*Duncan signals disaster for Villa*

He may be the forgotten man of Newcastle, but Duncan Ferguson succeeded in jogging a few memories here after emerging as a second-half substitute to claim his first Premiership goal in 372 days and increase the odds of John Gregory imminently joining the nation’s unemployed. The strike extended Villa’s torrid sequence of League matches without a victory to nine, leaving them six from bottom with the vultures gathering.

A vote of confidence ringing in his ears, Gregory has been assured that chairman Doug Ellis is still behind him. Whether that is with the purpose of plunging a knife into his back remains open to debate. ‘What can I say?’ lamented the beleaguered boss. ‘It’s a kick in the goolies and it’s very difficult to take.’

Winning or losing, the anxiety always shows with Gregory, who spent most of his afternoon hopping around like a deranged Basil Fawlty, barking commands and generally making the most of his liberty ahead of a six-match touchline ban for his prolonged bout of referee-baiting.

However, his insistence that European qualification remains a viable prospect sounded far from convincing considering the free-fall that has left his team hovering perilously above the relegation zone.

Even more disconcerting was his admission that he would have happily settled for a goalless draw against opponents who have not won away since 3 April.

After an hour of woeful inadequacy, it seemed Gregory would get his wish, with both sides lacking any invention in attack. But the 58th-minute introduction of Ferguson for Silvio Maric paid instant dividends for Bobby Robson’s side.

The Scottish striker had been on the pitch only seven minutes before claiming the only goal. Temuri Ketsbaia cut in from the right to deliver a tantalising cross for Ferguson to hold off the challenge of Colin Calderwood and do what he does best from six yards.

Villa clearly had not done their homework for it was Newcastle’s 11th headed goal of the season, making them the Premiership’s most prolific team in the air.

‘We didn’t stop the cross coming in and we got a right punch on the nose for it,’ said Gregory ‘It’s very disappointing because Newcastle only had one real chance in 90 minutes and they have taken it.’

After spending the majority of his first 12 months at Newcastle on the treatment table, Ferguson can now look forward to a rare first-team start alongside Alan Shearer as they attempt to retrieve a 1-0 deficit against Roma in the Uefa Cup on Thursday. ‘He can put a bit of fear into them,’ Robson said afterwards. ‘I’m just anxious to get him in tip-top condition because he can be an awesome player.’

Robson also had kind words for Gregory’s situation, but the Midlands club’s lack of quality in the final third of the pitch meant that Steve Harper in Newcastle’s goal was relatively inactive until late acrobatics to deny the Villa substitute Benito Carbone - a contender for save of the season, according to an exuberant Robson.

Apart from that, however, there was precious little to get excited about in a drab affair played in a torrential downpour, and Gregory’s problems were exacerbated by injuries to his leading scorer Dion Dublin and the industrious midfielder Lee Hendrie. Just for added measure, Gregory is suffering from the flu. It was not his day.

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*The Guardian*
Monday, 6 December 1999
Match report by David Lacey

*Gregory endures another Doug day afternoon*

John Gregory’s closing line on Saturday could have been taken for a valediction. “It’s rather difficult to take at the moment so I shall leave now,” said the Aston Villa manager after his team lost to Newcastle United, extending their run of Premiership games without a win to nine and dropping into the last six.

In fact Gregory was merely winding up the post-match press conference, although seasoned Villa watchers thought they sensed a chill in the atmosphere which had nothing to do with the coldness of the afternoon. Gregory, after all, had recently received a vote of confidence from his chairman, which from Doug Ellis is like getting the black spot from Blind Pew.

Five years ago Ron Atkinson was dismissed as Villa manager only eight days after being assured of Ellis’s backing. A poor result against Darlington in the FA Cup this weekend followed by a failure against Sheffield Wednesday, the bottom team, a week later in the league and Gregory may be no more.

For the Villa manager Saturday’s defeat by Bobby Robson’s steadily improving Newcastle side was a Doug day afternoon. Two of the players most likely to break down a defence no longer shipping goals by the bucketful, Lee Hendrie and Dion Dublin, were forced off by injuries. Alan Thompson and Benito Carbone replaced them. Then Paul Merson replaced Thompson. Gregory’s bench continues to ask as many questions about his judgment as those posed by the performances of his team.

It is not just about one bad run either. Earlier this year Villa lost 10 of their last 16 league fixtures.

Robson did his best to support a fellow manager. “John Gregory’s players are working very hard,” he insisted. “I did not see any Aston Villa player who was not fully committed, but once you’re on the banana slide it’s hard to get off it. They have a nice team structure but they need a win.”

When he was England manager Robson capped Gregory, then a workaday midfielder with Queens Park Rangers, six times including the 1-0 home defeat by Denmark which led to England missing the 1984 European Championship in France. Gregory’s analysis of Villa’s performance against Newcastle, plenty of hard work but not enough quality, echoed the criticism of England that night.

In truth there was not a lot to choose between the sides when it came to creative ideas, or rather the lack of them. For Villa George Boateng, Ian Taylor and Thompson toiled myopically, for Newcastle Nolberto Solano and Silvio Maric looked like those tourists who wander around Oxford Circus during the rush hour gazing blankly at maps of the underground.

The central strikers Dublin, until he went off, and Newcastle’s Alan Shearer were apt to meet near the halfway line in their search for any kind of half-decent service. Spectators’ attention soon wandered.

Nevertheless for Robson and Newcastle the afternoon was a singular triumph. Their first away win of the season in the Premiership was achieved through Duncan Ferguson’s first goal for the club in 372 days, a sharp header glanced past David James from Temuri Ketsbaia’s centre. Ferguson had replaced Maric nine minutes earlier and with his arrival Shearer, having previously stooged around gloomily after a week laid up with tonsillitis, became more animated. Maybe there is hope for the dream team yet.

At the heart of Newcastle’s victory, however, lay the ability of their defenders to operate as an efficient unit, which under Ruud Gullit had become a lost art. Nikos Dabizas, Franck Dumas and Helder were now speaking the same language football-wise, and when Steve Harper flung himself across goal to push Carbone’s header wide five minutes from the end Newcastle sensed their job was virtually done.

“We showed the discipline, hard work and good organisation that you need when you’re scrapping for points,” said Robson, who has now taken Newcastle up to 14th, their highest of the season. “If Newcastle finish halfway they’ll be ecstatic,” said Gregory, while insisting that his own team could still get into Europe.

“There’s loads and loads of games left yet,” he insisted, but it is the next Premiership match which matters. Lose that and, for Gregory, the rest may become irrelevant.