Jonny Gould Interviews: Peter Withe Part 4 (of 4)

Here's the concluding part of the Peter Withe Story in which he covers his highly successful coaching career in the Far East, never afraid to take on and complete a faraway football mission.

And he answers this: who was the greatest coach he played for, Ron Saunders or Brian Clough!

As a Villa fan, I'd love your feedback, so drop me a line below and thanks for watching.

Please share if you like the video. Many thanks!

As Dean Smith takes the reins, why Aston Villa's in the blood

Birmingham-born Jonny is TV journalist who lives and works in London. He’s a Sky News regular reviewing the papers and talking sport. He was sports editor of Beacon Radio in the late eighties and early nineties, covering a Villa season of (near) glory under Graham Taylor.

He went to Handsworth Grammar School, ate orange chips at the Lightwoods Saloon and was there with Nigel Kennedy to see Chelsea 8 Villa 0 in The Shed.

Recently, he interviewed Peter Withe about his career biography, penned by Simon Goodyear.

He records a regular podcast with fellow Villa Trust director, Howard Hodgson. His favourite season is 80-81 “where nothing went wrong!”; his favourite manager is Ron Saunders and he dreams of this passing move: Paul McGrath to Ian Taylor, who finds Brian Little for Gordon Cowans to Juan Pablo Angel, back to David Platt for a late run to Andy Gray who heads down to Peter Withe (and in off the post!) - with enthusiastic touchline applause from Dalian Atkinson and Gary Shaw. He’d love to tell Archie Hunter, William McGregor (and Grandpa Benno) what their club became!

I’m a very lucky Aston Villa supporter. I’ve seen the League title, a European Cup, many League Cups – and one day the FA Cup will complete the set.

Born during Villa’s steep decline in the sixties and too young to remember it, I emerged as witness to unprecedented glory in the early 80’s. Mind you, I knew heartache too – there were two successive 8^th place finishes in those early years!

Back then, we had a priceless commodity – continuity. Ron Saunders was manager from 1974 to 1982. He had a quiet charisma and an inner certainty schooled in an English work ethic. Many talk of teams playing 4-4-2 back then – but Villa appeared to me 3-5-2 off the ball and 3-2-5 with it, Wasn’t that the way dating back to the fifties too?

My first game was in the Holte with dad, a 4-1 midweek thrashing by Manchester City in 1977. I was too small to see the action – so I concentrated on staring at those iconic floodlights imprinting “AV” images on my closed eyelids!

Dennis Tueart scored a hat-trick – and the Evening Mail reported we were about to sign him for £300,000 - but he preferred New York Cosmos instead! #mistake

I’m a third generation Villan. My grandfather, a professional footballer of note in the twenties (a Championship winner in Vienna by the name of Ben Posaner) came to Birmingham in 1939. From the late 40’s, he owned the typewriter shop directly next door to Aston Railway Station and Lover’s Walk. He used to take a lunchtime pint in the Britannia.

The first team I remember gave birth to the Championship side. Ron replaced players but kept formation the same. It was Burridge, Gidman, Robson, Philips, Nicholl, Mortimer, Deehan, Little, Gray, Cropley, Carrodus. A silverware-winning side and the sign of things to come.

Were the ’77 League Cup winners better than the ’81 Champions? It’s debated by many of us who remember. All I can say is there was considerable upheaval between the two trophy captures and luck played a part as we stayed remarkably injury-free through our league winning season using only 14 players. A record which will never be broken.

If today’s Holte Enders think pressure’s greater on bosses today, think again. In 1979, when Andy Gray was sold to Wolves for an equivalent £80m in today’s money, we just couldn’t score. “Saunders is a w***er” echoed from the skies! He faced the sack, no question.

Also, the newly-built North Stand had created a drainage problem and a muddy pitch, the Bendalls and Doug Ellis were having a live scrap on Gary Newbon’s ATV sports show too.

Echoes of today, eh? That’s what I mean about luck. There was a lot of turmoil in the background.

Then finished-product Peter Withe was brought in from Newcastle to replace Gray’s misfiring replacement, David Geddis. I had the privilege of interviewing Peter for Simon Goodyear's biography.

