Way back when I was far less forgiving of any Villa player who wanted to leave, or eventually departed Aston Villa, you’d get deluded Villa fans giving them permission to join a so-called bigger club.
You’d read comments on Villa forums, blogs, social media and even hear people say face to face that the player deserved his move to one of these bigger clubs.
I never understood where that mentality came from.
Me? I always felt completely different.
I’d dig those players out, calling them traitors, ungrateful and various other names I probably shouldn’t repeat. To me, it was like your wife or girlfriend having an affair and planning to leave you, yet somehow you were expected to be perfectly fine with it.
Those particular Villa fans would be saying, “OK honey, you deserve that hunky man after all these years with me. Good luck, have a wonderful future, and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll be here waiting for you.”
Me? There would be fireworks, no matter how long they’d been at Villa or how much they’d contributed to the club. And there was absolutely no way I ever wanted them back.
I’ve mellowed over the years, though. These days, I don’t throw the insults around like I once did, and I accept that football has changed.
However, one thing I won’t be doing is wishing departing players well at their new clubs, especially if they’re joining another Premier League side. Why would I?
We don’t want them to do well, because if they’re playing brilliantly, then chances are their club will be doing well too, and that can only make life more difficult for Aston Villa.
For me, I’ll only go so far as to thank them for their contribution to our club, and that will be done through gritted teeth. UTV