Martin Laursen Retires

Helix

sad day for villa

quality defender with an eye for goal and seemed like a great bloke all round

he'll be tough to replace

Villain

Ah poor fella a real gentleman and a great great player.

Feel sorry for him and obviously Villa too we have lost a great defender.

Dam it.Sad loss.He was a fantasy football legend.

Esse85

Thanks for the memories Martin

Seaneh

Martin has been extremely unlucky with injuries over the years and how Villa kept him fit for long I will never know.

When Milan signed him he looked like he could be one of the best defenders in europe but then the injuries started.

Villa took a massive gamble on him and it paid off.

Sad day for Villa fans.

Villain

Chardee MacDennis

quality player, always liked him, sad to see him have to retire...

dceire

What a shame, he was one of my favourite defenders and definitely one of the best in the European game. A true professional and captain he'll be badly missed by Villa and football fans in general. Hope he goes on to be successful in whatever he does next, he deserves it.

ChumpStain

One of my favourite players in the league and a monster in Fantasy Football. Hope he goes on to be a success as a coach, manager, pundit, nice man, I'm sure Villa will give him a good send off.

leninbenjamin

real shame. great player, I hope he stays in football.

Galvasean

Damn, there arent enough quality centre backs in the world as it is. Its a shame to see him go.

UnitedIrishman

Cracking player, it's a shame. Always thought he was the kind of defender a team like Arsenal could do with - a maker and breaker.

GLaDOS

Really sad to see this, brilliant centre back, its no coincedence for me that Villa's massive loss in form started right after his injury

tomred1

Is already badly missed at Villa. Really is irreplaceable, he always used to win every header in the box. He had a great season last year and this season he was our top player till his injury. Defo go down as a legend, enough he only played 91 games.

Chanandler Bong

some player, right back to his Milan days, always been one of my first purchases in Champo Manager :pac:

blindpilot

Damn shame he was an amazing defender.

Helix

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Really sad to see this, brilliant centre back, its no coincedence for me that Villa's massive loss in form started right after his injury

common misconception, but it didnt

he was injured about 2 months before the slump started

Chanandler Bong

i think the slump started when they went 442 after the signing of heskey, should of just left Gabby Ashley nd Carew in the kind of Mighty Ducks Flying V formation :cool:

Bounty Hunter

The Closest weve had at Villa to Paul McGrath, a true gent also who will be missed in every possible way. The fact that Villa are more than likely going to lose Barry too makes this is even worse as Villa will have to replace their captain and vice captain before even trying to improve on this year.

Last day of the season vs Newcastle is now Martin Laursen day at Villa Park iirc, wont be like Mellberg day last year where he knew he was off for months and actually bought thousands to half sweden half Villa jersies to be given out, but im Sure we will give the Great Dane a proper send off.

V1llianous

A great loss indeed. He's moving back to Copenhagen with his girlfriend and baby son.

Hopefully he'll come back as a scout or coach at some stage.

tomred1

Do football clubs recieve insurance when a player retires early to injury? And does the footballer get the remainder of his contract?

Neil3030

tomred1 wrote: »

Do football clubs recieve insurance when a player retires early to injury? And does the footballer get the remainder of his contract?

I suppose it's like anything else, if they found a company willing to insure, they could have. Very sad to see him finally, if inevitably, call it an early day.

dubmick

sad to hear this, a quality defender. Seems like a gentleman too. Good interview here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/8052621.stm

Bounty Hunter

really wouldent be surprised if he got into coaching, he does not sound like he wants to leave football at all just has accepted he will always be too seceptable to injury and at his age thought Retirement was the best way to go. Also really nice to hear just how happy he was at Villa, any player will say this but i really do believe him when he says the past 2 yrs have been a highlight for him career wise. A loss to the game really as he was with all the time out injured previously. I honestly believe that He was atleast in the top 2 defenders in the Premiership the past 2 years and think replacing him will be one hell of a job even with Cuellar and Davies already at the squad.

eagle eye

Really sad to hear that news. One of the best defenders I've ever seen but the injuries have dogged him. He comes across as the type of guy who could become a top coach in time. Best of luck to him.

el rabitos

always kept an eye out for him since his time at milan.

was up there with the likes of hyppia and a couple of his ex milan team mates in his ability to read the play. never had to be the fastest or sharpest, who could be after so many injurys?, but as i said, could read the game like few other. quality player.

coghlac3

A bit too similar to Macca in some ways, so so sad to hear this news. Always comes accross as a very professional comitted player. The Villa dressing room will defo miss him. I bet he'll miss the game more though.

Best of luck to him for the future!

LuckyLloyd

Sorry to hear that. Seemed like the consummate professional both on and off the field. Considering all that he achieved despite his bad luck in terms of injuries, you are left wondering how dominant he could have been were he to have got an unbroken run of a few seasons without difficulties.

