Are our fickle fans making a mockery of the club?

March 19, 2009 by Martin Banks
Filed under: Aston Villa 

The last few days have seen both the press and the internet consumed by the story of Villa fans booing during the Tottenham defeat. I have had my say on booing before and have therefore tried to let it pass by without really saying much, but four days have passed and it’s still being talked about by blogs, news sites etc, so now I feel I’d better put AstonVillaBlog’s two-pence forward.

At Aston Villa we have bunch of fans who like to boo. Let’s not beat around the bush about it as the whole nation is only too aware of it now, if they weren’t already. I’ve read and seen plenty of opinions on it in the last 2 days and there seems to be a unanimous agreement with the way I feel about it; Booing is out of order and not helpful in fixing a problem.

But Villa don’t need to be singled out for this, as we are far from the only team to have had boo’ers. Arsene Wenger has had many boos and critics during his reign and look what he’s acheived.

It’s just part of the game I suppose but it all boils down to one simple premise;

You can please some people sometimes, but you can’t please all the people all the time

They are the words of Bob Marley, paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln and they are very apt to this situation. The boo’s are coming from a small minority of Villa fans, who don’t appreciate everything Villa have achieved this season. Since Martin O’Neill and Randy Lerner steadied the ship, Villa have gone from a club who feared relegation to now being a team who are dismally disappointed to have Arsenal go above them. For me that is a great acheivement.

Yeah, in the past Villa have been a very dominant team, winning the league and European Cup in the early 80s and the league cup twice in the mid-90s and mid-70s. But our main period of dominance was over a century ago. In the 1890s Villa were very successful… but that was in a VERY different time. The world of football nowadays is VERY money orientated, and breaking into the top four of the Premier League is a huge, huge achievement, even if we don’t finish there. Be realistic boo’ers. Appreciate where we are.

It’s not like we ‘did a Hull’, we were still in the top four with just 10 games left and we are still very much in with a shout. To me, that is massive. I am proud.

We got everyone talking about us and believing we can finish 4th.

We got loads of players in the England squad.

We got into the top four for a sustained period, well into the season.

We got Arsenal and Chelsea worried (whether they are too proud to admit it or not, we did).

We beat Arsenal at their place and held both Liverpool and Man Utd to draws, not conceding to either team (and this is 2 teams who’ve both scored 49 goals so far this season).

And we did it with an exciting brand of football, attacking teams with pace and skill, just the way you dreamed of when you were 12, playing over the park with your mates and commentating on yourself if you made a counter attack.

This season has been a fantastic ride. I’ve loved being a Villa fan. It’s made all the seasons of boredom seem worthwhile. I’m proud of Aston Villa, and Martin O’Neill, and Randy Lerner, and Gabby Agbonlahor. They’ve all done so much.

And nothing is over yet. Keep up the fight boys. I, for one, will be there cheering you on all the way to the wire.

Up the Villa. All the way.


Comments

14 Comments on Are our fickle fans making a mockery of the club?

  1. Mark on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 12:10

    2. Nice article. As a Tottenham supporter, I would like to praise Villa for the way they have played this season. I feel they would be everyone else’s favourite to break into the top four this season, as we so nearly did ourselves until the final game of the season a couple of years back. Keep the faith, Villa fans, the future’s bright and you still have a great chance of doing the previously unthinkable this season, which would be fantastic bearing in mind the relatively small squad you have. But you’ll definitely have a better chance by cheering your players and manager, rather than jeering them. Good luck for the remainder of the season.

  2. andy villa on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 12:11

    3. the media are highlighting it more than they do when the likes of arsenal do it, because they have an agenda that we do not fit into…

    they also highlighted our eufa cup exit a lot more than they highlight it when arsenal put out kids, and completely ignore the fact that we have used fringe and reserve players almost all throughout the tournament…

    and in the process, not being let down by the youngsters who have come in…

    the only reason idiot fans who are spoonfed moronic zombies are whinging about us doing what man utd, liverpool, arsenal, etc, all do regularly, is because the media are highlighting it, and that is now their “new opinion”…

    and the media are doing it, because of their own agenda… but as my devon red mate said, (for the first time in his life, making a valid point), “this is life at the top of the table”…

  3. Longman1980 on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 12:15

    4. I have a theory that the success of recent seasons has pulled back the fickle brigade who are only interested in coming down B6 when things are going well. To these people I simply say ‘FUCK OFF’. We don’t need idiots like you at villa park, go back to your arm chairs or support United. Every villa I have spoken to is outraged by the backlash from some fans, but the people I have spoken to are, like me, true fans who have gone down to villa park through thick and thin – not these fair weather idiots who are only interested when villa win. If you were a true fan you would appreciate how far we have come in a couple of years and where the club is going. A few bad results does not make a good team bad, or a great manager sh*t. It just means we’re having a bad patch and need a boost – which is where the real fans step in and give the boys a lift on the field rather than kick them while they’re down!!!!

