Why are the Media so Anti-Villa?

[dave.woodhall]

Andy Gray will always give you a villa perspective.

Oh no he won't.

You were right about one thing, though. When some clubs spend big money it's exciting; when others do it, they're killing football.

[D.boy]

Look journos it's simple, Randy had money to spend but after watching Mon waste a large portion of it he held back. Mon didn't like it and stropped off into the sunset. Houllier has now been trusted with decent funding and seems to be using it wisely. Not difficult really is it however if you all want to go on worshipping at the alter of Mon then jog on.

[dave.woodhall]

Look journos it's simple, Randy had money to spend but after watching Mon waste a large portion of it he held back. Mon didn't like it and stropped off into the sunset. Houllier has now been trusted with decent funding and seems to be using it wisely. Not difficult really is it however if you all want to go on worshipping at the alter of Mon then jog on.

But....but......it's just not FAIR!!!!

[TheSandman]

Don't let the bullshit bother you.

I've long said I can rely upon the majority of people on this site to provide more insight than the so-called experts.

[The Situation]

I dare anyone to watch The Sunday Supplement on Sky Sports tommorow.

[pauliewalnuts]

I dare anyone to watch The Sunday Supplement on Sky Sports tommorow.

That's the biggest positive from me cancelling Sky Sports, not being tempted to watch that fucking rubbish.

[Dave Cooper please]

Holy Fuck!
That Telegraph article was written by O'Neills's mom yes?

Come on, somewhere amongst the journalistic dross there must be someone who thinks we have just pulled a transfer masterpiece, that we really are a better long term prospect than Slumberland, and that we might just survive as a club after Our Lord Martin.

[KevinGage]

I recall at the time that we got a fair bit of stick for the Ashley Young deal, not so much unsettling him, more overpaying for him.

Steve Bruce at the time said "Ashley Young going for £10 million shows you how crazy the market is" and even having MON as manager didn't save us from criticism in the print media. Twelve months later he was in the England side and probably our most important player

Four years on, who thinks that was a crazy deal? Same when we paid Newcastle £10/12 million for Jimmy.

There will be backtracking of monumental proportions if Bent comes even remotely close to providing the kind of impact those two players did for us and we return to the other end of the table next year. Which, lets be fair, isn't a completely unlikely scenario.

Encouraging thing is that in a supposedly quiet season for him, when he hasn't been at his best, he's already bagged 12 goals in the league and one for England.

[TheSandman]

'If Ashley Young is worth £10million what must Gary McSheffrey be worth?'

I believe were Fistface Potatohead's exact words. Now there was a player who went far.

[kippaxvilla2]

'If Ashley Young is worth £10million what must Gary McSheffrey be worth?'

I believe were Fistface Potatohead's exact words. Now there was a player who went far.

He's worth a £500k transfer back to Cov.

[Pat McMahon]

I'm shocked, genuinely shocked, by that crock of T-Rex shit masquerading as a story by Henry Winter. Really shocked. I can't even bring myself to list where and why it's so thoroughly, unequivocally wrong. It would take me hours.

I am surprised too because from my, admittedly distant, perspective Henry Winter has always been a lucid reporter showing a positive attitude and great respect towards Villa's standing, tradition and support.

[Nev]

I'm someone who has never subscribed to the MON as the devil incarnate theories bouncing around on here, but I was frankly staggered by Winter's article.

Unlike many I do not hold any hatred for MON, dissapointment at his departure without doubt, particularly the timing and while the events of the summer are still shrouded in conjecture and speculation, my opinion of our previous boss remains reserved until the full facts are known. It's a pity some journalists don't do the same.

MON remains a very good manager, he proved that with us and he will be an assett to any club who employs him. There is still a question mark over his ability to make the grade as a great manager, I believe he had the opportunity at Villa but threw it away, but to make him out as some genius who has been done a great disservice by the club is absolute fantasy.

I actually hope the written media keep up this wave of negative reporting about Aston Villa, if last nights performance was anything to go by it can be seen as great motivation. How many on here afforded themselves a wry smile at the final whistle and like me, wished they were sat in the press box?

[citizenDJ]

Good grief! That article by Winter is incredible! It's just utterly absurd!

And I knew it wouldn't take long for some to start praising O'Neill for his 'integrity' regarding the West Ham job. It beggars belief.

[Matt Collins]

Sorry to buck the trend here, but I find this victim mentality stuff a bit demeaning and embarassing. The media don't hate villa. When we were challenging for the top 4 with really exciting young players, they were all over us, even when our football actually wasn't that good.

When we're struggling, shipping goals and with players' form clearly going through the floor, we get criticised. Again, this is often over the top.

We had a spell where we were more fashionable than I can remember. But for the most part we haven't been. This isn't because of some huge London media conspiracy (which also favours clubs from Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle) but because along with Everton we're the only side who've been in the premier league since the outset but have never really threatened to become one of the genuine big boys.

If the Bent deal amounts to £24m it will be over the odds. Bent is a great goal scorer but he's patently not England or premier league contender class in the same way as Drogba, Rooney or Torres. Worth it for us if he does what he says on the tin and turns us into a side that wins games when both sides have similar numbers of chances rather than loses them as we have this season.

[Chris Smith]

I dare anyone to watch The Sunday Supplement on Sky Sports tommorow.

That's the biggest positive from me cancelling Sky Sports, not being tempted to watch that fucking rubbish.

It depends who is on, some of them are idiots and some of them have interesting views. A bit like on here.

The Winter article is daft but he clearly likes the man and the last time I checked being liked wasn't a crime. However it's his opinion and he's perfectly entitled to say it.