After a 1-0 away win, it isn’t a new beginning, but then it isn’t lucky either. For the past few years, Aston Villa have had more false horizons than I have managed hot dinners, and I don’t want to see another one.
Some pundits have seen Villa fans as fickle, as though the constant ups and downs are indicative of people who simply can’t make their mind up on how they should be feeling about the club.
The reality for all football fans is that there are ups and downs in the game. For every positive, there’s a negative – all that matters at that point is perspective. Without one, everything ends up detached from reality.
Some will argue that life is best experienced in the ecstasy of the highs and the agony of the lows that occur as we follow our path. Others will prefer a more middle-of-the-road approach, meandering somewhere in the middle.
Just like opinions in general, how one wants to live out one’s life is the choice of the individual, with many of history’s greatest works penned by those who have laughed and cried, suffered and rejoiced, delighted and despaired.
To that end, there may well be virtue in both the good and the bad, but only in combination. What becomes an issue is that good and bad can be subjective, just as results can be seen as a result of luck or skill depending on how things work out.
For example, there was a logic that we beat Arsenal only through luck, that the only virtue of our performance was the poorness of their play, that Villa couldn’t win a game if they tried.
Again, such a rationale often says much about the allegiance of the person talking about the game. It is no surprise that when a tackle flies in late, the offender’s team will see it as fair, the opposition as fair reason to hurl abuse.
Football is, and always will be, a passionate game. That things become a positive versus negative angle is less to do with the emotions of the game, and very much more to do with the individual.
Which isn’t to say being wholly positive or wholly negative is better – neither option reflects reality – but rather that the subjective views of others are often represented through own own lenses.
After all, for every fan who might be happy to wait five years to build a legacy, other fans are in the twilight of their lives and simply can’t afford to wait forever for a bus that may never come.
Whilst many have lamented the impact of money in the game – largely because Villa have ended up on the wrong side of the fence in the end – it is time that creates most of our issues.
So as a weekend ends with a win for our team, I will stay on the middle-of-the-road track simply because I won’t – and can’t – let impatience turn my life into a rollercoaster.
Maybe I can say this with the likely knowledge that I will be watching Villa in 40 years because, at the age of 34, I can afford to wait for some success, though sooner would obviously be better than later, assuming it doesn’t mortgage out future.
Others fans, however, may not be blessed with as long left in their innings – something to remember when others get classified as impatient or frustrated with the lack of progress, as the stages of grief often reflect strongly in the aftermath of any team going through the mill.
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