Fans affinity with the team

[amfy]

This set up has given me back something that I thought had gone from football. The connectedness to the team has kept me going when they've been awful. I thought that this was epitomised by the crowd's reaction to Joe Bennett having a decent game on Monday - everything he did right was met with a roar of approval! This is really a feeling that these players are 'your own'.

I was trying to think what the hell I meant when I was thinking to myself this week that I'd always had faith. How did this align with the fact that there was a point when I was totally resigned to us going down? It's simply that I have felt that this is the way I want us to do things, to build a team I can relate to and support like I used to. I would actually rather support this team in any division than the team we had last year in the Prem - that is quite a revelation to me in terms of what actually matters.

[OzVilla]

I wonder if there's been any words between lambert and Saunders this season?

If I was a new manager coming in to villa and I wanted to know what makes this club tick, I'd be on the phone to him and Taylor.

SGT or Big Ron would be the ones i'd be calling.

[nigel]

We had an awful record at defending set pieces last year, with Dunne Collins Warnock Hutton in the side.
Plus there were stories of bust ups under Ged, and that nightclub incident with Collins at the end of the season.

Its hard to like a team you think aren't giving it 100% and are a bunch of tossers to boot.

Compare that to this year, some of the same old failings are still there, but the attitude and effort isn't in question. Nor were there any reports of splits or feuds in the camp after the awful Dec/Jan we had.

Yet, some were still calling for their return!!
Thank God Lambert stuck to his guns.

[Damo70]

The players mirror the manager. They appreciate the chance to be at the club and they 'give it a right good go'.

[john e]

theres one thing better than watching a big signing come good and that's watching a youngster who's come through the youth squad giving his all and becoming a player,
all fans of every club love that

I know not all have come through the academy,
 but something I never thought of before was posted by lastfootstamper, and that's all the starting 11 for most games have never played against us before, that's quite amazing when you think about it, I bet there is no other prem team that can boast that stat

[Mister E]

It's the youthful and homegrown nature of the squad.
And the "made in Birmingham" feel to it.
And the lack of fuss, the absence of off-field incidents, the minimum of loose words in social media by the players.

And Lambert 'fessing up to mistakes made and indifferent performances.

And the fact that we've scored some outstanding goals this season.

And it is not last season!

[JD]

We all predicted a hard season, but I like the way Lambert has brought in the players he wanted (Lowton, Benteke, Westwood, Bennett, Sylla etc) and stuck with them. At times we have been screaming out for more experienced players, but when they have been playing they haven't offered anymore.

Lambert will get rid of the dead wood and sign better players.

What I like about the young players is even though they may not be good enough yet, they will get better and the impression they give is that it is a privilege and an honour for them to play for Aston Villa. You don't get that with some of they more experienced players.     

[eastie]

I wonder if there's been any words between lambert and Saunders this season?

If I was a new manager coming in to villa and I wanted to know what makes this club tick, I'd be on the phone to him and Taylor.

I'm sure o Neill has told me all he needs to know .

[Duncan Shaw]

I wonder if there's been any words between lambert and Saunders this season?

If I was a new manager coming in to villa and I wanted to know what makes this club tick, I'd be on the phone to him and Taylor.

I'm sure o Neill has told me all he needs to know .

And that would be along the lines of "don't fuck it up, I did and left and it was the best job I was going to ever have!!"

[Chris Smith]

There was a similar feel good factor when O'Neill first arrived, and we've already seen a minority on this site turn against Lambert, so I think we need to be a little circumspect before drawing too many conclusions; however, so far, so good.

I like what Amfy says above, she's summed it up for me. It's not just a club to support but an ethos we can relate to.

[Dave Javu]

They'll all be a bunch of twats again if we get relegated, though.

[Lastfootstamper]

They'll all be a bunch of twats again if we get relegated, though.

Undoubtedly, but they'll be our bunch of twats!!

[Damo70]

There was a similar feel good factor when O'Neill first arrived, and we've already seen a minority on this site turn against Lambert, so I think we need to be a little circumspect before drawing too many conclusions; however, so far, so good.

I like what Amfy says above, she's summed it up for me. It's not just a club to support but an ethos we can relate to.

I think it is to the fans credit and intelligence of seeing the big picture that it was a relative minority and also not a particularly vocal one regarding giving him stick at games. Especially after Chelsea, Spurs, Wigan, Southampton, Newcastle, Bradford, Millwall and the transfer window. Approximately six weeks of horror.

[Jimbo]

What makes this more apparent is what came before. Overpaid, lazy, half-arsed senior players with no team ethos and no sense of community among their peers, with little respect for the club and no understanding of their responsibility to it and the supporters. They had become so detached from the fans, they might as well have been from another planet. Stephen Ireland probably was.

Our current crop are everything Ireland wasn't - they appear committed, eager, hungry, grateful for their opportunity and united in a common cause. Whether we live or die by this approach, at least we have a bunch of players who aren't blatantly taking the piss. At Aston Villa, that will always buy players currency among the fans. A Joe Bennett trying his bollocks off will always feel more like one of us than a Stephen Ireland jogging around midfield wishing he was on the bench.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

I'd like to add that Barry Bannan and Joe Bennett have taken an incredible amount of stick that has clearly contributed to some of their poor performances. Up to and including January I'd say the fans, at home, have been pretty poor. Only recently has it improved, as have results.

On Monday, in true typical Villa fan fashion, there were two blokes behind us moaning when it was 5-1 that we kept passing the ball around and weren't going for more goals. Only a Villa fan could criticise their team when 5-1 up.

However, Monday was by far the best atmosphere this season, but was it because of the teams performance, or was the result by the team helped by the fans?