Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air on September 18, 2011, 08:08:55 AM
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Well so far I dont think I have heard a single rendition of "Alex Mcleish's Claret and Blue Army" or for that matter "Alex Alex give us a wave". Something we have had with just about every incumbent at least as far back as Ron Atkinson. I wonder why ?
I know Alex McLeish doesnt slip off the tongue as easily as Brian Little for that song, but the name fits about as well as Gerard Houllier or Martin O'Neill when you want to get it going for 20 minutes while banging the seats up and down. Actually Ron Atkinson didnt fit at all so we had the situation of 20,000 fans singing to an individual that he is Big and Fat !
Personally I'm happy it is not being sung, but not because I have any problem with the manager or where he has come from. Back in the day we used to have a simple "Saunders, Saunders, Saunderssssss......", but it was usually reserved for singing with any real gusto at promotions, intermittent Cup final victories and League Championships. Saunders's main acknowlegment from us used to be loud but nervous applause when he would come marching down stony faced from the stand mid-way first half because he wasnt happy with the team.
Maybe this distance between fans and manager will prove a good thing for us. Generally in football the increased singing of the managers names seems to have gone hand in hand with them starting to get sacked earlier and earlier. Years ago, the first sacking would occur in January. A club bottom of the table getting knocked out of the 3rd round of the cup. Even then, the board of directors would be accused of having pressed the panic button. Nowadays, talk radio stations invite bookmakers on air with the latest "sack race" odds during August !
As I say Im happy its not being sung. Let Mr Mcleish get on with his job and this distance between us may prove a positive. At least there hasn't been outright hostility to him inside Villa Park. Then again, we havent gone 1-0 down at home yet.
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I've watched all our home games so far this season thanks to Setanta Canada, I'm yet to hear us sing anything, never mind a Mcleish chant. The level of support for our team at home is embarrassing! No wonder the players look subdued, thousands of empty seats and an atmosphere like a sunday morning in the library!
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You can't sing when you're booing.
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I've watched all our home games so far this season thanks to Setanta Canada, I'm yet to hear us sing anything, never mind a Mcleish chant. The level of support for our team at home is embarrassing! No wonder the players look subdued, thousands of empty seats and an atmosphere like a sunday morning in the library!
The players get paid obscene amounts of money. They should not need any help in feeling motivated.
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With any other manager, at this point in the season, the vast majority would be talking about being unbeaten. However, with McLeish managing a club so close to us (geographically that is), people saw that his Birmingham City side played some shocking football and so the unbeaten side doesn't matter and he'll get booed after 5 games. How many other teams fans would do that? Give the guy a chance. Any manager starts off by ensuring your defence is sorted, then you look at the forward play. He hasn't even had chance to sort out his first team as of yet, how could he with only a few games in? I think most on here would agree with the players in defence and Bent as centre-forward, but for all the other positions there'd be a big mixture of thoughts. Give him time.
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I've watched all our home games so far this season thanks to Setanta Canada, I'm yet to hear us sing anything, never mind a Mcleish chant. The level of support for our team at home is embarrassing! No wonder the players look subdued, thousands of empty seats and an atmosphere like a sunday morning in the library!
It is embarrassing I agree.
In saying that, the game has changed a lot and it's the away fans who make the noise these days more so than the home ones apart from a few clubs like Spurs, Newcastle, Liverpool, Everton and to an extent Man Citeh who seem to get loud home support almost whatever.
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I don't recall a "David O'Dreary's C&B army" chant ...
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The reason the atmosphere is so muted is because there's not been a great deal to get excited about, and we've just come off the back of a miserable summer.
I agree with CCBB about the shocking football blues played being something people are concerned about, but the vast majority could not give a flying fuck if he managed Smsll Heath or not.
If he had had a record of decent football and not getting relegated there, we'd have been cock a hoop at stealing their manager.
The "used to manage them, that's why the idiots hate him" line is fast becoming the most predictable high horse for people to climb on.
If our crowds do not pick up, it won't be because people are remaining stoically anti AM because of who he used to manage, it will be because the football on offer is so uninspirational, turgid, and symptomatic of the feel of malaise about the club at the moment.
