“Villa able to focus on title race with European break upcoming” was a headline from The Telegraph last week. I had to re-read it several times just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

I’m 32 years old and this is comfortably the best I’ve ever seen my football team. Slightly too young to fully appreciate the Ron Atkinson and Brian Little eras (although photographic evidence exists of me dressed in claret & blue, clutching various Villa teddy bears during the 1994 league cup win), the late 2000s under Martin O’Neill were my Halcyon Days until now – something which will be true for almost two generations of Villa supporters. Even then, a delirious journey back from a 2-0 away win at Blackburn in 2009 was as close as I’ve ever felt to believing we could actually challenge for a league title.

I’m not sure we can sustain a genuine challenge now, but to be honest that doesn’t really matter. The manner in which Aston Villa have been winning matches in recent months has shown that this is a serious team capable of taking on anyone. From the total domination of Man City, to digging deep against Arsenal, to coming out on the right side of a 22-man brawl at Brentford, Unai Emery and his players have developed a precious habit of finding a way. And it’s no fluke.

There have been countless excellent pieces on Emery’s meticulous preparation for games and his unwavering obsession with improvement that explain his success far better than I could, but ultimately he is the reason none of this feels temporary. O’Neill’s teams were excellent – frighteningly good on the counter attack with a physical presence we’ve not had since – but he was never the most flexible of tacticians and we were often guilty of being too one-dimensional to dislodge the top 4 at the time. Emery on the other hand has a plan for everything and everyone, to the extent that I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s considered how my body position in the middle of the Trinity Road stand could help us play the offside trap better.

While everything suggests we are still early on in this already incredible journey, it’s important to recognise that now might be the time to enjoy it most. There’s no genuine expectation of a title challenge or even Champions League qualification this season so anything of that nature still feels like a bonus. Memories of Steven Gerrard, Remi Garde, Paul Lambert and Alex McLeish all feel too recent to forget just how lucky we are today.

There’s also an element of unknown surrounding the club’s future direction off the pitch, following the recent injection of funding from strategic investment company Atairos and uncertainty around the development of the stadium. I never want to see us leave Villa Park but as it stands we don’t know what the senior figures at the club are thinking. 

When we do finally establish ourselves at the top table again, the attention, pressure and expectation will follow soon enough. But right now we go into Friday night’s match against Sheffield United at our famous old ground with a chance to go top of the Premier League on the 22nd of December. Which is frankly still an absolutely mad sentence to write. 

So enjoy it, drink it all in, cherish this team and be sure to raise a glass to the Villa this Christmas. For many of us, we’ve never had it this good.