We now face the business end of the season and, irrespective of our feelings towards the current manager, we have a job to do. As fans, we can play a part in what happens, and where we go from here. Of course, players will need to make the effort to ensure we stay up, but we can do our best to support them.

I’m not saying we should roll over and accept poor football. I’m not sitting here and saying 15th is good enough – it isn’t – but for the greater good, for the benefit of the team we love, we should forget this idiotic idea of protesting, support out team, and get behind the lads at every opportunity and, yes, I even include Stephen Warnock and Alan Hutton in that.

We’ve sold out our allocation for Wigan, so we will probably have more of our lot there than their fans, OK maybe not, but it won’t be far off, and given how vocal our away support is, you can be sure who you are going to hear the most – us.

Put Aside Our Differences

Whatever our personal views, whether we support or hate the manager, like or dislike the board, right now it doesn’t really matter. Why? Because we have only one remaining objective – to save our season – so the sooner we cement our Premier League status, the better.

Beyond that, I know that our views will always differ. Each one of our supporters has a different angle on what is best for the long term, and it will, like everything Villa be debated constantly. However, short term at least, with the stance our club is taking, supporting the club and giving them our backing is the only option.

This doesn’t mean rolling over and accepting mediocrity. It doesn’t mean that by supporting the team that you tacitly love Alex McLeish. It doesn’t mean you think Hutton is the best right back this side of Carlos Alberto. All our support means is pulling together. It’s that or it’s oblivion my friends.

So we don’t need silly gatherings of fans holding A4 paper sheets saying “McLeish Out”. We don’t need dirty bedsheets hanging over gates and stands, scrawled with market pens and paint. We don’t need infighting. I understand the agenda of these people, but it’s the wrong place, the wrong time, and it will bring the wrong result.

There’s no doubting we’re a mess, but there is no positive in just pointing the finger and blaming someone else. We’ve done that all season and look what that has done – nothing. The manager isn’t going anywhere any time soon, so there’s little point in just getting angry over something that can’t change. It’s like getting angry over a pint someone spilled half an hour ago – the time’s passed, so just move on till at time we can do something different.

Don’t Protest Now, Think First About What Damage It Will Cause

If people want to protest, and that is their choice, at least wait till the summer. If you want change, do it when it has far less chance of hurting the thing you love, not when you’re in the middle of a mess that could mean we end up even worse off. Protesting is short term thinking, at least at this point in time, and it makes more issues than is solves.

So our club needs us – we are their lifeblood after all – and we can play a part in our success or downfall, each and every one of us can have an effect on the final outcome.

There are, of course, things we can’t change but, to that extent, this is nothing we’re unused to as individuals. Sometimes things go wrong, sometimes we have to live with health issues that affect how we live our lives, sometimes we lose our jobs and have to pick up the pieces. The bottom line is sometimes things happen, no matter what we do, and they will only get better when we quit complaining, and get on with doing what is best.

If we are going to do something, do it when we have the time to plan things, not in a silly manner where a guy from Leeds with 300 followers claims he speaks for all of us. He doesn’t and, even if you hate McLeish, I doubt what their agenda is will work either. After all, they have claimed a meeting with Paul Faulkner, only to snub it. What’s the point in that? Get someone’s attention and then say “Hang on, we’re not ready.”? It’s honestly making us look like a bunch of amateurs because of a small group who say they speak for us all.

Anyway, this is where we are, and this is our future to change. It’s our club, and we can feel how we like, but we need to do our best to put things aside for now and concentrate on the most basic of needs – survival.

In sickness and in health, till death do us part, forever may we be Aston Villa.

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