I think he's probably right, but the big club question is really just who's the most successful which is a different thing. Pearson has just rolled over and threw the entire club under the feet of Villa fans all over the world though.
It's a bit of a nonesense argument for people ot have but we all fall into it at times. Villa have won more than us and it's not that close really so I'd not want to be tasked with arguing we are a bigger team. Neither side is helped by the fact that both sets of fans are relying heavily on trophies won 50-100+ years ago. What really matters is who does what next and the upcoming summer is going to be huge in that regard.
The big club small club thing is how they've gone about selling the big 6 narrative. It's willy waving and nothing more and like you say it's what's happening on and off the pitch now that matters in football. When trophies were won doesn't matter though because they still count. History is the full period of time in anything existence, so once people start counting from a point that suits their argument, that's called emotional decision making.
You’re absolutely right, it’s such a meaningless argument but then it’s only being had by meaningless people. In 1995 the big clubs were Leeds, Villa, Forest, Everton. It’s all relative.
Hopefully and it's not an easy away game, so if Chelsea win that's a big result for them. I could smell a rat with that ref yesterday, so I'm watching today and Monday carefully.