So the season is going to start up again next week and despite me thinking it should have been cancelled, I can't say I'm not looking forward to seeing some football and football two times a week through the rest of June and all of July might be fun.
And from what I hear about the German football, you get to hear everything the players are saying and all the talk from the manager. This is going to be very interesting.
I also hear though that the Premier League is thinking about playing recorded supporter noise into the stadium, so there is a chance we wont hear anything. Give me the choice and I'd rather hear the players and managers, but that's just me.
I suspect there are some that wont want us to hear them, so I wouldn't be surprised if we get the pre-recorded supporter noise through the TV, but rumour has it overseas fans have been getting that for years, as a means to help sell the Premier League brand.
But all that aside, we've now got ten games to save our season and with a game in hand over most others, if we win that we put ourselves into a very good position. But we have to forget about all the talk and focus on what happens on that pitch for 90 minutes on June 17th.
Talk is one thing however and we all know actions speak louder than words. And if we've seen anything this season, it's that Sheffield United do their talking on the pitch. If we are to stand a chance of staying up this season, we need to put in the type of performance against Sheffield United that makes us believe we can.
If the performance we see on June 17th is a lot like we've already seen this season, then many are going to be hoping the season was cancelled and negative thoughts will soon take over. And I'm not convinced and to be fair, that was one of the reasons why I wanted the season cancelled. We go down again and it could be years before we are back.
Reasons to be optimistic
So, the real world out of the way, I get a moment to write about what is possible. And I don't think it needs to written, but the real benefit for having no football for so long is that John McGinn should be fit again. But having McGinn back is just the start. The break we've had should also have given the manager and his team time to figure out what hasn't been working.
I know it's easy to write this next part, but football isn't rocket science and the team that wins is usually the team that has the ball more than the other side and creates more chances. And if that team has to ball more than the other side and they've got a higher percentage in successful passes, it's almost guaranteed. I know I'm stating the obvious, but it's about keeping control and not hitting long or hopeful balls.
And if I know this and you know this and it's generally accepted as common sense and all of this season we've usually not had most of the ball and we've hit long and hopeful balls, it would be nice if these things have been worked on during this period of no football.
Naturally, you have to have the desire but I think we have that in spades. But you can't run around like headless chickens. And I believe the manager and his team would have been working on that. Again, it's not rocket science. It's about playing to strengths and if you don't have strengths, having a plan B. I don't want it to be pretty, I just want the three points and I want Aston Villa to be in the Premier League next season.
So from today until June 17th, I'm going to believe that we've worked on what didn't work so far this season. I'm going to believe we're going to approach games a little differently. And on June 17th, I'm going to go to the pub (yes, they're all open in Sweden) and have a few drinks and I'm going to have my laptop. And when we win and when it looks different, I'm going to drunkenly write a post proclaiming how we're going to stay up and how Dean Smith has finally got it right in the Premier League.