I was having a nearly interesting chat on Twitter with a West Brom fan who claimed his side was the top Midlands side and if you want to look at it as the table stands, he isn't wrong, but he is really.
You see, you can't just look at windows that are good for you. You have to look at a generous period. West Brom were playing Championship football in 2010. I know, that as of today, they are looking good in fourth place but who is going to offer up a testicle that they will finish fourth?
Don't get me wrong, they're a nice club but we all know they'll be relegated in a season or three after it doesn't work out for Steve Clarke, but for last season and finishing above us, they deserve praise. But do they and does them finishing above us in a season with Alex McLeish as manager make them the top Midlands club? The short answer is no.
Head to head
I don't know why I'm even looking at these numbers, because by size, history, by pretty much anything you want to look at, we are the top club. One swallow doesn't make a summer and if you want to start micro analysing, lets look at the last result.
But, Sunday is going to provide bragging rights and that is important, especially against West Brom. But even if we do win, they will still be above us because they've had a tremendous start to the season, even if they haven't won away from home.
And we all know that is the type of statistic that is great for a team coming to Villa Park because we'll start believing that they aren't going to win away from home against us but the truth is they'll come close and they might.
Odds
Prediction
I want to predict a home win, if only to be able to say to the person I was chatting with on Twitter that clearly we are the top side now, but I actually don't know, because they are playing well and we are up and down.
If I was a betting man, I'd have a cheeky fiver on the draw but then my pride would also stick a wedge on us to win, because if you can't go into these matches on the back of the result we have just had thinking you will win, then something is wrong.
Genting Casinos
For those that read my Twitter, you might have seen me moaning a bit about Genting and wonder what that is all about because I have an ad on the site, well I'm going to explain, very quickly. They chased me and chased me about putting an ad on the site for a long time. I reluctantly gave in, because of promises made and a commitment they made of doing a deal until the end of this season.
Pretty much every month has been a hassle getting paid and now they've not paid for two months. I'm not sure if it is the person I am dealing with is a lair or the company, but the tactics used are very underhand and not professional, but I'm not removing the ad, because I made a deal and I intend to stick to it. It is also easier the higher the amount is that they owe to take certain actions if it comes to that.
But for clarity, some details about the deal; they were to pay a set monthly fee to me and all affiliate money that came from visitors clicking on the ad and spending money with Genting was to be sent to charity. But now I'm not getting paid and while the ad is there, I'm not promoting it because Genting feels like a con and it feels like they're con men. A casino that doesn't pay their debts - whatever next?