Bias press

[Vanilla]

I'm not sure whether this helps or hinders the "anti villa" theory but this was in the guardian's "5 things we learnt from the weekend" bit:

 Villa need fans' backing, not barracking

Perhaps the Aston Villa support were piqued by the Guardian's revelation that they are currently in possession of the Fickle Fans award* because more than 35,000 turned up to watch their team take on Norwich – the club's highest attendance of the season and a solid few thousand up on the average. And they were not disappointed, with five goals and a classy display of Wide Boy and Target Man link-up play between Gabriel Agbonlahor and Darren Bent to take in.

*Don't take the bait. Oh, go on then.

We have to remember that The Guardian was once based in Manchester, and now in London. As such it has good coverage of the North West i.e. The Pool and manure, and the London teams, but that's it.

That's right. That's why The Guardian has got a grudge against the Villa. And the sneaky, snidey bastards- you wouldn't even notice it unless you were really, really looking for it.

A recent article in the paper on the Electric Cinema also painted a lovely picture of Birmingham; how they were shocked to find a bit of culture in such a dirge hole of a city.

[Lambert and Payne]

I'm not sure whether this helps or hinders the "anti villa" theory but this was in the guardian's "5 things we learnt from the weekend" bit:

 Villa need fans' backing, not barracking

Perhaps the Aston Villa support were piqued by the Guardian's revelation that they are currently in possession of the Fickle Fans award*

I wonder if they heard the 5T0KE fans calling for Tony Pulis head during the Bolton game on Sunday. It may only have been a few of them but thats all it takes, and if it had been us calling for the managers head (what possible reason would we have for that?) we would have been slaughtered for it. When you consider all thast Pulis has done for them, that makes them the most fickle bunch I have known

[eamonn]

Not sure if this is true but i heard a stat recently that said this season we yet again have the honour of being the team that has dropped most points from winning positions - and if we had held on we would have had an extra 12 points and be 3/4th
Interesting we had the same stat in MON's first season so i guess its not a bad place to steadily start

I can actually see this team getting stronger and better as the season goes on

I count it as 8 points dropped from winning positions (against Newcastle, QPR, West Brom and Sunderland) with 4 points gained from losing positions (coming back twice to draw at Everton, and coming  from behind to beat Norwich).

But it as an affliction that as you say, has dogged us for a while. Last season I think our record for giving up leads was the worst. Remember this time last season when our good work against Fulham and ManUre was undone by the late concession of equalisers?

[Macho Man Randy Savage]

Downing is a pretty solid midfielder, but he's certainly not worth anything near £20 million.

[RunRickyRun]

I wonder how many Guardian journalists have to pay £40 for their match ticket?

My thoughts exactly.

Where has this modern obsession with ranking fans come from? Turn on the TV or radio (or even visit a messageboard) and it's 'Wolves fans bad', 'Villa fans bad', 'Norwich fans good' ad nauseum.

If we are nothing more than TV extras, then I think we should at least get paid to cheer and clap.

[brian green]

The Daily Mirror plumbed new depths of Villa hating today.   I thought with their line up of Oliver Holt, James Nursey and Savage their paranoid hatred of Aston Villa had got about as far as it could get but this morning Derek McGovern writes and I quote "Darren Bent is 1-5 with Hills to start against the World and European champions, while Gabriel Agbonlahor is 2-5.   Yet, if they were Spanish neither man would be allowed anywhere near a Spain international - not even as fans."   How's that for balanced, objective reporting?   McGovern makes John Terry's alleged opinion of Anton Ferdinand seem positively good natured.

All this venom aimed at Bent and Agbonlahor to big up Wayne Rooney and how vital he is to England in international tournaments.   Yes, the very same Rooney who uses prostitutes, fucks and blinds into TV microphones, gets himself red carded against Montenegro, slags off England fans and did absolutely fuck all in the last international tournament.

[PaulWinch again]

The Daily Mirror plumbed new depths of Villa hating today.   I thought with their line up of Oliver Holt, James Nursey and Savage their paranoid hatred of Aston Villa had got about as far as it could get but this morning Derek McGovern writes and I quote "Darren Bent is 1-5 with Hills to start against the World and European champions, while Gabriel Agbonlahor is 2-5.   Yet, if they were Spanish neither man would be allowed anywhere near a Spain international - not even as fans."   How's that for balanced, objective reporting?   McGovern makes John Terry's alleged opinion of Anton Ferdinand seem positively good natured.