Gary Shaw, Colin Gibson, Gary Williams and Gordon Cowans came of age and John Gidman was also moved on for big money. He was replaced by Chelsea’s Kenny Swain. We even won the BBC Sportsnight five-a-side title too! Allan Evans and Ken McNaught were already mainstays of an emerging team.

There was nothing wrong with the FOOTBALL as it turned out!

I went to the pop-up Champions League museum before the Wembley Final in 2011 which Aston Villa were, of course part of. It’s with immense pride I recall Rotterdam. The champagne bubbles of success never truly subside and we sit forever among the pantheon names of European football with Madrid, Milan, Munich and Manchester.

This should be the inspiration and catalyst for every season. It just hasn’t been for at least a decade.

There’ve been exciting seasons since. Graham Taylor’s second-placers in 89/90 and Big Ron and Andy Gray’s Premier League runners-up three years later.

Big Ron took full advantage of Liverpool’s jettisoning of top stars like Houghton, Staunton and Saunders and he kept McGrath on the straight and narrow. Dalian, Dwight and Deano marauded upfront – but what Ron and Andy fully understood so clearly was the Villa tradition. That’s why we played with excitement and veuve. The lights were truly on at Villa Park in the 90’s.

I live in London. If I talk to an Arsenal or Chelsea fan like this, they don’t know what I’m talking about.

Fast-forwarding to today: I’m heartbroken at our slide down English football. Our decline is not as apparent as that of say, Leeds or Forest (because we've been saved by Messrs. Sawiris and Edens) – but our chances of winning the title are frankly only marginally better than theirs.

Villa were genuinely level with Arsenal and Liverpool at the start of the Premier League era – but we haven’t shown faith to invest in the way they have. It’s as though the belief that the grand old club Aston Villa, is beyond the memory of all who’ve run it since.

The 42,000 attendance for Dean Smith's first game as our new manager shows why I believe we're still on a par with Everton and Spurs as one of England's foremost clubs.

I see the Premier League as made up of three divisions: the perennial Champions League qualifiers, the wannabes  – and the fodder. Let’s get back to being a wannabe, eh?

We’ve been buoyed by incredible TV cash for twenty years – but where are we? Lost. I think we're about to be found.

Aston Villa needs to connect with its past to understand the potential moving forward. Everyone aged 40 and above knows it – anyone under 40 needs to dust off the history books and imagine it.

The McGregor statue and the lantern are welcome reminders of our truly unique tradition in the world of sport – but we need to be a thriving community as much as a museum - and Dean Smith and Christian Purslow's arrivals are a flag in the sand pointing to better days, just the like one I enjoyed as a 9-year-old in 1976.

This has turned into a prayer for a brighter Aston Villa future – but I hope it’s one we can all say together!

Up The Villa!

Talk to Jonny on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Jonny Gould Interviews: Peter Withe Part 3 (of 4)

Here's Part 3 of Peter's career story covering the magnificent season when Aston Villa became champions of Europe as the club was rocked by the sudden departure of Ron Saunders.

Click here for the current Top Story

Soccermongery's all about your feedback, so write away, right away!

Jonny Gould Interviews: Peter Withe Part 2 (of 4)

Here's the part 2 of our four-part series chronicling the remarkable career of Peter Withe. In this episode, Peter discusses his departure from Nottingham Forest, soon after winning the League and League Cup, his move to Newcastle - and the background to his Aston Villa transfer, which saw him scale the heights of European football.


Part 1 is available here

This is a Sportsmedia co-production with John Warrington. Peter's life story written with Simon Goodyear is out now.

The new Aston Villa badge confirms the disconnect

As Aston Villa embark on a new life in Division 2, it's time we tweaked the badge, eh? Yep, lob the "Prepared" in Rennie McIntosh-font-for-no-reason-at-all off the bottom (as Villa have been ill-prepared for at least six years)  and lumber on with the colours of Manchester City instead.

Villa have reportedly spent £80,000 on removing Prepared, sticking high-res claws on the lion - and we've been laughed at on talkSPORT. We look like a ship of fools.

It's in sky blue so the claret of the shirt is required to give it context. Trouble is, our colours aren't blue and claret - they're claret and blue.

