Can Aston Villa get lucky? If not, fifth is ours to throw away

Well, here we are. Thirty-six games in and believe it or not, we sit in fifth place and wait for it, fifth place is ours to throw away.

Yes, you heard me right. Fifth place in the Premier League is ours if we want it. All we have to do is win our next two games and it is ours and as long as we do that, we could get really lucky and you never know, we might even finish in fourth.

I'm not going to spend too much time on what could happen, I just want to put it out there and I just want to have a positive thought for the day.

You know, thinking about Aston Villa at the moment is a bit like hearing Randy Lerner getting referenced on 30 Rock; you have to rewind just a little to make sure what was said was said. Every time I think about the where we sit in the league right now, I have to go check the league table to make sure.

I know I'm getting overly optimistic and I am getting quite excited, but fifth place really is ours to throw away.

Yes, we have to beat Manchester City on Saturday but if we do, I believe we will finish fifth. Fifth is ours to throw away and yes, I know I keep writing that and I will for the rest of the week.

But, win lose or draw on Saturday, the big day really will be May 9th. If we beat Manchester City, we will also have to beat Blackburn to secure fifth place, but if we lose on Saturday we might need to beat Blackburn to make sure we don't finish seventh.

If we lose on Saturday and Liverpool beat Chelsea and Hull, which is possible, they would finish above us and then, well, we could look at lots of possible results and actually I think we will win both, so I'll stop looking at them. My point is, fifth place really is ours to throw away.

What I'm saying is, we shouldn't really worry about other results. Let's just beat Manchester City and Blackburn and as long as we do that, we can't have any complaints and anything else that comes to us, is a bonus.

Fortes fortuna adiuvat

So, here i go again; fifth is ours to throw away and while it doesn't all rest on Saturday, a win keeps things in our control. What isn't in our control, is something else. The holy grail for some, a step in the right direction for others and what would be a real achievement as far as I'm concerned and a fantastic surprise; top four.

Fortes fortuna adiuvat is Latin and is often translated into 'fortune favours the brave' or 'fortune helps the brave' and I used that as a heading, because our squad have demonstrated bravery this season. Not bravery like a fireman would demonstrate when running into a burning building, but they've ran into walls this season and not stopped.

I think fortune could be coming our way and as long as we do what we can do, we will finish fifth. Fourth is out of our hands but fortune helps the brave.

Tuesday rumour

I just wanted to get that out of the way and out of my head, thank you for reading this far. I wanted to get it out of my head because if we finish fifth, we will match where we finished in 1997 and if we do better, we will match where we finished in 1996. As long as we do win our two games, it will be real progress.

But that is now finished as we also have a rumour that we are willing to pay £10mn for Carlton Cole and if you want to know my opinion, I think £10mn is a fantastic price for him. £10mn these days, in this game and in this league, isn't a lot of money for a player like Cole.

It could all be blarney, but I suspect it isn't and I also suspect it all rests on Carew and Heskey. If they leave I can see Cole coming and I can see him partnering Gabby and I can also see The Fonz on the bench full time next season with Andreas Weimann making the odd appearance much like The Fonz has this season.

There comes a time when you have to put faith in some of the youngsters and Martin O'Neill will know that you can not expect that faith to be immediately repaid. You can get lucky, but you need to put that faith in and not question it. It's what owners and managers ask of us and sometimes it is what managers have to ask of the players. I think we might see it next season.

Now I'm waffling. Let Carew and Heskey go, bring in Cole and I think we will, at the very least, score as many as we have done this season. There is no real difference, just renewed hope that we will do better.

Right that is it for me. Time for coffee and toast and work. Transfer window opens in less that two weeks and I really wouldn't be surprised to see a deal or two done before the World Cup and very soon after the last day of the season. I just have a good feeling about this summer.