Last season, next season and the kids

I have a feeling that if I don't write a post soon, I'm not going to write another one until the day or two before our first match of next season. And I don't want to let that happen, so I thought I'd start with this season and the kids.

The kids is the wrong word and you probably know I'm talking about the FA Youth Cup, but I'm 46 years old and they're all kids to me. But I don't want to miss this opportunity to write about them, because it was a joy to watch.

And you all know I'm talking about the FA Youth Cup Final and the win over Liverpool. I watched the other night because it's Aston Villa and it was a final and it was on TV. I distinctly remember watching a match earlier this season because the young lad Bradley Young did this.

Okay, it turns out it was Liverpool in the FA Cup when we had to play the kids. But I remember commenting at the time and oh boy, is he going to be a star. That's wrong, I shouldn't say that. He's still very young and a lot to do. But oh, boy does he have something about him.

The thing is, it's not just him

The entire side is a joy to watch and you can see that they've played as a team for a while. And the approach was lovely. It makes you feel optimistic for the future. Maybe next season?

This was a good season

And I know I shouldn't but one or two of those players are already making an appearance with the first team, so you have to hope that one or two more get a chance. But then I remember, you don't win anything with kids. Yes, I'm writing that for effect.

But this was a good season. There was a moment when I thought it could be better, but it was more than satisfactory in the end. We knew we were not going to win the league and for me the target was to do better than the season before. I think we can all agree we did better.

And to be clear, for me it was that we finished higher. And I think next season we need to finish higher again. If we get better every season, there is no reason not to be happy. If we beat Liverpool 7-2 every season, it would be very nice too.

I will end on that, because I think it fair to say that was the highlight although the FA Youth Cup is a very close second. I'll be back when we have a new player or two. Or maybe next week.