DING DONG MCLEISH IS GONE

Get out the gin and the party crackers, because it is time to celebrate -- Alex McLeish is gone, gone, gone. Reports are everywhere -- BBC saying he's said goodbye to the players, Stan Collymore is tweeting that he's out, Sky's saying he's gone...the list goes on, and on, and on. The only thing we're missing is a tweet from Mat Kendrick and an official club statement. ****EDIT: CLUB PUT OUT THEIR STATEMENT. HE IS REALLY GONE*****

But if the media got our hopes up for nothing, they might be facing a riot in the streets. Aston Villa supporters want nothing more than to see our club set back on the right path. There's still a buzz about that the reason we hate Alex McLeish is because of his connection to Birmingham City. Wrong. Sure, no one liked the fact that he came over from the Bluenose side, but the fact is, he got our rivals relegated. Then he showed up at Aston with nothing but negative football. He pandered to the old guard, the ones that are tired and creaky and need to be sent away. His tactics were the same, match after match. He played Alan Hutton and Stephen Warnock in midfield. He bought Alan Hutton, for goodness sake. He refused to play the youth unless he was desperate. Villa finished with a point less than Birmingham did last season. All in all, it's been the most depressing season most of us have faced. There was no joy to be had from football this year.

Yet now there is hope. What form that hope will take, none of us know yet. There will be rumours, of course. Probably very few credible ones. However...not that I like to tempt fate, but...could this even get worse? Is there something out there lower than McLeish?

Let's not think about what could be just yet. Instead, it's a day for celebration. This is the day that none of us dared hope for. What will you do to celebrate?