Unai has already join the elite of Villa managers and while he’s not won us a trophy yet, he’s achieved something that our top former bosses have never managed. Three seasons and managed good league places in all of them. It’s not been done by anyone else, but Unai’s managed it.

Ron Saunders remains the best of the lot. He arrived when Vic Crowe’s progress had slowed down and his predecessor said that whoever followed him “Would think it was Christmas” when he saw the talent at his disposal; Brian Little, John Gidman and Chris Nicholl amongst them. Saunders’ reply to that isn’t on record, but he certainly didn’t have to do more than a bit of fine tuning in order to bring instant success, courtesy of a league Cup and promotion back to division one. His second season was a bit of a struggle, as Villa failed to win away and had a brief flirtation with going straight back down, but fifteenth wasn’t bad and the players he signed at this time such as Andy Gray and Dennis Mortimer helped bring about a lot of the success that followed.

The next manager to be allowed a similar period was Graham Taylor, who unlike Saunders inherited nothing except a club that was torn to pieces. A shambles, as he accurately described Villa in 1987. Another instant promotion, although this time without the cup to go with it, then an only too real battle against relegation. This was followed by runners-up in division one and back to Europe. Sadly, we’ll never know what might have happened had Sir Graham been here longer but he left a legacy in terms of a rebuilt club and world-class players that lasted above a decade. David Platt, Dwight Yorke, Paul McGrath. Nota bad collection.

Then came Ron Atkinson, who was lucky in that he still had the nucleus of Sir Graham’s side to play with, or in one case to sell for enough money to rebuild the side. It took a season and a bit, but another runners-up spot and some of the best football any of us have ever witnessed was the result. The following season was a schizophrenic case of mediocrity in the league and success in the League Cup. Unfortunately the season after was a lot less than mediocre, right up until Ron was sacked.

His successor, Brian Little, came in on a wave of controversy, with Atkinson’s departure still rankling in some quarters. Brian kept us up on the last day but there didn’t seem much hope of improvement. Then he got rid of a load of Ron’s men, brought in some of his own and the League Cup together with two consecutive two five places was the result. Sadly he also brought together a dressing room that wasn’t so much split as borderline homicidal and resigned, worn out by it all. But for three years we’d dared to dream. His legacy was having turned some ordinary players into stars. Sadly, most of their star quality was with other clubs.

John Gregory and Martin O’Neill both lasted the prerequisite three years. One arrived when Brian’s team had lost its way, the other rode a tidal wave of euphoric optimism. Both spent a lot of money that brought some middling league success but which handicapped their successors. In between was David O’Leary, and that’s more than he deserves.

Then came Dean Smith to live a few more dreams. Immediate promotion, club records, staying up by the skin of our record-breaking teeth and a dystopian final full season where we briefly touched the sky before coming back down to earth. It all went wrong for Deano at the end but his legacy is still to be found on the pitch.