Having been substituted on Saturday afternoon, the Aston Villa captain spoke directly to fans and, contrary to what the headlines said, he did not do so in a hostile fashion.
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Villa, seven points adrift at the foot of the league, became the second top-flight club to be grateful to avoid defeat by League Two opposition following Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Exeter City on Friday.
Villa had controlled the first half, taking the lead through Micah Richards’s simple finish, but their confidence visibly drained when Jacobson equalised from the spot.
Holders and Premier League leaders Arsenal began their quest for a third successive FA Cup – a feat last achieved by Blackburn Rovers between 1884 and 1886 – when they host Sunderland later on Saturday.
“My target is only to try to help this football club to get through this very bad period and I am doing my best”.
“It’s more because I’m facing you (the media) every week but actually I know Villa from inside for only 10 weeks now”. Richards stepped in to talk to a dozen fans next to the dugout after they expressed their anger about the result against the League Two side which left Villa without a victory in their last 16 matches. I don’t know what was said but he is certainly passionate about Aston Villa and what is going on and it is hurting him.
“The support that I need to make things better for the team”, he said, when asked what he hoped would come from the meeting.
The beleaguered Frenchman was abused by angry fans’ at Wycombe’s Adams Park following the lacklustre draw. “We have to find a solution to get through this”.
Aston Villa’s decline remains evident and it looks certain that they will end up in the Championship next season.
The club’s powerbrokers are in NY spelling out a damning “rip it up and start again” verdict from Garde on the team he inherited.
“I understand completely the fans’ frustration, but what I am saying is that I am not surprised, because I knew that from other situations, at different clubs I have been playing for, or worked for”.
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The biggest decision of the match was to award a penalty to Wycombe for a challenge by Ashley Westwood on the edge of the box. Villa made them pay with some good play from Carles Gil, cutting the ball inside on the right hand side to Richards, who slotted home in the right hand corner.
