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It's easy to get annoyed when we lose to Fulham. It's also very easy when you've won three on the bounce and scored fifteen goals, to get carried away.
What's also very easy, is to forget about what is happening at Aston Villa Football Club, which is why it's nice to use the little search box on the site and look back every now and then.
Back in June, I posted my season preview, a little early I know, but it wasn't based on anything other than Martin O'Neill. I'm posting my season review today, because regardless of what happens this weekend, I'm ultimately a happy Aston Villa fan.
On Sunday afternoon I could be very frustrated or I could be overly confident for next season, but on Monday I know this is how I'm going to feel, so rather than wait I'm putting it up now.I've also got a long lunch planned where I intend to wax lyrical about Aston Villa.
We've moved in the right direction this season and we've moved forward by turning those draws into wins. We've moved forward in exactly the manner in which a professional team should do and if we can continue the development, which I expect us to, next season will be better than this.
Watching some of the players has also excited me. I'm really looking forward to Curtis Davies next season and hope he comes through his injury with no problems. He has looked commanding and composed and as long as Martin Laursen can continue I've got a very good feeling about their partnership next season.
I think we've been better defensively this season and I think we'll be even better next season and a lot of that is down to Martin Laursen.
I've got to mention Martin Laursen because I never thought we'd see him play this much after his horror start and for me he's turned out to be one of the best central defenders in the league.
Ashley Young, my player of the season, is a wonder to watch and I can see him getting better and better. If we can get another, just like him on the other side for next season, I can see us really terrorising defences.
We've also got the likes of Gardner and Gabby who are going to get better. I'm a big fan of Gardner and while I've felt frustrated with Gabby at times this season, I don't think it's helped that he couldn't get a rest and if Martin O'Neill brings someone else in during the summer, it's going to mean more competition for Gabby, but I think it's going to make him a better player.
My goal of the season, not for the build up but for the delight in watching it go in, is Petrov's goal against Derby. Others will have their own goal of the season, but it really was spectacular and I still watch it every now and then on YouTube.
Most will probably say their game of the season is one of the victories against Birmingham City but for me it was the Chelsea match in London.
We were robbed of the three points that day but I just remember thinking after the match, that we'd turned a corner and I felt a real pride in supporting Aston Villa. We were turning defeats into draws and against the top teams.
But the overriding factor in why we've done so well this season is down to Martin O'Neill. I referred to him in my season preview as the biggest single influencing factor in Aston Villa developing and I stand by that.
I stand by it, because the most important thing needed to develop this team is consistency and while Martin O'Neill has and will continue to frustrate us with his transfer dealings, it's all part of a bigger plan, that we can really only take guesses at.
Big things at big teams are going to change in the next few years and we are ideally placed to take advantage. Arsène Wenger has managed Arsenal since 1996 and he won't be there forever. Liverpool change managers every few years, which is why they're not competing for the league and Sir Alex Ferguson, after 22 years, is coming to the end of his reign at Manchester United.
Martin O'Neill has ten years on Sir Alex and over the next two or three seasons he's going to bring Champions League football to Aston Villa. You can already see the changes, or what I like to call, the Martin O'Neill effect at Aston Villa.
Back in June, I predicted we'd finish sixth and I've got a feeling we will and next season I can see us getting better, simply because of that Martin O'Neill effect.
So, please forgive me my occasional moan this season, it was done in the moment. Overall, I'm a very happy and confident Aston Villa fan. I'm looking forward to the summer, feeling quite strange because we're not going to see some players in claret and blue next season but really looking forward to next season, with renewed optimism, not just for next season, but the future of Aston Villa.
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