Throughout my playing career I played in excess of 300 career games as a forward for Aston Villa, before retiring due to injury at the age of 25. As a result of my domestic performances I earned selection and played for the England National Team.

Following my playing career I have occupied the roles as a domestic manager from the Premier League to the Blue Square North. I have always been attracted to and have been sought out for many challenging managerial roles and as a result of my character trait I have very rarely walked away from such offers.

In fact, my first managerial success arrived whilst Manager at Darlington Football Club, where we won back to back promotions from what was then the GM Vauxhall Conference (now known as the Blue Square Premier) and the then Fourth Division (now known as League 2).

It was then that I was appointed as Manager of Leicester City FC, whom I took to the play off finals three seasons in a row and upon the third occasion, we achieved promotion to the Premier League.

I was then offered the role as First Team Manager at my former playing Club Aston Villa, who at that point found themselves at the foot of the table and I achieved the target given to me by the board of keeping the Club in the Premiership. Following an extensive overhaul of playing personnel at the Club and within my second season (1995/1996) I guided Aston Villa to a fourth place spot in the Premier League and during the same season we won the Coca Cola Cup beating Leeds 3-0 at Wembley and reached the semi finals of the FA Cup.

During the second season (1996/1997) we finished 5th place in the Premier League and in the third season (1997/1998) and at the time of resigning as Manager due to personal reasons, the team had reached the quarter final of the UEFA Cup.

With Hull City we reached the play off finals (2000/01) and with Tranmere Rovers I guided them from third from bottom to third in Division 1 (2004/05) and to the quarter Final of the FA Cup (2003/04).

I am currently employed by Setanta Ireland TV as a Consent Order-Commentator and Studio Analyst for Premier League, Champions League, UEFA Cup and FA Cup matches. In addition and as of January 2013 I will be employed as a Commentator for SKY TV, with my first game scheduled for the Newcastle United –v- Aston Villa match on the 29th January 2013.