Media and punditry

[GENTLEMAN]

1 hour ago, Shropshire Lad said:

Keown still hasn't got over getting relegated with us nearly 30 years ago. He managed to give us a little dig while commentating for the Everton - Chelsea cup tie. Any opportunity, he will jump on it.

The "toxic" and "hard place to play for the home team" view he and others have irritates as well. We've have one of the worst home records over the last however many years, but somehow it's the fans' fault.

They seem to think we're harder to please but they never say similar remarks about things like Man Utd fans flying planes over the ground or trying to tear down the moyes "chosen one" banner, slagging off LVG; Chelsea fans booing their own players, hounding out Rafa; Newcastle fans kicking off to get Pardew out; Arsenal fans seemingly forever wanting Wenger gone; Liverpool fans turning on Hodgson; West Ham booing Allardyce after a win etc.

I can't wait for Channel 5.

Absolutely spot on. 

[KHV]

20 hours ago, Shropshire Lad said:

Keown still hasn't got over getting relegated with us nearly 30 years ago. He managed to give us a little dig while commentating for the Everton - Chelsea cup tie. Any opportunity, he will jump on it.

The "toxic" and "hard place to play for the home team" view he and others have irritates as well. We have one of the worst home records over the last however many years, but somehow it's the fans' fault.

They seem to think we're harder to please but they never say similar remarks about things like Man Utd fans flying planes over the ground or trying to tear down the moyes "chosen one" banner, slagging off LVG; Chelsea fans booing their own players, hounding out Rafa; Newcastle fans kicking off to get Pardew out; Arsenal fans seemingly forever wanting Wenger gone; Liverpool fans turning on Hodgson; West Ham booing Allardyce after a win etc.

I can't wait for Channel 5.

They really don't help at VP to be fair

[villa4europe]

1 hour ago, KHV said:

They really don't help at VP to be fair

they have helped plenty of times and seen very little reaction to it, ive seen good atmospheres, great atmospheres, even electric atmospheres once or twice, negative atmospheres, flat atmospheres, booing cheering you name it...

and we've still been shit

9/10 at VP the crowd is just flat IMO apathy rather than negativity

for all the manager out stuff and the booing of the players and lerner stuff, it takes until about march for it to properly kick off, mcleish got ages despite what the media made out, there wasnt that much lambert out, there was no garde out that i heard and the players... they've got away with murder! booing the team sheet, we could have done that since october with some of these players, i wouldnt be upset if lescott got the bacuna treatment after his car tweets

us being shit is nothing to do with the atmosphere at villa park

[StefanAVFC]

Sherwood on MOTD saying we need a core of English players next year. 

Dig at the board?

even though the English players were shite

[villa4europe]

that is the usual xenophobic mentality of english football and english football fans unfortunately 

it wont just be him, it's the soccer saturday lot as they've already said it too, it'll be MOTD, it'll be a fair few of our better journalists and the majority of the gutter press, it's more than likely going to be the thinking of our FA oldboy board

 

[blandy]

23 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

that is the usual xenophobic mentality of english football and english football fans unfortunately 

I don't think it is xenophobic, that's bonkers. Xenophobia is the hate or fear of strangers or foreigners. There's no hate or fear in their comments. They're more based around the practicalities and understanding of English football.

Specifically in rebuilding a team as much as ours needs rebuilding, it's necessary to start with a core of British players and then to add foreign players. You can't start from scratch with mostly foreigners because it takes time to gell and blend into the culture and the nature of the Football League.

If you look at teams that do have a lot of foreigners in them - take Arsenal, then that's something that has happened over time, the transformation into an all-foreign side (at times) . Wenger gradually changed their make up as Dixon, Bould, Seaman, Adams, Merson, Winterburn, Keown, Smith, Wright, Campbell etc. moved on. Start with an English core and then evolve. Tis the only way. 

[Dr_Pangloss]

43 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

Sherwood on MOTD saying we need a core of English players next year. 

Dig at the board?

even though the English players were shite

I think a core of 'good' English players would have helped greatly to be honest. 

[YGabbana]

I think a core of 'good' English players would have helped greatly to be honest. 

Sherwood is spot on

[Keyblade]

1 hour ago, StefanAVFC said:

Sherwood on MOTD saying we need a core of English players next year. 

Dig at the board?

even though the English players were shite

Which is why when given the opportunity and 60M to spend, he bought a core of French players instead.

[Dr_Pangloss]

10 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

Which is why when given the opportunity and 60M to spend, he bought a core of French players instead.

Or did he?

[MakemineVanilla]

On 4/10/2016 at 12:20, mikeyp102 said:

My god the BBC love to degrade is. I saw in the match feed yesterday that they mentioned people waving white flags and how it was embarrassing. During the Motd commentary they show one person waving a flag.. Hardly a large amount of us doing it!

Then you have the likes of Keown saying its a toxic atmosphere and doesn't help te players. How about the players giving us something to cheer. Only Jonathan Pearce had sympathy for the fans.

