I, foolishly, perhaps as a result of Saturday night’s inebriation, ended up on Twitter during part of Sunday. As I said then, I want to say I am surprised by the resultant anger following our loss to Everton, but I’m not. The truth is, I am never surprised anymore.
What also seemed to arise was the belief that attending Aston Villa games should be treated as some form of universal value proposition, as though the reaction to a loss should be treated in much the same manner as if you or I had been to a restaurant, had a terrible meal, followed by the waiter slapping the Mrs in the face. This, as a concept, seems disproportionate, in my eyes at least.
If we are being honest, going to watch Villa as an exercise in value is pretty foolish. In fact, going to watch top flight football in this country is, in English relative value terms, silly, though far from expensive when contrasted with some of the prices paid by some of our Stateside friends to go see sport live.
Getting back to the suggestion that all of football’s value as a day out should be judged on results, I have to disagree. Whilst not accounting for my entire reasoning for attendance, a significant part is to spend time with my brother and Dad, whilst watching a team who have formed a part of our collective lives. For me, the £650 spent on a season ticket is good value – not only in relative Premier League terms, but also in terms of the time I get to spend with two thirds of my immediate family. Whether it is good value to you as an individual is your call – there is no right answer.
Where there is a right answer, however, is in the results achieved. Whilst it seems to be a common trend in society to interchange the word “opinion” with the word “fact”, the words simply aren’t synonyms. For some, the opinion is that we have not improved in results terms, but the fact is, in relative terms, we have by six points.
Sure, the style of football may not be improving in the eyes of some, or even in my own opinion, but such matters are, as ever, subjective. Opinions can be traded back and forth ad infinitum – facts are indisputable.
Getting back to the value of attending, just as opinions can vary on what quantifies good value in terms of “Must I see a win in order for that ticket to be worth it?” or “Must I see a majority of wins for a season ticket to be worth it?”, so free choice can allow people to use their own opinions to attend or not. Want to attend? Great. Don’t want to? Again, great, if that is what you prefer – there is no “right” answer in my opinion, nor do I judge or rate people as better or worse based on their attendance or non-attendance.
What must be seen, however, is the understanding that transforming Villa is no easy process. Progress will be, in my opinion, slow. Whether such slow progress is acceptable in your eyes, as an individual, is your own free choice, just as attending or not attending is.
Again, criticism has been levelled at the manager and wider team that things are not getting better, that they aren’t getting better results fast enough, or that the overall team is not becoming of a better quality individually in sufficient time.
As with the above statements, what your opinion is on this matter is your own prerogative, and it isn’t my – or anyone else’s – right to tell you that you are wrong to think a certain way. After all, opinions vary and always will.
However, facts must, if we are going to establish any form of logical analysis, be seen for what they are – indesputable. If they aren’t, then there simply is no logic, and thus there is no reality left to be viewed – if actual facts are ignored, how do opinions stay well informed? Facts aren’t about being right or wrong because they aren’t subjective – they are just, well, the facts.
Which leads me on to the use of facts to present an argument. I know, just as everyone else knows, that there are facts that paint Villa in an unfavourable light – the possession statistics for example – and I don’t want to avoid presenting such information if it offers added value. If I did, I wouldn’t be objective and, in my opinion, would be failing in my work as someone trying to comment on Villa’s ongoing journey.
Obviously, Villa can be better than they are now – they could win every game or have better possession – and that is indisputable. What is disputable is the speed of progress, with my own opinion being that it will take time.
By time, I don’t mean weeks or months either. Whilst I can appreciate and understand that a slow curve can be an irritant, I don’t believe a club like Villa – one that has a paucity of success and a relative paucity of financial weight – can be fixed by any one man in one or two seasons.
Why? Villa are, and have been for years, in the wilderness. When a fan has to count a trip to Wembley as a success – despite not winning the game – it succinctly illustrates where we are now.
Again, how a person feels about that situation is wholly subjective, and their right, but the facts are the facts – we have won nothing at all as a first team domestically since 1996.
Another fact is we were close to financial ruin just a few short years ago. Austerity measures followed, and opinion can be put forward that they have or haven’t been a success, depending on what criteria a person judges them on. Whether Randy Lerner was right or wrong, the fact remains he made choices, and the reality is he will live with them, however they pan out.
To finish, I was asked last night if I was happy with one win in five at home. My response was that I don’t consider myself happy with it, but I fail to see realistic and quicker ways towards changing things. Just as a student of a subject may well want to be proficient immediately, things take time, and changing the plan repeatedly doesn’t help.
Happy with losing? Never, but unless someone has a magic wand, a world class manager, and an unlimited budget, I am content with progress, even if the speed of it may well not be to the taste of everyone.
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