt we would have scored in such a way under Atkinson: decent centre to an unmarked midfielder a couple of yards from goal. That is, unless Stan could have crossed to himself Most importantly, Taylor is a Villa fan.

And farewell to Guy Whittingham. Not a resounding success, but that's not entirely down to him. He would have suited us more when Cascarino was signed. Then we possessed an in-form Arfur and the ball-playing genius of Sid, whilst Guy could have found space as defenders worried about Platt. Instead, by the time Atkinson gave him a chance we were wingerless (I recall him playing on the left flank once) and expected him to receive the ball deep and take players on.

So good luck to Guy and even better wishes to Brian. On the evidence of the first few games I feel far more confident about our chances of survival than under Fatron. Hopefully, once the immediate threat has been alleviated, Little can concentrate on the more attractive attacking football which would take us back to the top.

Simon Page.
Taken from issue 34