Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Deano's Mullet on December 20, 2011, 07:39:27 PM
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I've never been so disinterested as i have been this season. This probably started towards the middle of last season and has now come around full force right now. It's not because we're crap, we've had shocking seasons before (1990-91, 1994-95, O'Leary's last season) but even then i still found stuff to enjoy and my enthusiasm was still extremely high. Nope, i am out of love with the game.
I cant afford to go. Same with a lot of people i am sure. And those kind tv schedulers have no respect for those that can with some ridiculous kick off times on inappropriate days.
Aston Villa are going backwards fast. We're a selling club. We got beat on Sunday and we expected it. Same again on Thursday I am sure. We beat Bolton the week before and it barely registered with me.
We - and lets face it this goes for everybody bar 3-4 clubs - have no chance of winning anything unless we spend an absolute fortune. Why dont the press see this as opposed to reporting how wonderful 3-4 clubs are. Its hardly a fair playing field is it?
Teams - and we are included in this as of last season - would rather sacrifice silverware
and feature weakened teams if it means they are not losing out on revenue and league position. Its easy enough for the big 4-5 as it is without making it easier for them. Moscow/Man City are all examples where we progressed reasonably well before deciding we werent interested in the trophy after all so bye bye.
The Champions League. Its not for champions and teams celebrate finishing 4th in the league - thus qualifying for it - as if they have won the double. Its not silverware is it? Give me 18th position and the FA Cup any day. And if you lose in the qualifiers it doesnt matter because you drop into the Europa League which is totally wrong. Its just UEFA looking after the big boys again.
SKY. I was all for it in the first 2-3 seasons but its so biased now its unbelievable. The hype far outweighs the actual product and lets face it, it does feel like 16 or so Premier League clubs are just teams that the favoured 4-5 have to play. And football began in 1992 according to SKY.
Gloryhunting fans. I live in the South East. Manchester City fans popping up everywhere round here just like Chelsea did circa 2004. Most of them wouldnt even be able to find Manchester on map. And Brummie Reds. Why oh why oh why? I have more respect for Birmingham City/WBA supporters than i do Midlands followers of Man U, City, Chelsea etc etc.
The players. Most of them are so out of touch with the supporters its unbelievable. I hate watching England as 90% of the squad are players we would detest during your average league games. And they earn so much now it doesnt matter if they dont make the first team or even worry about under performing on the pitch because they are raking it in either way. And going back to Villa, i dont remember a squad where there's been such a lack of empathy between players and supporters. You remember that 1992-94 side, there were characters in it, there were cult heroes. Take Gabby out of it, how many players do you feel an affinity with?
Rant over. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same.
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Wednesday.
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Merry Christmas!
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Wednesday.
See i dont even know when the bloody match is ha ha
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ho ho
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I'll be honest, not agreeing with the hating of sky. I think the package and coverage is superb. Sorry, I know it's against the status quo but it's not their fault football is so top heavy and fucked....(ironically I know it's their money that feeds the beast)
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Rant over. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same.
Of course they do.
Someone starts a brand new version of this thread every two weeks, where everyone complains about how much they hate football before posting about football every day until the next time someone wants to tell us how much they hate it.
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I normally find I can muster some interest if we are doing well, have ambition and look interested in progressing on the pitch.
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I normally find I can muster some interest if we are doing well, have ambition and look interested in progressing on the pitch.
Plastic?
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Pretty much sums it all up for me Deano. :(
Certainly the Villa retreating, SKY, the CL and the players comments.
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I normally find I can muster some interest if we are doing well, have ambition and look interested in progressing on the pitch.
Plastic?
Nope. I am a fan, have been for a very long time, have spent shit loads over the years, can't afford it these days, have got a bit older and therefore, horror of horrors just want something to arouse my passion for the game again. But don't let it stop you thinking your a better fan than me if it makes you feel better.
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Hate to say it but agree with all of it Deano
Didn't stop me buying 4 tickets for the Everton game as a treat for me and the kids though
(Even though I didn't renew our season tickets this year after 15 years for me and 5 years for the kids)
Funny old game ain't it (smiley face thingy)
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I normally find I can muster some interest if we are doing well, have ambition and look interested in progressing on the pitch.
