Aston Villa - Joy and Panic

Sunday saw City end yet another momentous season under Paul Lambert. A fantastic 2-0 win over Aston Villa showed just how far we have come in the last three years, from playing a team like Carlisle to comfortably beating an established Premier League side.

Following the result, Grant Holt picked up yet another Player of the Season award, which was more than deserved, however, in any other year, John Ruddy, who picked up second, would`ve been a dead cert.

Right from the first whistle to the last there was never going to be any other result than a Norwich win. The only player in the Villa side who looked decent was that of Shay Given, elsewhere the City players outshone their opponent man-to-man.

Jeers of "You`re getting sacked in the morning" to Alex McLeish summed up what has been a hard and disappointing season for Villa. With both sets of fans singing Paul Lambert`s praises during the match it was no mystery who the Villa fans wanted to replace him if he was duly sacked.

A few days later McLeish was out of the door and the odds on the next Villa manager were out with many suggesting it`s a straight race between Wigan`s Roberto Martinez and Lambert. Following this, Liverpool`s Kenny Dalglish has stepped down as manager and, though not a favourite, Lambert is seen as a possibility for the job.

People seem to have decided themselves whether they think he is leaving or not, but in truth no one but the man himself knows; the important thing is that we fight to keep him here. However, should he leave, we have the foundations now to go and get a very good replacement. Gone are the days of scraping around for whoever fancies a go at a doomed job.

Either way he has helped to give us three amazing years, and given us the desire to go to matches. It`s still not too long ago that I used to turn up to a match and think "How many are we going to concede this week," but now we all look forward to them, and we have him to thank.

My opinion? Well I`ve changed my mind a lot but I don`t think he`d take the Villa job. Too much to lose, and he has a lot to gain if he can keep us up and in mid-table again. Liverpool, however, if they did come calling, I couldn`t blame him in the slightest for leaving but I don`t think he will. He`d have less control over player purchases and this wouldn`t suit him.

Keep the faith.

In Lambert We Trust.