MarkLillis

The question I’m trying to ask is why be so down in your own team? How do you enjoy the game when you have no hope before the start? As Villa fans we recently supported a side that was beaten before it started (2015) it was horrible....now we are in a lower division agreed but this team is far from hopeless. Despite your arguments to the contrary we have a very good chance of promotion along with around 10 other teams...some of whom have a better chance than us and some of whom don’t but there are 17 games left...so the facts are not decided!

Agree. Lets say in ten games time we could have gained 6 points on the top two.....never mind the top 6! We would be 6 points of automatic with 7 games to go....that's really not to much of a leap for the imagination is it? What I find hard is how easily people want to give up hope. Why does it happen? As football fans we cant influence anything so how much fun can you have without hope?

I'm going to look on the up side. We have two very good players coming back from injury in the next month. We have signed three new out field players if one of these turns out to be a success then I think the team will improved enough for a good run in. A very average Hull side went to the best side in this division and won whilst creating a run of 6 straight wins. There is absolutely NO reason why Villa cannot do the same at anytime.

He's a natural......ain't ya Tyrone?

So its a future fact..... That's not a fact now..... But could be a fact..... Just like a " we could win all our games and get 93 points" type fact?

As above. I agree with WakefieldVillan. Confidence is massive for a footballer and he has little to none at present! I always thought he would be like a Christmas present that was underwhelming at first then one day you start to use it and find out that it is very useful and well thought out gift. It’s a shame it hasn’t worked out for both Villa and Scott.

I always used to say that you can't blame the fans for a bad atmosphere. The players have to set the tone with an upbeat performance, and to a certain extent I still believe that. However some people don't even seem to be watching the games when the start moaning about a certain player or tsituation When the atmosphere is generated by a general feeling that....we should be playing 442 or that Whelan is playing crap (when neither point is actually valid) Then what can the players do to affect the situation?

Hence we were relegated in complete and utter disarray. But this discussion should be in another thread I guess

Really? The team that got relegated was one of the worst to grace the Premier League. Wheras Newcastle had a side that was poorly managed but full of quality.

How is it possible to enjoy your football with an outlook like that? Right up until we couldn’t mathematically catch Cardiff last year I was walking to my seat with hope. The lads around me thought it was funny but I did genuinely think we still had a chance,I was wrong as it turned out but it made it more enjoyable for me anyway!

Another supporter who uses that fact that we have been almost run into ground by poor management over the last ten years to validate how well their club is doing... Wouldn’t you much rather be unbeaten against us when we are in our usual position of top half Premier?

This is a great post. I really hope that we are embarking on own long term strategy. I can see that the majority of the clubs mentioned in your list were small-ish (with two obvious exceptions). I think any long term vision will have set backs along the way, progress will not be Linear. Smaller clubs fans seem to be more content with their lot and react better to setbacks. How on earth do we manage the expectations of our already dis-heartened support? We have already shown glimpses of what it may be like when it works which was great whilst it lasted. But the atmosphere just before Chester's goal on Saturday showed that the home support on mass are not ready to support a stumbling side finding their way....

The last bit I agree with. Winning one in 9 on a regular basis will get any Villa manager sacked.On a similar note it would most probably get any teams manager the heave ho... But clubs have plans though...none of them are running around like Sunday league clubs from week to week.So are we saying just because the manager is sacked the club that sacked him don’t have a long term vision?

This a very good summary of the situation right now!

Yes I have to agree. Never thought he was a bad player myself, but didn't really see much of him. Maybe Dean Smith isn't sure so he is actually going to watch him play in close quarters before he makes a call?

That would make sense. Losing the ball is an individual error. It should be taken personally. At the moment John McGinn is the only player who seems to take it personally......

Well no team can achieve anything if they have to score two goals just to draw the game. The defence is a massive issue I agree.UTV

Agreed that we picked up second half,most probably because of Dean Smiths half time talk. But I also think if Chester’s goal hadn’t of happened when it did then he wouldn’t have been able to save it.....

It is a long way off. I am I the only one that thinks that if an average team like Hull can win six on the bounce in this division then there is still hope?

There is no reason why we can’t balance the change needed with enough wins to place us in the top six. its reasonable simple. The changes made need to be the right ones. I can see how the majority of Villa fans would have difficulty believing our club can actually do that.....but it is possible.

We could talk about this all day.... It just depends on your outlook I think. I see us as well in touch (with top six), but we going through another bad spell. Where I think we differ is that I think the bad spell will end..... and you don't

That last paragraph... We are five points off top six right now with 19 games to go. We are challenging!

Me too Very underrated during his time here. Not the most spectacular of players though I think Eric Cantona would have described him as a “water carrier”

lol We are all the same. I find it funny that some clubs still have fans that think "We are xxxx F.C .....the best fans in the country!" We never boo/moan/have low attendances....

10 years ago this week we were 4th in the Premier league.3 points behind leaders Man Utd. What a disastrous decade. I know we have been lower in the league but who could have guessed back then all the heartache that was to come.