  4. G on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 12:19

    5. As a tottenham fan i would like to congratulate Aston Villa on the progress they have made! Without a doubt the club is run in an excellent mannor which is shown with the results on the pitch. Tottenham were there a couple of years ago and could be again next season. I am not one of the tottenham fans who wanted us to lose at villa park last week, it has been nice watching the Scum and chelski fans worry. Its not all doom and gloom, you need one decent win and your in with a chance to get 4th.

    COYS

  5. martyn on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 12:20

    6. I agree, Gabby has done so much for Villa i cant understand how anyone can boo him for his performance, how does this help??? I hope he stronger that that and it does spur him on to shove those boos down your throats but it could be quite the reverse.

  6. the aston villan on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 12:23

    7. Ok Fickle fans well i say bollocks to that every club has fickle fans but Villa just seem to get picked out…In This day and age of High priced tickets fuel costs and everything going up in the middle of what is a tough time money wise, but our players dont get hampered by this and 4 or 5 of us make up what one of them earn in a week what we earn in a year arn’t we entitled to have a moan… I disagree with the booing that much i agree with but at the end of the day we wnat success for Aston Villa F.C and lately with not strengthening in Januray we have throw away the most glorious chance we have had in years…

  7. Forever Spurs on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 12:49

    8. A good piece, It’s frustrating but this is something that happens at ALL clubs … Many people have theories as to why this is so, but generally everyone is after instant success and when it doesn’t go their way they want to let everyone know.

    Money in the game doesn’t help and when so many footballers are so chav like, in their behaviour, i.e. going out getting drunk with airhead wags, and parading their super expensive cars, it’s like having it rubbed in your face when in order to have bought those tickets people make real sacrifices.

    Fact is it doesn’t help your team to boo or to single out an individual and give them a hard time .. if it meant that then there would be some sense to it …

    Now that our games SPURS -VILLA (1 win each), are out of the way I hope you go on to get that CL spot …

  8. Mart on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 12:51

    9. You boys have to stick with it! Im a Spurs fan, and all this sounds too familiar. You can still do it, and I for one hope you do!!

  9. Kev on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 13:18

    10. Good article. As another Spurs fan on here lol and one who knows all about the Boo problem, as we have it at the lane also and we too have some fans who dont appreciate the finer points of football. For us this season as you know it was all about survival for you its all about europe, we were there not too long ago and we know probably better than anybody how difficult it is to break into the “top four” (I would recommend food tasters for your players in away hotels). Neither the “Top 4″ themselves nor the PL want you crashing the party so you are/will probably see “poor” decisions go against you too. Hope you manage to achieve it esp at the expense of the gooners but I think there are too many “variables” against you. But good luck for rest of season!!

  10. JB on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 13:31

    11. I’ve spoken to loads of prem supporters (other than big four) and they all want
    Villa to break the top 4 this season in fact anyone to break the BIG FOUR would
    do for me bonus this year it could be Villa.
    It maybe our only major chance for a few years to do this, so please get behind the team and MON we can do this ,Arsenal have the run in from hell and are still attacking in 2 cup competitions.
    Lets give it loud for the final push it can be done remember the wall of sound against AJAX and look at that result.
    We can have the inquest at the end of the season, until then don’t be fickle.

  11. thfc on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 17:00

    12. f tottenham or for that matter most of the club in the prem was 4 or 5 would be very happy.one thing i will say alot like tottenham when we finished 5 if we was to play in the champions league we would not be readyas a squad and i dont think villa are ready to take that step.no doubt your manager is top draw but come on to boo them is a total joke if you was bottom then maybe but your 5th would take that thank you very much.

  12. Spurs fan on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 19:54

    13. “The boo’s are coming from a small minority of Villa fans, who don’t appreciate everything Villa have achieved this season”

    Wrong

    They are smart enough to realise that O’Neill and the players are getting paid many times their annual salary to play football to the best of the ability.

    I would take that in a heartbeat, boos or no boos. If O’Neill or the players are fickle enough to only take the positive then they can quit the game and I’ll take one of their places.

  13. gingervilla on Thu, 19th Mar 2009 22:09

    14. Supporters spend a lot of money going to the villa to support their team. Theirs that word again (support) do people know what that actually means, it means to be their through the good times and the bad times to sing their arts out lift the players when things are not going to plan, to wear the colours with pride weather your top, middle or bottom of the league. If you are going to spend your hard earned cash to come and support the villa them welcome to Villa Park if not them save your money and stay at home we don’t want you or need you at Villa Park.

  14. kieran on Fri, 20th Mar 2009 11:19

    15. You get praised when you do well ,slagged off when you don`t,thats normal not fickle.

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