If I want a Manchester City badge, I'll commission one

It was under the stewardship of Richard Fitzgerald as CEO when this half-baked badge first appeared. I challenged him once about how inappropriate it was - and why the iconic round badge was shelved - and he passed the buck, telling me it wasn't his idea. Yet it was on his watch.

There's no recourse to history. The lack of boardroom continuity results in these sort of decisions.

No, there really is only one badge that should be used and it's the one of Peter Withe, Brian Little, Gary Shaw, Andy Gray, Sid Cowans - even Keith Leonard and Charlie Aitken. Of Rotterdam. Of Highbury. Of Penarol.

Stick a European Cup star discreetly above this.

Some might say, it's the guys performing under the shirts that count. That this doesn't matter. To those, I say yes, but you've heard of playing for the shirt, playing for the badge?

We have enough history in the locker to go back in time. Sometimes that's the only solution. We might've spent considerably less than £2m and stuck a European Cup star above the famous badge instead. But now let's bloody well get on with promotion.

Benteke to Liverpool? Villa should strive to hold on to him

The Beast of Bodymoor

It's all over the papers: Liverpool want Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke.

With thirteen goals in fourteen games, it's no wonder he's on the radar of every Premier League club with ambition.

But Liverpool? They're no longer a Champions League perennial and both fans and players alike looked as though they couldn't wait for the season's end.

With lame duck Brendan Rodgers at the helm admitting he'd accept the sack, what would Benteke be walking into?

Steven Gerrard, arguably the greatest to don the Red shirt played his last game in a 6-1 thrashing at Stoke which followed a final Anfield bow, a poor 3-1 reverse to Crystal Palace.

Raheem Sterling was pilloried, mocked and jeered by the travelling away support – Rodgers had urged the fans not to give him a hard time.

This is how they revere their star

So while Benteke prepares for the FA Cup Final with the inspirational Tim Sherwood coaching him to better form, why on earth would he switch to Anfield. Because they were famous once?

If a Champions League club came calling, it'd be more understandable for the 24-year-old Belgian striker to move on. EURO 2016 is on the horizon. Could Villa repel interest from Wolfsburg or Sporting Lisbon? It'd be harder.

No, this is a moment for Villa to use mere Anfield interest to secure him on improved terms over a longer period.

He's on a four-year deal until 2017 so adequate compensation for one of the Premier League's hottest properties is assured - but if Villa are to build on a bright young manager and his more focused squad, they need to treat Benteke as if he were a new signing.

I say pay him what he wants - and when his stock rises even higher next season, then accept his departure.

Benteke's farewell needs to be on Villa's terms. It's not now and it's certainly not to Anfield.

FFP calls the tune - but it's hardly Fair Play

I've got a hotline to Roman and the Gang

What exactly is the point of Financial Fair Play, UEFA’s attempt at stopping the billionaire class from buying up all titles and trophies?

Well, it surely wasn’t designed to deter investment in second-tier clubs – but that’s the biggest consequence of Michel Platini’s greatest gesture to the game as European football’s president.

Chelsea and the Manchesters will always have suitors with a couple of bill to spare – but what of the Evertons and Aston Villas, clubs with huge support, history and that golden word, potential – but whose value is a mere fraction of a Champions League evergreen?

Will another Forest happen again?

Randy Lerner, Villa’s wantaway owner would give you the keys to Villa Park, the training ground (and a housing estate) for £150m. Bill Kenwright knows he’s not wealthy enough to push Everton above Spurs and Liverpool into the coveted fourth spot and a seat at Europe’s top table.

But when investing in players is capped at club turnover,which rich-kid would buy a wannabe team – even if Sky and BT shelled out a massive £5.1bn for the right to screen its games?

Time for a fan buyout? A Barcelona-style supporter owning revolution. Fantasy? It’s nearer in the Premier League than you might think.

Who better than 35,000 season ticket holders and thousands more armchair supporters getting behind their club's public flotation? Watch This Space.

The Birmingham Mail Villa podcast: Mat Kendrick, Jonny Gould and Howard Hodgson on new takeover talk and new Sherwood regime

Lambert's Champions League, oh well!

What do you know, a hint of stability seems about to break between the clouds hovering above Aston Villa - and the dreaded T word emerges!

