Where has the soul gone?

[dave.woodhall]

Also not really comparing like for like. The team we had in the late 70s & early 80s was probably the best Villa side that my Dad, or even Grandad, could remember too!

Of course they had their favourite players and occasions from their own youth, but even the 57 cup final wouldn't really match up to The Villa I was lucky enough to be supporting in my teens.

So, they naturally wouldn't have been as nostalgic for the past as we might be now.

I bet they were.

[amfy]

I do vaguely remember my Grandad talking about a player who used to play the piano in The Holte Pub or somewhere after the game and get so drunk he'd fall of the stool. So there was definitely the same sense that players had become disconnected than they had been 'in their day'.

[Goldie.7]

But what worried me yesterday was that for the first time the result didn't hurt like it used too....

Really? It stopped hurting a long time ago for me, losing/bad results has been a recurring theme for the last 5 and a half years, that's a long time.

[pauliewalnuts]

All this angsty stuff (and I am as bad as anyone) boils down to the fact that we have been awful for four or five years now.

It isn't the only cause but if we hadn't been laughably poor these last few years, it'd be much easier to shake off the gloom.

[clash city rocker]

On the whole I have become a lot less frustrated when we lose and probably numb to it. However standing in the pub yesterday listening to Sandwell fans laughing at us hurt..by Christ it fuckin hurt..so much so that I left and went home..it probably shouldn't have hurt that much but it  did and the only positive I can draw from the pain of listening to those twas is that I still fuckin care...yes deep down I care a lot.

[David_Nab]

All this angsty stuff (and I am as bad as anyone) boils down to the fact that we have been awful for four or five years now.

It isn't the only cause but if we hadn't been laughably poor these last few years, it'd be much easier to shake off the gloom.

The aim of football is to win matches , for 5 years we have been poor at doing this.Our recent form is one of constant losing it's no wonder we are all run down by it all.

[Salsa Party Animal]

In older days players were footballers nowdays players are athletics who play football.

[Chris Smith]

Being not of the required age, I would be intrigued to know any of the posters who were youngsters in the '70s and '80s remember if the "old-timers" of the time noticed a great difference then between the matchday / football experience of the '40s and '50s, for better or worse...

The players were all bloody great jessies not like the old days what with their long hair and kissing each other after they scored.

Quite, there is an inevitable nostalgia as we move through the generations. It's obviously compounded by us being rubbish at the moment but people always miss their youth and by association the football. It's like listening to an oldies show on the radio and singing along to and knowing all the words to songs you hated when you were 17.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

"It were better in my day, I tell thee..."

[Ron Manager]

I do vaguely remember my Grandad talking about a player who used to play the piano in The Holte Pub or somewhere after the game and get so drunk he'd fall of the stool. So there was definitely the same sense that players had become disconnected than they had been 'in their day'.

That was probably Colin Gibson the winger in the early fifties.

[Walmley_Villa]

Problem is we have all got too used to losing, it stinks the club out and starts at the top. Lerner is not a winner and doesn't exude that aura, see Cleveland Browns. He is too 'nice' and that has without a doubt contributed to where we now find ourselves.

[claret and blue blood]

Well I'm 61 on Boxing Day ( I know our record on this day is awful) and I know what we mean when. We say it doesn't hurt because we don't really know what winning feels like anymore.
I think it was the cup final that has killed us , travelling back from that utter humiliation brought home to me how far we have fallen as a club.
Compare that to the tears in my eyes from pride watching Chico Hamilton ,Bruce Rioch and co fight so bravely against Spurs in the league cup final in 1971 and even though we lost I couldn't have been any more proud.
Where do we get our pride / soul back ? Probably in the same way in a few years time when we are fighting to regain our status as a top flight club.
It does however still hurt otherwise e wouldn't be on here seeking solace with our brothers.

[conman]

wish i had gone ,,, it was nippy ,, so  i wouldnt have walked round the ground or gone in early for something to eat ,
the pubs and chippys on county road sounded much more appealing
finally as a postscript
Robbie fowler is one of the UKs top property tycoons and one of the richest footballers ever

[four fornicholl]

I worry for the kids,our future fanbase.
as we get shitter and slip down the league,unless they have a family who wont let them support anybody else,
the temptation for them to follow a manc,scouse,london team may well be too strong to resist,
they may even end up following our unmentionable neighbours. the next 5 months are arguably the most
important in our clubs history

[clash city rocker]

Claret and blue blood...for all our differences of opinion  we are still all brothers and sisters who follow the greatest football team on earth.