The Managers of Aston Villa

This list starts from Tommy Docherty, the first to be sacked by our appalling previous chairman Herbert Douglas Ellis. He sacked all of these down to David O'Leary, after which Randy Learner took over the club and became chairman.

Tommy Docherty (1968-70): Installed by Ellis in 1968 after the local travel agent had assumed control of the club's new board of directors, the Doc' saved second division Villa from relegation in his first season at the club after replacing Tommy Cummings. However, the Villans were relegated the following year and Deadly struck for the first, but certainly not the last time.

Vic Crowe (1970-74): In Crowe's first season at the club Villa reached the League Cup Final but missed out on promotion to Division Two. The following year they were Division Three champions but Crowe's failure to take them any further up the League saw Ellis' axe swing for the second time.

Ron Saunders (1974-82): The longest surviving Ellis appointment - which maybe had something to do with the fact that Ellis wasn't actually Villa supremo for the vast majority of his reign, having been replaced by Sir William Dugdale in 1975. Under Saunders, Villa returned to Division One, won two League cups, and a League Championship in 1980-81 (Dennis Mortimer, Tony Morley, Alan Evans, Peter Withe, Gary Shaw, Gordon Cowans, ooh them were the days). Deadly Doug missed out on the ultimate triumph, and returned as chairman in 1982 in time to see Saunders resign, complaining that Ellis would not give him full control of the running of the team.

Tony Barton (1982-84): Ron's assistant was promoted into the job and did little other than look after Ron Saunder's side. Presided over the winning of the European Cup in 1981-82. Sacked by Ellis despite the chairman admitting he was "a lovely man".

Graham Turner (1984-86): Appointed on the strength of his miracle working at Shrewsbury, Turner found the pace of the top-flight something else entirely. With Villa bottom of the table in the autumn of 1986 Ellis wielded his increasingly bloody axe yet again.

Billy McNeil (1986-87): Couldn't halt the slide that begun under Turner. Villa were relegated and McNeil was handed his P45.

Graham Taylor (1987-90): Led Villa back to the top-flight, whereupon they were nearly relegated immediately. Steadied the ship thanks mainly to the purchase of Paul McGrath and the emergence of David Platt and finished championship runners-up in 1990 before Taylor left to manage England.

Jozef Venglos (1990-91): Impressed by the studious Czech's stewardship of his national side at Italia 90 Ellis promptly hired him. Nicknamed Dr No by the fans due to his reluctance to sign anyone. Venglos resigned after just one season at the club in which Villa came 17th.

Ron Atkinson (1991-94): Stuck with no manager and no plan, Doug played safe and went for an old hand. The arrival of a manager with as big an ego, and personality, as Deadly Doug himself never looked like a match made in heaven but somehow the partnership endured over three rocky years. A second place League finish and a League Cup win (3-1 over Man U, Dalien Atkison scored two) weren't enough to save Big Ron from the big heave-ho. He did manage to sign Dwight Yorke and Mark Bosnich, but his youth team policy remains unwritten.

Brian Little (1994-98): A short-lived revival under the stewardship of the former Holte End favourite, including a League Cup win (3-0 over Leeds in which we wiped them off the face of Wembley, featuring a wonder goal from Savo Milsovic), came to an end when the pressure became too great and Little resigned after a miserable run of results..

John Gregory (1998-Jan 2002): Gregory failed to win any silverware but did enjoy a protracted spell at the top of the premiership in 1998/99 and again briefly in 2001/02, although each were followed by a terrible run. In December 2000 he publicly criticised Ellis as being "stuck in a time-warp" and wonderfully said "the chairman's door is always open but his wallet is firmly closed". Of course you can argue that JG was not sacked by Doug. He walked out. But if John took this to an industrial tribunal, I think he'd get a constructive dismissal verdict. Tragically, he left because he loved Villa, because he couldn't stand to see it abused. This is the man who spend £45k on his V1LLA reg plate. JG has lined up some great deals for great players that Doug has refused to stump up for. Oh for the day when its DD that moves on.

The Return Of Graham Taylor (Feb 2002 to May 2003). GT came down from his job upstairs (Director of Football) to take temporary charge to the end of the season. Villa missed out on UEFA by a couple of places and went into the intertoto. They successfully negociated three rounds of that only to be knocked out in the UEFA proper first round. GT then accepted a two year tenure and presided over a flighty but horribly inconsistent side that finnished 16th in 02/03. Graham called it a day of his own accord a week after the final game of that season. He left behind a strong set of youth teams, and a first team with capability but links missing. All we need is a new man who can do jigsaws....

David O'Leary (May 2003 - July 2006) Only took two weeks till fill the gap after GT's surprise departure, but he did look the pick of the available bunch. In his first season Villa struggled, then put in a great run to finish up sixth and missing out on Europe by just goal difference and hopes were high. No signings of note during his reign apart from the promising looking defenders Martin Laursen and Wilfred Bouma, both of whom had long periods of injury, and Milan Baros - saying that his net spend in just over 3 and a quarter years in charge was £17.7 million, about £5.5 million per year. The following two seasons saw finishes in 10th and 16 place with fans often frustrated by unambitious formations and attitude on the field, quite apart from so little support from Doug that latterly he declared we couldn't even afford free players. Some speculation surrounds the departure suggesting the DO'L deliberately stirred up the situation to try and edge Doug out, even at the cost of his own job.

Current Manager - Martin O'Neill (July 2006 - ). With a new chairman on the way, and the appointment of the best manager around, hopes are high that this is a turning point for Villa.

19 September 2006. A truly historic day for Aston Villa FC. Lets just quote the stock exchange announcement, with the very best bits in bold;

Following the recommended cash offer for Aston Villa plc ("Aston Villa") made by Reform Acquisitions Limited on 14 August 2006, Douglas Ellis OBE, the Executive Chairman of Aston Villa, and Mr Stephen Kind, Mr Anthony Hales, Mr David Owen and Mr Peter Ellis, Non-Executive Directors of Aston Villa, have each resigned from the board of directors of Aston Villa with effect from today. Steve Stride remains an executive director on the board of Aston Villa.
Aston Villa is pleased to announce the appointment of Randolph Lerner as Chairman and General Charles C. Krulak, Bob Kain and Michael Martin as new
Non-Executive Directors. The appointments are effective from today.