Paul McGrath

[Sean Thornton]

Think we had Howard Kendall as manager and had been used to watching Dave Bassett's high tempo, all action direct football.
Kendall almost instantly changed us into a continental, keep poession, lots of short passing style.

Think he bought Cowans and to be honest he was a revelation, brilliant at little short passes and amazing calmness at receiving the ball under pressure. So Cowans used to stay very close the centre circle and he's have constant touches of the ball, pass and move, pass and move.
Looked a very classy player that stood out, so experienced and knew what to do, most times keeping it simple, letting the ball do the work.

He was the main reason for the success in our new tiki taka style. We could control games, simply by keeping possession.

Kendalls work in creating a team didn't go unnoticed, he didn't stay long (think it was just 1 season) and returned back to Everton.
Think Nigel Spackman replaced Kendall and continued playing a nice, short passing, keep possession, style of play. It was all looking so promising for a return back to the Premier League then the owners sold our 2 star strikers Brian Deane and Jan Hate Fjortoft on the same day.

Had Mark Patterson doing the hard yards and minding Cowans. Good partnership.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Had Mark Patterson doing the hard yards and minding Cowans. Good partnership.

Excellent point....agree......Patterson wasn't that good ability wise really but he went down well with our fans, was appreciated and became a bit of a favourite. Paterson was little in stature but played like a tenacious Yorkshire Terrier, always giving 100%
he loved a tackle, especially a sliding tackle and you always thought he was going to be booked or sent off every game.

 

[Yellarbellyblade]

Get thi mouth weshed out, PM was fantastic but not as good as Joe Shaw, never will be bettered, impossible.

Not old enough to have seen Joe Shaw so I can say best I’ve seen.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

As a Villa fan I love to read how other fans see one of 'our' players when playing for them. Quite simply referred to as 'God' due to his time at Villa. He was with us for something like seven seasons and won Player of The Year 6 seasons on the trot. he was that good - and that was when we were too. I still get annoyed when him winning the PFA Player's player is overlooked and barely mentioned - especially as a defender - whilst new football only want to talk about Prem only players. It also irks when conversations of 'best ofs' when talking about centre halves never mention this guy. Talk to derby fans too and despite his short time there they speak of him as you do. All glowing. Absolutely brilliant for us and his time at the club is still felt everywhere.

Interesting to see you mention Gordon Cowans as i reckon he is probably one of the most underrated English players of all time. Barely gets a mention. Easy to forget (or just not know) that by 84 (ish, i think) he was becoming an England regular before a leg break (dirty Mexican bstd) kept him out for about a year. Was only a bit part England player after that whilst the London and Manchester press only wanted to talk about Hoddle, Brooking, Wilkins, Graham bloody Rix and the like.

Known as 'Sid' at villa still loved to this day.

Cowans was superb in the short time he played for us , gave an absolute masterclass in his performance against the 1-0 win over Arsenal in FAC3RD . Very classy player who like McGrath must have a player and half at his peak . As mentioned above Patterson did the hard yards next to him & was a very underrated player . Got talking to Patto in Spain about 4 years ago & he was telling me he’d fell on hard times , Cowans I believe has sadly being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.. wish him all the best in that battle , I’ve seen first hand what a fkg horrible debilitating illness that is

 

[Wards]

As mentioned above Patterson did the hard yards next to him & was a very underrated player . Got talking to Patto in Spain about 4 years ago & he was telling me he’d fell on hard times

Runs a landscaping/gardening business I think now, UndrTheCosh did a podcast with him a year or two ago. Seems a top lad.

 

[peter w]

The other thing with Sid was that he was genuinely two footed. I've seen him take countless free-kicks and corners for Villa using left and right foot. Brilliant at everything he did and he could tackle too despite his build. As I said, criminally underrated as a player by all bar those that actually watched him.

 

[Tickhill Blade]

Had Mark Patterson doing the hard yards and minding Cowans. Good partnership.

And Hutchison in the team as well for that half a season that Cowans was here.

It was a good midfield that: White - Cowans - Patterson - Hutchison - Whitehouse. I'd take that now anyway!

 

[Silent Blade]

The other thing with Sid was that he was genuinely two footed. I've seen him take countless free-kicks and corners for Villa using left and right foot. Brilliant at everything he did and he could tackle too despite his build. As I said, criminally underrated as a player by all bar those that actually watched him.

Jon Hunt also took corners with either foot

 

[Bert]

Jon Hunt also took corners with either foot

As did Borbokis.

 

[Nagima]

My only memory of McGrath playing for us was watching a game on TV back in Ireland. McGrath got turned by the centreforward who looked to be clean through when McGrath put in a last ditch tackle to win the ball. Alan Brazil shouting with admiration. "McGrath what a tackle". To me that summed McGrath up. Brilliant defender.

 

[peter w]

This is what McGrath was:

 

[Stewy]

One of 2 of Ireland greatest ever exports , the other being Phil Lynott ... two ledgends

 

[bibbity bobbity boo]

For anyone too young to have seen Paul McGrath at his peak, here he is getting the better of one of, if not the greatest attacker of all time. That's how good Paul McGrath was.