But here we are with Stoke in a spot of bother at the wrong end of the table as the gap shrinks to four points between themselves and the bottom three.
HARD TO TAKE: Stoke's Jonathan Walters reacts to defeat at the end of the game at Everton which leaves the Potters just four points ahead of the relegation zone before Saturday's key clash with Aston Villa at the Britannia. Picture: Phil Radcliffe
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And there's no doubt that one victory could come on Saturday against an Aston Villa side that seems determined to turn the art of defending back to the dark ages.
Paul Lambert keeps talking up his players because at this stage of the season a manager will do anything to keep up the confidence of his dressing room.
Much of that has to do with the lack of experience, of course, after Villa decided to go down the route of youth some time ago.
It could cost them their place in the Premier League, but at the very least that policy is going to leave them sweating right to the very end.
You've got to wonder whether such an inexperienced team can withstand the pressure they will come under at the Britannia.
Stoke really need to produce one of their old performances for 90 minutes, one full of industry and pressuring to knock Villa out of their stride.
That in turn will get the fans going, although I'm hoping the Stoke support will already be up for this one with so much at stake.
Sunderland are another team down in the relegation scrap as well, so I wasn't that surprised that they got rid of Martin O'Neill.
To me, Martin has looked a bit down and dispirited for some time, lacking that bit of zest we all remember from his managerial career.
Don't forget, he was brought up on the virtues handed down by Brian Clough, that you earned a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.
Sunderland's last game was at home to Manchester United on Saturday, a fixture when you know the fans will be on your side because they hate United so much.
Replacing O'Neill with Paolo di Canio took everybody by surprise initially and it's a shame we can't hear from the Sunderland owner about why he went for the former Swindon manager.
I think it's safe to assume there was a lot of talk going on behind O'Neill's back from people with so-called great ideas and with all the answers the manager didn't have.
And once the decision is made to get rid of O'Neill, or probably before it, up pops an agent to tell the owner what a wonderful acquisition Di Canio will be.
THE Champions League swings back into action this week and I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to pick the four clubs going through to the semi-finals.
Paris St Germain have come a long way in a short time, but they surely won't have enough to overcome Barcelona after their terrific comeback against AC Milan in the last round.
Borussia Dortmund are a lot of people's dark horse to win the competition, so they shouldn't have any problem against Malaga, while Real Madrid will surely have too much for Galatasaray.
Juve have improved greatly, but I think Bayern's greater recent experience in the tournament will stand them in good stead.
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