moose Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I fully understand the sentiment. Football in general has indeed been ruined. I have zero respect or admiration for most modern footballers, including a fair few of our own. To compete at the highest level now you need untold wealth. Even a man like Lerner with all his millions is considered a peasant compared to Abramovich, City Arabs etc. Football has become just another reflection of a greedy and superficial society. It's a damn shame. As for the fans, I agree there are some complete morons out there. Morons who think because they pay their money for tickets it gives them a right to demand footballing perfection week in/week out and mercilessly abuse the team when this doesn't happen. And then attack other fans who don't share their opinions. I can understand it when frustrations reach boiling point like they did last season under McLeish. No fan deserves to suffer that kind of football and sometimes the abuse is warranted. But booing the team off first home game of the season? I know we were poor on Saturday but many fans don't seem to have an ounce of faith or patience anymore. They want instant gratification. Another mirror of society in general. Yet despite all this, I can't ever imaging "divorcing" the club. I would find it literally impossible to sever an emotional connection to a club I have supported since I was a small child. A love that was handed down from other generations. I'm as disillusioned as anyone but confident things will start to improve and when they do I'll wager that the stay-aways will return to Villa Park and their love affair will be re-kindled. Football is about far more than the players and the money and Sky. The sense of loyalty and identity you get from being a fan far outweighs all that. Even if the Premier League ended up a crass, OTT spectacle like in American sport, it will never change who you are and where you came from. The Villa is yours. Don't give up on it. Love this post. Much sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted August 28, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted August 28, 2012 Some people need to man the **** up and quit being a bunch of whinging fanny's!!! .....You slack jawed faggots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolteExile Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I can sort of see where the OP is coming from, though I think apportioning blame to any set of fans - ours or anyone else's is folly. Many of the things that used to make Villa special to me have diminished over time. But our lot any worse than Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal or Everton fans for example? Fans want the very best for their club (or perhaps more accurately - for their club to be as good as it can be). Supporters of bigger clubs (which still just about applies to us) naturally have bigger aspirations. Particularly if they've lived through a time where they've seen their side succeed in the past and have a fair idea of (a) what it takes to achieve success and ( when they are being sold a pup. As we are at present, with this 'need to manage the wagebill mantra' which the club have adopted as an alternative club motto for the past three seasons it seems. The aspirations part of the above paragraph is key, I think. It's natural to want to aspire to better things. It's another thing entirely to DEMAND and EXPECT success as Liverpool and their time traveling fans seem to do, based largely on events 20+ years ago and counting. Perhaps part of the reason why a fair smattering of their lot are so utterly hateful. But no question, the last few years have been tough on most of us. And aside from anything else, largely dull and turgid where it matters most -on the pitch. We are a football club first and foremost. I genuinely get that finances are stretched - not uncommon with most clubs outside of the very elite now. But it is a choice, whether we wish to continuously highlight that or not. Everytime Faulkner and co mention that, they make a choice. And that is the image we have now become associated with: "Villa? They are cutting back/ will always sell their best players/ need to slash the wage bill." That perception is now firmly out there as far as the wider footballing community is concerned which -in turn- diminishes the appeal, status and competitive nature of the club. What set of supporters would honestly be happy with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I'm the same. I've been falling out of love with football for a while now. In fact, apart from watching Villa, I don't watch any football at all. Even the Euros didn't interest me. It's all getting silly now. The money in the game is ridiculous, the 'role models' are womanisers, racists, knob heads.. there is no 'sportsmanship' in the game any more etc... etc... Once the NFL starts up next week I probably won't even see a Villa game tbh. My heart is just not in the game. Aren't NFL 'role models' even more well paid and act like even bigger pricks? I think most big sports have the same issues. I'm not knocking your point, I feel exactly the same with football as you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pas5898 Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I completely agree with the OP thoughts about some of our "fans". I was a Holte End upper season ticket holder for 9 seasons, whilst going to at least 10 away games a season (whatever I could afford or justify to the family). Even under Graham Taylor, DoL etc I loved it. Yes there were downs, but most games turned out to be an enjoyable experience with my Villa family. Its easy to support a poor footballing team when your actually having a good time with your fellow understanding fans. Those who realise the reality of the footballing situation we are in. After the failed dawn of MoN, things changed. The overall atmosphere of our some of our "die hard" supporters changed. Literally EVERY time Gabby gets tackled I'd hear someone shout "Gabby your SH**", Ireland misplaced pass "Ireland your a C*** and so on and so on. It almost like some go to VP or away games just so they could have a moan and let out some stress. New season, new optimism, new manager. Brilliant. I blackmailed the Mrs into going to her first ever football game. Bought the new kit. That feeling of optimism building on the train. Pre game the Holte was ROCKING!, brilliant, the atmosphere, the positivity I used to love. We are playing with a squad of such youth, young players who needed to be encouraged, we gave it.... for 30 mins, then back to the Same old SH**. "Get that F***ing piece of sh** off" (after making 2 bad passes) and so on and so on. The only thing the Mrs did after that was make me promise i'd never take our son to sit anywhere near the Holte End. I agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaboyjay Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I fell out of love with the Villa a few years back (under DOL), this was mainly due to 3 reasons. Money - I felt I had been priced out of the game, having just had a new born daughter, a lot of my money was spent on her, I struggled to find enough money for the 350 mile round trip to Villa Park and couldn't justify it. I did attend a few 'local' away games though, but didn't really enjoy it like I used to. Greed - It seemed to me that in the space of just a couple of seasons, the game had turned into nothing short of a lucrative money spinner, players moving around clubs for astonishing amounts of money (maybe Abramovic and the Chelsea regime are to blame). It seemed that to even get close to a top player, you had to offer him a mind blowing amount of money per week. Although it ties in with my own personal circumstances, how could I justify £130 to go and watch my team to see a player on £130K a week for 90 minutes, who had no heart, passion or real interest in the club he played for, except to pick up his weekly wages? Finally, The break away - For me, Villa seemed to become a 'nothing' team. Sky hated us, the media rarely wrote anything good about us, other fans detested us (We are not fickle, we just don't like you), the negativity around VP was unbearable. I had no buzz about me going to the game, to face a snoozfest of 'entertainment' that would inevitably end in a loss, Villa fans hissing at each other, I mean, OMG, I even saw a couple of fights in the Holte End between Villa fans break out!! Nothing felt right about going to VP. To add to that, the football clubs that we classed as lower level than us, passed us by, teams like Spurs, Everton, Man City overtook us easily. Teams like Wigan, Fulham, Stoke, were all mentioned in the same 'category' as the once mighty Aston Villa. I couldn't handle it. So my love faded away, I still watch from afar, but don't get any excitement. I was a season ticket holder for 15 years. Even whilst being in the British Army and based in Germany, I used to drive for 11 hours solid to get back for the game on the Saturday, then turn straight around after the match and drive 11 hours back to be back in time for duty. Now, I look at the fixture list when it is released and nothing 'sparks' me, I will now just check the results and 4.40PM to see how we have done or maybe randomly on my phone during the match. Villa, however are an addiction. I am still a fan (not a supporter, I suppose?). Villa are still in my heart, they have been a massive part of my life and I can NEVER EVER forget about them. Villa Park is still my mecca, but i just don't pray there anymore. Gazton, I see your point completely, but like with every true love you have ever had, the pain and wanting will ALWAYS be there and will never truly go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 We still have fans that criticise Lerner for not investing - when you look at the accounts you'll actually begin to realise that if it wasn't for his massive investments - over the past 3 years particularly - we'd be bankrupt and there probably wouldn't be a football club at all. What utter nonsense!!!! Look at the accounts. When we lose £37m and £53m in respective years - where does that money come from? Randy Lerner subsiding is. This isn't conjecture it's stone cold hard fact. Thats what you are up against.... I thought your previous post on the heart of the problem, was brilliant. Ps I think the main draw back to Randy and Faulkner is they are not football people unlike Steve Stride. I think RL is the problem not some kind of messiah as you seem to think. If Lerner didn't want to put that money in he would have sold the club to someone who would - to say that without Lerner we would not exist now is a big load of balls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I'll be honest, the thing I hate about Villa is the fans. Yeah the players aren't great and overpaid and dont put a shift in, we dont have investment... but Its not that that I've got bored and annoyed with. It's the fans, the certain posters and tweeters who cant be anything other than incessantly pissed off. Personal abuse of management, the constant Mc'InsertInsult' names last season - pathetic. Booing at HT of our first home game, Banners every-****-season wanting somebody out. I cant remember the last time in my life where we didnt want 'SOMEBODY out'. People refusing to go to VP whilst McLeish was there and yet there were still 5k missing this week. It's not every fan, a lot on here and on twitter are insightful, enjoy football and have some good points to make but the constant bitching and moaning and the incessant whinging is just tiresome and it's making me lose my love of the game. Some people just seem to enjoy having something to moan about. Villa fans are no different than any other group of supporters - it's naive to think that for some reason Villa fans are any more or less negative. Because you come on the Villa forums you see the spread of opinions from very positive to very negative. If you spent time on other forums you would see that every club has an equal share of idiots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaCas Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I