View From the Opposition - WBA fan

[Sunny Villa]

Love the Villa arrogance bit !  jesus as a kid we got relegated to the third division , oh even as a young child I remember how the locals spawned their bile and hate , I was new to Brum .  My best mate was a Villa fan he took shit loads , so after the Portsmouth game which I think sealed relegation , I was Villa .

I had many years of people trying to change my belief but after the 71 cup final , there is something that you cannot put your finger on about Aston Villa .  but arrogance is not one of them .

Pride.

you lot deal with that any way you fancy .  I can honestly say if we were in Div 4 we would still get more attention than other west midland clubs who have the so what !  value   

   

[ChicagoLion]

the " we have had it rammed down our throats" quote has been around for a long time and often given as the basis of hatred of us.

Lets face it, it is not our fault that Small Heath and Olbyon are pretty piss poor examples of football clubs, neither can get more than 25,000 people to even turn up.

I feel sorry for them (Stripeys) , they have put themselves in the same category as Small Heath. ah

[amfy]

The flaw in the argument is that we had the same from Coventry, and even Leicester, who aren't actually near enough to "have it rammed down their throats". Kids is Coventry and Leicester didn't grow up tormented by arrogant Villa fans in the playground surely? Yet the same bile, and disproportionate crowing at minor victories comes from all corners of the midlands.
It's imagined by opposition fans - "that Aston Villa think they're something special". Thats not because we go on about it, it's because we are. As I write that I know it sounds arrogant, but the truth is, we live with that level of expectation too, there is nothing us or you can do about it.

[Dante Lavelli]

I'm not sure why Liam's description is that hard to understand, possibly because I come from the middle of no-where where most people (probably 75%) of fans support Man U.  Therefore I'm in the minority and have to endure the smugness/arrogance from man u fans the whole time, kind of like what Liam has described.

…And if we had a 2-3 year period of finishing above man u I'd love it, even if the two clubs were finishing say 6th and 7th respectively (i.e. not "successful" by any stretch).

[Damo70]

Two things from that blog. Firstly, it is over 1,000 days since we beat them. That made me smile, I bet he knows the exact amount of days too. Secondly, at the moment and for the foreseeable future is is THE local derby. The only local derby.

[LeeB]

Bingo. Absolutely spot on, I think that's the major differing factor between us and Albion and Blues.

Finished above us the last two years. Honestly, is it that big a deal for them? Is that anything to really crow about?

Finished 8th and 10th the last two seasons, and they consider that doing "very well", whereas for us, it'd be seen as mediocre.

Then there's the whole "you've fallen on hard times" thing which they spin out from that. Fallen on hard times, but still not fallen anything like hard enough to get relegated in the last quarter of a century.

It's something no matter how many times it gets explained you will never understand it.

We've lived having to suffer your arrogance, the looking down on us and forever letting us know just how "small" we are and how "big" you are.

It means something to us because it is hilarious watching the big brother of the region finally being knocked off their perch. You have a good history and your expectations are naturally much higher than ours, but we'll laugh at seeing your side fail to meet your high expectations which lets be honest - may, at times, be slightly over the top.

If you would have had the school days that I had, just maybe, just maybe, you might understand. We're obsessed with our club - but we'll take great delight in watching you fail because we've had your successes rammed down our throats for years on end.

Unless you're an Albion fan or a bluenose you'll never understand it - you'll just claim we're small time and obsessed until you're blue in the face

That's fine by me, carry on.

It's not our fault you're mostly shit.

Whoever tagged them 'bitters' wasn't wrong.

[aj2k77]

Liam, do you know if there will there be a DVD released of the first 11 minutes of the Villa game?

[cheltenhamlion]

One of them said yesterday that they would be happy as long as they have 20 points by Christmas as that should see them safe.

It seems they went from Brazil 1970 to Barnsley 1998 in the space of half an hour the other night.

[Clampy]

I've just read Liam's blog and it started out as if it could have been an interesting insight into local derbies. He spoilt it predictably by slipping in sly digs at us and Wolves. It all came across as rather bitter in the end.

[fredm]

I'm not sure why Liam's description is that hard to understand, possibly because I come from the middle of no-where where most people (probably 75%) of fans support Man U.  Therefore I'm in the minority and have to endure the smugness/arrogance from man u fans the whole time, kind of like what Liam has described.

…And if we had a 2-3 year period of finishing above man u I'd love it, even if the two clubs were finishing say 6th and 7th respectively (i.e. not "successful" by any stretch).

Agreed Dante.  Reading some of the postings on here made me think exactly the same with some of the comments that so-called "fans" of Man U and Liverpool come out with.

[brontebilly]

Bingo. Absolutely spot on, I think that's the major differing factor between us and Albion and Blues.

