Relegation?

[adrenachrome]

I hope the Telegraph are going to publish an article about potential pay cuts to players at Norwich, Fulham, Sunderland and Cardiff this morning too.

We are a big club in a big city that is why they have covered us. Others you mention here are minnows or provincial. No one is interested  in them.

Really, I think the only people interested in us is us. We might be all of those things but in football terms nobody really gives a damn about Aston Villa outside of the obvious geographical catchment area.

That's not true at all.

If we went down, it would be a big story.

Of course it would.

Try to imagine another club which might realistically go down any time soon which would be a bigger story.

[Dave]

Even if it isn't positive news at Newcastle, it is more newsworthy than our board that nobody really knows and but for a couple of players, nobody really knows.

Since last year Newcastle have been even worse than us and it's been every bit as much of a non-event. They're only bothered if Pardew headbutts somebody, and if Lambert did that then it would be every bit as newsworthy.

If we or they go down it'll be bigger news than if Norwich or Crystal Palace go but only because we both have the resources to mean that we shouldn't.

[Toronto Villa]

Newcastle haven't been worse than us since last year. They had a brilliant start to the season. The fact that they have lot 9 out of 12 or whatever it is has stopped their season dead in its tracks. They have been on 46 points for ages despite the disaster of the past three months.

[clash city rocker]

Why wait for relegation to cut pay..do it now and backdate the cuts !

[Dave]

Newcastle haven't been worse than us since last year. They had a brilliant start to the season. The fact that they have lot 9 out of 12 or whatever it is has stopped their season dead in its tracks. They have been on 46 points for ages despite the disaster of the past three months.

Since 2013 (last year), they have got fewer points than everybody in the league apart from Cardiff.

[pauliewalnuts]

Newcastle haven't been worse than us since last year. They had a brilliant start to the season. The fact that they have lot 9 out of 12 or whatever it is has stopped their season dead in its tracks. They have been on 46 points for ages despite the disaster of the past three months.

Since 2013 (last year), they have got fewer points than everybody in the league apart from Cardiff.

Since 2013, Sunderland have scored more goals at St James' Park than Newcastle have.

[olaftab]

I hope the Telegraph are going to publish an article about potential pay cuts to players at Norwich, Fulham, Sunderland and Cardiff this morning too.

We are a big club in a big city that is why they have covered us. Others you mention here are minnows or provincial. No one is interested  in them.

Really, I think the only people interested in us is us. We might be all of those things but in football terms nobody really gives a damn about Aston Villa outside of the obvious geographical catchment area. Either that or it is a paper/journalist writing an article to fill space as opposed to it really being any proper news story.

Now you mystify me. Do you not think that a very reputable national heavy weight newspaper printing an article like that is not evidence that people are interested  in what happens to Aston Villa FC? It's very in-anachronistic  to be dismissive of this article as space filler only.

[Toronto Villa]

Newcastle haven't been worse than us since last year. They had a brilliant start to the season. The fact that they have lot 9 out of 12 or whatever it is has stopped their season dead in its tracks. They have been on 46 points for ages despite the disaster of the past three months.

Since 2013 (last year), they have got fewer points than everybody in the league apart from Cardiff.

sorry, so since the turn of the calendar year. I took it to mean last season. However, we can't be that much better off.

[Dave]

Newcastle haven't been worse than us since last year. They had a brilliant start to the season. The fact that they have lot 9 out of 12 or whatever it is has stopped their season dead in its tracks. They have been on 46 points for ages despite the disaster of the past three months.

Since 2013 (last year), they have got fewer points than everybody in the league apart from Cardiff.

Since 2013, Sunderland have scored more goals at St James' Park than Newcastle have.

Good statting.

[pauliewalnuts]

I just don't think they really do. Just my opinion. I think most football fans are primarily obsessed about their own clubs, and beyond that it is what is being fed to them on daily basis by the likes of Sky and Talksport. I can tell you over here, the radio stations talking about football will talk endlessly about Chelsea, Liverpool and Man U and never mention anyone else but in passing. If clubs like Villa get mentioned then it is for about 30 seconds because we might have beaten Chelsea, and then for 5 hours about Chelsea and their problems. I just don't think we are a relevant club at the moment. As a club we have done it to ourselves too that we have just floated along since MON from one miserable year after another to the point where people expect us to be like Stoke or Fulham. Just existing. The one thing we have over clubs like them though is if we get it together people are far more likely to jump on our bandwagon than theirs. Even clubs like Everton for as good as a season as they have had barely get mentioned other than to say Martinez has done a good job, but nothing truly in depth as to how and why. Yet Spurs by comparison are discussed at length for farting loudly.

I totally disagree. I think it might be because you're judging it on what you see the other side of the Atlantic, but we got lots of coverage under MON for being decent, and since then, we've had lots of coverage for being shit.

It's also worth noting that this discussion is coming out of an article in the Telegraph about our players having relegation clauses. That to me doesn't sound like a club nobody gives a shit about.

You mentioned Newcastle and the Shearer effect, but I don't think there is another non CL club with as many high profile supporters as we have. We have an extremely high profile when you consider we last won something 18 years ago.

The media do wank off about the top four and hardly anyone else, yes, you're right, but that's the case for almost everyone. Spurs are media favourites and get disproportionate coverage, that's a totally different issue.

Believe me, if we go down, it will be every bit as newsworthy as it was when Newcastle did. They weren't even PL ever presents, for a start.

[Toronto Villa]

I hope the Telegraph are going to publish an article about potential pay cuts to players at Norwich, Fulham, Sunderland and Cardiff this morning too.

We are a big club in a big city that is why they have covered us. Others you mention here are minnows or provincial. No one is interested  in them.

Really, I think the only people interested in us is us. We might be all of those things but in football terms nobody really gives a damn about Aston Villa outside of the obvious geographical catchment area. Either that or it is a paper/journalist writing an article to fill space as opposed to it really being any proper news story.

Now you mystify me. Do you not think that a very reputable national heavy weight newspaper printing an article like that is not evidence that people are interested  in what happens to Aston Villa FC? It's very in-anachronistic  to be dismissive of this article as space filler only.

I'll believe it to be big story when The Guardian, Independent, Times run with it also. I understand the point you are trying to make, but it is one paper. I'm not being dismissive of Aston Villa being a big club. I know that very well. But I think from a broader perspective clubs like ours built on a history where we last enjoyed any real success 20 odd years ago we're just not that much of a story. The way TV and radio media has gone they are obsessed with a few clubs and the rest are there to be patronised.

[Ian.]

Interesting. I was quite sure myself that Newcastle have been terrible for a  while. I didn't quite realize how bad though.

[pauliewalnuts]

I hope the Telegraph are going to publish an article about potential pay cuts to players at Norwich, Fulham, Sunderland and Cardiff this morning too.

We are a big club in a big city that is why they have covered us. Others you mention here are minnows or provincial. No one is interested  in them.

Really, I think the only people interested in us is us. We might be all of those things but in football terms nobody really gives a damn about Aston Villa outside of the obvious geographical catchment area. Either that or it is a paper/journalist writing an article to fill space as opposed to it really being any proper news story.

Now you mystify me. Do you not think that a very reputable national heavy weight newspaper printing an article like that is not evidence that people are interested  in what happens to Aston Villa FC? It's very in-anachronistic  to be dismissive of this article as space filler only.

I'll believe it to be big story when The Guardian, Independent, Times run with it also.

Isn't that just moving the goalposts to suit your argument? It's a story if it's in all four of those, but not one of them?

[Toronto Villa]

I just don't think they really do. Just my opinion. I think most football fans are primarily obsessed about their own clubs, and beyond that it is what is being fed to them on daily basis by the likes of Sky and Talksport. I can tell you over here, the radio stations talking about football will talk endlessly about Chelsea, Liverpool and Man U and never mention anyone else but in passing. If clubs like Villa get mentioned then it is for about 30 seconds because we might have beaten Chelsea, and then for 5 hours about Chelsea and their problems. I just don't think we are a relevant club at the moment. As a club we have done it to ourselves too that we have just floated along since MON from one miserable year after another to the point where people expect us to be like Stoke or Fulham. Just existing. The one thing we have over clubs like them though is if we get it together people are far more likely to jump on our bandwagon than theirs. Even clubs like Everton for as good as a season as they have had barely get mentioned other than to say Martinez has done a good job, but nothing truly in depth as to how and why. Yet Spurs by comparison are discussed at length for farting loudly.

I totally disagree. I think it might be because you're judging it on what you see the other side of the Atlantic, but we got lots of coverage under MON for being decent, and since then, we've had lots of coverage for being shit.

It's also worth noting that this discussion is coming out of an article in the Telegraph about our players having relegation clauses. That to me doesn't sound like a club nobody gives a shit about.

You mentioned Newcastle and the Shearer effect, but I don't think there is another non CL club with as many high profile supporters as we have. We have an extremely high profile when you consider we last won something 18 years ago.

The media do wank off about the top four and hardly anyone else, yes, you're right, but that's the case for almost everyone. Spurs are media favourites and get disproportionate coverage, that's a totally different issue.

Believe me, if we go down, it will be every bit as newsworthy as it was when Newcastle did. They weren't even PL ever presents, for a start.

We did get loads of good coverage under MON. I said the same when I said if we turn it around the media will jump on faster. And maybe you're right that on this side of the water we naturally get less coverage. But I also get all of the same radio stations and read all the same papers as you do. My feeling is that after four years of the same nonsense we have become a side story than a major one. Had we gone down in the first year after MON it would have been far more impactful, but 4 years on, it's like look at Villa they're shit again. Nothing to see there. But you could be right. maybe not being there I don't see everything. But even when living there I never got the impression that much outside our immediate area we were a club the media really latched onto.

[Toronto Villa]

I hope the Telegraph are going to publish an article about potential pay cuts to players at Norwich, Fulham, Sunderland and Cardiff this morning too.

We are a big club in a big city that is why they have covered us. Others you mention here are minnows or provincial. No one is interested  in them.

Really, I think the only people interested in us is us. We might be all of those things but in football terms nobody really gives a damn about Aston Villa outside of the obvious geographical catchment area. Either that or it is a paper/journalist writing an article to fill space as opposed to it really being any proper news story.

Now you mystify me. Do you not think that a very reputable national heavy weight newspaper printing an article like that is not evidence that people are interested  in what happens to Aston Villa FC? It's very in-anachronistic  to be dismissive of this article as space filler only.

I'll believe it to be big story when The Guardian, Independent, Times run with it also.

Isn't that just moving the goalposts to suit your argument? It's a story if it's in all four of those, but not one of them?

not at all. If it is a story carried in a number of outlets it has generated interest and therefore relevance.