Rumours and wishes, hopes and dreams, the real world and cloud cuckoo land. Fortunately for you all, we will be touching on all these this morning and we even have two quick questions for you.
You see, today isn't like any normal day - today, we open the cupboards and we show you the ingredients to the madness. Today - we start with speculation and touch on a hope. Today we wish for the impossible dream.
Is James Milner re-thinking his position?
As rumours go, this could be more hopeful than anything, but it is a rumour that I heard last night and as such, I am posting it today. The rumour goes that James Milner was fed up playing football under O'Neill and wanted out.
The rumour also suggests that Milner really does like it at Aston Villa and since O'Neill left, things have changed at Villa Park. The next part of this I am making up, but did the standing ovation he got at Villa Park on Saturday pull at his heart strings?
Milner isn't, or doesn't come across as stupid. He is already a multi-millionaire who still has ten seasons of top flight football in him, where he can earn millions upon millions more and he knows if he goes to Manchester City he will be a bit part player.
He knows if he stays at Aston Villa that he can make Aston Villa his club and he knows, rather than eat the scraps at Manchester City, he can eat at the big table here. So, James, if you are thinking about staying and making Aston Villa a home for you and your family, {rokbox title=|James Milner :: Please don't go| text=|this song is for you|size=|640 505| album=|demo|}http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIAnkrPgTvY&autoplay=1{/rokbox} and for everyone else - download this wallpaper. Does this make me gay for James Milner? Sorry.
It is only a rumour, but chances are that one day, one of these mad rumours will be true. Do you want James Milner to stay?
Is Kevin MacDonald the man of the job?
We have another quick question to the right and I thought about how to word this but the bottom line is, do you want Kevin MacDonald to be given the job? I could have put in the phrase 'given the chance' or 'until December' but they are just words - if he gets the job, he gets the job.
Now, I for one hope he does get a chance, but only if he wants it and when he has properly thought things through. If he gets it the club have to bring in someone to give him some media training but apart from that, if I was Paul Faulkner, the only thing I would need to be thinking about is how I could make things easier for him.
The thing with appointing Kevin MacDonald is, he is going to need time and that isn't just a few weeks or months, or even a season. Martin O'Neill finished 11th in his first season and if Kevin MacDonald can do that, then I'd say he had done a fantastic job - if he can do better that that, I'd say it was a superb performance.
Yes, this job will be tougher than any other job he has had. He will have to deal with the media and the pressure and the personalities at Aston Villa, but the principles of football management are the same, regardless of team and league and ability of the players.
How you talk to Webcam or Milner about football and tactics is exactly how you would talk to two players in the academy and how you set up your team and what you ask them to do, will also be the same.
Kevin MacDonald is a proven manager. He is unproven at this level which is why he will need all the support he can imagine and more. This is where the supporters and club come in - they both have a part to play.
But only, if he wants it and is fully committed and he must be given time, by the club and the supporters.
Both questions are to the right.