Plastic?
Nope. I am a fan, have been for a very long time, have spent shit loads over the years, can't afford it these days, have got a bit older and therefore, horror of horrors just want something to arouse my passion for the game again. But don't let it stop you thinking your a better fan than me if it makes you feel better.
Nobody said anything about affording anything. You said you're only interested when we're doing well.
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Can't be bothered any more either, mostly down to the same reasons. Haven't been regularly since 08/09 and cancelled Sky last week.
I'll still keep my eye on the soap opera that is modern football, I'm just not that fussed these days.
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Has anyone noticed how the people who are losing their enthusiasm for football have boundless enthusiasm when it comes to telling everyone else about it. They're like born again Christians or recently stopped smokers.
Here's something though, it's always happened. People change, their tastes and interests alter as they get older. Most just get on with it, some try to make out it is something more profound.
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Has anyone noticed how the people who are losing their enthusiasm for football have boundless enthusiasm when it comes to telling everyone else about it. They're like born again Christians or recently stopped smokers.
Can I just say that I'm as interested in it as ever before and probably more likely to go to a game now than I was ten years ago?
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Perhaps it's a way of venting frustration Chris. I agree with most of Deano's sentiments, but fool that I am, I live in hope. That said, I expect another disappointing and frustrating evening tomorrow, rounded off by many ooo's and ahh's on MOTD as Line-acre & co wax lyrical about how great the football in Manchester is.
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Can I Has anyone noticed how the people who are losing their enthusiasm for football have boundless enthusiasm when it comes to telling everyone else about it. They're like born again Christians or recently stopped smokers.
Can I just say that I'm as interested in it as ever before and probably more likely to go to a game now than I was ten years ago?
Yeah but you were a poor student then, now you're raking it in and can afford to go ;)
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What we need is a new "Reasons to be Cheerful" thread. We just need to think of some reasons to be cheerful.
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What we need is a new "Reasons to be Cheerful" thread. We just need to think of some reasons to be cheerful.
Then we should break them up into parts one, two and three.
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Can I Has anyone noticed how the people who are losing their enthusiasm for football have boundless enthusiasm when it comes to telling everyone else about it. They're like born again Christians or recently stopped smokers.
Can I just say that I'm as interested in it as ever before and probably more likely to go to a game now than I was ten years ago?
Yeah but you were a poor student then, now you're raking it in and can afford to go ;)
Rumbled.
Apart from the raking it in part.
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As Chris says, many people go through this phase, where they fall out of love with their club / football in general. I have posted a very similar rant a few years back, probably on the old mailing list.
You'll either get over it once Villa become good again (and we will), find something else to do at the weekend, find non-league football and fall in love with that (not everyone's taste but works for some of us), or any myriad of other lifestyle choices.
What won't happen is the death of football, like it or not, it's as popular as ever, us old gits may not like what is happening at the top, and maybe, just maybe it will change for the better (but who is to say what is "better" if it's still damn popular in it's current form?), so you can slink away or persevere, up to you really.
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What we need is a new "Reasons to be Cheerful" thread. We just need to think of some reasons to be cheerful.
Then we should break them up into parts one, two and three.
Or indeed (with all due apologies)
A fairly talented manager selects a football team and from under a claret and blue beanie hat you hear: "Booooooooo..." (Ta Neil). And you sit there witnessing the whole Neanderthal situation wanting to twist your own brain out as they stand satisfied at the back of the Holte, laughing their Stone Island off. CRINGE.
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Can't be bothered any more either, mostly down to the same reasons. Haven't been regularly since 08/09 and cancelled Sky last week.
I'll still keep my eye on the soap opera that is modern football, I'm just not that fussed these days.
Blimey, that surprises me. Have you down as one of the best posters on here TMWAS!
I still go every game but it's more of a routine than anything tbh.
Only game I've enjoyed watching us play this season home and away was Norwich at home.
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What we need is a new "Reasons to be Cheerful" thread. We just need to think of some reasons to be cheerful.
Then we should break them up into parts one, two and three.
