I do this quite a bit these days. I start a blog post about a specific topic, it then turns into something else and I forget the reason why I started it in the first place.
Today, it was about why this is a big week for all connected to the club, but then it turned into one about the owner, about change, about players and about why it should only be about the results on the pitch. Then I have to rewrite the header and start again.
And I know I'll get into trouble for this post and I know this because I have written these things before about other players, about other managers and about other owners. People get annoyed, until it happens. It's the way it goes.
But it is a big week for everyone connected to Aston Villa. Next week, our season in the Championship starts and we've got our owner telling us on Twitter that a lot of stuff is going to happen this week, giving instructions to the new CEO and setting expectations at a quite high level. It's like a circle and it's not the first time I've gone round.
Deal in India
And on the face of things, our new owner is getting things done and he can say and do what he wants on Twitter, just like we all can, but his level of activity isn't sustainable and if he wants it to be nice, like it is now, it all rests on results. And I could take this further, but I'll just leave it as I've left it before; if he continues, this will end in a train crash and we will witness it all live. That he doesn't know this and he thinks he can manage this, surprises me. I think it's nice, but it surprises me he hasn't spoken to anyone about this or asked for advice.
Football to one side for a moment, what he is saying about building a network is nice and the deal in India is a positive one. But the network isn't worth anything if we're not in the Premier League and winning things. Sure, the groundwork is getting done, but we haven't introduced football to India and we're just riding a wave. Focus should be football and while we all thought it would be a few weeks ago - it's not turned out the way we would have thought.
And let me remind you of something; the financial success of a football club can be directly linked to success on the pitch. The deals are nice, but they are nothing without a winning side.
And just because I think the owner is acting a little naive on Twitter and that he might easily be sold when it comes to football matters (getting told what he wants to hear), it doesn't mean it's true. Big plans are good. But he is preparing for something that might not happen and we're yet to see some of the things that we thought were going to happen and now it's too late.
Limit change
What I mean by it's too late is simple; we can maybe have one more player arriving and only because that player is special and integral to automatic promotion. But we all thought we were going to see £50mn spent. It hasn't happened and we can't start bringing in players now because too much change this close to the season isn't great.
But with Ayew and Amavi staying and the right players leaving, there is a story doing the rounds today that Micah Richards is off, things are setting themselves up almost perfectly. As long as the players leaving are Gabby, Sanchez, Sinclair and Guzan (along with Richards) things will be in a good place. And there will also be a chance that we'll have a net spend of zero, but that is another post.
But Gabby and Richards have to go and we really don't need more players. Sure, get one more in, but he's got to be the player that makes promotion automatic. As of right now, we've got a squad more than capable of finishing in the play-off positions and I know this because we've got a squad capable of playing in the Premier League. We get one more, that special player, but only because he is special.
There can be no more buying players for the sake of buying players - and for the love of God, we limit disruption. We've done good so far, even if it's not what we thought was going to happen but we can go into the season and have realistic expectations of promotion.