Lions, pride and prejudice..
Lions, pride and prejudice..
It was sweet relief all round for Villa fans as their team notched up a resounding win at the Emirates last Saturday. And, what an important win it was, with last season’s poor start still fresh in claret and blue memories, and the dread of emerging from their three very difficult opening fixtures, with nowt, nil, narda and zilch, haunting the Villa faithful’s worst nightmares, it was a massive result.
It was a marvellous performance which was enhanced by the fact that they enjoyed a decent portion of good fortune, and like all good teams, took advantage of it rather than squander it like lousy teams tend to. From the moment the ball popped up onto Christian Benteke’s head from Szczesny’s penalty-save, and he put it in the net, it definitely looked like Villa’s day. By the time Villa had got a second penalty and Koscielny had been sent off, every villan felt the joy of knowing that it actually was.
It certainly was no surprise that all the talk in the media, after the game, was about Arsenal and that a neutral might have needed to look up who had actually beaten them, such was the lack of a mention of the Villa.
Obviously, the media can’t actually admit that the Premiership has been made into an opoly, for the cash benefit of having a few dominant brands, but the way they now talk unapologetically about how none of the opoly brands are supposed to lose when the paupers turn up, kind of gives the game away.
I don’t know what kind of an opoly it is these days but the Premiership is definitely one of the opolies.
Of course, Wenger was forced to defend his players and indulged himself in a bout of whinging. His complaints about a couple of the decisions were rejected by the Villa fans and even Alan Shearer was called as star witness, who is not normally given much credence, but this was just the Villans extracting every last drop of juicy pleasure from the result, at the expense of the arsy Arsene, and it was brilliantly delightful while it lasted. Enjoy it while you can, and all that.
By the time Wednesday was almost over, the Villa fans were contemplating the reverse of the medal and it was their turn to be on the wrong end of some dodgy refereeing decisions.
What with the introduction of the so-called goal-line technology this season, it did seem, from the two games, that referees were reasserting their view that their creative role within the game was in no way diminished by having the responsibility to decide whether the ball has crossed the line, taken away from them. Both the outcomes of Villa’s games against Arsenal and Chelsea were decided by the crucial intervention or non-intervention of the referees.
It would seem likely that the outcome of the Arsenal game and the subsequent whinging influenced the way the second game was refereed. The general view that Arsenal don’t deserve anything because they don’t seem to be trying, influenced the way the first game was refereed, and the second game was refereed with the idea that Villa couldn’t be seen to enjoy any favours from the referee, for a second time, in response to Wenger’s complaints.
The feverish hype surrounding the return of smiling José to Chelsea and the way that is being used to promote the Premiership brand as super-competitive this season, seems likely to have been another important factor.
Both Arsenal and Chelsea losing one of their opening home games, would not have substantiated the claim that the Premiership brand is going to be more competitive than last season, which turned out to be a stroll for Man United. Chelsea going into next Monday’s six-pointer against Man United, a point down, would not really suit the way the Premiership is being promoted this season.
This is not to suggest that these mistakes are deliberate but only to say that these factors are sure to influence match officials unconsciously, as they seek to avoid the sort of controversary, which is going to ruin their week, or give them a black mark with the FA.
I have little doubt that in the case of controversy, who the FA would choose to support between a decision made in Villa’s favour and one in favour of a Mourinho-led Chelsea. These are the pressures which subtly influence a referee’s decision-making.
The good news about such theories, is that Villa should get more favourable decisions because they now look like they deserve to win. The bad news is that there is no chance that Villa would get a decision like the second penalty against Arsenal, at Old Trafford.
But the good news keeps coming as regards how Villa have been playing so far. Villa’s midfield is attracting praise and very favourable comparisons, especially for the superb Fabian Delph. Benteke continues to score like he’d never been on holiday, and Gabby is producing the sort of eye-catching form which got him into the England team back in 2008. There have even been some who have named Villa as their potential dark-horses for the season, and no one was prompted to send for the men in the white van. Things are looking good for Villa and such has been their form, that quite sensible Villa stalwarts have been seen exerting their self-control in an effort to not get carried away.
If things had gone justly for Villa at Stamford Bridge, they would be rightly top of the Premiership, albeit only alphabetically, with exactly the same points and goal-difference as Chelsea. This Saturday they will get the chance to substantiate their claim to a top-four spot, when they take on Liverpool who felt themselves fortunate to get all the points with a late goal against Stoke at the weekend.
What with Villa’s current form and their treasured memories of last season’s stand-out performance, when Benteke announced himself to the UK’s football-viewing public, expectations will be cautiously optimistic amongst the Villa faithful. There will be no doubt a few old scrotes reminiscing and hoping that Villa can produce the sort of result which announced Big Ron’s brilliant team to the world, back in September 1992, when Villa beat Red Scouse 4-2, a game immortalised by Ronnie Rosenthal, when he produce the miss of all time, by hitting Villa’s bar from close-range.
Hell’s bells, what a day that was, and what a day this Saturday could be.
Keep the faith!
