Post by Macmoish on Jan 7, 2012 9:30:50 GMT
I never understood the (Official) rationale for putting Penrice on Gardening Leave when Holloway was so treated.
Ahead of a clash between two of his old clubs (A Villa and Bristol Rovers), Penrice speaking
Now 46, Penrice – who still lives near Bristol – maintains his involvement in the game. He spent three years as European scout for Stoke City under Tony Pulis and is now involved in international player recruitment on a freelance basis, searching out talent abroad for a number of clubs, including Wigan.
Bristol Rovers legend Gary Penrice gearing up for an Aston Villa thriller
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Bristol Evening Post
BRISTOL Rovers legend Gary Penrice will be a keen spectator from his armchair when two of his old clubs do battle in the FA Cup today.
The Bristolian scored 61 goals in 239 league starts in two spells as a player with the Pirates, making a further 23 outings from the bench, and also had a spell as assistant manager at the club during Ian Holloway's spell in charge.
Gary Penrice celebrates one of his 61 goals for Rovers, scored during two spells with the club
Gary Penrice celebrates one of his 61 goals for Rovers, scored during two spells with the club
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But he also had a stint in the Premier League during a nine-month stay at Aston Villa in the early 1990s.
And even though he managed only one goal in 20 appearances for the Villains, he still looks back on his spell in the Midlands with some affection.
Penrice arrived at Villa Park following a £1 million move from Watford in March 1991.
"Villa were struggling when I arrived, but we did alright in the end and stayed up at the end of the season," recalled Penrice.
"The problem I'd had was that I'd torn my hamstring away from the back of my knee while I was Watford, so I'd been out for quite a while and had three spells with a full-length plaster on my leg. I arrived at Villa without a pre-season under my belt.
"Jozef Venglos was the manager when I arrived there and looking back now, you can see that in many way he was a bit ahead of his time in terms of tactics.
"All the English teams were playing 4-4-2, but he had a sort of 4-3-3 formation and I spent most of the time playing out wide on the right. Tony Daley was on the other side with Tony Cascarino up the middle.
"Any Rovers fan could have told you I was the worst right-winger ever. If Gerry Francis ever played me there when I was at Rovers, I used to sulk for a fortnight!"
Villa finished fourth from bottom, four points clear of relegated Luton Town, who went down with Sunderland and Derby County that season, but Venglos was to part company with the club at the end of the campaign.
"It was clear the managerial situation wasn't really settled and eventually they brought Ron Atkinson in," said Penrice.
"Big Ron did give me a few games up front, but he brought Dalian Atkinson in as well and he also had Cyrille Regis there at the time.
"Nobody wanted to be sub in those days – it wasn't like the squad system you get nowadays – and I wanted to play games, so when the chance came to go to QPR and play under Gerry again, I was off. The rest is history.
"But they were fantastic days at Villa, although there was a lot of pressure because they were such a big club struggling near the foot of the table. But obviously the chance to play in the Premier League was something else."
Now 46, Penrice – who still lives near Bristol – maintains his involvement in the game. He spent three years as European scout for Stoke City under Tony Pulis and is now involved in international player recruitment on a freelance basis, searching out talent abroad for a number of clubs, including Wigan.
"I've only seen Rovers once this season, and that was on TV in their FA Cup game against Totton, when they looked like they could score goals for fun," he said. "Villa will obviously be a different prospect and everybody will be expecting the game to be a walkover.
"But it's a tricky fixture for Villa. Do they take the chance to give some of their fringe players a game or not? It's probably a bit of a conundrum.
"The danger for them is that this is a one-off game and anything can happen. I remember when I was at Rovers with Garry Thompson. We were in League Two at the time but we went to Derby, who were in the Premier League, and knocked them out 3-1 the day Nathan Ellington got a hat-trick.
"I also remember being at QPR with Ollie and getting knocked out by Vauxhall Motors.
"To be honest, I thought they were just a factory side and didn't even know they were a football club!
"From Rovers' point of view, it's a game where they can forget about the pressures of the league and just go out and play.
