Aston Villa legend is proud of Martin O'Neill's side
“In our day we always wanted to play. Players are like that. Mercer used 13 players.
“It was reckoned the fewer players you used the better chance you had of getting a spirit together.
“I know that’s a bit old fashioned. It’s different nowadays.”
Thomson likens the collapse to that endured by Graham Taylor’s Villa in 1989/90.
“Top of the league, playing well and then we signed Tony Cascarino,’’ he continued.
“Taylor put him straight into the team, which I thought was wrong.
“He should have gently introduced him into the team.
“I think Villa blew the league because of it, and it was the same thing last year. That’s how I feel.”
Thomson, though, admits Heskey’s bustling style would have made him a fine strike partner despite him having played with three legends at Villa Park in Peter McParland, Tony Hateley, Gerry Hitchens and an up-and-coming Derek Dougan.
“As soon as one of our defenders got the ball, I’d get up a head of steam because I knew one of my pals was in the middle,’’ said Thomson.
‘‘Dougan, Hateley or Hitchens would flick it on. I could go left or right – it didn’t really matter to me It was an easy plan.
“Villa proved that on Heskey’s debut, although it was strange because Gabby flicked it on to Heskey for the goal – straight away – one hundred miles an hour. But we’ve gone a little bit down the nick since then.”
Thomson spent five years with Wolves making just one League appearance, scoring in a 2–0 win over Newcastle in April 1957.
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