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from The Times
By Chris Moore

Atkinson completes Pounds 1m move to Aston Villa

RON Atkinson was installed as manager of Aston Villa yesterday on a four-year contract believed to be worth as much as £1 million. The appointment was confirmed less than 48 hours after Atkinson had resigned as manager of Sheffield Wednesday.
Only five days beore, Atkinson had declined an offer from Villa, saying he would be ”barmy” to leave Hillsborough after leading Wednesday to promotion to the first division and success in the Rumbelows Cup.

Yesterday, against a background of anger from supporters in Sheffield, and the threat of legal action from his former club, he blamed himself for not ‘’sticking to his guns” last Friday.

”It wasn’t a change of heart,” he said. ”I have to hold my hands up and admit I bottled it. It was a very emotive day for me when I went up to Sheffield to tell them I was leaving and I should have gone through with the decision there and then. If the news hadn’t leaked, I would have done.
”It’s been arguably the biggest decision I have ever had to make in football. I can understand that the Sheffield people may feel I have let them down, and in view of what happened last weekend, I have to admit I probably have.

”The fact is I was an apprentice at Villa, I watched all my early football here, I probably know the club as well as their most avid fan, and I have always had a gut feeling that one day I would be the manager here. That day has now arrived and I am delighted to be here.”

Atkinson has already offered Andy Gray, the former Scotland and Villa forward, the chance of returning to Villa Park as his right-hand man. But the club is parting company with Dennis Booth and Bobby Downs, two of the backroom staff recruited by Graham Taylor.

Doug Ellis, the Villa chairman, denied approaching Atkinson illegally. ”We have been advised by our lawyers not to comment on the threat of legal action from Sheffield Wednesday because the matter is sub judice,” he said.

”But the sequence of events unfolded after I had been approached by Ron Atkinson’s business adviser to say that he was interested in taking over from Jozef Venglos. I did speak to Ron because I had to ask him if that was the case.

”I told him that subject to the Wednesday chairman giving me permission to discuss the vacancy with him, I would take the matter from there. But I was refused permission and had no alternative but to accept the situation.

”In the meantime, I spoke to three other chairmen before, out of the blue, I heard that Ron had resigned at Sheffield. His business adviser contacted me again on Wednesday to see if Ron could still be considered.”

Asked about the future of David Platt, Villa’s England international, Atkinson left the door open for a transfer to Italy.

”I would certainly like to build a side around him. I see him as another Bryan Robson who works from box to box and scores goals. But I understand that sometimes it’s necessary to sell players to strengthen other positions.”

Speaking to radio listeners in Sheffield, he said that in an ”ideal world” there is a ”lorryload” of players he would have liked to have brought with him from Wednesday.

”But I will not be going back to plunder Hillsborough,” he said.

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