Finished above us the last two years. Honestly, is it that big a deal for them? Is that anything to really crow about?

Finished 8th and 10th the last two seasons, and they consider that doing "very well", whereas for us, it'd be seen as mediocre.

Then there's the whole "you've fallen on hard times" thing which they spin out from that. Fallen on hard times, but still not fallen anything like hard enough to get relegated in the last quarter of a century.

It's something no matter how many times it gets explained you will never understand it.

We've lived having to suffer your arrogance, the looking down on us and forever letting us know just how "small" we are and how "big" you are.

It means something to us because it is hilarious watching the big brother of the region finally being knocked off their perch. You have a good history and your expectations are naturally much higher than ours, but we'll laugh at seeing your side fail to meet your high expectations which lets be honest - may, at times, be slightly over the top.

If you would have had the school days that I had, just maybe, just maybe, you might understand. We're obsessed with our club - but we'll take great delight in watching you fail because we've had your successes rammed down our throats for years on end.

Unless you're an Albion fan or a bluenose you'll never understand it - you'll just claim we're small time and obsessed until you're blue in the face

That's fine by me, carry on.

And you'll carry on being the same smalltime, sanctimonious nonentities you always have been. You call us arrogant, then throw a party when you're eleventh in the league after twelve games. You reckon you're on the way to glory, but we've got as many points as you and we're apparently struggling. You say you'll delight in our failure (no obsession there, oh no), when it's still what you'd call success. You come on here and reckon you're laughing at us. I know who's laughing the loudest.

you took all that from his post? deary me

[dave.woodhall]

I'm not sure why Liam's description is that hard to understand, possibly because I come from the middle of no-where where most people (probably 75%) of fans support Man U.  Therefore I'm in the minority and have to endure the smugness/arrogance from man u fans the whole time, kind of like what Liam has described.

…And if we had a 2-3 year period of finishing above man u I'd love it, even if the two clubs were finishing say 6th and 7th respectively (i.e. not "successful" by any stretch).

Agreed Dante.  Reading some of the postings on here made me think exactly the same with some of the comments that so-called "fans" of Man U and Liverpool come out with.

If I went onto another club's forum and said what that lot have said I'd expect to get ripped to bits as well.

[Chico Hamilton III]

I'm not sure why Liam's description is that hard to understand, possibly because I come from the middle of no-where where most people (probably 75%) of fans support Man U.  Therefore I'm in the minority and have to endure the smugness/arrogance from man u fans the whole time, kind of like what Liam has described.

…And if we had a 2-3 year period of finishing above man u I'd love it, even if the two clubs were finishing say 6th and 7th respectively (i.e. not "successful" by any stretch).

Totally different. The reason that most of the people near you are Man United fans is because they're glory hunters, pure and simple. I'd love nothing more than to gloat to some Watford-based Man United fan who's never set foot in Old Trafford. I'm not sure you could ever accuse a Villa fan of being a glory hunter. Misery hunter, maybe.

And another thing, I never ever remember gloating and being arrogant to Albion fans when they were shit and bumping around in the lower divisions. But suddenly, they have 2 better seasons than us ( the 2 worst seasons we've had for decades, incidentally) and people I know who haven't been down the Albion for years are suddenly rushing out of the woodwork and acting like they've been loyal fans since the dark days. And they take the piss out of Wolves fans for doing exactly the same. They've got a chip on their shoulder and we're the convenient scapegoat. Fuck em! call us arrogant while they're waving a Pride of the Midlands banner after enjoying 2 mid-table finishes. You couldn't make it up.

[Clampy]

I'm not sure why Liam's description is that hard to understand, possibly because I come from the middle of no-where where most people (probably 75%) of fans support Man U.  Therefore I'm in the minority and have to endure the smugness/arrogance from man u fans the whole time, kind of like what Liam has described.

…And if we had a 2-3 year period of finishing above man u I'd love it, even if the two clubs were finishing say 6th and 7th respectively (i.e. not "successful" by any stretch).

They've got a chip on their shoulder and we're the convenient scapegoat. Fuck em! call us arrogant while they're waving a Pride of the Midlands banner after enjoying 2 mid-table finishes. You couldn't make it up.

Chico's last three lines have summed it up better than I ever could.

[pauliewalnuts]

But suddenly, they have 2 better seasons than us ( the 2 worst seasons we've had for decades, incidentally) and people I know who haven't been down the Albion for years are suddenly rushing out of the woodwork and acting like they've been loyal fans since the dark days.

Obviously not that many of them, mind, given that they only managed to sell 21k tickets for their cup final this week.

I am aware we're no strangers to empty seats, but the difference is, we don't play in a poxy little 27k capacity stadium.