‘I’m happy for Tammy to beat my goal tally’ (AS LONG AS VILLA GO UP!)
ASTON VILLA LEGEND PETER WITHE ON NEW SHOOTING STAR ABRAHAM
PETER Withe is happy to see his club scoring record go – as long as new owner Tammy Abraham’s goals fire Aston Villa into the Premier League.
Withe was the last Villa player to score 20 league goals in a season nearly 40 years ago and they helped make the club champions of England.
Abraham was on 19 league goals going into yesterday’s game at Reading and his task is to get Villa into the play-offs and then back into the big league.
“I have always said that I’m happy for my record to be broken if it means that Aston Villa win something,” says Withe. “Right now that means Villa getting into the Championship play-offs and then promotion to the Premier League.
“If Abraham’s goals can do that for the club then I won’t mind my record going at all. In fact, it’s about time it did!”
Withe’s golden season was 38 years ago, 1980-81, when they won the old First Division. Strike partner Gary Shaw got 18 league goals as well and together they went on to win the European Cup the following season with Withe scoring the winner against Bayern Munich.
Christian Benteke and Jonathan Kodjia have both been close to breaking Withe’s record in recent seasons, but it’s Abraham taking the crown. Withe, now 67, was talking to The
FLP from his home in Perth, Australia.
The aircon was on with the temperature touching 65 degrees at nine in the evening, but Withe is still in touch with the rain, sleet, snow and Abraham’s goals back home.
Penalties
Withe will be in England in April for what he hopes will be Villa’s run into the play-offs via Abraham’s goals.
“I would think Abraham should go on and get 30 goals for the season,” says Withe, who also respectfully points out that Abraham’s total includes penalties.
“My 20 goals didn’t include penalties,” adds Withe. “When I joined Villa, Gordon Cowans was taking the penalties and the manager, Ron Saunders, didn’t want to change that.”
Abraham had put four penalties away before yesterday and Villa boss Dean Smith, like Withe, expects him to go on and bag 30 goals.
“Abraham is a good player,” adds Withe. “I’ve been down Villa and seen him playing and I’ve seen him training when I’ve been up at the training ground.
“He’s young with things still to learn. Abraham’s touch could be better and he also needs not to mix it so much with centrehalves. “I keep seeing today’s strikers almost marking the opposing centre-half. What are they doing? They should be nowhere near the centre-half, it’s their job to get away from them.” Withe says strikers should get special one-onone coaching like goalkeepers do.
“When I was at Nottingham Forest, Brian Clough said to me there were two men in his team who deserved bigger wages, the goalkeeper and the centre-forward, because they are the most important players in the team,” recalls Withe.
Important
“There never used to be special coaching for goalkeepers. But that has been brought in and I’ve always felt it should be the same for strikers.
“It’s one of the strong opinions I hold and at one point I offered to go to Villa and coach the strikers for free.”
Abraham, 21, has scored his 19 goals in 23 games despite Villa’s fluctuating season that has so far seen them not make a sustained promotion push.
“Abraham looks willing to learn,” adds Withe. “When I’ve been up the training ground I’ve been impressed with the way he has trained.
“It was the previous manager, Steve Bruce, who brought Abraham in on loan from Chelsea and he wasn’t afraid to give the young player a go.
“There were others in front of Abraham in Scott Hogan and Kodjia, but he’s got in and made himself the first choice. There’s not many 6ft 3ins strikers who are as mobile as him. He’s not going to be shifted out of the team any time soon.”
Abraham is on loan from Chelsea until the end of the
season – although that near ly ended last month. Wolves had a strong interest in him and with a break in the loan contact that allowed him to go, Abraham was tempted by Premier League football.
Chelsea wouldn’t have minded either because a successful spell in the Pre mier League would have pushed up Abra aham’s sell ing value for the summer.
Complications with FIFA rules preventing a player playing for three teams in a season (Abraham had played for Chelsea as well as Villa) and a bit more in depth thinking persuaded Abraham to stay with reg ular Championship football rather than risk being the odd man out in a deeper Wolves squad.
“Abraham loo oks happya
at Villa,” says Withe. “That’s what I saw in the way he trained anyway.
“The money players earn these days, what’s it matter if you are earning a little less but happy, scoring goals and being where you like to be?
Happy
“If Abraham keeps scoring like this then he’s not going to be short of options to take when his loan at Villa ends.”
Withe scored 74 goals in 182 games for Villa. But they didn’t come easy. He would drop his kids off at school and then go in early for training, getting a goalkeeper and a couple of players out with him to practise finishing. “I’d study the goalkeepers, the centre-halves, other strikers. I’d watch them and learn,” he says. His best goal of the 20? “I came across it on YouTube the other day. It was against Middlesbrough, our last home game in the title run-in. Everyone was sh ****** themselves at Villa because they said they never beat Boro, never scored against them even.
“I said that was funny because I always scored against them and always beat them!
“Tony Morley crossed the ball and I was at the far post and headed it back across the keeper Jim Platt. He never moved didn’t Platt. It was one of the things I’d researched.”
What should Abraham do now then?
“Get himself a No.9 shirt,” said Withe. “That No.18 he wears, 2x9, get rid of that. No.9, it’s an iconic shirt.
“When Alan Shearer was in negotiations to go to Manchester United before he went to Newcastle he stipulated he had to have the No.9 shirt.
“Tammy Abraham should stay at Villa next season and be in the No.9 shirt.”
I would think Abraham go should on and get 30 goals for the season