Vintage Press-ing

[dave.woodhall]

With a bit of non-Villa to start.

http://thebirminghampress.com/2018/03/into-the-lions-den-2/

[garyshawsknee]

Well put Dave, Tuesdays game is as big now, as we don't want yesterdays performance to be for nothing. Sorry for the loss of your friend, football needs more folk like her.  UTV

[Legion]

Done.

[olaftab]

Comment about Terry is spot on. He also did the same towards Witton End on his way back from the Holte. Can not fault that man's passion.

[oldtimernow]

Good write-up Dave, with a close friend coming to the end of her fight against cancer I can appreciate your feelings.

There are times when football is not the be all and end all but there are also times when it can seem the best thing in the world and yesterday's performance was one of those days. Everybody, team, officials and Fans united as one......magic

[clash city rocker]

Your article shows dave that every club has fantastic supporters although they are sometimes over shadowed by the odd idiot every club has. It shows it's still the greatest game on earth but sometimes we can forget it is just a game. There aren't many games where simply by wearing a team shirt that you can strike up a conversation with total strangers around the globe.People like your friend get football and all the positives it can bring.

[bill]

Sometimes, after watching your team put in another turgid performance, you wonder why you bother, then you get a game like yesterday, and you know exactly why. As Alex Ferguson once said “football, bloody hell”.

[PROVERBS1966]

That's a brilliant piece. UTV.

[Nunkin1965]

I have to say that was one of the most enjoyable and special games I've seen in a virtually uninterrupted period of 26+ years of watching The Villa at home.
Total commitment from everyone and a fantastic team togetherness throughout.
Some superb individual performances I know but what a team effort from back to front.
We've put out a serious statement to others and I don't see a reason why we can't get out of this League this season.

[Toronto Villa]

I hope if nothing else yesterday strengthens the position of those who believed already we had very good and even excellent players and brings belief to those who held doubts. We took on statistically the best team in the division with players who are playing well below their established grade. Yet our players not only matched them physically and in passion but critically technically. Not just Jack Grealish who elevated himself to another level versus Neves, Costa, Jota etc, but other players throughout the team who proved without a shadow of a doubt that they are excellent players at this level. And maybe have the collective belief to prove themselves and demonstrate their ability at the next.

[PeterWithe]

Good piece.

I echoed those thoughts in the pub, that victory was a real flag in the ground statement.

[Keeno]

Point about Terry is so true - he's moved past the point of being a so-called 'model professional' (that we all knew he was anyway) and looks as though he is truly loving every minute of this.

This season is something of a first for him in a few ways - it's obviously not to the level of being a serial league and cup winner with Chelsea. But the raw-ness and unpredictability of the Championship, the fact we're the only other club he's played for, and the job he and Bruce have been tasked with doing with this side is certainly different to some of the Rolls Royce teams he has walked the Premier League with in the past. You've got to really fight in the trenches to get out of the Championship, and I think he and the rest of the players have really connected to the joy of the fans who for much of the last decade have been understandably disenchanted.

Bruce made an excellent point in his interview with AVTV yesterday, probably the most insightful and pertinent one he's made all season - that in the last 2 months a bond and association has begun to form with the fans and the players, feeding off one another's passion - something that we may not even have seen in the peak MON days. Partly because it's so hard to do and you need leaders on and off the pitch, with players who give everything to win. He deserves immense credit for that in turning us around.

[Brazilian Villain]

Don't normally comment but like the performance yesterday that's the best piece yet Dave!

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

That's a fine piece of writing, Dave. Enjoyed it.

[ldavfc4eva]

Very well written Dave, and a great point about Terry. The man oozes professionalism and I think his mentality has helped enormously behind the scenes this season.

Onwards and upwards

UTV