"The ground will be packed and there will be a massive atmosphere. The beauty of football is that anybody can beat anybody on their day."
www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Bristol-Rovers-legend-Gary-Penrice-gearing-Aston/story-14353763-detail/story.html
Ahead of a clash between two of his old clubs (A Villa and Bristol Rovers), Penrice speaking
Now 46, Penrice – who still lives near Bristol – maintains his involvement in the game. He spent three years as European scout for Stoke City under Tony Pulis and is now involved in international player recruitment on a freelance basis, searching out talent abroad for a number of clubs, including Wigan.
Bristol Rovers legend Gary Penrice gearing up for an Aston Villa thriller
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Bristol Evening Post
BRISTOL Rovers legend Gary Penrice will be a keen spectator from his armchair when two of his old clubs do battle in the FA Cup today.
The Bristolian scored 61 goals in 239 league starts in two spells as a player with the Pirates, making a further 23 outings from the bench, and also had a spell as assistant manager at the club during Ian Holloway's spell in charge.
Gary Penrice celebrates one of his 61 goals for Rovers, scored during two spells with the club
Gary Penrice celebrates one of his 61 goals for Rovers, scored during two spells with the club
•
•
•
But he also had a stint in the Premier League during a nine-month stay at Aston Villa in the early 1990s.
And even though he managed only one goal in 20 appearances for the Villains, he still looks back on his spell in the Midlands with some affection.
Penrice arrived at Villa Park following a £1 million move from Watford in March 1991.
"Villa were struggling when I arrived, but we did alright in the end and stayed up at the end of the season," recalled Penrice.
"The problem I'd had was that I'd torn my hamstring away from the back of my knee while I was Watford, so I'd been out for quite a while and had three spells with a full-length plaster on my leg. I arrived at Villa without a pre-season under my belt.
"Jozef Venglos was the manager when I arrived there and looking back now, you can see that in many way he was a bit ahead of his time in terms of tactics.
"All the English teams were playing 4-4-2, but he had a sort of 4-3-3 formation and I spent most of the time playing out wide on the right. Tony Daley was on the other side with Tony Cascarino up the middle.
"Any Rovers fan could have told you I was the worst right-winger ever. If Gerry Francis ever played me there when I was at Rovers, I used to sulk for a fortnight!"
Villa finished fourth from bottom, four points clear of relegated Luton Town, who went down with Sunderland and Derby County that season, but Venglos was to part company with the club at the end of the campaign.
"It was clear the managerial situation wasn't really settled and eventually they brought Ron Atkinson in," said Penrice.
"Big Ron did give me a few games up front, but he brought Dalian Atkinson in as well and he also had Cyrille Regis there at the time.
"Nobody wanted to be sub in those days – it wasn't like the squad system you get nowadays – and I wanted to play games, so when the chance came to go to QPR and play under Gerry again, I was off. The rest is history.
"But they were fantastic days at Villa, although there was a lot of pressure because they were such a big club struggling near the foot of the table. But obviously the chance to play in the Premier League was something else."
Now 46, Penrice – who still lives near Bristol – maintains his involvement in the game. He spent three years as European scout for Stoke City under Tony Pulis and is now involved in international player recruitment on a freelance basis, searching out talent abroad for a number of clubs, including Wigan.
"I've only seen Rovers once this season, and that was on TV in their FA Cup game against Totton, when they looked like they could score goals for fun," he said. "Villa will obviously be a different prospect and everybody will be expecting the game to be a walkover.
"But it's a tricky fixture for Villa. Do they take the chance to give some of their fringe players a game or not? It's probably a bit of a conundrum.
"The danger for them is that this is a one-off game and anything can happen. I remember when I was at Rovers with Garry Thompson. We were in League Two at the time but we went to Derby, who were in the Premier League, and knocked them out 3-1 the day Nathan Ellington got a hat-trick.
"I also remember being at QPR with Ollie and getting knocked out by Vauxhall Motors.
"To be honest, I thought they were just a factory side and didn't even know they were a football club!
"From Rovers' point of view, it's a game where they can forget about the pressures of the league and just go out and play.
"The ground will be packed and there will be a massive atmosphere. The beauty of football is that anybody can beat anybody on their day."
www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Bristol-Rovers-legend-Gary-Penrice-gearing-Aston/story-14353763-detail/story.html