The Phoenix Rises
Ok so here I am, my own personal space in the vast world of the web, so what do I say ??
Well basically I will say whatever is on my mind, most posts will be about the Villa but occasionally I will slip in some political comment, some rants and maybe even comments that will make you think.
So what is on my mind today ?
Only one topic of any note and that is Sunday’s events at Villa Park. You will have watched the game and saw how we performed, first half I thought we were fine but as soon as the second went in we lost it.
However the biggest losers in all this were the fans. From where I sat the comments I heard around me were disgraceful, the abuse some of our own players got was nothing short of disgraceful and the reception for when Knight and Gabby went off, ashamed me.
Some people are trying to justify it by saying that somehow it was against MON, it was not in my view, people were cheering Gabby off in particular because they wanted him off. This is a young brummie lad, one of our own and yet he gets the stick whilst Carew gets his name chanted when not even playing and frankly all he does its to stroll away with little effort but he scores.
For the first time since DOL and Ellis left I have seen some of the reactions I used to see in that era and it is not pleasant and very distasteful, I hope the Villa fans who did this reflect and think to themselves how much shame they brought to the name of Aston Villa on Sunday.
I think you’re right to be honest. No player deserves to be boo’d regardless of how they perform. they need support throught the tough times and as Gabby has said the goals will come.
Some people are just to caught up in the 4th place bullshit and got carried away with our recent run.
If we finish 5th that will be a massive improvment and yeh, slightly annoying that we were 4th for a month or so but get a grip FFS. We have come so far under MON and Lerner, lets not wish ourselves back to the Ellis glory days.
March 17, 2009 at 20:42
Exactly ginge, yes Gabby is not playing well but the team is not exacly playing badly and they get what we saw …
some Villa fans really need to look at themselves
March 17, 2009 at 20:46
Some Villa fans need a slap if I’m truthful.
March 17, 2009 at 20:47
sometimes I wonder I really do, we have it for the best we have had for years and then this.
Yess it was bleeding disappointing the past 6 games but lets have some realism, we would have snapped their hands off !!
March 17, 2009 at 21:05
People got ideas above the teams abillity. The media hyped it up and people got sucked in.
March 17, 2009 at 21:06
yes whilst some of us enjoyed the ride
March 17, 2009 at 21:10
And still are.
March 17, 2009 at 21:12
Hmm. Was it the fans who raised expectations, or the media? Or was it the person who described finishing in the top four as “The Holy Grail”? The man who picked a team that said “Aston Villa is too good for the UEFA Cup”? You see, the trick with putting all your eggs into one basket is to not drop the basket. Right now we are holding on by a very small pinky finger, and all our eggs are on the brink of smashing. The fans didnt make those decisions, the manager did. He gambled, big time, and staked his reputation on getting into the Champions League. As for snapping their hands off, are you sure? Anything less than about 65 points, considering the vast amount of money spent, would be a failure, less than 60 a total disaster. Time is running out. ONeill needs to turn it around today, and above all, he needs to stop fighting the fans, because thats a battle he cant win, no matter who right he might be. My opinion? he has bottled it, and everything he says and does,every decision he makes, seems to confirm that. Here’s hoping I’m wrong
March 18, 2009 at 07:57
Boz, yes MON made those descions and he was totally right to, the UEFA is a farce of a competition, hated by every team who enter it and the mistake he made as I said at the time was to enter it through another farce of a competition.
Look at the whole run he hardly played a full strength team that showed and should have shown as I predicted that the game would be forfeited, to think otherwise would be naive to think so.
and I notice you do not answer the point of my post, do you believe that it is right to cheer/boo a sub during the game ? Do you think that any kind of positive impace on the team ?
course it did not, I booed at the end because the team deserved that but during a game is unforgivable.
March 18, 2009 at 08:47
On the first point, no I dont think its right to boo or cheer a substitution, but its hardly the first time such a thing has happened, and its hardly the last. In either event, it is absolutely not for the manager to turn on the fans and criticise them, however right he may be, that is simply going too far. He should be a man, admit he got it wrong, admit it was a mistake to keep Gabby in the team, take those boos onto his own shoulders instead of letting the kid take the flak. The reason he didn’t? Because he’s going to play Gabby again next week, and the week after. Its a joke. And he’s supposed to be a great manager? Meanwhile, every time Carew comes off the bench and scores (which is pretty much every time lets be honest) he makes ONeill look like a stubborn muppet.
As for the UEFA Cup, I think you are wrong. Milan fielded a full strength team against a full strength Bremen for example. You try and tell those Bremen lads that this cup means nothing. You try and tell the Milan players who were absolutely distraught at the end that it means nothing. It may not have the importance of bygone years but its still a big deal, for everyone outside this country anyway. Finishing fifth or sixth and wining the UEFA Cup would have been just about as big a step forward as finishing fourth imo. As it is, we aren’t going to do either, are we? If Man City win that Cup, they will have stolen alot of, if not all of, our thunder, and will be better placed to attract decent players this summer and will be a real rival for next season.
March 18, 2009 at 09:00
I will answer some of the points you raise in my next blog.
but as for the UEFA look at how many turned up to Citeh’s last game highe swathes of the COMS shut down. Winning the UEFA makes no difference at all to any team it is simply CL or nothing.
no matter how repulsive that is to me personally
why we have suddenly lost form is another debate which we can address
March 18, 2009 at 12:10
so Pete, I just checked the comments made by MON from the OS
‘He said: “It was really disappointing [the reaction] because he has been fantastic since I’ve been here.
“He is currently going through a period where confidence is low but I don’t think that kind of reaction helps anyone.
“He is a local lad who has come through the ranks and he has been really terrific for us.
“He is just lacking confidence at the moment, which is why I took him off.’
at no point does he have a go at the fans but says he is ‘disappointed’ with some of them …
so were some of us (stronger terms for me) and therefore what he was calm and rational after the event, it does however mask I feel his true feelings about some of us.
March 18, 2009 at 12:36