Or indeed (with all due apologies)
A fairly talented manager selects a football team and from under a claret and blue beanie hat you hear: "Booooooooo..." (Ta Neil). And you sit there witnessing the whole Neanderthal situation wanting to twist your own brain out as they stand satisfied at the back of the Holte, laughing their Stone Island off. CRINGE.
Marvelous, never miss a chance do you Joe?
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I agree with everything you say Deano.
The game has degenerated over the last 40 years from something essentially pure and egalitarian to a disgusting greed fuelled monopoly.
Paradoxically though I remain as interested in the game as I've ever been principally because I would like to see it destroy itself, although that seems a vain hope.
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Has anyone noticed how the people who are losing their enthusiasm for football have boundless enthusiasm when it comes to telling everyone else about it. They're like born again Christians or recently stopped smokers.
Sorry Chris, but I think you'll find that most people that post these comments have lost the enthusiasm for Premiership football and not football in general. I still love football and try to go as often as possible to see my local club and take my two lads to their beloved Ajax and Feyenoord respectively.
I encourage anyone who is bored of the Premiership product to get back to their roots and visit a non-league club or lower division team. Its like getting back to football as most of us remember it and if after that you still aren't enthused then I'm afraid that you really have lost the desire.
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Has anyone noticed how the people who are losing their enthusiasm for football have boundless enthusiasm when it comes to telling everyone else about it. They're like born again Christians or recently stopped smokers.
Sorry Chris, but I think you'll find that most people that post these comments have lost the enthusiasm for Premiership football and not football in general. I still love football and try to go as often as possible to see my local club and take my two lads to their beloved Ajax and Feyenoord respectively.
I encourage anyone who is bored of the Premiership product to get back to their roots and visit a non-league club or lower division team. Its like getting back to football as most of us remember it and if after that you still aren't enthused then I'm afraid that you really have lost the desire.
I agree to an extent Neil. I watched Arsenal Man City on Sunday, and Real Barcelona last week, and both games showed me that I still love football, what I don't love is the feeling that Villa as a package are surrendering to becoming a bottom half team with no real direction. Football is still great to watch when played well by people giving their all at any level.
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Has anyone noticed how the people who are losing their enthusiasm for football have boundless enthusiasm when it comes to telling everyone else about it. They're like born again Christians or recently stopped smokers.
Sorry Chris, but I think you'll find that most people that post these comments have lost the enthusiasm for Premiership football and not football in general. I still love football and try to go as often as possible to see my local club and take my two lads to their beloved Ajax and Feyenoord respectively.
I encourage anyone who is bored of the Premiership product to get back to their roots and visit a non-league club or lower division team. Its like getting back to football as most of us remember it and if after that you still aren't enthused then I'm afraid that you really have lost the desire.
I agree to an extent Neil. I watched Arsenal Man City on Sunday, and Real Barcelona last week, and both games showed me that I still love football, what I don't love is the feeling that Villa as a package are surrendering to becoming a bottom half team with no real direction. Football is still great to watch when played well by people giving their all at any level.
Totally my sentiments Ozz
When played in the right spirit and way there is no other game like it - conversely when played badly it can make you feel like it is a chore - this is a period of the latter we are going through
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Has anyone noticed how the people who are losing their enthusiasm for football have boundless enthusiasm when it comes to telling everyone else about it. They're like born again Christians or recently stopped smokers.
Here's something though, it's always happened. People change, their tastes and interests alter as they get older. Most just get on with it, some try to make out it is something more profound.
Spot on, Chris.
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What I find most concerning is the relatively small number of young kids you see at the games these days.
Football is so short term these days, you have to wonder where the next generation of paying fans will come from (especially as the younger generation are more used to the wide availability of football on telly or the internet versus paying).
When we were kids we'd stand on the Holte and the cost of the ticket wasn't even worth thinking about, it was that cheap. Kids today don't have that luxury.
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Has anyone noticed how the people who are losing their enthusiasm for football have boundless enthusiasm when it comes to telling everyone else about it. They're like born again Christians or recently stopped smokers.
Sorry Chris, but I think you'll find that most people that post these comments have lost the enthusiasm for Premiership football and not football in general. I still love football and try to go as often as possible to see my local club and take my two lads to their beloved Ajax and Feyenoord respectively.
