Apologies to regular readers: I didn't give you the Doc's Diagnosis of the game against Everton because I wasn't at Villa Park and I didn't see it on TV. And unlike other less scrupulous writers and bloggers, I won't recycle Match of the Day and national press comment.

But I feel strangely content that the battle for fourth is over. In truth, we haven't come that far yet, and an entertaining and hard-fought draw against a very strong Everton side is a good marker of Martin O'Neill's progress with this squad.

Villa have played three enthralling games against Everton this season, and honours are pretty much even. I like Everton and I like David Moyes, even if I think he should impose some tougher club rules on haircuts.

But in the games against Everton, we've actually found where we belong right now. And trust me, that is no bad thing. For a season or two, Moyes' Everton squad have been the only credible challengers to the Big 4. They've even got the feather in their cap of having achieved Champions League status.

To depose Everton of 5th place would be a serious achievement and another step in the Villa transformation. Can we do it? Well, we're in the driving seat and playing good football again, so why not?

The reason I'm relaxed is the Everton game actually gave me a fix of reality. They're a great club, with a top manager and a superb record. They've pushed Arsenal and Liverpool hard for season after season. Sure, they've been missing key strikers this season, but we've been missing key defenders too.

If Villa can finish 5th and above Everton, to me that is a vast step.

Front of the leading pack carries some honour with it.

But we are going to really need to see the colour of Randy's money if we are to make the jump from 5th to 4th. That is one huge mother of a jump.

Still - today, I'm happy. We're now getting real about where we are. 16th, 11th, 6th, 5th. Nobody could argue that it doesn't represent real progress.

Let's just make sure we finish 5th. I need something to drink about!

Comments (25)

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Jimbo Daventry Villa said:

... I see what your saying Doc but lets not forget only 4 or 5 weeks ago we was 2 minutes away from being 8 points clear of Arsenal. Yes we've had a great season but Villa as they always do gave us this big hope that success was in touching distance, then threw it away and left us heartbroken once again When we went 3rd I was saying to people that Villa were the biggest threat to Man Utd's title. Of course they laughed but at the time it wasn't far from the truth. If we finish 3rd then yes its another step in the right direction but its hard to feel happy about it when it could and should have been so much better.

Comment 1, made on April 16, 2009 at 7.53 am

Jimbo Daventry Villa said:

... I meant if we finish 5th!!

Comment 2, made on April 16, 2009 at 7.55 am

Damian said:

... Despite the frustrations of missing out though, we have to accept we've moved forward this season. What this season has also done, for me anyway, is demonstrate the real need for quality additions if we are to make the step up to the top four or, we could continue to flirt with it, much Everton have done - but to do that and accept that, then we're not really going to spend this summer. This summer is massive because we're going to see one way or the other the real intentions of Randy Lerner.

Comment 3, made on April 16, 2009 at 8.05 am

DavidC said:

... On-going progress. I defy anyone to say we haven't seen that this year.

Comment 4, made on April 16, 2009 at 8.31 am

McVilla said:

... but will we start hearing the " we need champ league to attract the top players, and I don't just want squad players, I want players that will compete for a first team spot............."? and in that case we will still not sign the big guns we all hope for I think after all the talk about a weakened team in Europe and then conceding 2 in the last 3 minutes against Stoke killed us mentally otherwise I believe we would still be holding 4th

Comment 5, made on April 16, 2009 at 8.33 am

Woz said:

... I still have not given up on 4th!! I know Arse are playing well but Chelski, Dirty Reds and The Mancs still have a lot to play for. If we can chip away at those 8 points.... maybe, just maybe!!

Comment 6, made on April 16, 2009 at 8.54 am

Woz said:

... Plus Arsenal now have the CL semi and the FA cup to consider!

Comment 7, made on April 16, 2009 at 9.00 am

Barry Davies said:

... Well said Woz, there's no need to give up hope just yet. I've got a feeling that this one will go down to the wire.

Comment 8, made on April 16, 2009 at 9.37 am

villarobin said:

... exactly, its been a funny old season, and anything can happen ! Im sure Oneil isnt sat there now going "Oh well we gave it a good go lets just sit back now until the end of the season and let Arsenal have 4th. They could realistically drop 9 points against the the top 3. Or drop 6 and another 3 against a battling dirty team..Who knows. 5th is still amazing, or 6th considering the size of our squad, where we were 3 years ago etc etc All good.

Comment 9, made on April 16, 2009 at 9.49 am

The Mighty Steve said:

... Well said Doc, very good points. If we pick up form again then I think it could well come down to 3 points behind Arsenal on the last day and the hope that they have one eye on the FA Cup final.

Comment 10, made on April 16, 2009 at 9.50 am | url

Vijay said:

... We dont have the money to make that jump

Comment 11, made on April 16, 2009 at 9.54 am

Villan down South said:

... I could be making this up, but wasn't there talk of a 5 year plan to get champions league football? If that is the case, then we are bang on track to make it next year if we get a couple of signings in. You can't deny the club is going in the right direction and the consistency of the club is down to MON.

