Well I have certainly had a Christmas/New Year to forget. Three days in hospital topped off with a massive warning from the medical staff that I need to become alcohol free. I am going to heed that. Goals and points thrown away against Everton and Manchester United. We were certainly punished for our sloppy play in those two games and Villa took full advantage of our hangover from those performances. I will be bringing the girls to this FA Cup tie and I really want to see a display that will convince me there is some optimism for 2020. I refuse to blame the players when the failure to recruit players of the calibre we need is at the heart of our problems. If the plan is to skip this transfer window I wonder why we are bothering to employ a recruitment team. We are clearly going to need to rest some players ahead of a very tough run of fixtures against Chelsea Leicester Man Utd and Arsenal. Surely Gibson and/or Dunne should get a game and why the Donald Duck is Drinkwater still here if he is just filling a space on the bench? Koiki should also get a look in. We need a shake up in midfield. In recent years we have toiled in the Cup competitions. I have not yet mentioned Darren Ferguson’s Posh. They are quite capable of pulling off a shock. Would it really be a shock if they dumped us out of the Cup? Their dangerman is Ivan Toney. COYC.