I encourage anyone who is bored of the Premiership product to get back to their roots and visit a non-league club or lower division team. Its like getting back to football as most of us remember it and if after that you still aren't enthused then I'm afraid that you really have lost the desire.
I agree to an extent Neil. I watched Arsenal Man City on Sunday, and Real Barcelona last week, and both games showed me that I still love football, what I don't love is the feeling that Villa as a package are surrendering to becoming a bottom half team with no real direction. Football is still great to watch when played well by people giving their all at any level.
Yeah, that's where I'm at.
Because I gave up my ST this season (for several reasons) I've been watching more 'other games' on t'interweb and have enjoyed seeing how others live their footballing lives. I've also been to my local team (Harrogate Town) and to other amateur matches. All good stuff.
I also went to the Reebok to see the Villa: enjoyed that too!
I point is: I'm not busting a gut to get along to Villa games and am happy not to be travelling back and forth (the return journey usually being full of angst). Next season? - I may well feel the vibe again; who knows.
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...I think you'll find that most people that post these comments have lost the enthusiasm for Premiership football and not football in general.
I think it's a Premier League thing as well. After far too long, I've started going to watch Mainz05 in the Bundesliga this season. I've been to home and away games and noticed that the fans just don't seem so jaded here. It's nice to be able to stand as well, of course.
I'll never understand why they feel they need a bloke with a megaphone shouting at them to get them making a noise, instead of reacting to the game, but that's another story.
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I don't like Premier League football anymore, but I like Villa no matter how bad they are doing. I seriously do not care for the "top games" and have no interest in how other premier league teams are doing. Just not interested. I didn't even know Yakubu played for Blackburn until yesterday.
I have started going to watch Tooting and Mitcham play though, and really enjoy that. Even though they've lost 5 of the last 6. And had 3 plaers sent off in the last away game. And 2 players and the manager sent off in the previous away game!!! The manager has now been sacked (used 116 players in 2 seasons). But its fun to know a few people at the bar pre and after the game.
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I too agree with most of what Deano says.
There's a pointlessness about following Villa at the moment, we tried, we spent, we failed, so where do we go now ?
There's nowhere to go but down, we are a selling club and always have been, our owners do not match the ambitions of our supporters (and never have since the 1900s), I have followed Villa since 1967 when we were really crap but I always got enthusiastic about going to Villa Park but there is a different feeling about the place now, a total lack of hope that I have never felt since the days of Tommy Cummings, pre-Docherty and the wonderful experience of the Third Division.
I often wonder if it needs us to get relegated again (I know, I know) !! to galvanise the place again.
Lerner got this appointment badly wrong as I said at the time and he has misread the feeling of the majority.
A lot of people I know either 'support' ManU, Liverpool or Chelsea, despite never having been anywhere near those club's grounds, they view Villa with laughable pity as totally insignificant in football, and I'm sorry but that in my opinion is all about Sky Sports.
Sky have cultivated the TV football 'supporter' over the last twenty years who regularly gets stick from me about not being a 'proper' football fan, but I am viewed as some sort of relic who actually attends every game at the ground of the club I support.
All of this adds up to a club and a game I'm totally pissed off with, even though I will take my place in my usual seat this evening against Arsenal, in a seat I cannot afford but have gone into even more debt to purchase, with a feeling of 'what's the point' ?
Before anybody tells me to f*** off because I'm not a proper Villa supporter, I can tell you that I definately will not be renewing my season ticket for next season for the first time since 1974, that is how out of synch I feel with Villa, and football.
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I'm more fed up with the Villa selling our best players, refusing to even compete in matches against the 'giants' of the game and been made to look like a bunch of novices by a succesion of ordinary managers in their tribunals.
Perhaps if we could start to sort some of these out we wouldnt be so fed up with it all.
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I don't like Premier League football anymore, but I like Villa no matter how bad they are doing. I seriously do not care for the "top games" and have no interest in how other premier league teams are doing. Just not interested. I didn't even know Yakubu played for Blackburn until yesterday.
That's probably my standpoint too.
I pretty much never watch any football that isn't us. I don't even watch MOTD any more. I hardly ever bother to read the sports section of the paper on a sunday. I don't give a shit who wins the league, as it is entirely irrelevant to us.