Comment 12, made on April 16, 2009 at 9.54 am

Robbie Wells said:

... Yeah, i'm kind of with you Woz, i don't thnink it's the most absurd thing to suggest we could still get fourth, on paper we can make up 9 points on Arsenal in the last 6 games. They've not become an unbeatable team overnight. That is on paper though, and we have been looking shoddy. At the beginning of the season i said i'd be happy to consolidate 6th place, because it's all well and good for a team to do it one season, but it's asserting your position up there that is the main thing. We'd been in the mid table wilderness for too long, and so any indication that we're above that now is what we needed. So finishing 5th is the perfect way to tell the rest of the league, 'we're better than you' and tell the top 4 'we're after you'. We've improved so much with Martin O'Niell, but one thing you can't say is that we can pass a football. We have no idea about playing it on the floor for any period of time. This is where we need the quality Damo is talking about. Barry's good at it when he's got enough space to do a pirouette as well, but against the big boys he doesn't stand a chance. Don't ask who i've got in mind, because as we well know, to get even a player of Barry's standard, you need to be playing Champs league, or have an endless pot of Dubai money. This is why it's going to be so hard to crack the top 4, because you need capital to get quality...we're building it slowly with decent finishes in the league year on year. But that's only good enough to get us young talent; experience will only move when there's a chance of winning a trophy. So how can we bridge the gap? I can only guess that MONo thinks that hungry players with desire are good enough, so long as we get more of them. To be fair, it seemed as though it was working until everyone got tired.

Comment 13, made on April 16, 2009 at 9.57 am

Damian said:

... Villan down South There was talk of it from General Krulak but it was dismissed by Martin O'Neill. Still, I'm not getting into that now as I fancy we'll have it next season ... which none of us can complain with.

Comment 14, made on April 16, 2009 at 9.57 am

Alistair said:

... We need defour imo, he is a young attacking midfielder who scores goals, he could keep the ball on the ground. But it all depends on the money we have, and who leaves

Comment 15, made on April 16, 2009 at 11.08 am

Robbie Wells said:

... Yeah Villa Within that's a good shout, he wants to come to us as well, which is a sign of our capital at the moment. He'll be a great replacement for Baz.

Comment 16, made on April 16, 2009 at 11.30 am

peter haworth said:

... Big month coming up!I"ve not given up on 4th,Arsenal have a tough,congested fixture list,injuries to back 4,have to play top 3 plus CL and FA Cup games.If we do finish 5th it proves that the club is making excellent progress and hopefully means we can attract quality players in the summer.MON has just said that Randy Lerner gave 50 million last summer,is that correct? my maths do not add up to that ammount.Also,will Lerner be prepared to invest heavily this summer?I hope so as I cannot see our small squad coping with Europe and premeir league without additional investment.

Comment 17, made on April 16, 2009 at 11.53 am

ak_27 said:

... Well if Learner isn't going to invest heavily which is required then it should be time to be looking for someone else to come in and replce him who does have the funds to do this. Im not saying that Leaner isn't going to invest again this summer but i think Damien hit the nail on the head with his comment that this summer will really show Learners true intent. Villa have 2 ways of breaking top 4 monolopy in my opinion: 1) Spending the big money that will bring top players to the club 2) Having a manager that has the eye to find top talent before they are spotted by the other top managers (like Wenger) and before their price tags go through the roof. For me the number 1 path is our only hope because for all MON good traits finding talent is clearly not one of them.

Comment 18, made on April 16, 2009 at 12.11 pm

Hairdo said:

... If Arsenal win the Champions League then 4th place wont matter...

Comment 19, made on April 16, 2009 at 12.31 pm

Barry Davies said:

... Arsenal win the champions league?!...he he he.. you've got jokes.

Comment 20, made on April 16, 2009 at 12.47 pm

Smyth said:

... I'll settle for it. we still blew 4th though AND when it was ours to lose.

Comment 21, made on April 16, 2009 at 2.51 pm

bob said:

... in an ideal world id suggest mergeing the two clubs recorces and management and putting all that together to break the top 4! be great to see but highly unlikely!

Comment 22, made on April 16, 2009 at 3.47 pm

ryan said:

... someone has made the coment of seeing year on year improvement and yes this has taken place all over the field apart from in defence, i've never really been convinced in big Curtis but Cuellar was a good signing as well as L Young. Bring on West Ham villa win 2-0 up the villa

Comment 23, made on April 16, 2009 at 3.52 pm

It's me, kohoutek, but... said:

... It's the only rational way to see things. Villa aren't a joke, neither are we top 4. The good thing is that while we scrapped for 5/6th last year, this year we were up in 3/4th quite late, and are much more comfortably in that 5/6 position after having fallen off. Top 4 requires more changes and additions. Will money be the issue? Dunno. Frankly, though, I think getting CL this year would probably have been too soon, as I don't really think the lads believed in themselves (hence the swoon), and I don't think that qualifying spot would have been a huge incentive to those players who could cement top 4 status in coming to Villa. Was the right target, the right sign of ambition, but I don't think ending up 5th will do us any real harm.

Comment 24, made on April 16, 2009 at 11.14 pm

celtic_villain said:

... i dont think it matters if we finish ahead or behind everton, the reward is virtually the same, and the point is, even if we do finish ahead of them, it does not mean we are better than them. we are on a par with everton, and a step behind arsenal. unfortunatley we may have a couple more visitor to our level next season - to become a villa or an everton is not a huge step, but to become an arsenal is. summer is key

Comment 25, made on April 16, 2009 at 11.44 pm | url

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