After what some might call an underachieving, perhaps subdued, perhaps defensive start to the season, rightly or wrongly Alex McLeish is feeling the ire of some of Villa’s support. “Play better football”, “Play more youth”, “<insert relevant comment here>” echo around the stadium. Well apart from “<insert comment here>”. It’s quite hard to sing angled brackets in a match.
The question is do we have a right to feel aggrieved, or are we letting past presuppositions taint our view? Are we looking at things truly objectively, or are we, instead, swept along with the herd instinct? It is all too easy to just pick the negative option and have a million escape routes, blaming everyone and everything in your path, complaining that it would be better if hypothetical x, y, and z had happened instead of a, b, and c.
It’s not just contributors singing from the same hymn sheet
In fact, this was the exact conversation I was having with Ken McNaught over a cup of coffee just over a week ago, whilst sitting in a business meeting with him and Neil Rioch at Villa Park. All too easy to pick the option that involves a bit of moaning. Much more difficult to pick positivity in some challenging situations, and even more difficult to remain that way.
That isn’t to say that I don’t support the right of people to express their opinion. On the contrary, everyone is entitled to their view, whether it is shrouded in doubt, buoyed by delirious optimism, or cultivated from a degree of balanced positivity.
I should clarify, by positivity, I don’t mean the wild and bleary eyed inane ramblings of someone who believes that they are immortal, that Villa should beat every team 15-0, and that everything they eat tastes like the nectar of the gods. What I mean is a quiet and stable baseline of pragmatism, where being objective and sensible is the first and foremost thought in one’s mind, not fluctuating wildly between emotions in a way that bears the hallmarks of a person with bi-polar disorder.
After all, just who is benefitting from the wild swings in moods? I know, just as much as anyone, that football inspires emotions. A person need only glance at me leaping out of my seat when a suspected foul occurs, invariably spewing something loud and occasionally profane, to show that I am a man who is a human being, affected by emotion, not a robot who merely speaks in anodyne phrases.
One only needs to look at blood pressure and heart disease to see a physical, and obvious, representation of what stress and anger does to you. Far be it from me to be advising you as a psychologist, or taking the role of your GP in this instance, but the impact of said behaviour is pretty obvious to see. Negativity kills. Literally.
Anyway, the whole reasoning for these statements was to underline the invariable impact of negativity on us as individuals. Negativity breeds negativity. Whilst some of the time, perceived negativity, or pragmatism to be more correct, has a reasoning, such as that of a team playing defensively trying to compete against a better team or teams, many times it serves no purpose at all. Well, that is, beyond the realms of justifying people who want to say “I told you so” when things go wrong.
Repetitive negativity is tantamount to a self-fulfilling prophecy. After all, if you lambast people long enough, then sooner or later they will falter. Are you happy with being right rather than doing what is best, because I’m not too sure that the approach ultimately benefits anyone besides your ego. A hollow victory indeed.
McLeish himself
I digress. The point I am leading on to is that there is a major difference between negativity and perceived negativity. There’s perceived negativity in defending a lead, or in playing in a defensive formation, but that isn’t really negativity, it is pragmatism.
Conversely, there is only negativity in those who want to berate others for their flaws, and not give them credit for their achievements. I’m not saying anyone who even reads this blog fits this description, but it is worth noting. Non-acceptance of what is can only carry a negative charge.
Whilst that might sound more like I am talking of the anger stage of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s grief model, it is just the truth. Only in accepting what is happening to us that is uncontrollable, can we move forwards with any sense of progress. Like it or not, we as human beings often respond in a simple and predictable manner. Make no mistake about it, many of us are in the same grief system at present as someone who has lost a loved one. Nobody really has died, but the symptoms are exactly the same.
As for McLeish, he is starting to make progress as he goes. One only need look at the second half of QPR to see the changes. As John touched upon in his piece yesterday, McLeish isn’t operating in a manner that says “I am Mr Ultra Defensive”. On the contrary, there’s a somewhat schizophrenic nature to the team. On one hand we have a manager who wants to win, on the other we have a bunch of lads who are afraid of getting berated for losing. Thus we end up in a stalemate.
To paraphrase something McLeish said in his half time team talk, “I’m not playing Stephen Ireland, Charles N’Zogbia, and Barry Bannan because I’m looking to be defensive. If I wanted to be defensive, I’d play five defenders and three defensive midfielders. I’m not.”
So if it isn’t McLeish who is being defensive, then we need to get off his back, surely? McLeish can only tell the players what they should be doing. The actual “doing” of what needs to be done hasn’t been in his remit since he retired from playing. Can we blame McLeish for a fear that players have of losing?
He can motivate them, but they are the vehicles of football that get the job done, not him. Of course, football is a game where players spark a moment of brilliance when a game is won, but it is often the manager who takes the brunt of a poor performance. Fair? Probably not really. However, it is what it is.
So ultimately the question on who’s fault this situation is somewhat moot. Pointing fingers is wasted energy. Jeering is wasted energy. Want to get behind your club and do the right thing? Get down there and show your support, don’t get entrenched in who is to blame, because as soon as you do that, you become part of the problem rather than the solution. Don’t want to do that? Similarly, nobody is going to force you to attend Villa Park and sing. There’s no guns being put to heads to ensure compliance. This is a free choice, and your choice isn’t going to be judged by me.
Be the better man (or woman), and avoid the blame culture. You wouldn’t appreciate it if your boss was on your back all the time because of something you hadn’t done, or because circumstances were out of you control, so have the same respect and thought for Alex. He might not have been mine or yours first choice, or any choice of ours at all, but he’s the boss, and will be for the foreseeable future.
So onwards we go, as Aston Villa. Which way we go from here is going to be a combination of the efforts of players, the manager, and the fans, so now is the time to do your duty.
If not, all we can look forward to is more enduring negativity and, speaking personally, I don’t want said negativity replicating into more negative football, as it is patently obvious that McLeish is doing his best to force that team to attack.
We’re in this together. Pick your side now. If you have an opinion on McLeish and Lerner, that’s fine, and I respect your right to it, but now is the time to put said differences aside and make the most of supporting our beloved club before the media turn the disdain of some supporters into our public image.
I don’t want that, and I can’t imagine anyone who loves the club wants us to be broadcast in that manner. The time is now, and supporting your club is more important than ever.
Let the lions roar because Aston Villa is in our blood and, through good times and bad, we are who we are. As the saying goes “We did not choose, we were chosen”.
It’s a battlefield, and it’s time our colours are nailed to the mast. The flag I am flying simply says “Villa Till I Die”, and my blood will forever run claret and blue.
Time to cut the people a break, relieve the pressure, support the team, and reap the rewards lads.
The Author
