I really don't enjoy getting carried away with speculation, but I guess you could argue that this isn't speculation any more and that there is a serious chance that the new manager of Aston Villa could be Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and that it really could be done by the end of the day.
And you have to take your hat off to Lerner, it looks like he is learning and is thinking outside the box. Yes, Lambert, Martinez and Rodgers were easy choices and there is as much to say that they could be as successful as Solskjaer and at the same time fail just as quickly as each other, but there is a huge feeling of optimism right now and you know what, I like it.
Nothing to fall back on
I like it, I think, because we don't actually know much. We can't look back and see how he managed in Scotland or how his only attribute was to defend well. We can't look back and say, this is what he has always done.
It is a clean slate. I like that too. I also like that it appears, from the video below, that it is football first. I like everything I've read and heard and watched the last twenty four hours and I'm making myself believe.
But there is a risk
But there are risks and some will be quick to point them out and they are real, but I'll say this; with any manager, there are risks, but Solskjaer has a pedigree and he'll be respected. If he isn't, we all know what will happen because he has been taught by one of the best.
But that risk remains. But let me say this; there is a risk with Lambert, maybe a bigger one, maybe not as big. There are risks with every man that takes this job, but it can be eased.
If Solskjaer is appointed the manager, one thing we have to all accept is it is going to take time. Maybe not so long, but time will be needed. He'll need money and I suspect he'll get it and he will have, believe it or not, some pulling power in terms of players that would be willing to play for him.
And given the support, the funds and if he can get across how he wants the football to be played, it's all good. And if the talk is true, he has left Norway with his wife and is on his way to Birmingham, so I suspect we will see a photo in a couple of hours of him entering Villa Park or Bodymoor, so hold on to your hats.
But, and this is a massive but, if he does come, we have to embrace him. We have to have him fall in love with a football club all over again. I know I'm getting a little carried away, but from day one, he has to be embraced. But that is where I leave it now.
Question of the day
And, seeing as we have a firm name to talk about, there is a question of the day to the. Answer please.