Sorry to he downbeat early on, but I've never known so many people so apathetic about the start of the season. Not pessimistic, not depressed, just not bothered. It's no entirely the Villa's fault, although our inertia in the transfer market hasn't helped. Football seems to be doing its level best to alienate its natural supporters; every time a Hasselbank or Aneika story breaks then it becomes that bit easier to walk away from the game. Maybe the bubble will burst sooner than we think.

Against this backdrop of resentment, things in B6 aren't particularly happy, either. The farcical arrangements of the AGM and shareholders forum show that the board are running scared of meeting supporters, and with good reason. We could sign del Piero, Ronaldo and Zidane, expand the ground to hold eighty thousand and bring in Johan Cruyff, yet Villa would still be perceived as a club with no ambition. We've spent so long thinking small that it's no surprise that's how the rest of the world sees us.

It shows in our expectations. At the end of last season somebody in the Mail said 'Top of the table for three months and finishing sixth. If that's mediocrity give me more of it." If that's what you want, then please stop reading now. Because let's get one thing straight. We won nothing last season. No trophies, no Europe. We were top of the league for a long time, but we weren't top when it mattered. As with everything, whether it be transfer negotiations or title challenges, when the big boys arrived the Villa made their excuses and left.

Doug's seventeen years can be summed in three words - Always The Bridesrnaid. Have we ever looked like winning the FA Cup? Have you ever thought, deep down, that any of our title challenges would go the distance? Have we ever looked like succeeding in Europe? We could do. We haven't. Why?

Every time Villa are doing well we treat it as some wonderful adventure that we know won't last so we have to make the most of it while we can. Singing "We are top of the league" last autumn when Alex Ferguson probably hadn't bothered looking at the table, for example. We've got to start behaving as though we belong.

The Mail and Argus might have been more interested in their circulation when they were doing their anti-Doug bit during the close-season, but when Leon Hickman and lan Willars are saying something's wrong then you have to wonder.

Which is why the last few months have been critical ones. Ellis has given Johnnie G as much money as he ever does; that's to say, a fair bit without raising any eyebrows. John's bought the players he wanted. Now it's up to him to get the best out of them and Doug to find the cash to carry on spending if it's necessary. Both of them have to prove that they want Villa to be in the top three clubs in the country and, more importantly, know how to get them there.

We've spent as much money as anyone this summer. We usually do. These days any one of a dozen clubs can spend millions over the course of a close-season.

But there's a difference between spending big and spending well. That's not to criticise the new arrivals, but even with them we still look a couple of players short of a championship challenge. And that should be the Villa's aim every season. Anything less would be cheating the supporters and mean that Mark Bosnich won't be the last one to leave because he wants to win something.

Which leads onto the new arrivals. Whatevers written about David James, half of you won't agree. He'll either be a bargain or a laughing stock. Garayeb (or however it's spelt) cost hardly anything so maybe we can stop wondering what the Euro-scouts are getting paid for. And rumours say there wasn't much wrong with him, just that George Graham didn't fancy him after all, so the Ivo Stas stories can go the other way as well.

The way we got Boateng was dragged out to the point of farce, but we got our man in the end. Simon's old man who's been going down the Villa so long he can remember when we were thought of as an ambitious club with a good FA Cup record, always reckoned that Villa's transfer policy consisted of chasing after whoever had played well against us. That would explain the mercifully brief interest in Chris Coleman and Karren's fella, as well as Boateng. He's what we want in midfield, a tackler who can boss things round and score goals, but I'd be a bit happier if any other club had shown the slightest interest in signing him.

We're also after a striker. It's currently deadlock on the Robbie Keane front and Noel Whelan's name is being mentioned. Wolves supporters seem spilt between flogging Keane because it's a lot of money for a nineteen year old and jacking the price up because he's going to be world-class. Whelan I'd rather not think about at the monent.

As for the players who've left, I've got mixed feefings. Let's be honest, Mark Bosnich has the potential to become the best goalkeeper in the world. We should be aiming to keep players like him but it's a fact of life that if you're available for nowt and the Pride of Stretford want you, you'll go. He is, of course, a pitiful excuse for a human being and deserves the abuse he will get on his return.

In a way I'm more worried about the departures of Riceardo Scimeca and Sirnon Grayson. Scimeca suffered last season from being just too versatile, if he'd stuck in central defence he could have been pushing for a regular place in the team. As it is, he's away to join our next manager (I might as well be the first to say it, he's bound to be linked with the job from now until he eventually gets it). £3 million may look a good deal, but look at it six months down the line when we've got another injury crisis and unfit players in the team. Both his departure and Simon Grayson's smack of balancing the books, which is short-sighted considering the squad was too small last season and hasn't been strengthened in numbers during the summer.

Oh, and goodbye Stan, the biggest waste of talent we've seen since the last one.

As usual, if we've spent fifty million since last week, ignore every word I've written. Enjoy the season.