In fact, yesterday, when i watched a bit of the bolton - blackburn game was the first time I've watched non Villa football in ages.
I'm stuck with Villa because it is in my family and has been since the 19th century, so I'll never ditch us. It is just the rest of the shit with football that I really don't care too much about.
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I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.
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I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.
I agree Chris, watching fottball from the 70's / 80's on TV - it looks awful, although I don't remember it being that way.
Yes, teams with money won trophies, but money has gone from being 1 factor to being the only factor for success. It used to be more on the coaching, managers, players from the area/youth. Look at Citeh, average manager but has every chance to suceed with a seemingly bottomless pit of cash - even Dolly would win something at Citeh nowadays, well maybe....
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I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.
That made me laugh too, thinking of the Wednesday players done for match fixing in the 60's, suspicious transfers and brown paper bags, and black players who don't like the cold.....etc.
The good old days, eh?
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I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.
I agree Chris, watching fottball from the 70's / 80's on TV - it looks awful, although I don't remember it being that way.
Yes, teams with money won trophies, but money has gone from being 1 factor to being the only factor for success. It used to be more on the coaching, managers, players from the area/youth. Look at Citeh, average manager but has every chance to suceed with a seemingly bottomless pit of cash - even Dolly would win something at Citeh nowadays, well maybe....
No chance. Sheikh Mansour can't compete with the Bill Gates' and Lakshmi Mittals.
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Before anybody tells me to f*** off because I'm not a proper Villa supporter, I can tell you that I definately will not be renewing my season ticket for next season for the first time since 1974, that is how out of synch I feel with Villa, and football.
Look Oscar, we've been linked with a loan move for Josh McEachran in January. If that doesn't fill your heart with hope I really don't know what will!
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I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.
That made me laugh too, thinking of the Wednesday players done for match fixing in the 60's, suspicious transfers and brown paper bags, and black players who don't like the cold.....etc.
The good old days, eh?
Most seem to be pointing out the huge finances, SKY and media in general. You just have to look at what jobs Villa's European Cup winning side have done since then to show the difference in earnings.
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I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.
That made me laugh too, thinking of the Wednesday players done for match fixing in the 60's, suspicious transfers and brown paper bags, and black players who don't like the cold.....etc.
The good old days, eh?
Most seem to be pointing out the huge finances, SKY and media in general. You just have to look at what jobs Villa's European Cup winning side have done since then to show the difference in earnings.
I kind of understand the fact that players earn lots more than they used to, but thank you for helping to clarify it for me.
I think the point I was underlining is whilst i don't like the ever increasing level to which football is dominated by money, to pretend 40 years ago were halycon days and money didn't shape football back then is wishful thinking
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The thing is, the economy is fucked and most are having to make cut backs personally. For a family that have gone regularly to VP, all of a sudden the money isn't there, but sadly, the incentive to find the money and to let something else go (like the week in Spain in the summer, for example) isn't there anymore. The argument for 'look, this is something we all do every week and enjoy as a family so it's money better spent than a holiday' no longer applies. That's why gates are dropping and will continue to drop. Randy fucked up bigtime with McLeish, the dour football and lack of effort, the lack even of interesting transfer rumours, have all gone towards the holiday being a better use of family cash than The Villa. We've had bad managerial appointments before, and no doubt will again, but the timing of this one is what's hurting the club, and I'm afraid that the hurting will only start to be really noticed next summer when thousands of season tickets (potentially) will remain unsold/unrenewed. Only then will Randy understand the full implications of his unfathomable decision to appoint McLeish. I don't know where that will leave Villa, and that's the worry, but when the 'product' isn't fit for purpose, you ain't going to be making any sales at the best of times, and the best of times these clearly aren't!
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I can remember my old man and his mates going on sbout players being paid too much and that football wasn't like it was when they were kids. As for the long hair and kissing when they scored...
