I'm a supporter of Aston Villa FC and today was their opener against Hull City, a club that was recently relegated to the second tier of the English professional pyramid, the Championship (not to be confused with the Champions League). The match started off with AV attacking and moving the ball through the midfield, bottling a few good changes but also scoring one goal. The second half was night and day. There was a lack of attacking and AV allowed Hull to have their way in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Eventually the opposition scored. It was tied 1-1.
Only in the last 15 or 20 minutes of the match did AV resembled their first half self. A few point blank chances bottled. At least they were getting chances now. Too late. The ref blows his whistle and both clubs have to settle for a point each in the table.
The disappointment on the reddit forum was understandable, but I can't help but bring up one word that kept coming up. Shit.
I've noticed the same thing on youtube's comment section when I'm watching vids about English clubs.
"Newcastle is shit."
"Birmingham City is shit."
"X manager is shit."
Etc. etc.
I just find it amusing. In the States there tends to be a plethora of words to express extreme disappointment. I'll even say it can be quite tame but the amount of words used is greater.
"X baseball manager is horrible at his job. He should be fired."
"X professional player is just not talented enough to play at X position as a starter."
Or it can be less gentlemanly.
"That fucking dumbass. He can kiss my sour ass for all I care."
There's also much more optimism when it comes to Americans and a disappointing opener. Take for instance the Chicago Cubs. The darn club just recently won their first World Series after 108 years. The saying "There's always next year" became a Chicago Cubs thing that would define the optimism of the fans despite no real evidence of things getting better. Then again the culture is different in American sports - there is no relegation/promotion battle found in the MLB or any in major league. In the case of AV the mentality is, given the squad and the time the manager had to settle in, a win today against a not so great Hull City squad would've been the start the club wanted to build of off for push towards the top of the division for an automatic promotion. Ever since the birth of the Premier League (1992), AV has been a staple until a year ago where the club made a record, a horrible once, for the least points scored in the history of the top flight: 13. Pride is at stake as well as the manager's job. (In the world of Western soccer/football, managers are fired as frequently as teenagers go through girl/boyfriends -- basically every three to six months. If you last a year consider yourself a rare gem.) Fans want the club out of the second tier and back into the top flight were they think it belongs. They just want to get back "home." I do too. I want AV to be promoted.
Next up is Cardiff the upcoming Saturday. Three points would be great. At least I'm hoping that's the case.
But as a Chicago Cubs fan, I'll say this - "There's always next match."
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