Big man Holman, big man Lichaj and competition time

First up and hands up, I didn't vote for Brett Holman as man of the match against Swansea, but there were a few that deserved it and he won it. Of all the votes, 37.2% went to him or to be more precise 145 of you voted for him, so stand up Brett and take a bow - you deserve it.

And you know what, the Holman signing raised a few eyebrows when it was made, as have a few from Lambert, but it goes to show that it is about the manager, about the players respecting him and wanting to play the right way.

I know you could easily say I'm getting carried away and I like that I am, but I've also got one eye well and truly trained on the real world, but I've banged the drum enough times about the importance of the manager and playing the right way, that because for a very short period of time, we seem to be doing that, it feels good.

A point to prove it, to myself, if nobody else; have you seen the amount of times we haven't hit a long ball? Have you seen the amount of times we haven't seen a Smiler McCann tackle going in and a player on the floor? It just feels nice, but again, I'm not getting that carried away.

Eric Lichaj

And another big player so far this season is Lichaj and even though I've been told he plays at left back for his national side, I'm as surprised as others that he is making such an impact at left back for us. I've always felt, like so many of the players coming through, that they should get a proper run and I'm glad it is working out for him and Bannan and when Albrighton is ready, I hope it works for him too and I'm forgetting others, but you get what I'm referring to.

And Lichaj is saying all the right things too and I just loved reading what he had to say recently and you can see from the way he plays that he is determined and will run for 95 minutes every match.

I feel extra pressure because obviously I’m not a natural left-back but I’m playing in that position now. I need to do as well as I can and hopefully I can keep that spot. At the moment I’m having a good spell so I’m happy with that and hopefully I can keep it going. In any team there’s always competition for places and if there wasn’t then I probably wouldn’t be as good or playing as well as I have been. Right now I’ve just got to keep it going for the team and for myself.

Personally, I want to see the likes of Bannan, Albrighton, Clark, Lichaj, Baker, Gardner and Weimann playing week in week out for us and I think, based on some of the performances we have seen this season, that we are not far off that happening - if not all of them, certainly quite a few of them. But that is just me, now for a competition.

Competition: Win a Savile Rogue scarf in Aston Villa colours

Savile Rogue, purveyors of the world’s finest football scarves (they really are very nice), have just launched their new King scarf and they’re marking the occasion by giving you the chance to win one, in claret and blue.

If you’re not familiar with them, Savile Rogue scarves give a nod to football terraces of yesteryear, shunning in-your-face logos and cheap nylon in favour of a traditional bar design and the comfort, quality and warmth of top grade cashmere wool.

They retail for £64.95, but you can get your hands on an Aston Villa scarf by simply picking a number between 1 and 1982 and over the weekend we will use the random number generator to pick the winner.

There is a rule though; make sure your number is not picked by someone else first because if you copy a number, it is the person that picks it first that wins and this time, it is one entry per user - so quick, add your number.

And because they're giving us a lovely scarf, please go follow them on Twitter here or Facebook here.