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!

PODCAST: Chelsea fan and comedy writer Ivor Baddiel on the Y Word

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.

Jonny Gould Interviews: Peter Withe (Part 1 of 4)

Peter Withe's distinguished career is discussed in this four-part video interview series with Jonny, discussing his early days as a Liverpool dockworker before embarking on the long and winding road to the very pinnacle of the game.

Peter's autobiography, written with Simon Goodyear is out now. This video is a co-production between Jonny's company, Sportsmedia and John Warrington.

Portugal a better result for football than you might first think

Portugal did exactly the number on France that Greece had done to them twelve years ago. I was there in Lisbon to see a crestfallen Cristiano Ronaldo miss what I thought would be his one career opportunity to win a trophy for his country. 

Which is why I was so gutted for him to fall victim of a chancers tackle last night - but so chuffed he could scream "Vamos!" when lifting the Henri Delaunay trophy less than two hours later. 

Portugal might've won less matches than Wales this tournament but no nation can hold a candle to their durability and determination. Pepe was majestic in defence and embodied class disguised as drive. 

They have players of experience and quality playing throughout Europe and though Ronaldo is their standout superstar, they proved they're no one-man team. 

Remember, Portugal was the greatest football nation never to win a major trophy – until last night.

It's a better result for football than at first glance. 

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.

Official EURO 2016 Panini TV advert

It's just the biggest thrill to be the Voice of Panini's TV advertising around the world. I mean, who didn't collect and trade the stickers with schoolfriends back in the day?

If you didn't, you were a geek into computers and heavy metal! Nah, football existed quite happily before the Premier League, thanks very much.

Here's two versions of the ad promoting the Adrenalyn XL Trading Cards product.

My first collection was EURO 76 (didn't finish), Football '78 (didn't finish), then Football '79 (needed 4, didn't finish!)

I'm sure the kids of today (and some dads too) will get a huge kick out of finishing their England page - and how else could you find out who plays for Albania? Essential pre-match reading for Jonathan Pearce and the rest. Got Got Need!

10 second version:



20 second version:

Podcast: Jonny's Premier League week

Never mind the outcome: who SHOULD'VE won that World Cup?

There’s nothing more final than an unjust football result. No appeals process exists to shake off the unpalatable, unacceptable and unfair.

What can Atletico do about Real’s last-gasp leveller in the 2014 Champions League Final? And Smith Won’t Score, Brighton fans. It’s best just not to dwell on it.

But what if you could go back and rewrite history in the name of Justice? And what if that was then accepted as science fact by all?

World Cup fans should ask, did the right team win? And I say no, not always.

The best Brazil team not to win the World Cup?

Take 1982 for example: Italy won it but Brazil should have. It would have ended a 12 year post-Pele drought.  An era of Zico, Socrates and Falcao made more fabulous by the last vestiges of sepia-coloured TV pictures and excitable commentary on the phone.

Of course, Italy will point to Paolo Rossi's stunning hat-trick against them - but it was a defeat to send Brazil into their shell until they exacted revenge over Italy in the worst ever World Cup Final twelve years later. A Final so bad it made Diana Ross’ Opening Ceremony penalty kick look appropriate.

But one solitary ninety minutes stands above as the game that both launched a mighty nation, while chiming a knell for another.

The 1954 Final between West Germany and Hungary was the ninety which changed football's direction the most.  Their status’ are now so completely in contrast today, it’s hard to imagine it came about as a freak result . West Germany’s so-called Miracle of Bern.

Back then, Germany was demoralised, a literally divided nation. What they wanted was a morale boost just nine years after the disaster of World War II.

No one would begrudge Hungary oneWorld title

Their opponents, the marvellous Magyars were - well, marvellous. Imperious, brilliant - and the mantle of world champions would all but confirm an era of magnificence.

Hungary had already humbled the West Germans 8-3 in the group stages and made it to the Final courtesy of victory over 1950 runners-up, Brazil and champions, Uruguay.

Ferenc Puskas fractured his ankle during the Finals – but it’d be disingenuous to his teammates to blame that for Hungary’s shocker.

Instead, West Germany's 3-2 win launched a dynasty while Hungary disappeared from sight by 1962. Add to that Germany being disallowed from the 1950 tournament – this was their first post-war football foray.

By 1990, West Germany's destiny was built on history, self-belief and structure. Those pillars helped push them past a weak Argentina.

But that was when host nation Italy should've won.

Fuelled by the unexpected six-shooter Salvatore Schillaci, Italy powered their way through the group stages with Toto's firebrand goals.

