Jack.
I’m not angry.
Just very very disappointed in you.
I’m more angry with myself for having the stupidity to believe that you might just be different to any footballer in many a year.
But you aren’t. You are as magnolia as the rest. I will never ever understand or believe that winning trophies with Citeh will be anywhere near as close to being the experience it could have, and should have, been for you at Villa.
But then again that’s me believing, as you had us believe and you did, you totally did and made out you meant it, were Claret and Blue through and through. I don’t think you are, you can’t be. Because you left when you had the Villa world utterly and completely at your feet. From fans, pundits, coaches, ex coaches, players and ex players. You left when you had the chance to take ‘your club’ (you said it) right to the top and even if we didn’t make it, you would have at the very least secured your families future for generations and had generations of Villa fans fawning over you. That is surely something. Look at Sir Brian. Walks around Villa Park 50 years later like a God. I would die for that as a Villa fan.
Ah well.
At least your parting gift is to unite the fans and bring them ever closer and determined to get us back to where we belong.
Damn, it’s a crying shame. Generic, magnolia, just another player in the list of Citeh players. No way will you be revered there as you would have with us.
I’ll put my house on it.
And finally.
What a fine footballer. Absolute pleasure to watch. A first touch that I do not think I will witness again at Villa Park from a Villa player. I have banged on and on for years to anyone that was not a Villa fan that he is the real deal. They scoffed at me, they said nah, no way.
He is a classy classy footballer and I was dead right.
But it’s my prerogative and anyone else’s prerogative to think that he has made the wrong decision when all things are considered, not just the thought of playing in an overhyped, now busted flush, of a European competition. The ultimate irony being the club he joined thinks so much of this competition that they wanted to leave it. The grass is always greener, but it often never is in my experience.
As a Villa fan of 40 years, and at this current time in our history, I think he has made the wrong decision and absolutely nothing anyone can say now or in the future will change that.
Doesn’t matter a jot now though. He’s gone and it’s such a shame as that’s it for me, the final nail in the coffin for the game I grew up loving. The last hope I had of a player nowadays actually meaning something to us and us meaning something to them. It’s confirmed and actually a relief now. No more BS, no more ‘my club’. We will never have to go through this again because we know what will happen, what the end result is. If we can’t keep a player/fan like Jack at Villa in the circumstances we have now at the club, we will never ever keep any player when certain clubs come calling.
Chapter closed.
UTV
Writer: Melon Donkey
Jack…..you turned your back on your club, you sold your soul to the devil. we thank you for the moments, the skills, the memories, but when you walked away, it left a very sour taste in the air. Your own tweets said exactly what we all think about Citeh and buying up players, buying the trophies…. you could have been king of villa park, royalty… we are villa, mighty Aston villa, when you are a real fan, you do not swap and support another club because they win more titles, you are with your club for life, thick and thin, bad times and good. If a fan swapped his club, he is called a glory hunter, a plastic fan…. you are no different now. see ya!
I agree with everything you say John
Very hard to take but glad he is gone now as somewhat as it was becoming a distraction. One jewel we have which we may overlook is Smithy. I feel he has by and large got the right players and made them better. No coincidence that Jack played his best under him and the coaching staff. I think the only place Smith would choose to leave for would be the England job. Point of all this? I think this current team under smith will adapt quicker than the fans will after Jack leaving. We need to move on quick , be humble and get behind what is becoming the most exciting team I have seen in decades (yes that old). Jack will of course win trophies- there is no risk to that, I mean this city team could just turn up and fart on the pitch an win trophies. So after the 2 or 3 medals. Or after he retires and sees all the silver and gold and he has won everything you can as a footballer,, there will be one experience he never had. Lifting a trophy as a Villa captain- and that I am sure will hurt him. UTV
Well said mate I too am a long term Villa fan as were my family before me, but I agree with everything that you said no such thing as loyalty anymore and I like you believe that Jack will find that this was his biggest mistake.
Anyway it is what it is we can’t change anything and sadly I honestly believe that this is the beginning of the end for the game. Man City have lost all credibility in my opinion and I believe that this should be looked at by the authorities, they won the league at a canter and are signing players that they don’t need just to stop others having any chance, and it’s patently all wrong.
We have signed some good players and we move on, sadly my personal interest in general has dropped and if I’m honest I really couldn’t care less anymore.
My sentiments exactly.
46 years supporting Villa, and this is probably the worst I’ve felt at a player leaving, along with Gray and Mortimer not far behind. Like you, I thought he was one of us living the dream, and was possibly here for the long haul. Signing that contract last year was just blowing smoke up our backsides, after learning of the clause. The problem with today’s society, its all got to happen now, this instant, no one’s prepared to wait and put in the hard yards.
