So, here is the end of season post and I’m sorry it’s late. I’ve tried to write this three times in real life but in my head I’ve tried to write it every day. It’s not easy because it was such a great end to the season and I know this is going to fail in hitting the levels it should.
But we need a new post. The World Cup has now started and we have a post with over 4,000 comments.
And some of us will remember a better season than the one that just finished, but not many. For me, even though I am old enough, I don’t really remember 1981 and 1982 .. I was just too young. The season just finished for many will be the best ever, me included.
But the season didn’t start that way. There were people five games into it suggesting the manager might need replacing. After everything he had done, he got five games. Fortunately we have owners that clearly seem to understand what is needed.
And after that, it just got better and better. At or around Christmas some were even talking about us as title contenders. Until they stopped. Losing McGinn, Tielemans and Kamara when we did cost us. Things just didn't seem to work and I've long written that it's about the approach, but losing those three demonstrated the importance of those three.
But when things started to falter in the Premier League, things started to look achievable in Europe and we all know how that ended and I have to tell you, there wasn't a better feeling and I'm still thinking about it every day.
And it's not just that we won it, which was fantastic and something I'm always going to remember and I'm so glad I went, it's that everything around it just fell into place.
Beating Forest 4-0 at Villa Park to get to the final is where it started. Beating Liverpool 4-2 a few days before, to confirm Champions League football for next season took the pressure off. Then the final in Istanbul and then beating Manchester City on the last day of the season when it really meant nothing, but we did beat them and they gave it a go.
It doesn't get much better and I've written it many times now, but what a time to be an Aston Villa fan. And it can get better.
But first we need to define what better is. Better for us would be consistency. And consistency for us is finishing in the same place next season. That means, keeping hold of the manager and continuing to support him.
That means there will be players that leave this summer and we will see new players coming in and we have to do all of this with rules and restrictions in place that the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City didn't really have to contend with. It's not going to be easy.
The game these days is designed for the clubs that got there when it was a lot easier to break the rules. And as we saw last season, all that happens is a slap on the wrist when you get caught. And we are yet to see what will happen to Manchester City and will any of us be surprised if it's just another relative slap on the wrist?
But we have to ignore that. We have to look at ourselves. We have an ageing squad and we don't have the resources to just go out and buy who we want, because if we do the likelihood is we will get more than a slap on the wrist.
So we have to be smart. We have to be consistent and we have to trust the owners, the manager and the process. As long as we can keep the core of our squad and make them better, I believe we will be able to repeat this season next time out in terms of finishing where we need to finish for Champions League again.
Yes, it's going to be hard and there are teams around us that can just go out and buy who they want, but Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all have new managers and Manchester United are hoping that what happened before doesn't happen again.
With all that happening, it's an opportunity for us. And one I'm looking forward to. And sorry this took a while to write, but like I've written above and like many of you, I'm still just enjoying how the season ended.
And yes, watching some of the World Cup but it's not great is it?