I've taken a lot of stick from a small group of people on social media the past few weeks, but as soon as they start to see the thing they were arguing against appear right in front of them, they hide in the corner. Last night was no different, after the match and I started to see messages that the manager must be under pressure, I sent out a message that the owner has to share some responsibility. It was sort of a test and it was perfect.
And I performed a test earlier in the day. I put out a message about Ciaran Clark - one aimed at what I call the stupid supporters. A short time after, I put out a very positive message about a new swagger to Aston Villa coming. What one do you think got the most attention? Yes, the one about Clark, that has gone on to join a team playing very good football and winning games.
It was never going to be the positive one about Aston Villa. It was the one aimed at the stupid people. The ones that sung for Lambert and the ones that thought Sherwood was going to win us the Premier League.
The message last night about the owner taking responsibility was simply because it was the owner that appointed Roberto Di Matteo and sanctioned so many changes in the summer. And all these changes when ironically the cancer at the Club, Micah Richards and Gabby Agbonlahor, are still here.
All these changes and we do nothing with the problem.
The owner has to share the responsibility because he's made it abundantly clear that the final decisions rest with him. There is no blame here. When the penny dropped, they went and hid again. Until the next time.
Still surprised
The thing that surprises me the most however is that supporters are surprised. When Di Matteo was appointed I wrote that it probably means another season in the Championship and I suppose that is why I have changed my tune to the happy one with all things Aston Villa.
You see and I'm writing it again, it was a calculated risk to appoint Di Matteo and as soon as the people upstairs have done the calculations and figure out now is the time to get rid, they will get rid. I'm not saying it is now, even if it is . The truth is, he was the wrong choice to begin with, but it was calculated or I hope it was.
What I am saying is that you shouldn't be surprised by where we are and also don't be surprised if someone just like Steve Bruce is appointed quite soon.
Why do I think this?
I'm sorry to harp on about this, but our owner is banking on us getting back to the Premier League this season and when I say banking, that is quite literally what I mean. Do you think he's doing this for fun and do you think he's going to finance something when the parachute payments have come and gone? And forget about Twitter and PR.
Please, if you think any different, just go back to bed. This owner, more than the last, is here just for what he can get out of Aston Villa. And that is why he will be ruthless when he finally figures out the problems are still at the Club and he's got a manager that needs a lot of help and a team that needs a new manager. There you go; another option and it's one that should be considered right now.
And on that, I leave you with the where we are and what we need chart. It could be a lot worse.
The chart
