The FA Cup re-claimed the agenda over the weekend with the competition resuming at the fourth round stage. For anyone concerned about the 'romance of the cup’, two non-league clubs had managed to win their way through thus far - Kettering Town and Torquay United - both of the Blue Square Premier (or if you keep forgetting like me, the Conference!).
Saturday evening’s fixture saw Inter dislodged from the top of the table for the first time in three months as Juventus beat Fiorentina in Turin. The 1-0 victory came courtesy of a Claudio Marchisio goal but was largely thanks to Alessandro Del Piero.
Although simple in execution, the move had the mark of genius as Del Piero cut inside from the left drawing in three defenders and slid a through ball that bisected two more. During 5 seconds on the ball Del Piero had nullified five members of the opposition defense and laid the ball on a plate for Marchisio to slot home.
Apparently Emile Heskey is the man to secure Champions League football in the midlands according to Martin O’Neill. 'Big’ John Carew and Marlon Harewood must be quaking in their boots at the prospect of another technically inadequate lump joining the club. This signing only underlines Villa’s method of progress: replacing one injured skilless wreck for another.
Mark Goldberg made a fortune in the dot-com bubble at the end of the nineties. Following the sale of his IT recruitment consultancy, Goldberg, then 33, became a multi-millionaire and decided to fulfill his boyhood dream of buying his beloved Crystal Palace.
At the time Palace were floundering at the bottom of the Premier League, and the price he paid - roughly £25m, which crucially didn’t include the freehold of Selhurst Park - was widely regarded as overblown for a club that were odds-on to go down.
Goldberg’s first move as Palace chairman was to relieve Steve Coppell of managerial duties and appoint Atillio Lombrado and Tomas Brolin as joint player-managers; no matter Lombrado didn’t speak any English and Brolin was by now a very poor player and slightly unhinged.
Of course I don't think my beloved Aston Villa have a hope of winning the Premiership. Of course not. The bookies odds of us still at 50-1 before the weekend reflect the unlikelihood of this occurrence and they tend to know what they're talking about.
However, it is great to be in the mix. I never really thought we would be again in the current climate, especially with the woeful duo of Doug Ellis and David O'Leary running the show a few years back. Randy Lerner's cash and Martin O'Neill's brilliant management have put us right in amongst the big boys and even though we probably won't last the pace, I can dream.