Kendrick has as well
Mat Kendrick - Football editor, Birmingham Live
I've been banging on about the Villa Park atmosphere - or lack of it - lately. And with three home games in 10 days I'm at it again. We're still in the Champions League places, still in the FA Cup and through to the knockout stages of the Europa League.
We're still on the verge of making this an historic season and as Aston Villa supporters we really need to play our part. In my opinion the responsibility for driving this team over the line lies as much with us in the stands as it does with Unai Emery in the dugout and the players on the pitch.
The club has done its bit to put us in a fantastic position by giving us a world-class manager and a brilliant squad, but too often us fans seem infected by nervousness. It’s not that there's the presence of negativity at VP, it’s more an absence of positivity that settles over the ground.
We’ve got to get past this mental block where we only find our voices for the massive grudge matches or when there's a scalp. It's easy as a fanbase to be up for it against our bogey team Manchester United or league leaders Arsenal. How do we summon up similar fervour for less animosity fixtures against lower profile opponents?
Every single game is high jeopardy because the stakes are so high, but that seems to promote anxiety rather than excitement. I've heard the argument that football is so methodical that it's hard to crank up the atmosphere when the centre-backs are passing between themselves. Surely the onus is on us to fill those lulls with chants of positivity?
The players clearly feed off us, too. Why do you think Emi Martinez tries to whip up the Holte after making a big save or Matty Cash does likewise with the Trinity after a crunching tackle? It does make a difference, it must make a difference. Even Ollie Watkins referenced the flat atmosphere recently.
We need to ditch that damaging sense of entitlement and stop waiting for the team to entertain us before we decide to get loud. It's hard. We're a collective, but we're also a crowd made up of 40,000 individuals with different stresses, strains and ways of supporting our team.
I’ll be the first to admit my own matchday inhibitions. I don’t start chants at the top of the Trinity for fear of being on my own (or waking up my neighbours!). But each of us, in our own special way, needs to bring the same energy we demand of our heroes.
If any of them went missing they'd get a 5 out of 10 player rating or lower, but what about us? What do we need to do to get a 10 out of 10 fan rating? It’s time to park the anxiety, forget the hard day at work, and really bring the noise for these final home games.
Up the Villa 🦁
