Excitement and expectations at Villa Park are at their highest for 13 years. With European football to look forward to, a world class head coach in charge, and what look to be some quality additions in the transfer window, supporters are daring to dream what could be achieved in the 2023/24 season. But what exactly would success look like for Unai Emery’s side?

The first thing we don’t want to take for granted is simply looking forward to watching Aston Villa play again. The last few months of Steven Gerrard’s reign were pretty soul destroying and should remain a constant reminder of how good we’ve got it now. It’s a highly likeable squad operating in an inclusive environment of continuous development, created by a manager with elite skill and seemingly absolutely no ego. With the recent arrival of Monchi as president of football operations to add to this, everything is in place for Villa to challenge on all fronts.

It’s difficult to predict what’s possible in the Premier League this season. On the one hand Newcastle appear to have established themselves among the top clubs ahead of schedule, we can expect to see a much improved Chelsea side compared to last season and Brighton don’t look like slowing down anytime soon. But with an extra Champions League place on offer and some unknowns around teams like Tottenham, qualification to Europe’s top table is not out of the question.

That said, Villa’s strength in depth still looks a little short compared to those clubs above us and we would need to maintain the staggering run of form seen since Emery took over, while managing a more hectic schedule of games with European football to juggle. As it stands, one injury to Emi Martinez or Ollie Watkins likely sees our quality drop too significantly to challenge the elite. Still, if we’re in contention again for a top 6 finish and secure any kind of European qualification for a second season in a row, I think we can be very pleased.

The cup competitions, as they always should have for Villa, offer a more realistic route to success. Of the domestic cups, the League Cup is the more achievable of the two these days. We know it’s a competition where most teams play weakened sides in the early rounds and while it can be a struggle to get enthusiastic about those September evenings in Burton upon Trent, you can suddenly find yourselves in the quarter finals and booking hotels around Wembley – only to find Man City waiting once you get there. It feels as though the FA Cup is having a bit of a renaissance, perhaps because the best of the rest can’t get near City in the league. But even their reserves tend to be good enough to win that too. You can also be unlucky to draw footballing powerhouses such as Stevenage in the third round…

Our best chance to win something surely comes in the only competition that Man City aren’t in. Despite early scepticism, the Europa Conference League has been a brilliant addition by UEFA. It’s given fanbases of big clubs, who are now otherwise muscled out by state-owned behemoths, access to some glorious nights in Europe. I looked on with nothing but envy and happiness as West Ham won that final in Prague in June. Their fans have memories to last a lifetime and I bet not a single one of them would have swapped their season for Arsenal’s for example, despite such contrasting league campaigns – a reminder if ever it was needed that football is all about memorable moments and winning stuff. We enter the Conference League as one of the favourites, something we won’t have been in any competition since the Championship, and if anyone can take us all the way to a European trophy it’s Emery.

So success could come in several forms next season and the possibilities are exciting. All I know is that come the end of May, I want to see John McGinn stumbling out of an Athens nightclub and Emi Martinez disgracing himself on an open top bus tour. That 27-year wait for silverware might just be coming onto its final straight.