Amid the debate and bickering over who people think should take over the managerial reigns at Aston Villa, the phrase "We're a big club" has been used almost as much as Jamie Redknapp uses the word literally; but are we?

What defines a "big club"? Is it the fans? The financial resources? Exposure outside of the UK? The trophies and titles won?

There are a few clubs which are undoubtedly "big clubs" - Barcelona, Manchester United, Real Madrid for example. But as for the rest of us, is it just the fans over-inflated opinion of their own importance that makes us think that our club is a "big club"?  Many club's fans would claim their club is a "big club" - Newcastle being a perfect example. They haven't won anything for over 50 years and were relegated from the Premier League yet they still retained their "big club" status amongst their fans because following the Toon is akin to a religion, and the whole city is behind their team 100%. They have an average attendance of 47k and around 15 years ago it was rumoured that the waiting list for a season ticket at St James' Park was in the region of 24 years (although this may have been down to an admin error as I was on it after writing a letter to Alan Shearer!)

So if it's down to the fans, where do we stand? We had an average attendance of 37k last season which puts us 8th in the league - distinctly mid-table, and in terms of being 100% behind our team, from my own experience at Villa Park I'd say there are many that fail miserably on that count too. The number of games I've been to, sitting there getting more and more annoyed as the game's gone on because of the incessant whining and moaning about this player or that player or the manager or the assistant.

In terms of financial prowess we don't look too good either. Randy may be a millionaire, but he's not in the same league as Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan and after reporting another substantial loss of £38m before tax, he's not going to be inclined to throw money at the club in the amounts that some fans expect. Our turnover at £91m was not bad, coming in at 7th in the league (still mid-table) but it is so far behind the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal that it's not realistic to think we can compete. Commercial revenue is another area where we fall down, not least because with the exception of 'Brummies Abroad' we have very little exposure outside of the UK. Our paltry commercial  income of £14m pales into insignificance compared with the £31m, £53m and £81m of Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United respectively.

Then we're down to trophies - well we won the European Cup, did anyone ever mention that? We have also won the FA Cup seven times and the League Cup five times, not to mention the Intertoto Cup and the Peace Cup, which are actually the only things we've won in the last 15 years and we'd have to go back almost double that for the European Cup and all the way to 1957 for the FA Cup. So I don't think we really qualify as a "big club" in terms of trophies either, or certainly not in recent years.

So, how are we a "big club"? Is it because we were a founder member of the league? Because we won the European Cup almost 30 years ago? Because we've always been called Aston Villa? Yes, we are a bigger club than Wigan or Blackpool or Stoke, but are we really a "big club"? Or is that what all fans think of their own team?