Toto's pumped up goal celebrations were nuclear-fuelled

They were cruelly denied by a semi-final penalty shoot-out loss to defending champions Argentina – but it would have been a travesty if one-man Team Maradona had retained the Cup. Andreas Brehme's clinical penalty booked West Germany's date with destiny again.

And it's not just about the World Cup, it's a European Championship thing too. And that my friends, is all about England.

England are so unlucky. They could've buried the mantle of Least Successful Big Nation before Spain ditched the unwanted title first with consecutive victories in Euro 2008, 2012 and the World Cup in between.

It’s because Euro 96 and 2004 belonged to the Three Lions.

Baddiel and Skinner’s “thirty years of hurt” seems a reasonable tariff for crimes against preparation nowadays. It’s 50 and counting.

The Queen of England too excited by a German win?

With ten goals, England scored more than any other in Portugal, starring the Golden Generation and fearless 18-year-old Wayne Rooney of Everton.

Just as Germany seemingly strut to victory every generation, England’s defeats are magnified by frustration at the sudden failure of well, usually penalty shoot-outs.

And the less we say about Wembley in 1996, the better.  With the Czechs, 80-1 outsiders at the start waiting in the final, it was a gimme for the host nation at Wembley .

Excuse me, I have to leave the keyboard for a couple of minutes.

And while we’re on host-nations, Holland should’ve been crowned European Champions for a second time in 2000. They succumbed to Italy in the semi-final on penalties – Italy in turn, lost to a French Golden Goal despite leading in the Rotterdam Final.

Greece's Plan A gameplan worked perfectly!

France were already world champions and maybe, the Clairefontaine youth project deserved this outstanding double recognition – but still,the Dutch with Kluivert, Overmars, Davids, Stam and van der Saar deserved to emulate the Gullits and van Bastens of a generation earlier.

On the other hand, England's bad luck aside, no one can argue with Greece winning Euro 2004; Otto Rehhagel’s procession of one-nil wins was a masterclass of gameplan – nor with Denmark’s romp to Euro 92 glory when UEFA pulled them in from summer holiday deckchairs to replace war-torn Yugoslavia.

As for England,’66 made up for the World Cups they carelessly didn't bother with in the thirties.

Our common memories make the thin-line between success and failure an open wound. What a pity there’s no revisionism in football.

Remembering Sir Bobby Robson

One of football's modern managerial legends and great enthusiasts passed away seven years ago today. Sir Bobby Robson's influence still endures to the top of the game today: Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola are his direct disciples. I had the privilege of interviewing Sir Bobby at two very different points in his career and here's my affectionate personal tribute to him:

Sir Bobby Robson, who lost his long-term battle with cancer aged 76, was a good player but it was his zeal for management which really marked him out. A life truly fulfilled with Ipswich, England, PSV, Sporting, Porto, Barcelona and of course, Newcastle United.

During his England days.

He nurtured players to greatness from Romario to Ronaldo; from Gazza to Gary. And if that's not enough, Mourinho and Guardiola, two of the most feted coaches in the world game were cultivated by the great man.

I had the pleasure to interview Sir Bobby with both England and Newcastle. He was the man who crafted Gazza into a senior England performer despite having branded him "daft as a brush". Backing Gazza to step up to the plate was a gamble at the time, but the boss was trusting and generous with ability. He was instantly rewarded as Gazza struck twice in a 4-2 win over Czechoslovakia, the first international I covered for radio.

Sir Bobby was already of pensionable age at Newcastle; he had a great contract and with nothing to prove, the pressure was off. The job was a labour of love. His enthusiasm was so infectious, I smiled with him during our live interview on Prem Plus and he increasingly chuckled back at me. His answers were so long, I had to switch from arm to outstretched oxygen-starved arm to keep the mike under his chin!

Sir Bobby was still on the ball in his Newcastle days

Sir Bobby was famed for mix-ups. On England duty, he wished Bryan Robson a cheery "Morning Bobby!", Bryan dutifully replied "You're Bobby, I'm Bryan, boss!". At Newcastle, Shola Ameobi claimed the boss dubbed him "Carl Cort".

But a less well-known story was relayed to me by former Chelsea and Queen's Park Rangers defender, Steve Wicks.

