*Ugo and upset him so…*

Point by point, Terry Venables continues to tutor his team in the art of Premiership survival.

Four draws in the last four league games may not be the stuff of dreams. But considering that three of those have been away from home and in view of the failings of the sides below them, the tally is a satisfactory one. At this rate Middlesbrough are bang on course for the 40-points safety net.

The toast of Teesside has now steered them to 12 unbeaten matches - with a whiff of FA Cup success thrown in - and there is sure to be an extra sparkle in his Manager of the Month champagne. Had substitute Phil Stamp earned the penalty that Steve Stone’s late challenge seemed to merit, it could be positively fizzing.

Villa manager John Gregory admitted the offence was blatant, while at the same time arguing that his record signing Juan Pablo Angel was the victim of an equally clear penalty-box push earlier.

When Stone punished a rare absence of defensive discipline with a close range header from Steve Staunton’s corner, Villa looked well capable of gaining their first league victory at home for three months.

Instead, Gregory was left to reflect ruefully on an equaliser just after half-time by Ugo Ehiogu, the man he sold to Middlesbrough for £8million, and who delivered the perfect response to a crowd who gave him an uncomfortable homecoming by converting a corner from Keith O’Neill with a thumping header.

Ehiogu milked the goal for all it was worth - and who could blame him?

‘It was an awful goal to concede,’ said Gregory, concerned at the absence of a marker. ‘But to be fair to the big man he took it well. I just wish he had done that sort of thing for us.’

While his team have enough points in the bank to prevent being sucked into the relegation battle, Gregory is concerned about a lack of forward power, with £9.5million signing Angel continuing to struggle with the pace of the English game.

‘He’s having a tough time off the field,’ said Gregory. ‘His wife and baby son have both been ill and he’s being living out of a suitcase. The demands on him are massive. I am sure when he settles he will get better.’

In terms of possession, Villa enjoyed much more of this game. But for all the prompting and probing of Paul Merson, they often ran into blind alleys against a team whose organisation was again spot on.

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*The Guardian*
Sunday, 11 February, 2001

*Ehiogu proves his point*

The manager of the month was in philosophical mood on Saturday evening. “The journey of 90 minutes can take you many ways,” he opined. “It’s not much different from the whole season.” Terry Venables might have been talking about his whole life.

For anyone hitching a ride on the latest Venables wagon, it has been safe rather than spectacular. Boring? “For everyone else maybe, but we’ll keep on doing what we believe in,” Venables retorted.

The so-called saviour of Teesside is not for the moment a visionary but a pragmatist thumbing tested textbooks. “So many times you think when you are drawing ‘we can win this’ and push people forward and you end up getting nothing. You can get carried away, but then the brain must come in. I’ve got to get habits in whereby we get results.” The end - a four-point distance from the dread zone - justifies the means.

Ugo Ehiogu used to call Villa Park “my manor” but, now running with a different gang, the £8m defender was jeered from his first touch. His crushing header from a corner saw him wheel away, conspicuously cocking his left ear to his tormentors. Almost instantly came the defiant chant: “You’ll never play for England.”

He has, of course, if only once - under Venables. That was in China during the infamous run-up to Euro 96. “I have been disappointed he hasn’t gone on to earn more,” said the former England coach. “I’m happy he’s on our side.”

John Gregory, without a trace of grudge, complimented Ehiogu, even if Villa’s manager thought his goal was as soft as the header from the 5ft 8in Steve Stone from another corner that briefly raised hopes of a first home league win for three months.

Villa Park waited 12 minutes for Juan Pablo Angel’s first touch - a misplaced header - and another 63 for his overdue replacement by Dion Dublin.

It is not only the striker’s lack of a goal - or even the hint of one - that made Angel look, in Gregory’s words, “the most anxious I’ve seen him in his five games”. Villa’s manager revealed that his £9.5m record signing “is having a tough time off the field in particular. His wife has been very ill and his three-week-old baby has also been ill, and the player’s living out of a suitcase”.

Angel’s wife Paula is in hospital undergoing tests after suffering abdominal pains, but the baby boy has now recovered after being affected by the long flight to England. Gregory also underlined the striker’s professional problems. “He’s finding it difficult adjusting to the Premiership; the ball spends a long time in the air, which is different from what he’s accustomed to.

“I comfort myself with people like Bergkamp and Henry who came out of Serie A and spent three months getting used to the Premiership. After that they’ve never looked back.”

Those are supportive words but Gregory must fear that Angel will be the biggest flop in the club’s history. And that includes one Stanley Collymore.