The end (of the season!) is nigh...

Well, it just shows how much I know with Wigan beating Albion and then losing versus Swansea! I had forecasted that they would draw with Albion and win against Swansea.

The outcome now is that Wigan have to win at Arsenal to stand a chance of catching Villa,and that only 3 days after their cup final against Man City. Wigan must now realise that relegation is staring them in the face, and the situation may well affect how much concentration they will put in on cup final day.

Villa must be feeling more confident now after their recent results and also the state of Wigan and other teams (Norwich are very capable of going down even if Wigan recover), so this week's match against Chelsea could be a classic. I don't quite fancy Villa to win, but just as Chelsea will probably score a couple of goals, I see Villa scoring the same number. A point will make Villa that extra bit safe before their final game visit to Wigan.

It has been an extraordinary season, with most of us expecting the worst in January after a series of poor results. But from the beginning of February the Villa have quietly pulled themselves together and built up their game.

The only thing I ask for now (assuming no relegation) is that we will see Villa rise up the table in future seasons and become the Midlands' masterclub once again. The Villa have been mainly under-performing for more than a decade, and I sense that Lambert may be putting together a team much in the way that Sir Alex did when he first went to Man U. I hope that as the great man retires that Villa's manager will attain the same greatness.

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