Don't ask me where I read it but I saw somebody somewhere writing this was a must win game and I honestly slapped myself. Yes, a win would be nice, to get something going, but it isn't a must win game. Do I honestly need to explain why?
People calling this game 'a must win' is where it all starts to go wrong. What happens if we don't win? But that is very much driven by the club and their actions.
The truth is the result doesn't matter. Norwich have moved on or maybe not. They have the likely points they would have had if Lambert had stayed and we are not going down. We are staying in the Premier League only because there are three worse clubs than us and when our back is against the wall in January, Lerner will sanction some spending to do what Doug did best; appears the supporters.
And if we win at the weekend it will be headlines and talk like we've turned the corner. It will be 'it has been coming' and 'we have to focus on the two big games coming up'. It will be the same as it always is.
If we don't win, then it could get messy. It will get people asking if Lambert is the right man and some might even go so far as to suggest that if we get rid now, the new manager has time to fix things. Some might even say that Harry Redknapp should be a candidate. Let's be honest, Redknapp would be interesting.
And I know what some will say about Redknapp, but this is business for him and it should be for us. The man has the magic touch and if you speak to some Spurs fans today, some still wonder why he was sacked and would love him back.
We will win
But it isn't a must win game for Aston Villa. It isn't even a must win game for Paul Lambert. The players are having fun in training so that means all is good.
And we're going to win anyway. Then we'll beat Swindon and take a point at Sunderland and everyone will be happy. Until we then get nothing from the three games that follow. But that might not happen either and if we could get something from Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal, all belief will be restored and we'll be up there challenging for a spot in Europe next season. Really.
But I don't have a crystal ball that lets me see into the future, so I'm just playing now.
In other news
Young midfielder Daniel Johnson has signed for Yeovil Town on a month-long youth loan deal. This is nice for him as he'll get some competitive football, but I'm not sure if it means anything to the manager.
Updates and team news
And we'l have a post early tomorrow starting with all the speculation and banter for the day of football ahead. I'll even be wearing my lucky underwear. Not because I might get lucky, but because I think we are gong to need all the luck we can get for the match.