The dark arts

[dave.woodhall]

Richard Keeling on a new development.

https://heroesandvillains.info/2022/11/18/the-dark-arts/

[pablo_picasso]

The one thing that always cracks me up regarding “dark arts” is that it is labelled as “game management” when a media favourite club do it & its “clever”. But when Villa do it, we are time wasting, cheating & “SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!!”. I don’t like the so called “dark arts”. Even less so when I heard that Steve Sidwell, (a player whose only positive influence at Villa was as a ball-boy when we scored from a quick throw in he had helped instigate), had gone to Reading to specifically teach it to their academy players a few years back. Seeing the Chelsea academy players doing it & being shouted to do it by their bench during a Youth Cup semi final a decade or so back when I could have run onto the pitch & bitch slapped Gael Kakuta for the way he handled it & himself, angered me. It’s cowardly & it shows a deep distrust in your own teams ability to play the game of football. But I do get irritated when we get called out for it by the media, when they applaud one of their favourite clubs doing it. It’s either “game management”, or it’s cheating. There can be no grey area.

[ChicagoLion]

We have been too soft for a long time (since Terry left) but like Pablo above I hate the deliberate slowing down the game, the pretending , the play acting.
I am not sure how the refs can deal with it though? Awarding extra time does not compensate as its about taking any momentum away from the opposition as much as it is about running the clock down.

[Ger Regan]

I couldn't give a toss about being anyone's second favourite team. I want to win, and win regularly. Ideally that would be playing an attractive brand of football, but it will need steel as well (the arsenal team of the late 90s certainly had both).

[Small Rodent]

We're not there to make it easy on the opponents. What next? Pundits moaning at groundsmen for narrowing the pitch within regulation size to hinder an opponent with flying wide players?

[dave.woodhall]

I want us to be the most hated team in the world.

[LeeB]

I want us to be the most hated team in the world.

As I said on another thead, I'm quite happy to join the crusade to stamp out shithousery once we've completed our hat trick of Champions League wins.

[Brend'Watkins]

I want us to be the most hated team in the world.

It is then that we will have arrived properly. Hated because we have broken the top 6, hated because we are masters of game management, hated because we get decisions going our way, hated because we have players who are hated by the opposition, hated because we don't roll over like we used to and hated because opposition fans can't sing "where were you when you were shit".

[pablo_picasso]

I want us to be the most hated team in the world.

I don’t particularly care what fans of other clubs think of us, but the media is different. They have influence & can control the narrative. Which can affect officials.

[LeeB]

I want us to be the most hated team in the world.

I don’t particularly care what fans of other clubs think of us, but the media is different. They have influence & can control the narrative. Which can affect officials.

It does affect the officials, they can't wait to pop the jackboots on and join in. I think that's one of the most important considerations for candidates PMGOL, do you cheer the Empire in Star Wars? If so, come on down.

[hilts_coolerking]

The media don't really give a shit about the Villa and they certainly don't give enough of a shit about us to deliberately single us out.  The fact is, we do shithouse a lot these days.  It started under Gerrard and seems to have carried on under Emery.  There's no media bias against us and there's no chance that refs will be tipped off. I mean, a blind man could see what we get up to.

[Dinas_Caerdydd]

I want us to be the most hated team in the world.

why ?

[dave.woodhall]

I want us to be the most hated team in the world.

why ?

Because successful teams always are.

[Dave]

I want us to be the most hated team in the world.

why ?

Because it means that we've won lots of trophies. The correlation between most-disliked team in every country is bang in line with most successful.

Man Utd. Real Madrid. Juventus. Bayern Munich. Paris St Germain. Be disliked like they are, and it won't be because because of badge or their kit.

[Dinas_Caerdydd]

I want us to be the most hated team in the world.

why ?

Because successful teams always are.

maybe so but the way the football world is now don't think anything will break that monopoly that the big teams hold in terms of financial clout

can you see villa being a force in the prem and qualifying for europe every season for the next 5 years ?

obviously its nostalgic looking back