Aston Villa almost made it four games without defeat when Rooney scored for Everton in the third minute of injury time. It was a bummer. Getting a draw at Goodison Park would have been a Good Thing. At the moment, we're at 41 points, which would normally mean Premiership survival but I can't help but look over our shoulder and see West Ham at 38 points with two games left in the season.

Our disastrous performances against Birmingham mean that they are above us, safe and sound, and we are still anxious about what will happen.

We've tried our best to make the battle for the Champions League interesting, and Adzam is thankful to us, I'm sure, for holding both Newcastle and Chelsea back. We have taken points off four of the top six teams, which can't be all bad.

Liverpool, on the other hand, seem to be on a rampage, and look to fight tooth and nail for a Champions League spot. It still didn't mean that I didn't laugh my head off heartily at Djimi Traore's fine example against Charlton of how not to turn on the ball when you're the last man back.

I'm also very happy with Paul Scholes, if it's only because he is keeping me ahead of Adz in the Fantasy Football stakes. It's going to be an interesting finish in that - Adz's got his hopes pinned on Murphy and Gerrard, while I have Giggs and Scholes. Grit and determination against flair and guile.

The odds on Man Utd winning the league must have shortened considerably after Arsenal's non-championship winning form against Bolton. Shebbie was saying at the start of the season that Bolton needed people with graft, not craft, for their premiership survival, but Djorkaef and Jay Jay Okocha ("so good, they named him twice") have been inspirational and instrumental in keeping Bolton up.

Birmingham have Dugarry, who has been giving good return in the last few weeks. Diamonds shine, especially when they're amongst the rough.

Who do Aston Villa have? The legacy of Graham Taylor is that we'll have a solid, hard-working team, but not too high in the excitement stakes. I can only point to Hendrie and Barry for hope, while people like Hadji, Kachloul and Angel fester on the bench.

Do not get me wrong - I prefer results over style for any club I support, but if we're going to be a mid-table languisher, we should at least languish in style. Biar susah asal bergaya.

Labels: big trip