Former Manager Remembers: Brian Little

[DoveValleyFox]

12 hours ago, ceredigion said:

I saw almost every home game of Brian Little's reign and a lot of away matches too, including all 3 play-off finals. In my opinion he is one of the best managers we have ever had, certainly in the top 5. When he took over the club was at rock bottom and had just had its worst season ever, only avoiding relegation to the 3rd division by the narrowest of margins on the last day. The transformation under him was immediate and dramatic and we had 3 tremendously exciting seasons between 1991 and 1994, culminating in the brilliant day when we beat Derby and won at Wembley for the 1st time. 

 

Some people might say that he should have got the club promoted sooner but in each season there were big clubs in the 2nd Division who had much more money behind them. The likes of Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Derby, Forest, Crystal Palace, Wolves were all in the mix at various times. Losing to Swindon was a big disappointment but what a match that was.

 

The real hallmark of his teams during that period was their ability to score vital last minute/injury time winners and equalisers. It is quite remarkable how often that happened during those 3 promotion campaigns and shows what a great never say die attitude he had instilled in the team., 

And he did it all on a Poundland budget with players like Gary Coatsworth, Jimmy Willis and Ian Ormondroyd, who all became heroes after starting out as villains.

 

Would we have stayed up in the 1994/5 season if he hadn't left for Villa? Impossible to say but I think we'd have made a better fist of it than we did under Mark McGhee, who took us down with a whimper. Ludicrously, at that time McGhee was being talked of as the natural successor to Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford. Ferguson stayed on for another 20 years while McGhee failed everywhere he went.

 

I didn't boo Brian when he came back with Villa a few weeks later and I was very sad that so many supporters did. But hopefully that's water under the bridge now and he can be seen as a truly transformative manager whose time at the club will be fondly remembered by all those who experienced it.

I liked the Milne team of the eighties. Some truly great performances and individual quality on show. 

 

However, like Jock Wallaces team, Little had a group who gave everything for the shirt and scrapped for every ball. Both of these squads managed to captivate the crowd, inspiring passion and you felt at one with them, sharing every high and low. Martin O'Neill managed to do the same afterwards, of course and it makes each era precious in my memory as I attended a lot of matches in this period.

[Guest worth_the_wait]

12 hours ago, Paninistickers said:

The most hostile atmosphere I'd ever experienced at filbert street. Those under 40 now would barely believe we could produce such an atmosphere. Though we've always done toxicity quite well TBF. 

 

Very true.  That day was as toxic as it gets.    As you say, love and hate are very close bedfellows.   But it's good that years later we all made up ... Brian Little speaks about us with great affection, and 99% of the City fans still love him.   Those 3 and a bit years he was in charge, were brilliant seasons.

 

What used to amuse me, was that some years later Martin O'Neill got a bit of stick after the Sheff Utd home defeat.    He milked that for all it was worth, but in honesty it was barely 10% of what poor Brian Little got that day. 

 

(the only other person I can remember getting so much stick, was when Peter Shilton came back to Filbert Street with Forest in the 1980-81 season.  My god, he got stick that day.   Absolute dogs abuse.)

 

Edited 17 December 2023 by worth_the_wait

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Great times and memories for me, Little got the best out of quite an average group of players, I missed the Blackburn play off final, but finally saw us at Wembley vs Swindon and then the joy of beating Derby in the silence of the rams final.

 

[FoxesDeb]

On 16/12/2023 at 20:57, Paninistickers said:

The most hostile atmosphere I'd ever experienced at filbert street. Those under 40 now would barely believe we could produce such an atmosphere. Though we've always done toxicity quite well TBF. 

 

I remember a punter in the old family enclosure terrace dumped a load of 'judas' printed a4s all over his bench as he took his place. Perfectly timed. 

 

Not only that, I think we won that day! 

 

Still hate of course is very closely related to love. And that's what it was. I'm glad time mellowed is both, Brian and City fans. 

That game was the only time I've ever really felt uncomfortable amongst our own fans, it was horrible, everyone was just so angry. 

[MPH]

I actually felt,  after Pleat, we had several decent managers who all brought a little something to the club.

 

 

 

 

Or it could be that we were so absolutely woeful under Pleat that ANYTHING was an improvement..

[Gazza M]

Before or during the Little era the club had little to show for itself in the trophy cabinet. The 3 Wembley visits although twice painful reminded the fans what it was like to go there. The success in the years that followed says to me that in his tenure he literally moved the club on an upward path 180 degrees. 

Edited 18 December 2023 by Gazza M

[iancognito]

On 16/12/2023 at 19:57, Paninistickers said:

The most hostile atmosphere I'd ever experienced at filbert street. Those under 40 now would barely believe we could produce such an atmosphere. Though we've always done toxicity quite well TBF. 

 

I remember a punter in the old family enclosure terrace dumped a load of 'judas' printed a4s all over his bench as he took his place. Perfectly timed. 

 

Not only that, I think we won that day! 

 

Still hate of course is very closely related to love. And that's what it was. I'm glad time mellowed is both, Brian and City fans. 

My dear old mum God rest her soul was right about many things, including the treatment he received that day being disgusting. Up until that point all the pressure had been on Martin George and the board to back Little or resign and George took the only way out he could buy leaking all the details of the Villa approach to the media before the Villa game and turn every man woman and child against him.

 

I remember coming back from that game and she was fuming "that smug bastard" had shit on Little after all the work he'd put in over 4 years and that I'd had anything to do with it.

 

I'm glad he went on to have a decent career afterwards and that he's still involved a bit with Villa. After Pearson and O'Neill, he's still in my top 3 managers in the last 35 years.

[Paninistickers]

39 minutes ago, iancognito said:

My dear old mum God rest her soul was right about many things, including the treatment he received that day being disgusting. Up until that point all the pressure had been on Martin George and the board to back Little or resign and George took the only way out he could buy leaking all the details of the Villa approach to the media before the Villa game and turn every man woman and child against him.

 

I remember coming back from that game and she was fuming "that smug bastard" had shit on Little after all the work he'd put in over 4 years and that I'd had anything to do with it.

 

I'm glad he went on to have a decent career afterwards and that he's still involved a bit with Villa. After Pearson and O'Neill, he's still in my top 3 managers in the last 35 years.

I get you that George was a scheming so and so, but he played a blinder in his time at the helm. 

 

He took the club away from the gentleman's committee meetings,  cigars & brandy style of the Shipmans to a much more modern autocratic style and ensured we cut our cloth (plus his own money, as the cloth simply wasn't enough)

 

Unlike the current owners, he was fanatical about boosting crowds and the next next generation. He also stuck to his blueprint of appointing young up and coming managers (remarkably quite a novel idea then) 

 

He got in Little, then McGhee (who at the time was hugely rated) and then if course he overruled the whole board (who wanted Mike Walker)  and appointed MON and then overruled his colleagues plus fans to stick obsessively with MON during the heat of that Sheff Utd game. 

 

lots was made of Brian Little starting what we are today. I think a larger part of the story was Martin George though. He'd be a fascinating interview for any journalists and bloggers, not only for his reflections on his tenure but his opinions on the modern ownership structure now.