Glenn Whelan lays into Aston Villa fan after Rashford and Asensio jibe
Glenn Whelan laid into an Aston Villa fan after a jibe made about the former midfielder on social media.
The Villans have been on an upward trajectory ever since Unai Emery was appointed as head coach in October 2022 and their qualification for the Champions League this season has helped acquire high-calibre talent.
During the winter transfer window, the loan signings of both Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio were completed with Emery’s side looking to have the firepower to compete in both the Premier League and the Champions League for as long as they can.
Glenn Whelan reminds Aston Villa of his contributions
Although Aston Villa are a club with a rich history, when you look at the more recent years of their story, where they are now certainly deserves plenty of credit.
Success in the West Midlands was not created overnight but a stable project is being built which has seen Emery take his side to compete in the Champions League this season.
With this in mind, there was no surprise that players started to become more keen on making a move to Villa Park as there are more opportunities provided there than some of the traditional top six sides in the Premier League.
Therefore, you can understand supporters are excited by where the club currently find themselves and one supporter even expressed this online as he posted on X (19 February): “I was watching Glenn Whelan on penalties and then the next minute I’m watching Asensio, Rogers and Rashford run at the Holte. What happened?”
Not everyone took this reflection very well though and Whelan himself chose to remind supporters not to forget what others had done for them in history.
Clapping back at the tweet, Whelan posted on his account to say: “Don’t forget Glenn Whelan at 35 helped pull your club from one of its darkest days. Enjoy Asensio, Rogers and Rashford and thank me later.”
Aston Villa relishing the good times
Villa fans have not had the easiest of rides in comparison to some other clubs and therefore, there is no way they were not going to enjoy life at the top end of English football.
Furthermore, as pointed out, the fact that they have been able to seriously up the calibre of players being recruited in recent seasons is a reflection of the excellent job that Emery is doing and therefore, supporters are bound to be excited.
However, that does not mean that backs will be turned to their history and the players who did their best for the club then to set them on a path towards better times.
As Whelan points out, what he was doing for the West Midlands outfit at the age of 35 shows just how committed he was and as a result, he certainly deserves his respect from the supporter base.
Nevertheless, this was probably not the dig that Whelan took it as and rather, just a stark comparison of how much things have changed at Villa Park in recent times.