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Aston Villa Home Support


Gary Thomas

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The Tim Sherwood thread contained quite a few posts about our support, triggered by the post below.  Thought it might be worth creating a thread for anyone who wants to talk about our home support.  

gilbertoAVFC: get a respected player (Lescott or Grealish - Villa fans) to get the crowd going when they come out at kick-off. Holte would love that.....

Agreed, but us fans could do more to get ourselves going IMO and and that includes fans in the Dough Ellis and Trinity!  We criticize the players and the manager very harshly but how did we perform as a crowd yesterday?  Did everyone at VP (hand on heart) do everything they possibly could to help lift the team when things weren't happening?  I don't think our support was all that to be honest. A few sporadic chants here and there but too many periods of silence once the game got started.  And once again very few chants for players.  Some may disagree, or will say the team was playing shit, but I don't think that is right.  We claim to be the 12th man. Our support should be at its loudest and most vociferous when the team needs a lift - it shouldn't just die away like a damp squib because things aren't going to plan. There were 36k in there yesterday and we could have made far more noise than we did over the 90mins - it was like we just quit when things started to go wrong.  If there was a league for sustained vocal support at home grounds in the PL where would we be - be honest?  Could we all (and I include myself) do more to help the team and the manager! 

gilbertoAVFC: Well yeah I've been absolutely slated on here for criticising the fans, but we need to take responsibility as well. Admittedly I've phrased it poorly before but:

We ALWAYS play better when the Holte is loud. It wins us games. People don't seem to realise it's an extra 10-20% you're getting from a fired-up, confident player knowing he will still get that support when he f**ks up. In contrast to a 10-20% regression when your own fans are on your back.

I'm not even talking booing, I'm talking lack of singing, tutting, moaning at misplaced passes. Players get scared to try anything risky when they are gonna get slated if they don't pull it off.

I have a theory that the reason English clubs are declining in Europe is because every team that's in the CL is full of plastic, expectant supporters. The "famous Anfield nights" are a thing of the past (see: Basle). Old Trafford is full of Chinese tourists. City seem to have forgotten how to sing now they're good. Arsenal...well. United go to Eindhoven and the home fans absolutely d ick them, then PSV come to Old Trafford and will absolutely dick the home fans. The mentality of the league from a fan's perspective is simply not good enough.

Villa however do not have tourist fans, we are capable of being ridiculously loud. The Holte is set up acoustically/visually to be one of the most intimidating ends in the country. It is a sleeping giant, as described by my Baggies mate. Same mate also said that he was "genuinely scared" by how loud we were against Albion in the cup after the second goal went in. Guess what? We won that game - battered them in the second half and how good did it feel?

When things are going well our support is amazing. We need to do it when the players are under it too though. This is part of football, it will happen. It's very difficult to get out of the pressure though when your 12th man gives up at the slightest hint of danger and takes out one of your other XI for good measure.

Please get behind the team. If we do, we will win and it will turn our season around.

Birminghaaaaaaaam, are ya listenin?!!!?!!!!

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The idea that support plays no part is just absolute nonsense.

Patronising? I just want my team to do well mate and this is the only way that us, as fans, can realistically impact that. You can't honestly tell me that Villa Park is an encouraging place for our players to play football when we go a goal down.

I don't get why people are even trying to find reasons not to get behind the team, it's just so counter productive.

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as a whole villa park is shit but most grounds are now and that includes the top clubs, but when its in full flow its unbelievably loud and up there with any ground in the uk. football grounds have lost that fire in their belly that they once had but also look at our home form for the last how many years and this year will be our 5th year on the bounce where we are in a serious relegation battle. add to all this the cost of football but yes villa park could be much better, for instance the united game was shockingly quiet and that surprised me after our opening day win and a sell out at villa park.

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Constant singing and creating a raucous atmosphere will make it a more enjoyable day out if nothing else. If Villa fail to deliver we should make our own fun.

Make our own fun?  I can do that at home for free.

Terrytini,  As for using the England cricket team as evidence that it works, I've already highlighted a place that it doesn't work: villa park.

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I don't get why people are even trying to find reasons not to get behind the team, it's just so counter productive.

Exactly the point I find patronising. I moan when I see another mistake, when we throw away another game, but it doesn't stop me being in full voice for 90 minutes. You're assuming that because, as a paying fan, I have a whinge when we concede a goal that I'm 'not get(ting) behind the team'? Sorry fella, you're wide of the mark there.

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I don't get why people are even trying to find reasons not to get behind the team, it's just so counter productive.

Exactly the point I find patronising. I moan when I see another mistake, when we throw away another game, but it doesn't stop me being in full voice for 90 minutes. You're assuming that because, as a paying fan, I have a whinge when we concede a goal that I'm 'not get(ting) behind the team'? Sorry fella, you're wide of the mark there.

I was referring to on this forum, not in the ground.

And if everyone did as you did (i.e. sang), moaning would barely be an issue. The problem is most people are happy to sit there and moan in the side sections, yet offer no support even when things are going well. I sat in the Doug Ellis for five years as a teenager, there are some seriously negative people in there.

