During the international break, let's try something new

Sunday was an absolute blast, wasn't it? Rémi Garde came into Aston Villa, picked a starting XI comprised of (gasp!) good players, and wouldn't you know it, the team battled out a thrilling 0-0 draw against Manchester City. It's exciting to be a Villa fan again, and thank goodness we've got a match this weekend to watch.

Wait, what's that? We don't? Because of another international break? Oh for the love of all that's holy. Go away international football. None of us want to know that the featured player for Villa on the break is Brad Guzan. And even if we DID want to know that, none of us want to watch Jürgen Klinsmann do his thing with the USMNT. We just got one crazy manager out of our lives, we don't need to replace him with another.

And let's face it. Before Sunday, Aston Villa have been terrible this season. It's been taking a toll on the staff of 7500 to Holte, too. In the last dying days of the Tim Sherwood dynasty, I was trying to think of some way to help revitalize us a bit. Some way to making writing fun again. Because sometime around mid-October, it wasn't fun. And if that's the case, why are we doing this?

So we came up with a plan. We're taking the next week off. If there is some huge, pivotal news (Rémi Garde is actually an alien sent by Birmingham City to take over and ruin our beloved club! [Actually, I may have to write that piece of fiction...]), we'll cover it. But if it's normal, everyday, international break stuff? Forget it. We barely care about that normally, and we're all a bit burnt out and hungover from watching a win ratio plummet.

But we're not going to leave you high and dry. All of us here love to write. That's why we're here. And we're going to take this week as a chance to recharge that love. Instead of bringing you the daily ins and outs of a club who get a bit of a break, we're going to bring you the writing that we all really want to do. I emailed our staff about three weeks ago and told them to pick some stuff that they've been dying to write. It didn't have to be about Aston Villa. And heck, it doesn't even have to be about football. Just write what you love.

The result is what you're about to see this week, our very own Dead Week. Over the next few days, we'll be showcasing the writing that we most want to do. Writing that should be an absolute blast to read, and writing that doesn't make you wonder "Well, if everything works, where does Gary Gardner fit in? Sixth or seventh midfielder?" We're also going to feature a few guest posts from notable Villa writers around the web.

So be sure to check back every day. We've got something scheduled for every part of Dead Week and we can't wait to share it with you. If you're looking for the return to our regular coverage, we'll be back in full force (and fully energized!) next Wednesday, when Elis posts his match reset for the trip to Everton.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy some time to not worry about a team with five points in twelve matches. In just a little bit, we've got our first piece coming up from Rory, and it's an absolute joy. And if you'd like a convenient spot to keep tabs on all of our Dead Week writing, we've made a hub that will do just that. Thanks, as always, for reading, and I can't wait to hear what you think of Dead Week!