MaVilla Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 I am currently reading "Leading" by Alex Ferguson. I dont like Manure, but tbh some of AF's thoughts, opinions, general ramblings about how to effectively manage a team (in his opinion ofc), etc are really insightful and interesting. Anyway, to the point, AF mentions that during his time at Manure, there were only two clubs that he was always concerned that the atmosphere was capable of being so noisy/hostile that it had the ability to impact the performance of his players, one was Elland Road (Leeds), and the other Anfield (Liverpool). So my question is, why are we unable to make Villa Park such a hostile/loud/threatening location for opposition teams to come and play? Are we too busy getting on our own players backs at times rather than making life hard for the opposition? (at times), are we just more quiet generally than say Anfield or Elland Road?, something else? I would be interested in your thoughts on this, as tbh, we have a fairly large stadium, at the moment it is regularly full, why arent we creating an atmosphere that makes it consistently difficult/uncomfortable for opposition teams to come and play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post blandy Posted August 29, 2021 Moderator Popular Post Share Posted August 29, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, MaVilla said: AF mentions that during his time at Manure, there were only two clubs that he was always concerned that the atmosphere was capable of being so noisy/hostile that it had the ability to impact the performance of his players, one was Elland Road (Leeds), and the other Anfield (Liverpool). On that part of the question the obvious point is that Leeds and Liverpool fans detest Manchester United. I've been to both those grounds many many times and the atmosphere at both has ranged from impressive to pretty quiet. In terms of Villa (and almost everywhere) the game, the style of play, the score, the refereeing, things a player does…loads of stuff, have a big impact. People worry and fret way too much about what other people think of the atmosphere at grounds. Fans everywhere are pretty similar. There are few if any grounds where the atmosphere is always banging. Edited August 29, 2021 by blandy typo 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corleone Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 Most grounds are pretty shit now will all seating but the constant press fawning over the "Special atmosphere" at Anfield is laughable They sing YNWA and then not much after Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 We've only got about 3 songs. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 2 hours ago, MaVilla said: So my question is, why are we unable to make Villa Park such a hostile/loud/threatening location for opposition teams to come and play? I thought the second half yesterday sounded pretty good. But I did notice at one point in the first half when it was 1-1 and should've been raucous, you could hear a pin drop. When Villa seduced me in the mid 90's, a big part of it was how VP sounded to me watching on TV. Deafening. I think as the season progresses and the intrigue heats up we will hear some good old fashioned Villa Park decibels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_avfc Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 3 hours ago, MaVilla said: I am currently reading "Leading" by Alex Ferguson. I dont like Manure, but tbh some of AF's thoughts, opinions, general ramblings about how to effectively manage a team (in his opinion ofc), etc are really insightful and interesting. Anyway, to the point, AF mentions that during his time at Manure, there were only two clubs that he was always concerned that the atmosphere was capable of being so noisy/hostile that it had the ability to impact the performance of his players, one was Elland Road (Leeds), and the other Anfield (Liverpool). So my question is, why are we unable to make Villa Park such a hostile/loud/threatening location for opposition teams to come and play? Are we too busy getting on our own players backs at times rather than making life hard for the opposition? (at times), are we just more quiet generally than say Anfield or Elland Road?, something else? I would be interested in your thoughts on this, as tbh, we have a fairly large stadium, at the moment it is regularly full, why arent we creating an atmosphere that makes it consistently difficult/uncomfortable for opposition teams to come and play? As mentioned earlier surely this is just the natural atmosphere of derby matches. The atmosphere at Villa Park when we play Small Heath is completely different to any other game. Anfied for a game against Man United is completely different than it is when teams like Villa travel there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brommy Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 @MaVilla What do you think of the atmosphere at Villa Park when we’ve played blose, boggies, dogheads, and more recently the Villa hating, chip on their shoulder, leeeeds? It’s no wonder that SAF found the atmosphere intimidating at the clubs that absolutely hated (with a passion) his team. It’s often mentioned that Anfield can be quiet against other teams and leeeeds wasn’t that noisy before their recent trajectory. Not saying they don’t have decent support but it needs to be compared like for like. Conversely, I do think that football support in general is traditionally more fervent in the north compared to the midlands. Concentrating back on our club, I thought the atmosphere against Newcastle was okay and yesterday, good. My 24 year old son sits 2 seats away (my wife in between) from me in the Upper Holte and three times we gave up on short conversations because we couldn’t hear each other with the Holte in near full voice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 The atmosphere yesterday was rated as 'vibrant' on bbc sport website. There are far worse atmosphere's at other premier league grounds. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 I think we have had managers who felt the VP crowd was detrimental to the team over the years and wouldn't have minded playing behind closed doors. Dean though I suspect is the opposite and loves having the crowd back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXD Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 5 hours ago, rodders0223 said: We've only got about 3 songs. I love the one where we sing ‘villa, villa, villaaah, villa villa villa VILLA’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilS Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 The Atmosphere yesterday was very good from my position in the Doug Ellis stand. I thought the crowd responded well to us going a goal down, and were supportive throughout. I didn’t hear any stick given out to the players. In the past I would say the European nights have been second to none in terms of atmosphere. I particularly remember the first game versus Inter Milan when Klinsmann, Brehmer and Lothar Matteus were in their team, the VP crowd manage to put a very good Inter side off their game. It was supportive when we had the ball roaring us on, and extremely hostile when Inter got the ball. If we could replicate that night on a regular basis we would be onto a winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHY Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 (edited) Pretty sure SAF made a reference once to our atmosphere after we played Atletico Madrid at home. Think United had a CL game the night after and wanted United fans to replicate it. VP was unbelievable that night. Edited August 29, 2021 by WHY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouchmefoot Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 46 minutes ago, AXD said: I love the one where we sing ‘villa, villa, villaaah, villa villa villa VILLA’ I always forget the words. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted August 29, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted August 29, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, The Fun Factory said: The atmosphere yesterday was rated as 'vibrant' on bbc sport website. There are far worse atmosphere's at other premier league grounds. I think they also described it as raucous as well. I definitely heard the Brentford fans singing is this a library. The atmosphere was again not that good, certainly not raucous. However once again it was a very tense game with not really a lot to get the crowd going. It got a bit more spicy following the bloody awful refereeing decisions. As said here already most grounds are not what they were. Villa Park will be fine once we're up and running. Exciting players like Bailey and Traore running down the wings getting people off their seats. Buendia sliding though balls to Ings and Watkins. We're all a bit on edge right now. The lack of songs is a long time bugbear of mine. At least we've moved on from Holte Enders in the Sky being pretty much the ONLY song although Every Week We Follow seems to have taken it's mantle, probably accounting for 50% or more of all chants. It's almost getting dull how often that is sung. Was amazed the Buendia song wasn't sung after his goal. Our player chants are so generic it's embarrassing. Even simple songs like THE VILLA clap clap clap have all but dissappeared. Old classics like The Bells are Ringing are completely dead, not even occasionally sung. Roll Along Aston Villa? Don't know what it is with us. And I absolutely HATE the "In the aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaair" nonsense. Kills an otherwise great song that should be repeated instead of petering out with that nonsense, although that's gone from that stands and only seems to exist in bar areas now. Edited August 29, 2021 by sidcow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aston_Villan4 Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 Visiting fans seem to enjoy it. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-park-fan-survey-21399957.amp Quote Villa Park ranked best in Europe based on new study Aston Villa's home stadium has come out on top in a survey of supporter satisfaction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 29 minutes ago, sidcow said: And I absolutely HATE the "In the aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaair" nonsense. tonight? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted August 29, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted August 29, 2021 2 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said: tonight? Oh lord. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Thomas Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 18 minutes ago, sidcow said: Was amazed the Buendia song wasn't sung after his goal. Our player chants are so generic it's embarrassing. Was going to post something similar. The SJM chant is great and the Buendia song will be good once it takes hold. I wish those that start these things could come up with similar songs for our other key players e.g. Martínez, Cash, Targett, Konsa, Mings, Luiz and Watkins. That would help the atmosphere and lift the players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted August 29, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted August 29, 2021 11 minutes ago, Gary Thomas said: Was going to post something similar. The SJM chant is great and the Buendia song will be good once it takes hold. I wish those that start these things could come up with similar songs for our other key players e.g. Martínez, Cash, Targett, Konsa, Mings, Luiz and Watkins. That would help the atmosphere and lift the players. The best player I've ever seen wear our shirt (and who we thought at the time was Villa through and through) had a generic Super Jack song. It's hard to believe any other team who had a player of that calibre of player within their ranks wouldn't come up with something more special. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXD Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 16 minutes ago, Gary Thomas said: Was going to post something similar. The SJM chant is great and the Buendia song will be good once it takes hold. I wish those that start these things could come up with similar songs for our other key players e.g. Martínez, Cash, Targett, Konsa, Mings, Luiz and Watkins. That would help the atmosphere and lift the players. I seem to remember the tuanzebe song being quite good 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts