The biggest transfer news in England, never mind just in Birmingham, this last week is Fabian Delph’s move from Aston Villa to Man City for £8 million and unless you have been living under a rock, you will understand the hilarious circumstances that surround this tale of hated hero. To quickly sum up for the unknown minority, Manchester city had triggered Delphs £8 million contract release clause after talks were held, Fabian had seemed to change his mind and rejected Manchester city even posting a video stating “I’m staying loyal to the football club” (which will no doubt be around for memes, vines and social media for years to come). Nonetheless six days later Delph had his medical and moved to the Etihad.
However the biggest shock seems to be the fans reaction that Delph actually went, yes it is completely understandable to be hurt after being lied too and even a little bit angry at being misguided, but this is football. You cannot be a fan, player or pundit without being fickle. Delph was never going to play for villa all his career it is rare that any player does, fans were always going to be upset and angry when he left, the only thing that is different in this scenario is the fact he idiotically made a rash decision based on emotion and possibly love (might I add) for the club and put out statement without thinking of his future or its repercussions. If any fan can honestly say they have never changed their mind about a decision, player, club, pundit, referee or even manager then you are either the most logical and rational person in the world or just too stubborn and ignorant to actually see the game of football for what it really is.
Every club has a story like this so its surprising that Villa, who are an established premier league side, thought they were untouchable to this type of “treachery”. Aston villa were part of Dion Dublin’s hugely controversial move from Coventry city, sky blue fans still have a bitter taste in their mouths about it and look at the hatred shown to Alex McLeish even before he took the job, both Villa and Birmingham fans showed nothing but detest towards him. No club whether its Manchester united (Carlos Tevez) , Barcelona (Luis Figo) or Arsenal (RVP) is excused from players for whatever reason being fickle and moving on.
What is a cause for concern is Manchester’s effect on Aston villa’s best players if we take out Ashley Young’s move to Manchester united, we see that Manchester city have almost the same calling to Aston Villa as Liverpool do to Southampton. Over the years Man City and Aston Villa have flirted in the transfer market a few names to mention Gareth Barry ( who spent 12 years at the club and was still called disloyal by fans when he left), James Milner and Darius Vassell all heading to the city of Manchester. Whereas players like shay given, Stephen Ireland and Richard Dunne have turned to claret blue. Hopefully for villa after Delph’s departure, it might signal an end to the biased relationship between the two clubs.
The reason why Fabian Delph moved is still under speculation, he claims that Micah Richards and Joe Hart had their say in the matter, it could be the classic money move every young footballer dreams of when there young (which is also killing the game and the wrong reason to get into football but that’s a topic for another day) or it could be a sort of promotion, to play Champions League football, to be in the spotlight and to play on an even bigger stage is something every footballer should want but isn’t necessarily what every club (like Aston Villa) can offer.
Even though Fabian Delphs decision will rightfully sting a few brave hearted fans its just unfortunately the path football is going towards its more about the money and fame than it is about the love of the game. Its great to have and to have had characters like Francesco Totti, Paolo Maldini and even Tony Hibbert in the game as they offer an unrealistic love towards football that fans can cling on to yet it maybe more realistic in the modern world to be surprised that players mange to stay at clubs for as long as 5-8 seasons, that maybe the sad truth we should come to accept.
