Minneapolis, MN - The long wait by former Aston Villa fan Dominic Harbottle to abandon the struggling Championship side finally ended, on Friday, as Harbottle's office buddy and fervent Villa fan, Hank Stephens, was fired for viewing inappropriate websites at work.
"He spent all weekend writing angry emails to people about the future of Villa and attached my name to them, out of common courtesy"
"I only picked Villa, a few years ago, because I wanted a team different than what everyone else supports in the Premier League," stated Harbottle to The Nutmeg News. "I didn't really think this was going to turn into a thing, and I'll be perfectly honest.... I really thought that there was absolutely no possibility that there might be another Aston Villa fan at my work."
According to himself, Harbottle picked a team, in Aston Villa, that allowed him to have a vested watching interest in the premier league while allowing him to learn about the league, the players in it and what kind of fan he wanted to be. However, his life changed when he was introduced to Stephens.
"He was very passionate about Villa. Very, very passionate. Suddenly, I couldn't get out of watching the games. He wouldn't let me. We had to have a recap every Monday. I just wanted a casual acquaintance with the team, but Hank just kept pushing me. Suddenly I had an opinion on Enda Stevens. Who actually wants an opinion on Enda Stevens? When Villa were battling relegation, I started doing research on the next team that I would follow, but Hank said that I had to follow them all the way down the pyramid. This is ridiculous."
Reportedly, Harbottle decided that when Villa was relegated, he would switch to being a Manchester City fan, but he had to wait til Stephens left his work in order to pull it off.
"When he was fired, it was like a ray of light on my otherwise horrible work week. I could finally morph into a Manchester City fan and enjoy the erudite press conferences of Pep Guardiola. Enough trying to find a stream for Villa against Luton Town. I'm able to watch City in High Def in the Champions League."
The Nutmeg News will have more on this as Harbottle subtly starts removing his Aston Villa collectibles and starts adding more City paraphernalia to his work cubicle.