I am sorry but I have decided I really don’t understand the modern football fan.
Can somebody please explain to me why less than 19,000 people were at Villa Park last night for the first game under a new manager and a vital cup game?
I have tried to work it out and gone through the facts but I'm still struggling. The only argument you might have is that most of the crowds were low, but then why did Chelsea get 41,000?
Here are my reasons why I was expecting a crowd of 28,000 plus.
1We had a new manager (who has won more English trophies this century than we have)
2We were in a competition we actually have a chance of winning and have a proud record in
3Over 30,000 Villa fans went to Wembley in this tournament only seven months ago
4It was a cup game which had to have a winner on the night
5We were playing Blackburn in the repeat of a ten goal semi-final last January that was for many the most memorable game they have seen at Villa Park
6The club dramatically reduced the prices
7We have no more European games to worry about and budget for this season
8The team needed our support
9It is three weeks until our next home game
10It was a game under floodlights on a September night (Ok I was short of a number 10)
Really I don’t know why so many Villa fans stayed away from this game. I can only assume they are not interested in the League Cup. So let’s hope the club remembers this next February when they are distributing tickets if we do reach the final again.
Maybe I am being unfair but I'd just want to know what was behind this lack of support. Was O'Leary right all those years ago, are we fickle?