Gutted, footballing Gods, four at the back and it might not be so bad

I don't want to spend too much time on last night, but I'm not going to ignore it either. The one thing that I really don't get, still, is this madness of playing three central defenders. This isn't pre-war Aston Villa and three central defenders doesn't work today.

Every season Wigan struggle and they play three centre backs every now and then. Manchester City started the season playing three centre backs and very quickly changed. We have some young players with little experience and we shouldn't be playing three centre backs. It's as simple as that.

The best teams in Europe don't play three centre backs. Does anyone truly think Paul Lambert knows something they don't? But I'm convinced he will learn.

Absolutely gutted

And when I wrote my post yesterday about having fifteen cup finals, I didn't realise I had to write the basics and that a match is two halves and not just one.

And after that result last night I'm absolutely gutted. Actually, gutted doesn't do the feeling justice. And I know it's just a game and I know nobody at the club cares about us as supporters and for the most part they look down on us, so I know I shouldn't care that much, but I do.

It might not be so bad

But I'm not going to think about relegation and I don't accept it as something that is going to happen right now. I also like to think that Lambert will finally, after the second half performance last night, ditch the three centre backs.

Playing that way invites pressure and hell, I'm not sure why I am trying to convince anyone, everyone can see it. It simply doesn't work.

But if he gets more time, he could and I actually see this; make things happen for us. But he needs funds and he needs someone somewhere questioning him. He also need a boss that isn't a puppy. But that isn't going to happen.

And I'm not talking about huge amounts of cash; I'm talking bringing in some loan players that are capable. Again, for me this is obvious and I'm baffled why nothing is happening.

But given time I believe Lambert will show everyone he is the right man, but today we are staring relegation in the face and I don't want to look at the statistics of managers, in their first season at a club, that have survived with 14 games to go from inside the relegation zone, because I don't think it will be positive.

And that is why the money needs to be spent. And this is why we don't need a puppy as CEO agreeing with whatever the owner says.

But our CEO is happy. He knows nothing about football and knows even less about what Aston Villa means to us. He clearly doesn't understand the importance of staying in this league and he is happy because he has his lot. Why should he care?

Somebody needs to be on the phone to Lerner explaining what happens if we go down and that should be the job of the CEO. That same person also needs to get across that there is a very real chance it will happen if we don't strengthen.

But I know nobody is doing it, because if someone was doing it and that person had half the ability it takes to pull a pint, they'd be able to convince Lerner of this need and we would have the players.

Nothing we can do

But the sad truth is, there is nothing we can do. Randy Lerner owns the club, he has his puppet agreeing to everything and we've got a manager that on the face of things, also appears to be nodding his head and singing from the same hymn sheet.

And while there is nothing we can do to change things, we do have to stick with Lambert. And if he keeps us up now, I'll kiss him. If he keeps us up now, I'll wear a t-shirt with his face and 'Lambert is my hero' printed on it for a year.

36 hours to wait

So, I'm going to leave now and look for a bunker to hide in and I'm not coming out until Friday morning, because until then, I want to believe that there are lots of telephone calls happening and that deals are going to get done.

If on Friday morning I leave my bunker to learn nothing has happened, then our fate is in the hands of the footballing Gods and they can be, at times, very cruel.