I was delighted with the welcome I received from Villa fans on my home debut against Bradford on Saturday. The atmosphere at Villa Park was excellent, but it will be even better when the new stand is finished and we have even more fans behind the team!

The result was good too, a 2-0 win for us, and we need to carry on like that if we are to match last season’s achievement of finishing in the top five and reaching a cup final.

The only negative point at the moment is the loss of Luc Nilis. All the guys really feel for him, because it is terrible to see a team-mate and fellow professional suffer such a serious injury as the one he sustained at Ipswich. My thoughts are with him and I wish him a speedy and successful recovery.

As for my own fitness, it is definitely improving. I am not yet 100 per cent, but my body is getting closer to being able to withstand the full 90 minutes, and with a few more games under my belt I shall be there. Then you shall start to see the best of me. The Premiership already has a formidable look about it - with Manchester United at the top of the table, although our Midlands rivals Leicester have made a great start too under new manager Peter Taylor.

Of course it is still early days, and hopefully we shall be up there challenging soon. On the subject of early days, I was staggered to see Chelsea sack Luca Vialli so soon into the season.

Luca is so passionate about his football and I think he had done a great job in a short time - as the Chelsea trophy cabinet proves. His attitude towards the game is first class, and it was a real shame that the club did not stand by him for longer, but that is the nature of football these days.

It was particularly regrettable that he was only a month into the new season and that the club did not wait to see how things developed. I felt sure he was on the right path to leading the club towards a serious challenge for the title, but now we shall never know.

Away from football I had a relaxing day on Sunday, returning to London (after finding some petrol!) to spend the day with my family. We went to a friend’s house and he cooked a barbecue for us all, which was lovely. I resisted the temptation to do any cooking, as he is a much better chef than I am!

I am spending my evenings keeping up with the Olympic Games - and the event which has really captured my imagination is the Triathlon. That is the ultimate challenge for a sportsman, and it makes enthralling television. To me, it encapsulates the raw spirit of the Games, embracing all the values of sport at its toughest and most enduring.

Unfortunately it is hard for me to keep track of the French athletes in Sydney, because the BBC naturally focuses on the Brits, but that is to be expected. The big surprise for me is that Britain didn’t send a team to play in the football event. All the top nations are there, such as France and Brazil, and I think maybe a team of British youngsters should have gone to gain some valuable experience.

Imagine players like Joe Cole of West Ham or our own Lee Hendrie competing out there - it would be marvellous for them. But I suppose their respective managers might not like losing them for a month.

I have another busy week promoting my new autobiography, Le Magnifique, so maybe I shall see some of you at one of the signing sessions - I hope so. I shall also be going into the recording studios and reading passages from my book so that you can log on to the website and hear my voice. I hope you enjoy it.

Villa have a bye for the second round of the Worthington Cup, so we are not in action this midweek. But you can come back and read my thoughts as we build up towards next Saturday, and our trip to face Middlesbrough!

My last thoughts are for the children of Paula Yates. The best thing we can do to help the family is to allow them to grieve in private.

Take care and I’ll see you all very soon.!

David Ginola

Please note that this news section is updated every Friday afternoon

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