Will Randy Lerner finally relinquish control of the club this summer?

In this latest episode, Mat, Jonny and Howard also talk about the players Tim Sherwood has improved immediately like Cleverely, N'Zogbia, Gaby and Benteke and the home game with Swansea this Saturday.

listen to ‘@birminghammail #podcast: @matkendrick @jonnygould and @HodgsonHoward on #takeover #FACup and #relegation fight’ on audioBoom

Live TV pressure with Fergie and Houllier

Possibly the most camp Fergie picture ever!

I was the first touchline reporter for Premiership Plus, the package of top-flight games which became Setanta, ESPN and now, BT Sport.

Back in 2001, as Jonny On The Spot for the first dozen fixtures on the Premier League's own channel, I grilled Sir Bobby Robson, Gerard Houllier, Claudio Ranieri, Glenn Hoddle, Graeme Souness, Gus Poyet, Teddy Sheringham and ... Sir Alex Ferguson live.

Sir Bobby was the most engaging and enthusiastic of managers. He enjoyed being Toon boss so very much with nothing to prove, and still achieved fifth-placed finishes.

I smiled along with his responses and in reply, he extended each soundbite to about two minutes a pop, grinning back at me with youthful charm. My arm, stretched out underneath his mouth, became so oxygen-starved I had to swap midway through each.

After West Ham’s 7-1 destruction at Blackburn, the lights turned on and my first question to the embattled Glenn Roeder was, “will you resign?”. I regret that. My interview was syndicated to talkSPORT, who said I was insensitive. They were right. It should’ve been my third question.

Walter Smith at Everton was a welcoming wealth of experience. It's no wonder he was a trusted go to guy for Fergie at Old Trafford. And I found Graeme Souness to be honest and engaging. 

Before Manchester United's game at Aston Villa, I entered the dragon's lair to do a live with Fergie. The challenge was to confirm for the first-time a backpage splash which the then United boss did not want to talk about at all!

You see, I had to stand up the abrupt exit of Jaap Stam to Lazio, a News of the World belter from that morning.

Stam's absence from the starting XI was because Fergie had shoved him out of Old Trafford.

As I prepared for the lights, Paddy Harverson, United’s Alastair Campbell spin-type warned me not to ask him why Stam had been ejected so suddenly. It was because the Dutchman had offended him in his autobiography. Stam accused Fergie of trying to sign him without the knowledge of his club, PSV Eindhoven.

The channel which became Setanta, ESPN and now BT.

My friend Gary Newbon, the legendary Central and ITV reporter stood by and gave me a friendly, "don't be a hero, go easy with the questions, live to fight another day".

But I had to ask, how could I avoid it? So after a short negotiation with Harverson, who was much taller than me and used his height advantage menacingly, I did.

Fergie played the game and answered clearly.

I thanked Sir Alex on-air and when the lights went off but made the mistake of thanking him twice. He glared at me like Fulton Mackay out of Porridge. But I must say once he’d decided I was okay, he was fine. Particularly when he saw me again a few midweek days later at Blackburn

He recognized me and was totally disarmed. It was to be the last time our professional paths would cross but I got the impression that if you were trusted, he'd give you access and friendship not open to the wider world.

My few days with Fergie at the height of his career helped me enjoy the rest of his it from my seat in the stands.

Football in the steamy, adrenalin-fuelled matchday cauldron was an eye-opener.

I got sprayed with water by Rio Ferdinand while interviewing Robbie Keane live and got asked to "keep my distance" by Gerard Houllier at Newcastle.

I wasn't sure what the Frenchman meant. Did he mean physically or literally?

So in the ten seconds before the lights went on, I decided he meant both! I stood four steps back and arched my outstretched microphone arm under his mouth in the emergency room.

The Liverpool boss was constantly mopping his brow, sweating profusely. Little did we know it was because his heart was giving in. Six days later, he was fighting for his life.

After Leeds went top of the league with a home win over Derby, I found myself staring into Lee Bowyer's steely-blue eyes, wondering what kind of untamed animal lay behind them.

Shortly after 9/11, I had the privilege of sitting in the best seat at Goodison in-between the subs benches for the Merseyside Derby.

To my right, Robbie Fowler; to my left Gazza.

A highly-charged stadium was reminded through the PA system that football was after all, NOT more important than life or death - and both sets of fans observed an impeccable minute silence to the dead of New York.

And then the football started.

Phil Thompson jumped about the touchline at each challenge (calm down, calm down!) and Everton's Steve Simonsen fisted the perspex between us, strongly disagreeing with a smallish comment I'd made about a heated challenge by one of his teammates.

I loved being Geoff Shreeves for a couple of months - but he can have it. I experienced more than most in that short time - and moreso learned this:

The gentrified opinions of ex-players on TV are born of vague memory, not current experience.

As a refresher, they should go down to the tunnel during half and full-time more often.

Football is different behind closed doors. Very different. 

It's all about Premier League survival for Villa, says BBC Radio 5Live's Phil Williams

After a dramatic FA Cup weekend, it's time for an emotional reset! That's the view of Phil Williams, who's supported Aston Villa since his childhood growing up in Birmingham.

It's Phil Williams!

The BBC Radio 5Live presenter, on-air weekday evenings from 10.30, says the league game at Sunderland is more important than the FA Cup, because staying in the top-flight is key to the club's future.

And fans need to park the heightened euphoria of double victory over the Baggies - and concentrate on the dogfight.

Here's Phil in conversation with me recorded before the FA Cup win.

listen to ‘Time for an emotional reset, the Premier League is what really matters: @PhilWilliams talks to @jonnygould’ on audioBoom

It's Howard and Jonny's Albion Sandwich!

In between the two make-or-break fixtures with our nearest rivals, Howard and Jonny discuss the nervy last-gasp win over the Albion (nothing jittery about Benteke's composed penalty mind) - and why Gaby Agbonlahor might be the biggest winner in the Tim Sherwood era.

There's predictions for Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final as Albion return - and a surprise reaction from Villa fans about which Albion game was more important, in the league or the cup?

listen to ‘It's @HodgsonHoward & @jonnygould's Albion Sandwich! #utv #avfc ’ on audioBoom

Ian Taylor: "Characters are missing from Aston Villa today"

Singing in the rain: Villa's modern day hero.

Ian Taylor, Birmingham-born and bred and an unconditional Villa fan, whether donning the shirt in the Premier League - or on the terraces.

In this EXCLUSIVE interview with me after the home defeat against Stoke, Ian laments the lack of character in today's game, worries about the coming months and the threat of relegation. BUT....

.. gives his support to Tim Sherwood and delivers his verdict on our survival bid.

listen to ‘Ian Taylor: "My worries for #avfc’ on audioBoom

Birmingham Mail Special: Mat Kendrick joins Howard and Jonny's Villa podcast

Mat Kendrick

Welcome to Villa Park, Tim!

There are few better informed on the ins and outs of Aston Villa than the Birmingham Mail's Villa reporter, Mat Kendrick.

Howard and I are delighted Mat could join us for our latest edition of this Special.

And what a time to come on as Tim Sherwood assembles his management team to keep Aston Villa in the Premier League and ahead of another huge game, at home to Stoke City as the countdown to survival continues!

listen to ‘@MatKendrick, @hodgsonhoward and @jonnygould with the latest from #avfc’ on audioBoom

Paul Lambert's dignified farewell to Aston Villa

I've read many a departure statement via the manager's union. Some are thinly-veiled parting shots at the chairman, others squeak at harshness in dismissal and over-defensive pride in results achieved.

Paul Lambert can rebuild his management career

But these are dignified words from a departing boss.

There's a hint Paul Lambert felt compromised from the get-go but he can have no issue with Randy Lerner, accepting the job walking into Villa Park with eyes wide-open to the cost-cutting task.

Lambert believed he could mould young players into a Premier League force - but Villa got murdered regularly! Then when that didn't work, the older guys did little better. In twenty years, I'll struggle to remember Joe Cole played for Villa just as I squint at Peter Schmeichel's record with us today!

Whatever you think of Lambert's part in Aston Villa's current plight, it wasn't his fault he took charge this season. Neither was it his fault he was offered a four-year contract for securing the princely sum of ten points from the team's opening four games. 

Instead it's the man at the very top whose indecision and vacuum of leadership has led Lambert's replacement to contest "thirteen Cup Finals" to avoid relegation.

I'm told Paul bode farewell to each of his players after the final game of last season at Tottenham. If, like me you were at that 3-0 thrashing, you'll know to be grateful it had nothing riding on it.

Hull was the end of the line

So let's wish Paul the best at a club with less expectation and history than Villa - and support CEO Tom Fox, new manager, Tim Sherwood and his players to contest every one of the 39 points left to win this season.

LMA STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF PAUL LAMBERT

I am extremely proud to have managed Aston Villa, a founder member of the Football League, and this sentiment will always remain with me.

My initial remit was to conduct a massive overhaul of the playing squad, lower the overall wage structure of the playing staff and achieve this whilst keeping the club in the Barclays Premier League. 

There was also a concerted effort to purchase and develop younger players who would provide a solid footing for the football club to move forward and enhance the value of the playing squad in the future.

When I came on board the club's owner, Randy Lerner, warned me that I was embarking on the toughest challenge of my working life and he was not wrong.

But I have never stepped away from hard work and I put my heart and soul into the job from my first day until my last.

There are many people throughout my time at Aston Villa to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude.

Firstly, I'd like to thank Randy Lerner for not only providing me with the opportunity to manage one of the most illustrious clubs in world football but also for the support and friendship he offered me throughout my time at the club.

I'd also like to place on record my appreciation to Paul Faulkner who conducted affairs at the club with unstinting integrity and constant dignity during his tenure as Chief Executive.

I leave behind some wonderful people at both Bodymoor Heath and Villa Park and express my gratitude for their dedication and loyalty. A special mention must also go to my coaching staff for their commitment.

To the players, my sincere thanks to each and every one of them. They are a fantastic group of players and I wish them every success for the rest of their playing careers. I hope to see many of them achieve great things in the game.

Finally, I pay tribute to the supporters who are among the most passionate I have ever encountered. They rightly hold huge expectations for their beloved football club and I sincerely hope they are rewarded with the success they deserve.

I completely understand their frustrations and always shared their view that the football club is too big not to be competing at the top end of the table. I hope that can happen.

You never stop learning in football management and I certainly believe the invaluable experience from my time as Villa manager will prove hugely beneficial in the next stage of my managerial career.

ENDS

Jonny and Howard Hodgson worry about Aston Villa: Is this great club sleepwalking towards relegation?

If only Villa could summon the spirit of these winners today!

In their latest podcast, Jonny and Howard discuss Villa's seemingly unstoppable slide down the table.

Sure, Villa are still in the FA Cup, signed a useful looking midfielder in Carles Gil and raised many eyebrows, not least from their own teammates for securing Fabian Delph on a long-term deal!

But it's another stinging away defeat at Arsenal which leaves fans and even Villa legend, Andy Gray asking, "How can Paul Lambert motivate the players to go again?" Villa's next opponents, Chelsea.

listen to ‘.@hodgsonhoward and @jonnygould: Sleepwalking towards relegation?’ on audioBoom

Also from Jonny: his interview with Villa legend and legendary TV pundit, Andy Gray

Emile Heskey on Aston Villa: relegation fears, Paul Lambert and "money's not the only answer"

Follow Jonny on Twitter

Emile Heskey has spoken to me about the fears he shares with Aston Villa fans.

Heskey, who joined Villa from Wigan in the Martin
O'Neill era, scored on his debut at Portsmouth - and maintained his England career while at Villa Park, culminating in a squad place for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Listen as Emile says Villa have the players to pull away from danger, that Paul Lambert's not the only reason Villa find themselves in this predicament - and how money's not the only answer to Villa's problems.

listen to ‘Emile Heskey on #avfc: relegation trouble, Paul Lambert and money's not the only answer’ on audioBoom

AUDIO EXCLUSIVE with Andy Gray: Aston Villa, relegation threat, leadership, takeovers and management

Follow Jonny on Twitter.

‘Andy Gray talks to @jonnygould: The alarm bells are ringing for the Claret & Blue: relegation threat, leadership, takeovers and management’

Andy Gray gave me over half-an-hour of his valuable time this morning - on the phone from Qatar, where he now lives working for beINsports with Richard Keys.

