"Dweeb planes"
"Schmuckfires"
"Shitfires"
whatever one calls them, undeniable they are well made planes.
For a 1942 plane, it is pretty good, that's undeniable, too.
Whilst other planes, the ones we call "BnZ" planes, have to
take all sort of precautions to shoot Spitfires down, the Spits,
on the other hand, can just go 'point and fire'. In the worst
case of being low and slow, just pull on the stick and begin "ok,
I'm dead anyway" tight turns.. and an unexperienced guy in a
BnZ plane can't shoot it down... more like make mistakes in
chasing down a Spit that does nothing but turn and get killed.
On the other hand, even the most unexperienced person can
shoot a low and slow BnZ plane. Just "point-and-fire".
This, is probably the reason why people are pissed off. It
hurts the pride

and.. to some extent, they are correct that
the sheer ability of the plane stands up a lot for even the most
underskilled, inexperienced pilots.
but that's hardly a reason to perk a 1942 plane.