Well I have to be frank, being out of the Cup was what I wanted. Sitting there at 2-2 with 10 minutes to go I dreaded another trudge north for the replay. The prospect of losing another player to injury or suspension was not filling me full of the joys of spring. So I almost cheered when the 3rd goal went in for Bolton. Then this morning and seeing that we could have been lining up against the mighty Potters for a cup final against on of the Manchesters. Well I'm almost regretting my premature ejaculation of glee.
But not quite! For me the real prize is survival in the Premier League. It is crucial that we get the 10 points that we need to guarantee staying up. And then we can concentrate on Europe and start building for it.
Over the 40 years of following the Blues there has always been more drama per year than with any other club. We are nearly always fighting to stay up or fighting to get back up. No mid table mediocrity for us.
I remember childhood end of season games against the likes of Huddersfield and Sheffield Utd where you find yourself chewing your finger nails down to your elbows. Waiting to see if Norwich have beaten Southampton by two goals so we stay up on goal difference. Vowing to change allegiances to the Villa so that I can breathe easy from March onwards. But I just can't bring myself to drink the claret.
There is something special in being the under dog. Being the downtrodden, great pretenders. But now if we can hold our nerves and eke out three more good results out of our last 10 games. Well next year we could be contenders. Playing the semi big guns in the Europa. Getting a trip to Oporto or some other second tier ex-european force. What glory compared to slipping up and playing Grimsby next September and three days later having to front up to a Lyon or Bayern Munich.
Winning will be like opening the game to find out it's a limited edition Call Of Duty. It's called COD Blue Ops with special add in, which allows you to drop pepper spray on the Villa ground. Bring an SAS member a substitue when you are two down against the Baggies, Call in air strikes against referees who constantly call Ziggy offside etc..
A draw is such a sad result that it's almost as bad as losing. So a draw is like opening the present only to find it's the SIMs Barbie Doll edition Barbie is dressed as Villa Cheerleader.
A loss is a tragedy so that would be like opening the game to be pleasantly surprised that is Call of Duty Blue Ops. But when you load it into the the game console it corrupts your hard drive. And the only game you can play from there forward is Premier League Manager 2003 and it's makes you be Martin O'Neil and you have to manage the Villa. The only game you win all season is against the Blues ......