“RON SAUNDERS has walked out on Aston Villa only eight months after leading us to the League championship.

“But I can honestly say I'm not sorry he has gone.

“Nobody at Villa had more rows with Ron than me.

“I still respect him and hope he stays in the game, because he's a winner. Saunders can be blunt, brutal, and savagely sarcastic.

“He demands 110 per cent from everybody.

“But we've had a bad time so far this season and what with the board room battles Ron obviously felt he had to go.

“The "star" system is one of Ron's hates. He doesn't like players getting more publicity than himself or his team.

“That's why Gary Shaw and myself got more stick from Saunders than other players at Villa Park.

“I hold my hands up and admit that he made me a better player after I signed from Burnley.

“Not once in nearly three years did I get a word of I praise from him.

“Who knows what Villa's next manager will think?

“But I hope we wants me to stay, because I don't really want to leave.”

Tony Morley helps things once again, Sunday, 14 February 1982.