Villa Park - Atmosphere [merged]

[villa4europe]

14 minutes ago, Blasterpocket68 said:

I give up - read the post my point was in response about VP  atmosphere if you think we have a better atmosphere or comparable to Anfield then I need to stay in the Aston social till half time and drop a few more cheeky Vimtos. 

I think that's why we have a different atmosphere to anfield

Not sure what the numbers are for the wools as they call them up there but they have the day trippers, the families and the tourists who I would lazily guess aren't paying their £500 for a family day out to get on fabinhos back when he gives the ball away or fill the place with nervous energy with 10 mins left 

The demographic of our crowd is very different, I would guess we have a vast majority of 20 to 60 year old men who from my experience have got increasingly drunk for the matches over the years as we've slipped in to being a bit of a nothing club 

[nick76]

5 minutes ago, gilbertoAVFC said:

remember reading something from an ex coach/player who said (paraphrasing): "Keep it tight at Villa Park for 30 mins and you'll get something cos the fans will moan."

That’s what all coaches for all teams do at away games apart from the elite that don’t need to.  That’s not Villa specific.

7 minutes ago, gilbertoAVFC said:

Just wish people tried to enjoy supporting us and had some fun singing - I'd rather lose 0-3 with the fans singing til the end (this has happened) than lose 0-1 and everyone shouting abuse, but maybe that's just me. It's a modern football thing but also definitely worse than most grounds.

I just don’t know what to say to this!  

Plus also this myth that in the old days it was always positive, I was there and it wasn’t!

[Blasterpocket68]

8 minutes ago, gilbertoAVFC said:

Well I think we should hold ourselves to account and I'd also rate a respected member of the squad to say "we really feel it when the crowd get nervous - we play far better when there's a bit of positivity and patience." I mean something like that is hardly abrasive?

I think Mings secretly doesn't appreciate it. "May your praise be as loud as your disrespect" RE: El Ghazi. Few other cryptic things about our fans I think too from him - I don't blame him.

I remember reading something from an ex coach/player who said (paraphrasing): "Keep it tight at Villa Park for 30 mins and you'll get something cos the fans will moan." I forget who it was, but they ain't wrong. Unless we come firing out the traps the atmosphere usually becomes dead/negative if 0-0 or 0-1 for 20/30 mins, depending on who we play.

Just wish people tried to enjoy supporting us and had some fun singing - I'd rather lose 0-3 with the fans singing til the end (this has happened) than lose 0-1 and everyone shouting abuse, but maybe that's just me. It's a modern football thing but also definitely worse than most grounds.

I agree - not sure about loosing and singing till the end but your other points are spot on . The  team are not playing well it’s agreed but the negative atmosphere will never help. Not sure it’s a modern football thing been to other grounds where the crowd will stick with the team  , it’s supporting . 

[gilbertoAVFC]

6 minutes ago, nick76 said:

That’s what all coaches for all teams do at away games apart from the elite that don’t need to.  That’s not Villa specific.

I just don’t know what to say to this!  

Plus also this myth that in the old days it was always positive, I was there and it wasn’t!

It was Villa specific though, that was the point he was making - wish I could find it!

I never said it was a myth, but if we were shit the fans would still try and get something out the players under O'Leary etc. And we/our squad was terrible - our current squad is still good and the manager is like 10/12 games in. We can do better.

If you think it's fine, then that's up to you, but we only get worse when the atmosphere is like this.

Coincidentally we somehow stayed up when fans couldn't go. Obviously I don't want that to happen, but we seem to create home disadvantage at times, rather than home advantage.

Edited February 20, 2022 by gilbertoAVFC

[Blasterpocket68]

5 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

I think that's why we have a different atmosphere to anfield

Not sure what the numbers are for the wools as they call them up there but they have the day trippers, the families and the tourists who I would lazily guess aren't paying their £500 for a family day out to get on fabinhos back when he gives the ball away or fill the place with nervous energy with 10 mins left 

The demographic of our crowd is very different, I would guess we have a vast majority of 20 to 60 year old men who from my experience have got increasingly drunk for the matches over the years as we've slipped in to being a bit of a nothing club 

I think that’s a little harsh TBH . I think the demographics would be  pretty similar . 

