Be Patient With the New Boys at Aston Villa

This January transfer window, Aston Villa have seen the likes of Andre Green, Tommy Elphick and Easah Suliman recalled to the team, as well as the introduction of some new faces, including Lovre Kalinic, Kortney Hause, Tyrone Mings and Tom Carroll.

It’s unlikely that we’re going to see every single one of them play on the pitch at the same time with other loan options of Tammy Abraham, Anwar El Ghazi and Axel Tuanzebe – when he returns from his metatarsal injury – all likely to be in and around the eighteen. 

But even for those on the bench, a bad atmosphere, be that home or away, can be an issue.

There has been talk across social media of fans sarcastically jeering when Lovre Kalinic catches a ball. It’s not like he’s hard of hearing. He can hear it, and that’s going to play into his psyche. 

We’re not saying that you should completely change the way that you act at a football game. If a player misplaces a pass, feel free to “wheyy” away at him. Just be wary that whilst they’re being paid than the vast majority of people in the stands, they are all human and criticism will bleed onto the pitch and into the games of those being criticised. 

With the likes of Mings and Carroll, there have been people complaining about their arrival upon social media already. Let’s put that into perspective. They’ve barely had time to have a cup of tea and some biscuits after their first training session and fans are questioning their ability in some instances. 

For both of the aforementioned, they’ll both admit that they’ve not had the amount of game time that they’d have liked recently and are bound to be a bit rusty. Hell, if either of them play, they’re probably going to be prone to a mistake or too. But that’s one game. This is a marathon, not a sprint, as we’ve found out in what is now our third season in the Sky Bet Championship. 

Going onto social media and tweeting or posting that a player is shit and should be sent wherever or replaced by whomever, isn’t going to help anything but your own ego. Trust us on this, players see comments about their performances. They’re going to know they’ve made mistakes or performed badly well before they read your comments on Twitter.  And it’s even worse if you’re going to tag them in the post. 

We’re saying just be wary in the games ahead, especially if players are making their debut, give them the benefit of the doubt and don’t get on their backs straight away. It’s not going to help anyone.