Just five more sleeps to Saturday. This feeling takes me back to my childhood: I feel like a kid in the run-up to Christmas, filled with excitement and expectation as the big day draws closer.
I’m reminiscent of the younger me before “life” happened—like the starry-eyed romantic I once was, all lost in the fog of young love and filled with exuberance. I make no apology if at points I get carried away among flighty dreams of gleaming trophy-laden success below.
You see, on Saturday I get my life back and I just can’t wait. After all the waiting around, the build-up, the agonizing anticipation, it’s finally time. Another summer filled with endless rumour, speculation, and conjecture is drawing to a close and come Saturday we get a glimpse of what lies ahead in the first game of Alex McLeish’s reign.
Dream Catch Me
I love this time of the pre-season. No matter what has gone before, regardless of who has left, I always think “this could be our year”. The rationality in me is overwhelmed and consumed by (generally misguided) hope. “We’re gonna do something this year” my heart says; my head says we can go just alright. But like a fool I rush in, give Villa another chance, believe in her all over again. And anyway, you shouldn’t listen to the voices in your head—it’s even more dangerous.
Yes, I know, you’re probably right, come the season’s end I’ll have my heart broken again, but isn’t it better to live the dream and have some colour and excitement in my life at this time, if only just for a while, than to be grey and negative always? It’s the one time of the year when anything should seem possible and that’s the reason we keep coming back.
Every single season since forever, no matter how much I know better, I always get the same feeling as I do now. It’s a time when we can dare to dream: we have license to. We can make foolish predictions (7th and League Cup is mine), we can sometimes think above our stations (Top 4), our hearts rule our heads and we believe more than ever before.
There is a Light that Never Goes Out
It’s what being a football fan is all about, regardless of who you support. It’s the sense of belonging we need. Without it, we, to a man (or woman), are in some way incomplete, and, Aston Villa, “you complete me”—to quote a famous movie line. Should we finish 5th or 15th it will never change. She may be a cruel mistress at times but she will always be one of my life’s constants.
First-day-of-the-season hope: it is to football what the first day of spring is to nature. A time for rebirth, and growth, and renewal. A time where magical things can happen, where hope and opportunity indeed spring eternal (no pun intended). The fresh green shoots of optimism are here. So lets embrace them, nurture them, and watch them grow and flourish. Let’s get behind our team, support them, encourage them and help them develop.
As the season progresses, fissures may appear and the hope can fade to black only too fast. So for now, we should enjoy it. We can be Premier League Champions, we can be Top 4, we can compete and surprise and why the hell not? If we don’t believe in it, then it all quickly becomes pointless.
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
Dreams of great, dare I say it, swash-buckling football, league glory, or cup success leading to magical European nights: The realisation of these dreams is the Holy Grail and it’s what seduces us. It’s why we keep doing all of this, every year, and this year is no different. When I look at our squad I think we can compete. We have a new manager and new signings and, most important, we have fresh hope. I see a new direction, a new formation, progress, and we just might even have an exciting season ahead, I think.
Of course we need a great season, but we can have one of those. We need massively improved performances (on and off the field) both individually and collectively and we’ll see that. We need good luck with regard to injuries and decisions at times—and maybe we’ll get that, too. A combination of these and we have a chance to do really well.
The last few years haven’t always been fun as a Villa fan—this year I want it to be. With much negative press again over the summer, I want to see all those who have critiqued us (often overly harshly) to eat their words. I want my club to recover its wounded pride and to step forward boldly and confidently. I want to see headlines for all the right reasons. I want excitement and good football. I want a buzz around the club again, I want the feel-good factor back. I want players who delight us and I want fans singing in full houses.
Ultimately, I want success. Whether success means 7th and a League Cup or better (or worse) to you is relative, but I want everyone single one of us, from fans to players and management and the board, to give our all on the journey that lies ahead because if we do, then maybe, just maybe…
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