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There is no doubt in my mind that the atmosphere at a stadium can impact the performance on the pitch, but it's also completely unrealistic to expect a positive atmosphere from the stands when the team are playing so poorly. 

We as fans put a lot into supporting our team, not just financially but emotionally more than anything, our commitment is shown week in week out when we pass through the turnstiles, not by sitting there happy clapping our way through another dire performance.

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We all know our home support can be amazing, but it can also be dire. Some parts of the ground are ridiculously quiet other than maybe one or two having a go at 'yipee aye oh'. I take my son in the Doug Eliis somethings and if you sing you often feel like a frigging alien.  There is almost like a shyness or unwillingness to be the one who breaks the silence!  To me there is no better feeling than when the whole of Villa park is in full cry - it gives me a massive buzz and I genuinely believe helps the team. I honestly think the whole game experience - especially when we are shit like yesterday - would be more enjoyably if we got a few of those repeating tunes going and just made loads of noise - bit like away games.  Anything that moves us to more constant singing would be an improvement for me and I think it would help the team.

 

 

 

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There is no doubt in my mind that the atmosphere at a stadium can impact the performance on the pitch, but it's also completely unrealistic to expect a positive atmosphere from the stands when the team are playing so poorly. 

We as fans put a lot into supporting our team, not just financially but emotionally more than anything, our commitment is shown week in week out when we pass through the turnstiles, not by sitting there happy clapping our way through another dire performance.

I don't think it is unrealistic. Fanbases across Europe manage it. Compared with the rest of the Prem our support isn't especially bad but the Prem is now hands down the worst major league for support.

I appreciate there is a line that can be crossed where it's fruitless/impossible to rouse the enthusiasm to sing, but our tether is very short. We turn very easily. We had hardly been terrible this season until Leicester and now suddenly the mood of the club is at rock bottom.

The financial and emotional commitment obviously is hard, but it'd be more rewarding if we got behind the team a bit more.

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There is no doubt in my mind that the atmosphere at a stadium can impact the performance on the pitch, but it's also completely unrealistic to expect a positive atmosphere from the stands when the team are playing so poorly. 

We as fans put a lot into supporting our team, not just financially but emotionally more than anything, our commitment is shown week in week out when we pass through the turnstiles, not by sitting there happy clapping our way through another dire performance.

It is not happy clapping its just support and more noise and support can influence that dire performance. If it doesn't you lose nothing but if it does you help your team. I am convinced the Leicester and Palace crowd helps their team massively. 

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VP used to be one the best stadiums in the league for singing etc. But for some reason, its true, that it has died down and its also not so atmospheric. Im still trying to think why that is???

It's a vicious cycle though isn't it, which the fans have the power to break. A big part of the Sherwood buzz last season was because the crowd were behind the players again. You can see it in their body language and confidence.

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I agree with the Champions League theory. It also goes to explain why there are so many away wins in the Premier League. Quiet/expectant/nervey crowds. 

It's not just a Villa thing of course. But the nervousness and low expectancy is a Villa thing that transmits to the fans, see also Man City in Champions League.  

It comes down to psychology if you surround yourself with negative people you become negative, positive you become positive.  

On the flip side and I always mention this team in these crowd threads but Sevilla have won 4 Europa Leagues in 10 years without having outstanding team but having a strong home support that drag them through the difficult times. If they go behind no problem, if they are losing 2-0 and score the team will almost always turn it around as the place goes into a frenzy.

And yes before some smart arse points it out I know they lost 1-2 today. :P

But as to how we change things at The Villa, I have no idea. 

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There is no doubt in my mind that the atmosphere at a stadium can impact the performance on the pitch, but it's also completely unrealistic to expect a positive atmosphere from the stands when the team are playing so poorly. 

We as fans put a lot into supporting our team, not just financially but emotionally more than anything, our commitment is shown week in week out when we pass through the turnstiles, not by sitting there happy clapping our way through another dire performance.

 

 

I don't think it is unrealistic. Fanbase across Europe manage it. Compared with the rest of the Prem our support isn't especially bad but the Prem is now hands down the worst major league for support.

 

I appreciate there is a line that can be crossed where it's fruitless/impossible to rouse the enthusiasm to sing, but our tether is very short. We turn very easily. We had hardly been terrible this season until Leicester and now suddenly the mood of the club is at rock bottom.

 

The financial and emotional commitment obviously is hard, but it'd be more rewarding if we got behind the team a bit more.

 

 

You mention us having a short tether mate but I can't remember it being too short under O'Neill when we were pretty exciting to watch. The trouble we have atm is that we have been garbage for 5yrs, and emotionally that is draining.

I can only speak for myself but when I go to Villa Park now I'm not full of excitement looking forward to a another game, I'm a bag of nerves hoping we can scrape a result and (insert teams in bottom 3) lose to give us a bit of breathing space.

Thats why I say its unrealistic to almost unconditionally expect the crowd to create an atmosphere irrelevant of how the team are performing. Give us a bit of hope and us Villa fans can be amongst the best in the lad.

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