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I've watched all our home games so far this season thanks to Setanta Canada, I'm yet to hear us sing anything, never mind a Mcleish chant. The level of support for our team at home is embarrassing! No wonder the players look subdued, thousands of empty seats and an atmosphere like a sunday morning in the library!
It is embarrassing I agree.
In saying that, the game has changed a lot and it's the away fans who make the noise these days more so than the home ones apart from a few clubs like Spurs, Newcastle, Liverpool, Everton and to an extent Man Citeh who seem to get loud home support almost whatever.
Liverpool, and Everton get loud home support??? Not whenever I've been there!
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With any other manager, at this point in the season, the vast majority would be talking about being unbeaten.
Had we encountered the likes Of Citeh, United and the other Turd 4/5 first up, I'd probably agree.
But as starts go, it hasn't been very demanding, has it?
Fulham away, Blackburn at home, Wolves at home, Everton away and Newcastle at home. In any period of the season -if you had that run of fixtures to come- you'd be looking for a few wins out of that lot.
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I've watched all our home games so far this season thanks to Setanta Canada, I'm yet to hear us sing anything, never mind a Mcleish chant. The level of support for our team at home is embarrassing! No wonder the players look subdued, thousands of empty seats and an atmosphere like a sunday morning in the library!
You can't blame the empty seats on the people who've turned up. I wouldn't say the supporters have been embarrassing, far from it. We've come off the back of a shit season, appointed an underwhelming manager and made underwhelming signings. I think the majority of regular fans have stuck with the team, but it's hard to get excited when the team turn in 2nd half performances like Saturday.
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We don't have to sing, arsenal dont sing, I don't remember everton singing. Don't judge people on singing. I think people have been quite patient so far considering the football has been shit
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I thought Everton were loud last week, came across on the tv like they were anyway.
I agree the football served up has been crap, I just feel if we were to get behind them and get the place rocking again it would lift the players, few home wins will sort it out, hopefully!
Up the Villa.
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Sorry but seven from five with the start we have had isn't good enough.
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How many other teams fans would do that?
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Wolves got booed on Saturday
Everton got booed after QPR
Arsenal were booed pre-season
Don't try and make out that we are the only supporters who boo and if say 1000 out of 30000 want to boo after paying their hard earned cash to watch rubbish then why shouldn't they?
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Sorry but seven from five with the start we have had isn't good enough.
Although I agree it is a disappointing start in terms of wins on the board.We still lie 6th in the table. Although I fully expected us to win on Saturday I really thought we would lose against Everton and Fulham I don't think results are as predictabe as they used to be.Who would have thought Sunderland would have stuck 4 past Stoke after the start both teams have had
Sadly,I don't think we have the right to expect to beat teams such as Newcastle with a much weakened team from last season
This time last year we had just drawn with Bolton and had 7 points with what you would have considered an easyish run of fixture West Ham (h),Newcastle(newly promoted)(a) Everton(h) Stoke (a) Bolton (H)
You could argue that under the circumstances ie players sold and not replaced, Nzog not cutting it.Having to play essentilly unproven youngsters,players inc our goalie and top goal scorer carrying injuries that Eck is actually over achieving especially compared to Martin Jols start at Fulham,not to mention having to completely overhaul our defence
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The atmosphere seems weird to me, almost completely neutral and waiting for an event of sufficient magnitude to tip it one way or the other. When AM came on board eveyone said his first run of games was key, he needed to hit the ground running because if he started badly fans would be straight on his back. In the event we've had something exactly midway between between a good/shit start and we don't know what to think. A hard-to-beat team hanging around 7th-10th place will never win the fans over but won't give them anti-McLeish lot much to go on either.
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It's hard to get excited about being okay. And that's what we are. It's what we were set up to be during the summer, and that's how we look, so far. Fans need a reason to whip up an atmosphere.
Results wise, it's pretty much the same as last season. Match results fixture for fixture, and we're one point worse off than last season.