All this venom aimed at Bent and Agbonlahor to big up Wayne Rooney and how vital he is to England in international tournaments.   Yes, the very same Rooney who uses prostitutes, fucks and blinds into TV microphones, gets himself red carded against Montenegro, slags off England fans and did absolutely fuck all in the last international tournament.

That is outrageous. Frankly it's pretty pitiful and ill informed journalism as well.

[Dave Cooper please]

Look at it logically rather than with your "Everyone hates Villa" hat on and he's right, Spain would never pick Gabby or Benty, they have a wealth of talent at their disposal, and as much as I love the both of them, they would not get anywhere near a Spain squad. Bent or Villa? Gabby or Messi?

It's more a comment on the paucity of English talent than an anti-Villa tirade I think.

[taylorsworkrate]

Look at it logically rather than with your "Everyone hates Villa" hat on and he's right, Spain would never pick Gabby or Benty, they have a wealth of talent at their disposal, and as much as I love the both of them, they would not get anywhere near a Spain squad. Bent or Villa? Gabby or Messi?

It's more a comment on the paucity of English talent than an anti-Villa tirade I think.

Messi plays for Argentina, but I agree with your post.

[john e]

The Daily Mirror plumbed new depths of Villa hating today.   I thought with their line up of Oliver Holt, James Nursey and Savage their paranoid hatred of Aston Villa had got about as far as it could get but this morning Derek McGovern writes and I quote "Darren Bent is 1-5 with Hills to start against the World and European champions, while Gabriel Agbonlahor is 2-5.   Yet, if they were Spanish neither man would be allowed anywhere near a Spain international - not even as fans."   How's that for balanced, objective reporting?   McGovern makes John Terry's alleged opinion of Anton Ferdinand seem positively good natured.

All this venom aimed at Bent and Agbonlahor to big up Wayne Rooney and how vital he is to England in international tournaments.   Yes, the very same Rooney who uses prostitutes, fucks and blinds into TV microphones, gets himself red carded against Montenegro, slags off England fans and did absolutely fuck all in the last international tournament.

That is outrageous. Frankly it's pretty pitiful and ill informed journalism as well.

the Mcgovern column in the Mirror is a piss take from start to finish, by that i mean he takes the pee out of everybody not just Villa, in fact his best stuff is about the top clubs he's a bit like the frankie Boyle of sports journalism where he sails pretty close to the wind,
i wouldnt take that bit about Bent and Gabby to seriously as his whole column is tongue in cheek

[brian green]

It is nothing about whether Darren or Gabby would get into the Spain side.   It is a cheap shot and personally and gratuitously insulting to the players concerned.   Later in the same piece he writes that Sandra Redknapp would be a better selection than Darren Bent for England.   And please do not tell me that I have no sense of humour I am not in the mood to provide a target for contradiction for the sake of contradiction.

[PaulWinch again]

It is nothing about whether Darren or Gabby would get into the Spain side.   It is a cheap shot and personally and gratuitously insulting to the players concerned.   Later in the same piece he writes that Sandra Redknapp would be a better selection than Darren Bent for England.   And please do not tell me that I have no sense of humour I am not in the mood to provide a target for contradiction for the sake of contradiction.

Precisely whether Gabby or Bent would be in the squad for Spain or not, it's the disrespect in the article that's the problem. I wonder if the same would be written about Danny Welbeck? who is not as good as both the two above.

[john e]

It is nothing about whether Darren or Gabby would get into the Spain side.   It is a cheap shot and personally and gratuitously insulting to the players concerned.   Later in the same piece he writes that Sandra Redknapp would be a better selection than Darren Bent for England.   And please do not tell me that I have no sense of humour I am not in the mood to provide a target for contradiction for the sake of contradiction.

yep, but it is written as a joke column, and should be read as such

[Brend'Watkins]

I have a theory.  Are the Guardian anti us because Cameron is a fan and because the future King is a fan. It might not be the case but if you were a writer, even a sports writer for such a publication there's a good chance that you are anti tory and anti monarchy.

Anyway, today I have heard our club mentioned quite a lot today on the radio.  radio 2 specifically. The winner of Popmaster was a Villa fan from Stirchley.  Then, in the afternoon Jeremy Vine had a guest on whose son was killed some years ago in Basra Iraq, a big Villa fan who by all accounts as Sargent made all his men watch the Villa when he picked their game up on TV.  Vine even played the 'Bells are Ringing', it didn't sound crap and I'm not ashamed to admit in the context it was quite moving.  Then this evening on radio 5 Cameron and Wills were announced as two Villa fans who helped FIFA change their mind.

They'll still write shit about us at any given opportunity in the future but today was a good day.

[Dave]

The Guardian aren't anti-Villa any more than they are anti any other club.