Wicks had just completed the best season of his career at Loftus Road and had been picked for an England B international in Mexico just months before the 1986 World Cup. Bobby was still pondering the 22-man squad he was going to take to the Finals with rumours that 3 or 4 places were still up for grabs. To add tension to the B game, the boss was going to pick the last available places from the best performers. He popped down to the England dressing room before kick-off to prepare the would-be World Cup stars:

His influence still endures today

"Now, I know you might be nervous 'cos I'm here, but just do your best and good luck to each one of you!", said the England boss.

He then went round the dressing room shaking each of the player's hands with a "good luck son". He arrived at Wicks, an imposing 6 foot 2 inches tall with the physical attributes of a goalkeeper as much as the central defender he was:

"I want you to know son, that you've had a brilliant year... yes, I've monitored you all season!". Wicks couldn't believe it. It sounded like Bobby's mind was made up to take him to the World Cup even before the game had started. "Wow, thanks boss!", Wicks choked out.

"Yes son..... your save at Aston Villa was one of the best I've ever seen!"

In a classic Bobby moment, he'd mixed up Wicks with Woods. Norwich City's Chris Woods, so it was the goalkeeper not the centre-half that went to the Finals.

listen to ‘#football remembers Sir Bobby Robson’ on Audioboo

I've spoken with a lot of friends and fellow fans and the tributes have been no more heartfelt than that of my friend, Jamie Gould. A Geordie and lifelong Newcastle United fan, who told me this:

"It was so sad to see him decline, but he still made it to matches regardless of the difficulties. It was great that he got to manage Newcastle but he was treated terribly at the end. He was the perfect ambassador for the game - but he was more than a Toon manager, more than an England manager, more than a Barca manager. He was a great man of football generally and, moreso, a great man, a great human being. The loss is surely felt well outside the confines of the football world; even people who never met him will say, hand on heart, 'I loved Sir Bobby Robson'".

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.

Wembley: Fans Howard Hodgson and Jonny Gould roundup an emotional FA Cup semi-final victory for Aston Villa

Villa give Stevie G the bum's rush.

Aston Villa reach their first FA Cup Final since 2000 after a 2-1 win over Liverpool in the semifinal.

Manager Tim Sherwood said they bamboozled the Reds who didn't perform to their highest capability but Villa, through goals from Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph showed great determination to win.

It was the Reds who'd scored first through Philippe Coutinho. But as Brendan Rodgers contends with why Liverpool didn't show up for the big occasion, Sherwood is measuring up Villa's Cup Final suits!

What a turnaround since his appointment after the defeat at Hull!

Here's Howard and Jonny reliving the game right at the final whistle.

listen to ‘#fightlikelions!’ on audioBoom

Wembley: Mat Kendrick, Howard Hodgson and Jonny preview the Aston Villa v Liverpool FA Cup semifinal.

Tim Sherwood has changed Villa

Mat Kendrick

Tim Sherwood stands on the verge of reaching an FA Cup Final with less than a season of managerial experience.

But can Aston Villa beat Liverpool to face Arsenal in the Final on May 30th?

Mat Kendrick from the Birmingham Mail, Howard Hodgson from the Aston Villa Supporters Trust and Jonny met under the Bobby Moore statue at Wembley just before kick-off to discuss!

listen to ‘.@matkendrick & @HodgsonHoward preview #facupsemifinal’ on audioBoom

The Madridistas are 100% wrong about Our Gareth

Gareth's trademark er, shape thing

As the bookies fall over each other to shorten the odds on Gareth Bale returning to the Premier League this summer, spare a thought for the man himself.

Pilloried everywhere he roams, on the pitch even in the car park, Gareth Bale is a man under pressure to perform at Real Madrid.

But the world’s most expensive player is at the Bernabeu for a reason.

Here is a young Welshman, who through sheer weight of personality and self-belief, forced his way from left-back to wing back to left-winger and finally centre-forward, scoring half of Tottenham’s goals the season before last.

All this via a loan spell at Nottingham Forest, where he was nearly offloaded.

From the Real Madrid museum at the Bernabeu

If his first season at Real was dreamy, his second has proved a rude awakening

Stooping to score a brilliant header befitting the Champions League Final, he also used every sinew of his admirable physique to score one of the goals of the season in the Copa Del Rey Final.

Two trophies, two great goals and a gaggle of ungrateful, spoilt Real fans with short memories.

How dare those fans kick his car while driving out of Madrid’s training ground after defeat in Barcelona. Had Ronaldo not been offside, he'd have scored.

And the 25-year-old should ignore everyone of them. He’s earned the right to play for the Galacticos.

Champions League night at the Bernabeu

And he is a Galactico.

