We've not looked the same of late and there could be many reasons for this. Or actually, a couple of seasons ago there could have been. Right now, I put it down to tiredness and as things stand, I think we just have to accept it. The hard work has been done. You could easily argue that the squad is thin, I think we've got more injuries than most. And while I'm not convinced we have many players on that injury list that make us stronger, we have a few that don't make us weaker. We miss Kamara. I think we probably miss Buendia too. I think Mings is a valuable backup for Konsa and Torres. Tielem ..read more

The result the other night wasn't what we expected or hoped for an it's easy to write this after the match, but it was always going to be tough. I mean, it's the semi-final of a European competition. We shouldn't be that surprised. That said, the game isn't over. Nobody expected them to come to us and win by two, so what's to say we can't do the same against them next week? But, it's going to be tough. And I wrote that about last Thursday too. But it isn't impossible.  But, it isn't about that in this post. This post is about Brighton tomorrow and you don't need me to remind you that if ..read more

I don't think there will be an Aston Villa fan not watching tonight, but I suspect we'll all be hitting refresh on a page telling us the score at Stamford Bridge every few minutes also.  But tonight it really is all about what happens at Villa Park. Regardless of the result in London, finishing fourth is now in our hands. So there is no harm in fully focusing on tonight and you don't need me to tell you how important it is. Win tonight and we take it to Greece next week and it puts us in a very good position.  But any other result doesn't mean it's over. And Olympiakos will be tough ..read more

So, it's come to this. Me writing that every game is the biggest of the season. Again. It's nice right, that every game is now so important that I genuinely believe it's the biggest game of the season.  You couldn't have predicted this at the start of the season. I don't, but sometimes I think I'm in a dream and I'm going to wake up. And not one of those regular dreams, this is a full on ludic dream, where I'm controlling it. I could be in that dream right now, typing this on my keyboard in the office. Am I? Are we? Think about it for a second. If we assume that one day technology will t ..read more

Not going to spend time on what happened this week but what a week it was and what a time to be an Aston Villa fan. Nobody could have predicted this, but maybe we should have known. I don't know or care, it's just a fantastic time.  And I'm looking forward to next season already. But there are other things I want to touch on today before Bournemouth at Villa Park on Sunday. First, the changes to the FA Cup and this just stinks of money ruining the game even further and I write that because the game isn't just about teams in the top flight, it's about the 700 or so teams that get a chance ..read more

Well, last night was interesting. If I was a betting man I'd have put money on Manchester City and Arsenal getting through. Luckily, I don't bet and I practise teetotalism.  And it would be so easy for me to sit here and write about last weekend and the League but today we are in France and it's the second leg of the quarter finals of a European tournament. It feels strange writing like this. I mean, we're fourth in the Premier League with five games to go. Nobody could have predicted this. But, I'm not getting carried away. I'm not. Honestly. But today is big. And it's going to be tough ..read more

Someone wrote a few years ago that I only posted directly after a match when we lost. I think that was under different times when things were not right at the Club. Things are very much right at Aston Villa these days. And I wrote yesterday that I wasn't convinced Arsenal would win the League and it was just because they'd had such a good 2024 that was surely going to come to an end soon, but also a little because I think Manchester City have so much more than them. Manchester City not winning the League would be an injustice.  Today we showed why I don't think Arsenal will win it. In th ..read more

I'm not convinced Arsenal will win the League. I don't think they're going to choke, but I do think they will lose more than Liverpool and Manchester City between now and the end of the season. I can't see Arteta winning it basically and writing this now is risky. And this also isn't me writing that I think we'll beat them tomorrow. That said, it's not impossible that the team in fifth place beats the team top of the table. But it would be tough and I suspect most would see it as a surprise. And that is mostly down to our form of late, not Arsenal.  But lets go back to my first paragraph ..read more

I was having a conversation with a Spurs fan the other day, like you do. During the chat I had to concede that they'd probably beat us to fourth, but he wasn't sure. I think we were both just not trying to be too arrogant. I think maybe because this isn't familiar territory for either side. Sure, Spurs have spent some time there, but it's not really home for them, like it is for Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City. The interesting thing when having this chat with a Spurs fan, was his take on Manchester United and that they could catch us both. And while it's mathematically possible I think ..read more

Things can look a little daunting if you look at the table. Both Spurs and Manchester United have two games in hand on us and if they were to both win those matches, Spurs would be three points ahead of us and Manchester United six points behind us, with six games to go. The thing is, even though things look daunting, I'd rather have the points than the games in hand and if we look at points per game this season, Spurs are getting 1.9 while Manchester United are getting 1.6. If we, for fun, assume they get these points with the two games in hand, then Spurs will end up one point ahead of us a ..read more