[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

I should probably begin this week's thread by heartily thanking Aston Villa.  Not a gesture that comes easily, but for once, I actually am genuinely grateful to them.  Over the course of five days last week, by hook or by crook, they managed to utterly punish an Albion side reeling from injuries, fatigue, the panic of expectation or derby atmosphere not once but twice; on both occasions, they set themselves up for an immense cropper by having an arrogant and deluded boss chuntering to the media like a coked-up Dick Van Dyke, and yet totally escaped any kind of comeuppance either time; they've given themselves a springboard for survival AND a Wembley trip all at our expense, with one of our worst-ever signings delivering the killer blow for them, and are generally wandering round thinking it's 1982 again, all because of us.

Why would I be grateful for any of that?  Well, mainly because this Saturday, we'll once again be hosting Stoke City at the Hawthorns.  Stoke have never been a derby for us; just a yearly ritual humiliation we endure.  But this time there is literally nothing - no taunts about Tony Pulis, no gibbering of "we always beat West Brom" or general bellendrical behaviour from the Potteries' finest primates - which could top what we've been through since last Tuesday.  Stoke are now the prank caller who's been hung up on.  They're the burglar showing up at a house which has already been ransacked.  We've stared into the maw of footballing trauma, and it's far darker than any trivial embarrassments those clayheads have ever dealt out.  They may beat us, but they can no longer hurt us.

And if that isn't optimism, I don't know what is.

Stoke-on-Trent once again provides fierce competition in the Take Me Out regional finals.

Alright, I suppose I should pretend we have some small chance of actually winning this match (as I do every single season, with depressing futility).  You'd like to think that if any man can break the curse, it's Tony Pulis.  And of course, our home form has been greatly improved since his arrival; I don't know whether there's anything personal for him in this match, but professionalism alone should mark it down on his list as an opportunity for us to move closer to safety, history notwithstanding.

However, under Mark Hughes, Stoke have evolved into a fast and mobile team - like Villa last week, only with actual talent - and I can't help but feel we're in for more of the same.  It'd be nice to be proved wrong.  The season has a couple of months left to run, and we all need something to hang our hat on after the Seal Sanctuary Surrender.  However, this one's up to the players and coach.