Initially, I wasn’t that confident he’d turn into the player he has, or you thought he was. Too much inconsistency for me in the early days, and he was dire in some of those games in the championship. He more than proved me wrong though.
I can understand why he’s gone, short career, trophies and all that, but to them! They haven’t bought him because they need him, they’ve bought him because they can. Just another trinket to add to the rest.
Here, as you say, he’d have had a God like status at the club, but that’s gone now. He’ll be remembered, kindly by some, but not as kindly by others.
Football dies a little bit for me in every passing season. Along came Jack and you thought, he’s one of us, he’s here to fight the good fight for the Villa for years to come. Only problem was, he wasn’t. So now it’s died a little bit more.
Good luck to him. He’s gone, it’s over, the bandwagon has left town. He won’t get as much joy winning those trophies, as what he would’ve done if he was wearing claret and blue! Not if he’s the Villa fan he states he is.
Enjoy the magnolia Jack
A sad , sad day, I feel he will be shackled at Man City, told how to play , he will lose the happiness in his game because he is a natural , if you tell him how to play you will spoil him, the other disappointment is I feel you cannot stop Man City’s domination which is not good for the game. can you imagine all the discussions about who comes SECOND, my last point is if Man City see a team getting too strong the buy 2 of thier players and stick them on the bench to weaken the other team , therefore 6 more points
No player is bigger than a club, no club is bigger than football.
I can totally understand his decision – Jack needs to test himself at the highest echelons of football. Ronaldo/Messi/Neymar/Mbappe. Barcelona/Real Madrid/AC Milans/Juventus/PSG. This is where the true legends of the current game nurture their skills. He belongs in this mix.
I’m devastated but we’re not even in Europe yet. Had we been there I honestly believe Jack would have stayed. Good luck to him i’m both a Villa and Jack fan now and hope he finishes his career with the Villa.
UTV
Im disappointed that Grealish saw fit to put the release clause in while publicly buying into the Villa vision.
Obviously a Villa fan with an escape clause in case they need to support someone else.
Fans that move to supporting a more successful club have always been derided. Grealish will be no different.
The joys of supporting Villa are the ups and downs, the despair that turns to joy and yoyos back and forth again
From a Villa supporter of 60 years UTV
I agree with all you say Rob I am also a Villa fan of 60 years and have felt the disappointment of our best players leaving going all the way back to Tony Hateley Bruce Rioch etc . Grealish fooled me though,i really thought he was genuine and was Villa through and through and we could rely on him . I had a nagging feeling him getting in the England team would be bad for Villa ,after all we have seen it before with the likes of Hodge Young and Barry all becoming bigger than the club in their eyes
Agree with you both. Another fan of 60 years who has spent the last 40 years watching from overseas (USA) so haven’t been to many games recently. Really though he would give us one more year to see what the owners could do, but he turned out to be less a Charlie Aitken and more a Fabian Delph!
The writing was on the wall for this since he nearly joined Spurs all those years ago. Unfortunately, the modern system teaches players to look after themselves and their careers over any dedication to the club. Combine that with the constant achievement comparison that goes on in the England camps and his envy of the players around him at international level ultimately pushed him towards the door (Same thing is going on with Kane as well). Not much more the Villa could do to keep him, we are still a few years away from reaching full potential as a club and there are no guarantees in football. So his family and advisors will of been pushing him all the way for the big payday!
To be honest I am gutted to see him go – in my eyes he is a bit of a footballing genius, I’ve been watching the villa for over 35 years and I have never seen a player with those kinds of ball-carrying abilities, playing for our team or the oppositions. Any club in the world would want him on their team sheet but only a handful could afford him.
We started a while back to get over-reliant on him – Our players were getting lazy! ‘Plan A’ was get the ball to Jack and ‘plan B’ didn’t really exist. He was starting to outgrow and overshadow our team and that is a bad place to be – this is a hard reset and it will allow us to focus back on the whole team game – It could ultimately be the best thing for the villa. Our recruitment so far looks good and let’s hope it all starts to gel quickly.
This is a momentary blip and not enough to derail the project to get the Villa back where they belong!
How can we be certain that this was entirely Jack’s decision? The money raised allows us to recruit three or four players, what was our FFP position? I have my doubts and will refrain from pointing fingers at either Jack or Purslow. It is what it is and we move on. I wish him good luck and hope he’s overjoyed when we pip City to the title.