From Villa's perspective, a position that was a pillar of strength two years ago now looks in need of significant investment following the successive departures of Mellberg and Laursen.

yermandan

Its always sad to see someone forced out of the game. He always seemed ageless to me, something like Teddy Sheringham. Great player, honest and scored a good few too!

Best of luck Martin

Tomthepost

I posted in the Villa Thread many months back that Villa without Laursen could be compared to the Irish Rugby team without John Hayes. Perhaps Villa'
s formed didn't drop off immediately after his injury but it wasn't long after and there is no way a villa team with laursen would concede 5 to liverpool or indeed 3 against fulham. Laursen injury cost us 10 points and possibly 5th place.
In recent years only carvalho and vidic could be considered up there with laursen as top centre halves in the epl.

invincibleirish

We knew it was coming but still im gutted. Laursen because when he was fit he was an absolute beast and gave it his all, still we got a season and a half extra out of him more then expected.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/8051821.stm

Jam-Fly

ah that's such a pity. I really liked and respected Laursen. Great player and a pity for the Premiership to lose him

Bounty Hunter

Martin Laursen was better than me says Aston Villa folk hero McGrath
May 17 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Sunday Mercury


CLARET and blue legend Paul McGrath has welcomed Martin Laursen into Aston Villa’s pantheon of all-time greats by declaring: “He’s as good as me, if not better”.
Laursen officially called time on his football career at Villa’s training ground on Friday after admitting he was fighting a losing battle against his latest knee troubles.
In paying tribute to the Danish defender, manager Martin O’Neill again likened him to McGrath while Villa supporters have hailed Laursen as the modern-day Macca.
Laursen suggested he was flattered to be mentioned in the same breath as the Irish icon who is still placed upon a pedestal by the adoring Holte End.
And during difficult days for Laursen, the departing captain will be even more excited to hear McGrath’s very own endorsement of his time at Villa Park.
“I think I’d put him a little bit above me,” whispered McGrath. “And that’s not me trying to be modest.
“I never scored the amount of goals that he’s scored so that’s where I fall down a little bit against him because I didn’t score enough goals.
“Defensive-wise we were pretty similar really to be honest. We were both good in the air.
“I’m going to be a bit cheeky here and say I might have had a bit more pace than him in my younger years.

“But where he was better than me was his goalscoring and his leadership.
“I didn’t open my mouth, I wasn’t a bossy player. I played my own game and kept my corner of the street clean, if you like.
“Martin could shout at people and tell them what to do and I needed to be told what to do so I’m sure we would have done well together.
“We played with three at the back which made my job easier, but Martin has had to play in a two, had it a lot harder and has still done magnificently.
“I’d put Martin at least level with me.”
McGrath has sympathy for Laursen and the emotions he is going through at the moment following the tough decision to hang up his boots.
As well as boasting glowing reputations as two of Villa’s best ever defenders, the pair also have their notoriously dodgy knees in common.
While Laursen is 31 years old, McGrath was able to delay his retirement until the age of 38 by stepping down a level with Derby and Sheffield United. But although the Republic of Ireland international was determined to drain every drop out of his career, he respects Laursen for going out at the top.
“He’s only 31 and I was told when I was 29 that I had two years left so we’d have finished at the same age if I’d have quit when I was supposed to,” said McGrath.

“I played through the pain barrier and did everything I could to continue including having cortisone injections.
“But it can get to the stage where it is bone on bone, it catches up with you and you know you’ve got to call it a day.
“I needed to keep playing football and I wouldn’t have missed a day at Villa for anything, or at Derby or Sheffield United for that matter.
“Martin has been in the best form of his career so the timing is so cruel but he won’t want to let the fans down.’’
Laursen refused to put himself thorough another gruelling period or rehabilitation for fear of severely harming his quality of life outside football.
McGrath admits during his career he never gave too much thought to how his creaking legs would cope throughout his retirement. But with the softly-spoken centre-half set to chalk up his half-century of years in December admits he is now suffering the consequences.
And nowadays McGrath utters the phrase Ooh Aah more regularly when he struggles out of his chair than his worshippers did on the Holte End.
“If Martin has decided that he’s worried about how his knees will feel for the rest of his life then that’s probably a sensible thing,” said McGrath.
“I probably should have been a bit more like that myself, but I was so desperate to play that I just carried on putting my body through it.
“I can’t pretend I can’t feel it now and I’m 50 at the end of the year. If I go to the cinema or sit down for any length of time whenever I get back up it takes me about 10 seconds to learn how to walk again!
“But every single minute of every single match that I played for Villa was worth it, because it’s a great life at a great club with great supporters,” he added.

DSB

Jaysus, hard to decide which 1 is the bigger hero, pity McGrath never took up coaching.

JPA

C'mon now Paul, you were in a different class.