Since the FC Groningen game, some Villa fans have become abusive in expressing their criticisms of the team. Is this really necessary?
Although the team’s performance was poor, fans should not be calling for Lambert’s head before the season has even begun. Various journalists also feel that this pre-season campaign has been one to forget, with Charlie Scott from ‘The Daily Mail’ calling it “poor”. He also mentioned the Chesterfield defeat. However, the majority of the places in the team were taken up by youngsters from the U-21 squad. Charlie Scott didn’t consider the 3-1 victory against Mansfield, the 2-0 win against FC Dallas or the 1-0 against Houston Dynamo.
There have been some positives this pre-season for Villa fans, one of them being the re-emergence of Charles N’Zogbia, who has scored two goals so far in the friendlies. The team missed his attacking presence last season and it now seems that the Villans will benefit from it next season.
Another positive is the sight of Ron Vlaar in a Villa kit sitting on the bench. There has been seemingly endless speculation about a possible move away from Villa Park since his impressive World Cup displays and Vlaar turning up at the team’s hotel before the game hopefully shows his dedication and desire to continue playing in claret and blue.
Finally, the return of Benteke and Kozak gives fans something to look forward to. Even though they won’t be fit enough for the start of the season, they are set to return ahead of schedule, which is a major positive, as the season changed for the worse when they both were injured last season. Kozak came into the team at Norwich to replace the injured Benteke and when Kozak broke his leg Benteke returned from his injury setbacks. Without these two players, we could have struggled more than we did, which is hard to stomach.
Despite the pre-season being “poor”, Villa fans have a reason to remain positive for the next few weeks before the season kicks off. That is when results will count and when the team should be judged as the key focus at present is on ensuring that the players are fit enough for the demands of the season ahead.
There’s an old saying that one piece of bad news is worth 20 pieces of good news & sadly there is are elements amongst the press & amongst Villa fans who seem to thrive on spreading news of poor results for Villa with scant regard to the facts that suggest that the results may not be as bad as they seem or be negated by those of the succcess
I agree W/Mid fans moan for England. The worst ones are the Ev/Mail and Radio WM. I’d ban the Ev/Mail journo from the ground and the training ground and as for WM at 6pm they always start with Franksy’s monologue of doom which sets the tone for the show. At least Tom Ross tries to put the other side.
Nice one Ashley! It easy to be negative after a couple of losses but although I was as gutted as everyone whenever we lose we will only know if progress has been made once the season starts! Good luck for your career plans.
Agree N’Zogbia is a plus forced on Lerner because he wont spend. More bodies are added by return of Bent, Hutton etc but how they play for the Villa after the awful manner of their treatment is the question.
So we have added 2 freebies and one very cheap. The rest of the Premier League seem to spend as if Fair Play can be conveniently disregarded and only applies to the Villa. (An easy getout for Lerner)
How we get on, we will find out. Can we find 3 poorer teams, I dont know but feel it is unlikely. But a year of struggle is certain.
Lets first put the Houston and Dallas wins in there proper slot. Neither have any top three designated stars of any account. both these teams had meaningful weekend fixtures and both where playing basically under protest.
A Festival League(If that still exists) all stars team would have achieved better results.
In other words they were Run about games for all teams concerned and to all accounts meaningless. Ok we won a trophy and RL attended the games BIG DEAL.
Groningen SHOULD have been used as a First team trial, especially in the first half. We should not delude ourselves,
A Manager does not make a team. it has been said so many times on these pages, To which I Reply Man United. Same team as last year (basically) and if you had watched them against Real, they are a completely different TEAM. Our Manager could not inspire a plant to grow, it would wither and die.
We actually have some great players all they need is inspiration and direction. WHEN they get that you will see a huge change in our fortunes, until then….. BOOM