I seem to always be busy these days and it means I don't get to follow as much as I'd like. It's gotten to the place where I actually add 'Damian time' to my calendar so nobody can get access. I'm using one of those right now to write this.
And seeing as I don't have that much time and I've probably missed loads, I'm going to focus on the two things I think would have been popular this week based on NewsNow and Twitter. But let me just write an overview to it all first.
We have entered a dark time for Aston Villa. We can't believe stories because they are published in the Daily Star or heard from a mate. We don't take things that we think or hear and turn them into facts. How we act over the next few weeks is important. But there should be no rush. Any manager that wants the job now is not the manager for us. Any decision that the board can make today is a decision they should put off for another few weeks.
Sometimes, it's important to see what happens around you before making a decision on what to do. Now is very much one of those times, for so many reasons. It really is on so many levels.
Stan Petrov
Look, we all like Petrov. We even had a trophy made for him as player of the season for 2008/09 but lets just put any notion of him playing for us again to one side as a romantic notion that it is. The truth is that for many of you, me included, we didn't rate him that highly.
It was because he was an Aston Villa player when he became ill that he's loved now, not because he was a great Aston Villa player.
It's nice PR but lets move on. And you know what, I've been so busy you might have all moved on from this. I sort of imagine that you have because that is the sensible thing to do and I fully expect that you've done that. It's a nothing thing and even writing about it makes me think I've been caught out by a late April fools.
Nigel Pearson
This just doesn't want to go away, but it would be nice if someone at the club gave a signal or something just so we know there is no truth in this. Sometimes, decisions need to be made that touch more than one or two things. The only reason you'd hire Pearson is because he has been a manager and because of Daily Star stories. So much about this man is a myth - but do we want someone that can not control his own players, let alone son and someone that loses it during matches and during press conferences?
People, some strange decisions have been made at Aston Villa, from the fool from over the road, to Lambert, Sherwood and Garde. They will not make another one like that but for those that believe it's possible, a signal that it wont be happening I think is needed.
And on that, I leave you with the best moment from Stan. And how we should remember him.