Expression

It didn’t take long for me to be ready to get back into management.

I left Celtic in 2005, due to personal reasons, and took a year out of the game. In June 2006, Doug Ellis, the Aston Villa owner, approached me about becoming the club’s new manager. Villa had just escaped relegation the previous season, and were in a state of flux. The supporters had turned against their owner and difficult days lay ahead.

But the lure of managing one of the most iconic football clubs in Britain was something I couldn’t resist. Mr Ellis was already listening to offers for his club and, soon after, Randy Lerner would purchase Aston Villa.

Despite 12 months out of the game, I had still kept in touch with what was happening in the world of football. So the chance to put Villa back where they belonged was one I relished. The challenge itself was naturally not going to be easy, but I was hoping my experiences, particularly at Leicester and Celtic, would stand me in decent stead going forwards.

Aston Villa’s history was packed with exciting players whose flair could lift the Holte End to its rafters. This was something that I wanted to instil into my Villa team. Creating an environment where these players could flourish was at the forefront of my mind.

Motivation, too, would be extremely important. As a player, I knew how important encouragement from management could be. To hear the words “well done, son” from Brian Clough, one of the greatest managers in the game, meant so much to me even if they were rare occasions.

"The previous season had left Gareth Barry worried that Villa wasn’t the place to achieve his ambitions"

And so, as a manager, I wanted to strike that balance between criticism and praise. If players felt that you were sincere in your praise of them, then criticism, when necessary, was more readily accepted.

So, all in all, I would be more inclined to ‘encourage’ rather than ‘discourage’.

I inherited some very good footballers at Villa, but there was a sense of drift. They’d lost their way somewhat. In a similar fashion to what I encountered at Celtic, confidence was at a very low ebb after finishing 16th in the 2005/06 Premier League.

Keeping Gareth Barry at the club was a priority. He’d not been picked for England for more than three years, and Tottenham and Portsmouth were both interested in signing him. He wanted to not only represent his country, but also play at the top end of the table. The previous season had left him worried that Villa wasn’t the place to achieve these ambitions.

Thankfully, Gareth agreed to stay. Within six months, due to some brilliant performances for Villa, he was recalled to the England squad.

Despite a decent start to the season, it was obvious that the club needed better players to be challenging for honours. Bringing good players into Villa, and then making them highly motivated, became a top priority. Over the course of the following 12 months, I added lots of attacking talent. Players such as Ashley Young, John Carew, James Milner and Stewart Downing, who all helped bring out the best in young players like Gabby Agbonlahor.

"Three minutes into the game at Wembley, it might have been game over"

We built a really good counter-attacking side that was able to challenge the very best in the Premier League. Three successive top-six finishes would suggest that we were on the right lines.

Devising a system of play to accommodate the flair players in the team wasn’t really that difficult. At Leicester and for some considerable time at Celtic, I’d played with a 3-5-2 formation; but at Villa the players adjusted quite easily into any system we employed on any particular day.

We brought pace into the team, with Agbonlahor, Young and Downing at the forefront. With Milner, Stiliyan Petrov and Barry constants in midfield, we were a threat to any team in the league. A strong defence is a prerequisite for any manager’s success, and Martin Laursen and latterly James Collins epitomised that strength.

We went close to achieving a top-four finish and Champions League football as a result. That was where I felt Villa should be. This was a time when Spurs and Manchester City were challenging for the top four; City were becoming richer and starting to invest heavily in players. In the next two seasons we lost Gareth Barry and James Milner to that very club. Those are the problems you have to contend with when you are trying to build a forceful unit on the field.

In 2009/10, we came sixth again, but had brilliant runs in both of the domestic cups. We made it to the FA Cup semi finals, where we were beaten by Chelsea, and we got all the way to the final of the League Cup.

We faced Manchester United at Wembley, on a huge day for the club. Villa hadn’t won anything since 1996, and this was a massive chance to end that run, even if this was United.

"If I had my time again, I would have stayed at Aston Villa"

Three minutes into the game, it might have been game over.

Agbonlahor got the wrong side of Nemanja Vidic, and the defender brought him down in the box. It was a clear penalty, which the referee awarded, but Vidic should have been sent off if the rules of the game were enforced. The referee chose not to send him off, and that decision had severe consequences on the outcome of the game.

I genuinely believe that we would have won the game had the referee applied the rules. With the pace in our team, it would have been very difficult for 10-man Manchester United to chase a deficit, particularly in the wide expanse of Wembley. Even with Sir Alex Ferguson in charge.

As it was, United fought back strongly and beat us 2-1.

We narrowly missed out on a top-four finish again. With the League Cup loss at Wembley and an FA Cup semi-final defeat, it was a case of so close yet so far as we reached the end of the season.

"If I somehow lived to 120, I’d probably still be thinking about management then"

At this point, myself and Mr Lerner had differing opinions on the direction the club should go, and I felt I couldn't continue as manager. Shortly before the start of the season, I left the club.

Upon reflection, I regret that decision and wish I had handled the situation differently. If I had my time again, I would have stayed at Aston Villa.

I really do miss management for many reasons. Despite the vagaries of the job, there is no greater feeling than winning a trophy with a team you have built. If I somehow lived to 120, I’d probably still be thinking about management then. Roy Hodgson and Neil Warnock seem to be disproving the theory that age should be a barrier in today’s football. So perhaps, if the right opportunity presents itself, I may avail myself of it.

My time in the game, both as a player and a manager, spans 50 years. If anyone had told me in my first season as a player at Nottingham Forest, that in the next eight or nine years I would be part of a European Cup-winning team, I would have found that hard to believe. Likewise, if I had been told when I started out as a manager at Grantham of some of the achievements in my managerial career, the same view may well have applied.

Naturally you are going to have disappointments along the way. But when you are holding that trophy aloft everything, and I mean everything, is worth it.