Well, apart from relegation being confirmed at Old Trafford, here’s the other stories that have swept through Villa Park this week.
Pinpointing Pearson
In the last few days the outright favourite for the Villa job next season has emerged and both the Guardian and the Telegraph reported on Nigel Pearson’s credentials as the man most likely to take the helm. Both spoke about Pearson’s apparent desires for Chris Powell to join him and come in as a No.2 whilst working at Villa Park.
Although fans are divided and the majority properly shift towards the appointment of David Moyes, Pearson is still right up there on their shortlists. He has some good experience in getting a team out of the championship, as he did so with Leicester and he also has an eye for the right football league talent (E.G. Vardy) that Villa will certainly need in their rebuild. His hard knock attitude towards players and most notably journalists will probably be more of a help than a hindrance at B6 and I certainly wouldn’t mind him.
Staff Cuts
Due to the abysmal season ending in relegation the likelihood of job losses has been a quiet and sensitive whisper between fans until now. The Express reported on how the club formed a statement announcing the axing of jobs, positions that some employees who have an unconditional love for the club have been in for years. It’s such a crying shame that due to the woeful performances by the players and most significantly the bad management of the club, it’s culminated in around 100 real Villans losing their jobs.
The fans are firing all their angst about this revelation towards the real culprits behind the cuts – the players. When asked by journalists whether the players cared about staff redundancies, Eric Black simply replied “You would hope so” as reported in the Birmingham Mail.
Furthermore, ex-player Steve Froggatt gave his opinion on the matter and stated that the players should give half of their weekly wages to the club in order to help save jobs and hopefully rebuild bridges with the fans. A great idea in my opinion that would certainly show the fans a gesture to believe they do care.
Let-down of the Year
The player of the year award was played with by fans on social media in the week as all sorts of suggestions and jokes were flying about. Some suggested that Jordan Amavi should get the award despite missing the majority of the season, which would probably make him favourite and missing time on the pitch was probably more beneficial for his reputation with the fans.
However, the club rightly didn’t think it was a good idea to even entertain the thought of the awards. A Villa statement said: “The club will not be holding its annual Player of the Year Awards at the conclusion of this season. In the current circumstances, we are sure our supporters will understand.”
The news arrived and was mocked by the football world. For Villa fans though it was another piece of news to just look at, raise your right eyebrow slightly, and then sigh after downing a pint of bleach.
Flabby Gabby
Another week, another Gabby Agbonlahor negative headline for the media to report on, even though I’m 100% sure they’re probably sick of seeing his name come onto their desks. The Mirror took one for the team and did a write up on Gabby’s new two week fitness programme. Villa’s longest-serving player is apparently a stone overweight, which I personally think is a bit inaccurate. He’s got to be at least three.
Get rid of him in the summer isn’t going to be easy though considering his wages. We might not have seen the last of him just yet.
U21’s Passion and Fight
On Monday night the U21’s were at Villa Park facing off against West Ham and hoping to seal a place in the promotion play-offs and they did just that. However, the most notable highlight of the whole night was the amount of fight and passion the young lions showed. They were courageous and after Kevin Toner flew into two great challenges, a brawl broke out seeing Toner sent off and that finally gave the fans the chance to view some real passion.
We got a good 700+ on Monday and if the play-off is set at Villa Park let’s get behind the young lads and start to show our support in numbers. Making them want to help even more in the rebuild of this great club. Go to ‘Support the U21’s’ on Twitter to find out more and get involved.
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Yes, losing 1:0 at Old Trafford was one of our least disgraceful wimpers.
What’s annoying about the relegation media chatter is how many journos and pundits get their information about Villa from our fans’ banners.
Ironically, that was the best they’d played against Man U in a while. Even Richardson had a reasonable game. Too little too late. And gain, an odd team selection. I expected to see a sprinkling of talented youngsters, like Adama.
it might be he was keeping the kids out till we go down,,,,
no pressure on the kids now let a few play i say,,,