really don't understand how anyone could fall out of love with football. It's the best sport on the planet and is defintely the most entertaining. I love love love it, I watch every Premier League game I can. (I choose to watch other games over watching Villa on occasion). The Man City game at the end of last season is the reason it's so good, no other sport in the world can do that. How you can stop liking that is completely beyond me. Have to say that Villa fans on occasion annoy me, there's this opinion on here that we deserve to be successful more than other clubs, there's a modern day culture of wanting instant success... there's very little patience. Though, the worst for me is the booing at games. Disgraceful IMO, really doesn't help anyone. Also, the "You don't know what you're doing" chanting to our own players. It's embarassing and I wish that section of Villa fans would fall out of love with football and quite frankly, **** off and support Man City. I think it all depends on how long you've been watching football - if you're in your mid 20's maybe you've got a bit more stamina and can still see positives in the game. I've been supporting Villa since the 60s and to be honest am running out of enthusiasm. I know things change but two weeks into the season seeing avoiding relegation as the best we can hope for knocks the stuffing out of you. I don't think I could ever "stop" supporting Villa but the passion that I once had for them and for football in general has faded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanthemanisgod Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I very nearly went to the game on Sat, in the end I couldn't afford it with travel and tickets and I'm glad I didnt, not because of the performance, as poor as it was, but becuase of the booing at half time. I ask any of the posters on here who are prepared to admit to booing (if there are any on here, although I suspect there might be) what the purpose of the boos were? Do you think you needed to highlight to the manager that the performance was not good enough, that he could not see that being 3-0 down was not what the fans wanted? Were you hoping to get somebody sacked if so who? Were you hoping booing the players would fill them with confidence and inspire them to perform better in the second half? I am seriously interested in the mentality behind booing a new look team, with a new manager at half time in the first home game of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I'm sure many will miss your posts mate. I hope your love will be rekindled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PandaMac Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I know where you're coming from and a lot of what modern football is now also annoys me but that feeling I get when we've just won a game and I'm walking out of villa park cannot be replaced by anything. After all at the end of the day I support Aston villa, not the individuals that make up the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8pints Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 At the Tranmere game in a sparsely populated North Stand there were a group of 12 year old mates doing their own version of the Poznan when we scored the third goal, with such enthusiasm, it gave me confidence for the future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norton65ca Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 "Hey guys, I just got here, why are you leaving??" But seriously, I do empathise somewhat with Gazton's post, and I agree about the negative fans and the abuse they spew but being a relatively new supporter, and only having been to one game, I am a little gobsmacked at the idea of simply abandoning ship like this. Maybe being as I am so distant I don't have quite the same perspective as I would if I had been going down VP for years and years. I came to Birmingham for the first time for last season's Norwich game and had the time of my life. Familiarity breeds contempt they say. My local team, Victoria Highlanders, gets around 5-800 out on a Saturday afternoon. I can't imagine how Grimsby Town fans get through the day to be honest, can you imagine? Up the Villa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8pints Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I came to Birmingham for the first time for last season's Norwich game and had the time of my life. That was a crucial game. You;re obviously good luck, you should get a season ticket, nevermind the travel costs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norton65ca Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 lol, yeah, I did think of that, maybe I'm the talisman Villa lacks! Gonna be some wickedly expensive travel budget though, the round trip was 1300 bucks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8pints Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 lol, yeah, I did think of that, maybe I'm the talisman Villa lacks! Gonna be some wickedly expensive travel budget though, the round trip was 1300 bucks! You'll have to place an outlandish bet and have it pay off or something, or you could emigrate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norton65ca Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 we already did that, the other way, I was born in Bournemouth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juteface Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Victoria is a cracking wee city. Would love to make it to Villa Park for a game against West Brom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstonMartin82 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I came to Birmingham for the first time for last season's Norwich game and had the time of my life. That was a crucial game. You;re obviously good luck, you should get a season ticket, nevermind the travel costs I went to 3 home games last season and saw us win each one... think we only won 4 all season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts