Has it really come to this? Has the greed and desire for success sunk us into the abyss so far that we are ready to prostitute part of our great clubs history and legacy in order to scrape a few coins together for the ‘marquee’ signing that the doom mongers crave?
I am dumbfounded by the lack of opposition to this proposal and find it hard to believe that the club would pass up the chance of a shirt sponsor only to flog naming rights of the stadium for a few million quid.
It hurts me to think that parts of the club I love are going to be sold to the highest bidder with no respect for history or legacy or pride. I was proud to wear acorns on my chest, but now a seed of doubt creeps in.
I may differ from many of my claret and blue brethren in that I believe we are doing pretty well as a club and it hurts when other fans begin calling for the naming rights to be sold to generate money for the team. Why? Don’t we have plenty of funds?
The desperation for success amongst many Villa fans is beginning to outweigh the joy of being a supporter. After the clubs flirtation with success over a large portion of last season many seem to be drunk with the prospect that this club may go somewhere and now place us among the elite of the Premier League.
We are not, we have aspirations, but so do many clubs and we have no divine right to be there. It is a long arduous road that requires steady progress, investment and above all belief. If we don’t believe then why should anyone else? By this I mean the playing staff and others at the club.
The belief that we should be signing massive international ‘big name’ players and spending millions of pounds and competing at the very top of the league is harming this club more than any defeat or loss. The over expectation is causing many to actually believe the hype and detract from the very reason a club should be ‘supported’.
So unhappy with results are many that the unjustified expectation is turning into resentment, depression, criticism and even hatred for some of the players, Manager, Chairman and other fans. It is like a cancer that has taken hold at the very heart of the club and is beginning to eat its way through the very loyalty, optimism and blind faith that are what ties a fan to Aston Villa for life.
Booing, complaining and general disharmony are damaging the team. If you don’t believe this then fine, but the kind of huge vocal disapproval heaped on the team this year has been monumental and I ask you to place yourselves in their shoes. It is having a detrimental effect.
There is a saying ‘the grass is always greener’. You all know what this means and I implore you to consider it. There are many who look at the managers other clubs are appointing with jealousy, the players they sign, the money they spend and the ways they play often look appealing to an outsider. I guarantee many look at our team and consider the same things. Many managers covet players that we have, many chairmen covet our manager and many fans covet the Chairman, funds and attitude to running a club that we have.
We are by no means in any trouble on or off the pitch and what is required is patience. Not an over rated expensive foreigner, not an oil billionaire and definitely not a new name for Villa Park.
This instant success is pie in the sky stuff and faced with the reality of what may happen to my club should it begin to sell out in this way or become preoccupied with short term success and lose one of the better managers we have had then I fear for it I really do and I fear for the fans because chairmen, managers and players come and go. The club you support doesn’t.
The very thought that we should rename our stadium is outrageous whether it would give us the money to sign another player or not.
Keep your feet on the ground and your complaints to yourselves. Support the team through thick AND thin and always let them know you believe in them (even if you don’t). It will help get the best from the club and in turn the best for the fans.