[Demitri_C]

2 hours ago, nick76 said:

It’s hard though, you go down to the ground hopeful but nervous after previous results but you chant and sing before the game and it gets going and then you start seeing the same issues pass after pass, play after play and it’s so friggin obvious.  

Then longer passes going up of play, shots from 25 yards from players that don’t have strong kicks, free kicks being useless play after play, players in free space not getting the ball and then mistakes, players not moving or committing…it just gets to you and I’m not a bad loud critic but even parts yesterday I was shouting a few explicits.  

Does me doing that help the team? Of course not but sometimes it’s uncontrolled reaction and release of frustration.

Yeah but i think it rubs on the players wheb constant groans. I get it it is frustrating but it just leads to more added pressure onto them.

I just think sometimes villa park can ve be a difficult place to play

[nick76]

25 minutes ago, gilbertoAVFC said:

It was Villa specific though, that was the point he was making - wish I could find it!

Yeah he might of said it about Villa but Villa aren’t unique in it was my point.  I completely believe you and it’s true but it’s true of most teams that if you kept them quiet for the first 20-30 mins the home will get restless.  That isn’t something new for most teams and widely talked about, it isn’t just Villa specific.

[nick76]

35 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

I think that's why we have a different atmosphere to anfield

Not sure what the numbers are for the wools as they call them up there but they have the day trippers, the families and the tourists who I would lazily guess aren't paying their £500 for a family day out to get on fabinhos back when he gives the ball away or fill the place with nervous energy with 10 mins left 

The demographic of our crowd is very different, I would guess we have a vast majority of 20 to 60 year old men who from my experience have got increasingly drunk for the matches over the years as we've slipped in to being a bit of a nothing club 

Don’t agree with that,  just in the Holte where I’ve moved my season ticket around season after season it’s very different to the old days.  Loads of families, couples, friends who aren’t drinking.  

The mix of fan is very different to the 80’s and 90’s when I started watching the Villa.  It’s, imo, why there is less vocal singing/chanting like the old days because the mix is very different and less likely to sing at the top of their voices.

[nick76]

34 minutes ago, gilbertoAVFC said:

If you think it's fine, then that's up to you, but we only get worse when the atmosphere is like this.

I just think it’s a myth that the atmosphere was better then than now.  Rose tinted glasses of the past.

 

[nick76]

25 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Yeah but i think it rubs on the players wheb constant groans. I get it it is frustrating but it just leads to more added pressure onto them.

I just think sometimes villa park can ve be a difficult place to play

I don’t disagree.  

Just think it’s very emotional when you’re at a game and fans react in the moment.  They did twenty years ago, they do now.  

I know my family think I’m more emotional at Villa games than in day to day life, and I think that’s the same for most fans.  You try and be positive most of the time but when it gets bad you can’t help it.  I don’t see this being different for any fan for any club.  

I’ve seen it for years at away games when the elite clubs to the lower league clubs  (when we played in the cup or league in the Championship) how opposition home fans react the same.  It’s amusing as an away fan watching the home fans turn after 20-30 minutes.  The Watford fans would’ve felt the same about us yesterday after 20-30 mins.  

[tom_avfc]

2 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Yeah but i think it rubs on the players wheb constant groans. I get it it is frustrating but it just leads to more added pressure onto them.

I just think sometimes villa park can ve be a difficult place to play

Any home ground is a difficult place to play when you’re putting in terrible performance after terrible performance. It’s no coincidence that the fans are questioned every time we go on a poor run. We wouldn’t be football fans if poor performances didn’t piss us off. It would be the same at any ground in the country with a performance like that Watford one yesterday. 

[VillaChris]

Our home form wasn't that much difference behind closed doors tbh.