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i really do feel sorry for the latest generation of fans as
being of a certain age i have been at all of our great days in the last 40 years
man utd semi 69
spurs wembley 70
taking over whole towns in the third division
4 league cup wins
blackpool in the promotion season
liverpool 76
anderlecht
rotterdam
these were all great occasions to be a villa fan but i cant find anything to excite me about football anymore
i refuse to watch villa on tv anymore because i feel so helpless, at least when im at the game i feel involved even if i am shouting at the team rather than encouraging
i cant see the day when i will not renew my season ticket (work permitting) but the feeling amongst us is the football ruins a good day out
finally can we forget about Oneill he has gone and did us no favours the way he did it, we support Aston Villa and whoever is here we should support, because i am sure some people supported him rather than the club
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I'm bored of it all. Seriously thinking of sacking off my ST and everything next year. Might even see if I can knock the missus up instead to keep me occupied
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What I find most concerning is the relatively small number of young kids you see at the games these days.
Football is so short term these days, you have to wonder where the next generation of paying fans will come from (especially as the younger generation are more used to the wide availability of football on telly or the internet versus paying).
When we were kids we'd stand on the Holte and the cost of the ticket wasn't even worth thinking about, it was that cheap. Kids today don't have that luxury.
This is by no means a new or ground-breaking point but it cannot be made often enough in my view. The Premier League, despite constantly telling us how it's got the best football in the world, has got to be one of the most blinkered, short-termist organisations in the country. I must admit I've been saying this for at least 15 years without the chickens really coming home to roost to the extent I predicted, but falling attendances and the general dissatisfaction/lack of interest illustrated by Deano's post do suggest that people are getting fed up. So the old gits that have always been there start to disappear, and clubs might soon start to realise that where there would previously have been a young generation there to replace them, their greedy, short-term attitudes have long ago priced this next generation out of the game. I hope it's still not too late to reverse this trend.
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I can remember my old man and his mates going on sbout players being paid too much and that football wasn't like it was when they were kids. As for the long hair and kissing when they scored...
Yes, but it's all relative isn't it? Surely you can see a difference between the 20 to 25 years after the maximum wage was abolished and the telephone number wages that have become the norm (and kept on rising out of any proportion to the "talent" on display) since the early 90s?
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I'm bored of it all. Seriously thinking of sacking off my ST and everything next year. Might even see if I can knock the missus up instead to keep me occupied
That's the spirit you old romantic.
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It's daft money but the amount earned by bands and film stars ( and bankers, while we're at it) has similarly gone through the roof. It's the world we live in.
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It's a bit like a Dickens novel at the moment! You start the season with Great Expectations, then fall on Hard Times, leading to an atmosphere in the ground akin to Bleak House! I just hope we don't end up being in The Old Curiosity Shop at the end of the season.
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I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.
Of course it wasn't pure. It was indeed a lot dirtier. But it also had plenty of "hard but fair" tackles which rightly went unpunished because the ball was played and there was no intent to injure the opponent.
There were clearly some differences between the money teams had to spend back then, but there really is no comparison with the situation we have now. Leeds were not successful because of money. The Man City and Chelsea stories of recent years simply did not happen back then, it was a far more level playing field. Just as well, too -- teams like Villa, Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Watford, Everton (the list goes on) could - with the right management and the players giving 110% - actually end up winning things because they made the most of resources that were broadly similar to those of most other clubs. As was mentioned on another thread here recently, success on that scale from outside the big money top four or five is almost inconceivable.
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I find myself either suffering from impotent fury and anger at what is happening on and off the field, or being completely apathetic (there have been a couple of times when I've forgotten fixture dates and who our next opponents are).
I suspect the latter is my brain's way of protecting me from the former.
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I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.
Revie and Leeds (you might say perversely) are exactly what I was thinking about when I said the game was essentially pure and egalitarian.
What chance now of a club at the bottom of the championship appointing a player from within the club as player manager and 4 years later coming within an ace of the league and cup double with only having sufficient funds to buy crocks and has beens ,as Leeds did between 61 and 65.?
This was a time when all supporters had hope because success was always just one great managerial appointment away.
Revie himself may ultimately have been corrupt, but that's a different point. The game itself wasn't and Leeds rise to prominence in the 60's came about purely as a result of Revie's hard work and managerial genius. These virtues would get him nowhere today and that says it all.
