John Gregory has defended his decision to snub David Ginola and leave him on the bench during Aston Villa's Intertoto Cup win over Slaven Belupo.
Ginola was stripped and poised to come on when Gregory changed his mind and sent on Mustapha Hadji for his debut instead. An incensed Ginola booted the side of the perspex dugout before slumping into his seat with his head in his hands. Gregory claimed he did not send Ginola on because the game was delicately poised and another attacker might have left Villa open at the back.
"I was going to bring him on, but I looked at the boys and Hassan Kachloul was doing a great job for us defensively down that side," said the Villa manager. "They were just throwing caution to the wind and they needed a goal to get back into it. With the offensive players we had on the pitch at the time it didn't seem right to bring on another one."
Gregory and Ginola have rarely seen eye to eye since the Frenchman's arrival a year ago and this latest incident could hasten the former Tottenham star's exit from Villa Park. Lee Hendrie scored twice - although his second may go down as an own goal for Pavo Crnac - in the first half to earn Villa a 2-0 win and a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Filed by Pat Nugent