 

23 hours ago, Shropshire Lad said:

Keown still hasn't got over getting relegated with us nearly 30 years ago. He managed to give us a little dig while commentating for the Everton - Chelsea cup tie. Any opportunity, he will jump on it.

The "toxic" and "hard place to play for the home team" view he and others have irritates as well. We have one of the worst home records over the last however many years, but somehow it's the fans' fault.

They seem to think we're harder to please but they never say similar remarks about things like Man Utd fans flying planes over the ground or trying to tear down the moyes "chosen one" banner, slagging off LVG; Chelsea fans booing their own players, hounding out Rafa; Newcastle fans kicking off to get Pardew out; Arsenal fans seemingly forever wanting Wenger gone; Liverpool fans turning on Hodgson; West Ham booing Allardyce after a win etc.

I can't wait for Channel 5.

I am probably prejudiced but I like to think that when it comes to enervating negativity Birmingham is up there with the best, and that Villa fans lead the way.

Whenever anyone does an imitation of a brummie accent they always do that world-weary lugubrious voice, full of woe and misery (think Hancock).

I am sure that Keown is speaking entirely from experience when he describes what it is like to be at Villa when things are going badly.

With over a hundred appearances for Villa and sometimes being chosen as captain, he was crucial in Villa's promotion in 87-88.

So I wouldn't doubt his word or question his personal experience.

If the fans are to claim that their vocal encouragement helps the team, (all that 12th man guff) then they have to accept that any expressions of negativity must also have an equal impact.

It doesn't take much to tip a Villa fan into despairing, gloomy, misery, but equally when you manage to a put a smile on their face, as Keown most certainly did when he helped the club bounce back, you have really achieved something.

But obviously, your average brummie thinks that being so cheerful, is the only thing which keeps him going.

And as they say in the Black Country - Yow can always tell a brummie; but y' ca' tell 'im much!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2016 by MakemineVanilla

[Stevo985]

57 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

I think a core of 'good' English players would have helped greatly to be honest. 

I think a core of 'good' players would have helped. Regardless of nationality.

Sherwood's mistake was completely ignoring our "core".

[blandy]

12 minutes ago, MakemineVanilla said:

I like to think that when it comes enervating negativity Birmingham is up there with the best, and that Villa fans lead the way.

My experience is that it's pretty much the same everywhere. People are not nearly as different as stereotypes (and that's what it is, just a stereotype) suggest.

[NeilS]

I see that the BBC are now asking people to tweet in their Villa player of the year now. I usually go to the bbc for my news and sports news, and I can take a bit of mickey taking, but this is getting ridiculous now.

[Mark Albrighton]

1 hour ago, blandy said:

My experience is that it's pretty much the same everywhere. People are not nearly as different as stereotypes (and that's what it is, just a stereotype) suggest.

This sums up what I was trying to say. While it can be said Villa fans can be negative (I think for good reason), pundits are very quick to describe the supporter atmosphere as "toxic" or "difficult" while supporters of other teams never seem to be branded as such when they're unhappy about their club.

Maybe I missed him saying it, but I can't recall Keown ever labelling the Arsenal crowd as hard to please or some such description as they moan about Wenger while he secures them yet another champions league spot.

[ml1dch]

2 hours ago, Keyblade said:

Which is why when given the opportunity and 60M to spend, he bought a core of French players instead.

I'm not sure that Amavi and Veretout counts as a "core".

[villa4europe]

9 minutes ago, NeilS said:

I see that the BBC are now asking people to tweet in their Villa player of the year now. I usually go to the bbc for my news and sports news, and I can take a bit of mickey taking, but this is getting ridiculous now.

henry winter was tweeting about it too, i think the club is seriously gearing up to have the player awards still, he suggested the 3rd choice keeper will win it as a protest

[NeilS]

22 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

henry winter was tweeting about it too, i think the club is seriously gearing up to have the player awards still, he suggested the 3rd choice keeper will win it as a protest

Ah, maybe that is where they were picking it up from then. I saw it mentioned in the live sports day section asking for people to tweet in their nominations.

EDIT:

Having read through Henry Winters tweet responses, it would appear the general consensus is that only Gana/Ayew and Amavi come out of this season with any credit, which is strange considering the press are saying that we have bought too many foreigners.

Edited April 11, 2016 by NeilS

[rodders0223]

I would vote for Ayew but I am afraid he might try and fracture the eye socket of the compare.

[MakemineVanilla]

2 hours ago, MakemineVanilla said:

 

I like to think that when it comes to enervating negativity Birmingham is up there with the best, and that Villa fans lead the way.

 

 

2 hours ago, blandy said:

My experience is that it's pretty much the same everywhere. People are not nearly as different as stereotypes (and that's what it is, just a stereotype) suggest.

Humans might very well be much the same across the planet but moaning is far more acceptable in some cultures (Birmingham) than in others (Japan).

Also, if you take your assertion to its logical conclusion, then there is no difference between one football club and any other and therefore there is no logical reason to support one club rather than any other.

Besides, I always consider that the pairing of inexorable gloom with brummie stoicism, as one of the most appealing USPs of the club.