Andy's clear and direct views on Aston Villa are underscored by his constant use of "we" and "us" when talking about the club.

He loves Villa where he played in two spells and assisted Big Ron when Villa denied Manchester United a domestic treble when winning the League Cup at Wembley.

He's distressed at their current plight.

The iconic, joyous celebrations live long in the memory

He discusses new signing, Carles Gil, the future of Randy Lerner and Paul Lambert, the new CEO Tom Fox and rumours of a Director of Football aiding Lambert.

Andy also pays tribute at the end of the interview to Sir Jack Hayward, Mr. Wolverhampton Wanderers, who passed away, aged 91.

Listen and feedback to me!

It's the hope that kills you!

Supporting your team's meant to be a form of escape from life. A release from daily drudgery or a transfer of stress.

Instead, it can send you off into a spiral of doom to a cul de sac of despair.

And when you mix it with politics, what an explosive cocktail that can set off.

Albandoned! Balkan battle is off.

Civilian use of drones is set for a big future - indeed scores of new ideas for commercial use are being devised everyday. But drone use as protest in international football saw a world first when a flag of Greater Albania was flown into a match with Serbia.

Match Abandoned. What a load of Balkans!

Sir Alex Ferguson wasn't the only Manchester United man "distraught" with Nani's red card against Real Madrid in the Champions League.

An armchair United fan from Bingham in Nottinghamshire was so incensed, he phoned emergency services on 999 to complain. Needless to say, the ref remained firm!

When passion outpaces logic that's what happens.

In any other walk of life, you might be sectioned for such behaviour. So why does football always seem to explain and excuse temporary madness?

Erica Roe in her home kit

Do you remember the United fan who lined up with the rest of the team wearing replica kit with black gym socks before kick off? It took stewards 90 seconds before they realised he was an interloper.  Facing forward, arms tucked behind his back, Gary Neville looked quizzical out of his side while trying to  observe the anthem!

TV companies have a policy of turning the camera away from those who invade the pitch lest it encourages a sea of future disruptions.

I well recall a streaker kicking off the 2002 Champions League Final at Hampden. He dribbled through the stationary team of Galacticos (£300m of talent), all waiting for kick-off and the naked man scored! He then did a celebratory moonwalk to a chorus of cheers before the men in yellow and orange bibs whisked him away.

The men in orange and yellow, henchmen the lot of 'em

(By the way I sat next to Andrei Kanchelskis at that game with a bunch of his Russian mates, who'd smuggled vodka in a flask in and were cheerily drinking it during the match. They also didn't see the whole of the game, but that's a different story).

What about the Walsall fan who streaked in the pouring rain during a League Cup tie with West Ham. He was led away by stewards stark bollock naked wrapped in a rug!

But his and the stewards night was far from over.

He then ran home through the streets of Bescot, dried himself down, put fresh clothes on and went back to the game. He got in to the stadium and then streaked again in the second half!

We'd be nowhere without the passions of football fans - and long may it continue!

Aston Villa Podcast #2: With A Little Help From Our Friends!

After our first podcast was listened to by over a thousand Villa fans, we got a bit ahead of ourselves - rather like U2 uploading their latest album to unsuspecting iTunes subscribers!

Anyway, it didn't stop us! This is a chat between me (Bono) and Howard Hodgson (The Edge) - but the content is provided by you - the Villa fans who tweeted us before the show with your questions, views and thoughts.

And we open with a tribute to the late Dave Ismay, who loved Villa so much, he wrote and sung a song!

listen to ‘.@HowardHodgson & @jonnygould talk #avfc. Questions from @Hodsonm2 @151169 @astonvilla05 @timavfc_92 @antonyhowlett’ on audioBoom

Aston Villa: no takeover imminent but a new CEO is coming

I revealed on Twitter that Aston Villa were actively looking for a new CEO, to replace the departed Paul Faulkner.

Meanwhile, my fellow Villa supporting friend, Howard Hodgson had a unique insight into why Randy Lerner changed his mind about selling the club.

So I thought, let's put a chat down on tape. Here it is!

listen to ‘.@jonnygould & @HodgsonHoward in conversation’ on Audioboo