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I am still laughing at the football was essentially pure 40 years ago comment. It's as though Leeds under Revie never happened? That Chopper Harris and Tommy Smith weren't kicking shit out if anything that moved with refs turning a blind eye. As though teams spending a lot of money weren't winning most of the trophies.
What chance now of a club at the bottom of the championship appointing a player from within the club as player manager and 4 years later coming within an ace of the league and cup double with only having sufficient funds to buy crocks and has beens ,as Leeds did between 61 and 65.?
This was a time when all supporters had hope because success was always just one great managerial appointment away.
Yes, that's a nice summary.
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It's daft money but the amount earned by bands and film stars ( and bankers, while we're at it) has similarly gone through the roof. It's the world we live in.
How about an "Occupy Villa Park" protest?
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The players. Most of them are so out of touch with the supporters its unbelievable. I hate watching England as 90% of the squad are players we would detest during your average league games. And they earn so much now it doesnt matter if they dont make the first team or even worry about under performing on the pitch because they are raking it in either way. And going back to Villa, i dont remember a squad where there's been such a lack of empathy between players and supporters. You remember that 1992-94 side, there were characters in it, there were cult heroes. Take Gabby out of it, how many players do you feel an affinity with?
Rant over. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same.
As ever, you've made a number of very good points, Mat, and I agree with most of your sentiments. But your final comment, above, is an illustration of how quickly things can change and of how this great game can still surprise us. After the Liverpool game we were angry/disgusted/depressed. I remember wondering how on earth they could possibly pick a man of the match (wisely, they didn't try). Yet just a few days later, in last night's game, the team's efforts were rewarded with applause all round the ground at half time, when we were behind, and at the end, when we'd lost. The support was greater and the noise louder than at any time this season and most of last season, and there was certainly none of the lack of empathy that you refer to. It just goes to show that that the support, though often critical, will quickly get behind the players when they show desire and commitment. Look at Albrighton's goal celebration and you'll see how much it mattered to him.
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It's daft money but the amount earned by bands and film stars ( and bankers, while we're at it) has similarly gone through the roof. It's the world we live in.
It's pretty rare I post anything in support of a Chris Smith point but take a look at the list of the highest earning sports stars in the world. The highest footballer, Beckham, comes in 6th whilst there are only 6 footballers in the top 30.
If nothing else it shows how much worse it could get!!!
I was recently in New York and whilst there went to a New York Rangers ice hockey game at Madison Square Garden. Massive arena and I got tickets at the 3rd lowest price category (because the lower prices had sold out!). The tickets cost me and Mrs Ad@m £70 each and the arena was full. This was on a Tuesday night after New York had been at home, again in front of a full house, on the Sunday two days before. Both in the run up to Christmas. The game I saw was one of 41 home games New York Rangers play in a season!!!! Buying match day tickets at £70 a game would cost almost £3,000 a season!
Maybe this gives us an idea of why our (and other club's) American owners don't see £40 match tickets or £500 season tickets as particularly expensive.
(P.S. And the game I saw ended 1-0 to the away team so it was worse than Sunday against Liverpool!!!!)
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If people are losing their enthusiasm then let them say so.
I was there several years ago. And its quite easy to feel like that.
You feel that the football's dull as ditchwater, yet those serving it up are earning on average more per week than you do in a year. Then yes, fuck it, say you're pissed off with it. And to compare football to other sports isn't really an argument, in my opinion. How do we know fans of other sports aren't equally as pissed off with it?
Personally, I don't see a problem with saying so. And to those saying the disillusioned are the most vocal, are you sure? It seems there's a small trickle of such minded people on here. I wouldn't be surprise if there was a huge number who felt the same, yet were keeping schtum.
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I am begining to get less passionate but enjoying the PL for what it is, theatre. The Arsenal Citeh game was great entertainment, i enjoyed the Villa Arse game last night because we had a go at them and played some great stuff. All this from sitting in front of a screen inmy own home. At this time of year I would normally be making sure I get to see the Villa a few times, so they put us at Stoke on Boxing Day night and the reality of what they have turned the game into is a TV spectator sport.
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I'll be going to my first 'live' game for a year in february and have never looked forward to a match so much in my life.
The fact it's in Barcelona might have something to do with it. Bloody gloryhunter.