Portsmouth manager puzzled by Aston Villa fan abuse: Why do the Brummies have it in for him?

At Christmas, many of us like to go to a pantomime. There might be two people dressed up as a cow trotting across the stage, while if you’re really lucky, you’ll also have a man dressed as a dame making lots of risque jokes. However, what really makes a panto is the presence of a villain, not to be confused with supporters of a certain Midlands club. Indeed, the latter seem to be treating a certain Premier League manager as though he’s a bad guy, and it’s certainly a case of ‘looking behind you’ as far as he’s concerned.

Harry Redknapp just can’t understand the abuse he gets at Villa Park. The Portsmouth News reports that the Pompey gaffer has a good deal of respect for the biggest club in Birmingham, and is puzzled by attempts to verbally and physically abuse him. It seems as though he was the likely target of a coin thrown from the crowd, although it ended up injuring the linesman instead.

‘It was probably thrown at me in all honesty. I was standing right next to him and some fans were shouting all sorts at me. I hadn’t done anything either – but for some reason they don’t like me up there now.

‘Last year we went there and won well. A group behind the goal that day started chanting some vile stuff at me. Then some idiots behind the dugout on Saturday started having a go.

‘Do you know what, I hardly got out of my seat during that game. I sat down more than I normally do. I can’t understand why some people are like this. I have done nothing to Aston Villa, absolutely nothing. Villa have got great tradition, it’s a great football club, I’ve always said that.”

Football fans are a strange breed, especially when you put a bunch of them together, which means that certain individuals think they can shout what they like in a football ground and get away with it. Has the Portsmouth manager done anything to incur the wrath of the Aston Villa fans? Do Villans feel annoyed that this minority of supporters have given the club a bad name?

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