VÅR MAN PÅ HOLTE END
Michael ger sin syn på säsongen som gått. Hur känslorna figurerar inför kommande derbyn, och vilka spelare som svikit enligt Holte End.
Most Villa fans would be happy with a season that included UEFA Cup qualification, a good run in the domestic cups (with the occasional league cup win) and getting through a few rounds in Europe. We dont expect to get into the Champions league every season or to win the FA cup every few years.
If that is what would keep most Villains happy, then what can be said about the season that we have just watched? A season in which we got knocked out in the first round of the UEFA Cup (by Varteks !!!), got knocked out ofthe league cup at home by Sheffield Wednesday , got knocked out of the FA Cup at home by the most detested team in the Country and finished a lowly eighth, even behind West Ham.
Lets get the disapointing stuff out of the way first. Any of you that have been unlucky enough to see Villa games this season cannot have been impressed by what you have seen. In the main, Villa have been very poor this season, a tired old team going through the motions while the Holte End snoozed or grumbled. A number of players seemed happy to put in minimum effort, content to pick up thousands and thousands of pounds a week and do nothing each Saturday afternoon. Lets name the guilty men, Ginola, Wright,Stone, Balaban, Hendrie, Dublin. The Balaban situation has been a joke, maybe he has not been given the opportunity to show what he can do, but whenever he has played, he`s been rubbish. Hendrie has been the most disapointing, a few years ago he was in the England squad and was looking like he would be a major part of the Villa team. Since then nothing, a waste of talent.
And who was in charge of this bunch of no - hopers ? John Gregory, who was responsible for some of the most boring negative football seen at VillaPark for years. Make no mistake, the football was pure trash. The team were going nowhere and the Fans were being bored senseless. Dont get taken in by those that say he didnt have enough money to spend, Gregory spent plenty and a lot of what he bought was not any good. His managementskills left a lot to be desired. When somebody can cause a great defensive duo to leave for...............Middlesbrough, then there must be problems. He got rid of James under dubious cicumstances, almost lost Barry and Hitz and consistently failed to get the best out of the players that he picked.
Then came Graham Taylor, who was probably the only person who would take the job who would stop Ellis being lynched. The vast majority of Villa have a great deal of respect for Taylor, who has a genuine affection for the club. While the new manager did not generate much excitement down at B6, it could only get better. We were all prepared to give him a chance and see how it went.
Sure, things havent gone as well as we all hoped, but they have improved. We have still had some poor games, but the team had to take time to gel together. The main thing is that Taylor was prepared to change the team to give the Younger ones a chance to show what they could do. As I have already said, the time to judge will be after 10 or 15 games next season. There is no reason why we should not be in the top four or five in the Premiership by then. This next season is when the younger players have to prove themselves.
We finally managed to get into the Intertoto cup, it is important that a club of Villa`s size gets into the UEFA Cup if we want to think of ourselves as a big club. It was pretty close at the end and it was only the last two results that got us in a qualifying position.
While I was hoping that Wolves would get promoted, I was not too upset about West Brom going up, it will be a local derby at long last and its 6 easy points for us next season, as they are truly awful. Their main rivals are Wolves, though they have an unhealthy dislike of the Villa.
Now talking of unhealthy, the fact the the bluenoses were promoted is a total nightmare. Its a case of the unmentionables achieving the unspeakable. There are plenty of Villa who have never experienced a game against the great unwashed. There is real hatred generated whenever we play them. Dean Saunders, who played in many local derby games in England and abroad said that Villa v Blues was the worst atmosphere he has ever played in. Bluenoses are simply neandertal yobs, who will rampage around the City attacking anybody that they come across. Sure, both clubs will have firms out for the games. The difference is that a mob of Bluenoses will attack lone Villa fans or lads with their girlfriends or kids. That is the difference between us and them.
Any of you that intend to come to Villa Park for a game next season, you know which game to choose !
Highpoint of the season: A 3 - 1 win at Anfield
Lowpoint. (and there have been a lot). The FA Cup defeat and on a personal level, getting arrested in Zagreb on the way to the Varteks game.
Villa for the treble next year ?
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