Love it or hate it, the social media revolution is here and football fans across the world have now grasped the art of ‘Tweeting’ or ‘Facebooking’ their feelings to anyone and everyone who will listen.
Having used Twitter for only 6 months or so, I am appalled at the bad language and abuse used by fans. I must admit I have never met most people I ‘follow’ but I can’t believe the abuse and swearing that goes on, especially after bad Villa results.
I have read some appalling comments about our CEO Paul Faulkner, Randy Lerner and Alex McLeish. If I was Alex reading the rubbish some people write about him, I would be horrified. This guy has come to our club to do a job, regardless of where he came from and he has been vilified from Day 1. No manager should be subject to abuse like that, regardless of who it is in charge.
I have been a Villa fan all my life (46 years), and I have seen Villa in the Third Division and on the flip side I have seen the ‘glory days’ of 1981 and 1982. Today’s ‘fickle’ fans are led by the (national) media frenzy and, now, social networks like Twitter and Facebook.
Do people really believe everything that appears on Twitter? Take the Darren Bent fiasco a few weeks ago. The guy gets caught by a ‘snapper’ shopping (rightly or wrongly) in Cambridge during or just after a big game. A few minutes later the picture was on Twitter, and visible all over the world.
We all know what happened then – all hell broke out, and all sorts of accusations were made about Darren Bent. The guy was injured and had seen the physio in the morning, being advised by the club staff to go home and rest. Maybe he shouldn’t have been shopping but what happened on that evening and the following day was pure madness.
Ok, Darren uses Twitter just like many of the first team players do (and maybe they should be told by their clubs not to use it?), but that person who snapped Darren Bent in Cambridge didn’t know the facts before he published the photo and started making accusations. The facts were later published and Darren (and the club) were made to look foolish by having to apologise on Sky for going shopping.
Unfortunately, that won’t be the last time something like that happens. In fact I seem to remember Alex McLeish was photographed smiling as he walked down towards the tunnel after another home defeat a few weeks ago and that picture appeared on Twitter and the comments published were along the lines of, “why are you smiling…?” What followed was the usual torrents of abuse by the ‘McLeish-Out’ bunch on Twitter and Facebook.
To say the modern football fan is fickle is an understatement, and Twitter is partly to blame for this culture. Team selections are criticised en-masse nowadays, minutes after they are published. Performances even more so. After our tremendous victory over Chelsea on New Year’s Eve, the ‘anti-McLeish’ protestors were, on the whole, quiet as they obviously couldn’t fault the result, or the attacking football they have been craving to watch.
However, some people are never satisfied, and still wouldn’t be satisfied even if Alex led Villa to European glory again. I appreciate that there is much anger about the fact Alex used to manage Birmingham City, but surely we should be over that by now? All the protesting doesn’t help the team and has a negative effect, not only on the team but the club as a whole.
Give the guy some time to get things right; I’m sure he is doing the right things in training. Sure, Alex is accountable, but the players need to take some of the blame as they are responsible for their own performances. What appears on Twitter is pure and simply personal abuse of decent people who are trying to do their jobs. The result against Swansea two days later saw the reverse and back to the ‘McLeish Out’ protests and the negativity which seems to be surrounding some sections of the fan-base.
Things aren’t going too well for the team at the moment, but I think some people on Twitter need to take a look at themselves and think before they publish their Tweets. Do they know that all this abuse probably get read by the players? Certainly Darren Bent read some of them. Alex McLeish may, or may not, be the best or most popular manager Villa have ever had, but he is our manager so get behind the team and the club is what I say, whoever the manager is, and whoever is picked to play.
Everyone gets frustrated when we lose but we all love the club and always will. Maybe the club might do better if our support was unified behind it?
The Author