Not only that, he's a man of character. Just look at the vigour and patriotism with which he dons the Welsh shirt. How his performances have put Wales in with a shout of qualifying for a major tournament for the first time in two generations.

The man towers above the Madrid booboys, literally and metaphorically. What have they done but pay a few quid for their tickets year-after-year? Sure they can boo (if it empowers them) – but they don't have the right to hooliganism.

Tough it out and rise above it, Gareth.  The Madridistas are absolutely wrong about you.

Qatar's winter debacle might prove a tonic for the Premier League

As FIFA's Qatar World Cup Final gets set for Christmas week, perhaps our shock horror reaction at the disruption, set in winter stone for 150 years, may thaw after all?

How many times have England fans lamented our biannual failure because Rooney & Co were too pooped from the rigours of a 60-game season?

How much of a chorus has there been for a winter break after Boxing Day to give players the vital rest required?

Sportsmedia's dream for the Golden Generation

Every other year, that’s how much! But the chorus can’t be ignored forever.

So this enforced abruption could prove the blueprint for future Premier League seasons if our disparate interest groups can unify.

And as English clubs wither in the Champions League, perhaps a winter break might aid performance.

Richard Scudamore and his member Premier League clubs usually display a lack of will to embrace change in the face of external influences – but FIFA edicts are too big even for them to resist.

Maybe now, they’ll act on the relative benefits to keep the winter break into season 2022/23.

Don't hold your breath, mind - it might freeze!

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.

England's immigrant generation could change it all for Greg Dyke's FA.

Without knocking Greg Dyke's FA Commission too much, the chances it becomes a talking shop from the outset are rather large.

The Commission's aim of England winning the World Cup in Qatar just can't be legislated for seven years off. 

Some of those who'll win it for us are 13 and don't live in England yet! 

The Golden Generation, hung, drawn & quarter-finalled

Because just as much as this is about getting organized for a trophy push - it's also about what society may throw up in the next decade.

Yes, friends. As responsible as Premier League academies may prove, England will win the World Cup due to mass immigration to the UK. And what do Dyke, Danny Mills and Ritchie Humphreys know about that?

The acknowledgement from football's highest office that we've an England problem is positive, but pro-acting on the unknown and unforeseen is no solution.

No amount of Beckhams, Lampards and Terrys have propelled us to glory. I argue the Golden Generation were too English to succeed. Too conditioned by the Baddiel & Skinner zeitgeist, the Danny Baker colonization of football banter and other hangovers of persistent failure.

We'll win it with: 

* talent unencumbered by generations of home-grown failure
* talent unbaked by the racket of tabloid sniping
* talent with a desire to do well for their adopted country ...
* talent beyond the radar

A new immigrant consensus will subvert the flatline of failure.

Can Greg get more England players to start Premier League games?

There are families living on the twelfth floor in tower blocks, grateful of free education, hospital treatment and jobs. They won't be neighbours to the so-called benefit generation for long either.

Gael Bigirimana, the Burundi kid from Coventry, naive to barriers, walked past the Sky Blues training ground one day, popped in and asked to play. He's now a Premier League midfielder at Newcastle United. His countryman, Saido Berahino already has England honours. 

Romanians and Bulgarians have arrived in every major city looking for a new life unaffected by 48 years of hurt.

Belgium has a class of players from all corners of the world. Did the Brussels Howard Wilkinson sit down and construct this national team? If he did, it was entirely reactive, the private sector's built the careers of those individuals.

And what did Greece do apart from hire Otto Rehhagel? 

I know what we did at Euro 2004: the FA brought WAG's, an army of blazers and an overpaid Swedish boss with the other eye on the FA's female staff. The Greeks won with a procession of one-nil wins.

Yes, I know these rough diamonds would require professional coaching from early teens, to be included in academies of the kind I've mentioned and to be known by the FA's Burton boys.

But it's what they carry with them in their upbringing that could break the spell for England. 

It's essential that the FA Commission has a well-publicized set of objectives - and as importantly, no definitive timeline for delivery. Football, even society it feeds from, is changing too fast for fixed policies to be made in the here and now.

It would be best if the Commission acted more like a Prime Minister's Cabinet, meeting periodically and with each "minister" responsible for reporting back for a collective decision to be made.

Also that they are elected - or serve a term and can be replaced by another person from football - or beyond as needs must.

And it's vital they acknowledge England will win the World Cup, not by their initiatives - but by the individual enthusiasms of boys who started playing in the street - not in expensive replica kits.

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