We won the crucial two to stay up and then the Sheffield and Liverpool one of course and then it was roughly one win in three so just like this season.

Think there's two different type of VP games in terms of atmosphere....the ones at night or late kick offs  under lights when everyone seems up for it and our record is largely good but Sat 3pms have felt very flat for many years now and our record is very average when we play at the normal time.

Was different in championship but again more games against weaker opposition given the quality of squad we had.

[spiezels]

Tbf I feel like atmospheres across the league have been flatter since before covid. Not sure why
 

[VillaParkAvenue]

20 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

I did think at parts of the game the Villa Park crowd were rubbing badly on the players when the ball would go back to our own half and away from goal. You could hear the moaning. 

It was funny to hear Man City fans react the same way in their last game, when they had the chance to counter but the player instead slowed down and passed sideways. Following Pep’s tactics exactly, maintain possession and don’t rush, but fans still don’t like it.

[The Fun Factory]

I think its the feeling of expectation. Given the amount of high profile signings rightly or wrongly most fans expect us to be competitive at home.. 4 wins in 12 home games suggests that we are not.

[spiezels]

3 hours ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

It was funny to hear Man City fans react the same way in their last game, when they had the chance to counter but the player instead slowed down and passed sideways. Following Pep’s tactics exactly, maintain possession and don’t rush, but fans still don’t like it.

This is definitely a factor, whereas with smith we’d break a lightening speed. Even when Martinez would get it he’d look for the quick throw, we now tactically don’t do that. 
 

A lot of fans around me moaned and screamed for us to lump it out wide and “get it up the pitch” 
 

Think people forget it’s a tactical decision, might take a while to get used to. Not the English way of footy or what we’ve seen down VP. 

[Hamburglar]

You turn up to a game convinced that we’re a good side with a good chance of winning and playing top level football. 
very rarely you could describe what’s served the same and this boils over as the match goes on. I think it’s the same for most clubs who aren’t challenging for anything, although we can turn quite quickly to be fair.

We weren’t just making up the numbers in the championship and I enjoyed attending matches when we were there as the atmosphere was much better and went to more games.

 

 

[The Fun Factory]

9 minutes ago, Hamburglar said:

You turn up to a game convinced that we’re a good side with a good chance of winning and playing top level football. 
very rarely you could describe what’s served the same and this boils over as the match goes on. I think it’s the same for most clubs who aren’t challenging for anything, although we can turn quite quickly to be fair.

We weren’t just making up the numbers in the championship and I enjoyed attending matches when we were there as the atmosphere was much better and went to more games.

 

 

And we yet we get 10,000 more attending most games to pay more money to see us lose more often.

Its a funny old game.

Edited February 21, 2022 by The Fun Factory

[TRO]

On 20/02/2022 at 12:12, lexicon said:

And that buck stops with the manager. 

He has admitted that himself......its hard to see past the manager as its their responsibilty......even if they can't kick the ball for them.

[NeilS]

I don't get to every game, but manage to get to about 2-3 games per season with my Dad. This is the first game I have been to in the Gerrard era, and first since Brenford in August/September time. I noticed a definite drop in confidence and noise on show from the fans during this visit. The fans are usually very loud pre-match and for the first 15 minutes at the very least, but it was noticeable how quiet things were after only a few minutes had passed. The team didn't do alot to get the crowd going though to be fair. The play seemed very labourious and slow, and it was frustrating to see Cash out wide in acres of space waiting for the pass, only for the midfield to turn and play it back to the left hand side or through the heavily congested centre of the park.

As the game wore on there was an air of inevitability that we were never going to score, as it would seem we just kept repeating the same patterns of play that hadn't worked previously. I was unsurprised to see that we were eventually hit with a sucker punch, we have all seen it many times before. After the goal It felt like half the crowd had given up and left before the end, which can't help the players. The crowd need to believe, and hope that feeling transfers onto the players. I know games like Saturday make it hard to believe though.