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Results wise, it's pretty much the same as last season. Match results fixture for fixture, and we're one point worse off than last season.
No, I make it the same 7 points 1 win 4 draws this season
Last season 2 wins 1 draw 2 losses
The difference being our goal difference this time last seaon was -3 and it's +2 this season
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Sure?
I haven't checked - I should - but I make it last season:
Fulham (A) Drew 1-1
Blackburn (H) Won 3-1 (4-1 was the FA Cup, wasn't it?)
Wolves (H) Lost 0-1
Everton (A) 2-2
Newcastle (H) Won 1-0
Eight points, two wins, three draws.
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Sure?
I haven't checked - I should - but I make it last season:
Fulham (A) Drew 1-1
Blackburn (H) Won 3-1 (4-1 was the FA Cup, wasn't it?)
Wolves (H) Lost 0-1
Everton (A) 2-2
Newcastle (H) Won 1-0
Eight points, two wins, three draws.
West Ham(h) won 3-0
Newcastle(a) lost 0-6
Everton(H) won 1-0
Stoke(A) lost 2-1
Bolton(H) drew 1-1
7 points
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FFS.
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It's hard to get excited about being okay. And that's what we are.
Yeah, it's like "what do you think of it so far?"
*shrug*
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I don't recall a "David O'Dreary's C&B army" chant ...
Really? Well there was one. I remember singing it at Fulham away when Djemba Djemba made his debut. We missed 2 penalties and they equalised in the 93rd minute. We sang "O'Leary's claret and blue army" for about half an hour straight IIRC.
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I don't recall a "David O'Dreary's C&B army" chant ...
Really? Well there was one. I remember singing it at Fulham away when Djemba Djemba made his debut. We missed 2 penalties and they equalised in the 93rd minute. We sang "O'Leary's claret and blue army" for about half an hour straight IIRC.
I didn't.
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Villa Park has had a crap atmosphere for years, things just look and sound worse now because squad wise its the worst shape we've been in since the end of DOL reign. How Lerner has let this happen is beyond belief??
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You can't sing when you're booing.
Now that's a good point.... ;D
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It's hard to get excited about being okay. And that's what we are.
Yeah, it's like "what do you think of it so far?"
*shrug*
That was almost a cracking comic catchphrase.
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I don't recall a "David O'Dreary's C&B army" chant ...
Really? Well there was one. I remember singing it at Fulham away when Djemba Djemba made his debut. We missed 2 penalties and they equalised in the 93rd minute. We sang "O'Leary's claret and blue army" for about half an hour straight IIRC.
Okay - fair enough.
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Sure?
I haven't checked - I should - but I make it last season:
Fulham (A) Drew 1-1
Blackburn (H) Won 3-1 (4-1 was the FA Cup, wasn't it?)
Wolves (H) Lost 0-1
Everton (A) 2-2
Newcastle (H) Won 1-0
Eight points, two wins, three draws.
West Ham(h) won 3-0
Newcastle(a) lost 0-6
Everton(H) won 1-0
Stoke(A) lost 2-1
Bolton(H) drew 1-1
7 points
I think Merv was referring to the corresponding fixtures from last year not the first 5 games.
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Ahhh! Pennys dropped I was referring to how many points we had at the same time last season
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Like Andy I'm happy we don't sing to McLeish just let him get on with it besides we'd look like hypocrites if 5 minutes ago people were painting Bluenose scum on walls and now we're asking him to wave like he's our mate. There is no getting away from the general depression around the place yet we're unbeaten? If I had to describe the atmosphere at Villa Park I'd say we've all just become comfortably numb. We just need a few wins at home stick with it.
Regards the Claret N Blue Army chant I remember the first time I heard this when Sir GT was in charge. There was just this noise coming from the back of the holte getting louder, none us knew what they were singing till someone said I think its "Graham Taylor eats Tandoori" which stuck for the rest of the season round by us. We knew how to enjoy ourselves back then alright, home games against the likes of Luton and Wimbledon just used to fly by ;)
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I'm pretty sure the first time I heard the managers claret and blue army chant was Billy McNeil! Hard to believe I know.