Stan's the man, says Gregory - January 30, 2001
Under fire Aston Villa manager John Gregory has exonerated Ireland international Steve Staunton from any blame for the club's current slump and is backing the Irishman to lead Villa out of relegation danger.
Gregory is delighted with his free-transfer signing from Liverpool and has been publicly singing the Drogheda-born defender's praises.
"He is very aggressive in the way that he plays and I don't mean that he goes round kicking people," the manager said. "I mean that in everything he does he wants it to be the best and when he passes the ball he means it. When he uses ball, when he crosses it, he means it".
Staunton - out in the cold at Anfield for most of the last two seasons - has managed to grab one of the three central defensive positions at Villa Park and, with Gareth Southgate ruled out with knee ligament damage for the next few weeks, Stan looks set for an extended run in the team.
"Everything that he does he does with intention and he is not one for just putting his toe in the water and trying to find out what the temperature is," Gregory commented. "He will jump in with two feet and if it's freezing, it's freezing and he will get on with it.
"He leads by example in everything he does."