easy peasy

IF his team selection for the Bolton game was his toughest, then the eleven names on the team sheet for this weekend's trip to Derby County are already inked in.

I was not surprised to see Zat Knight recalled. I was not surprised to see Marlon Harewood bombed, I was not surprised to see Nigel Reo-Coker back in the middle.

I was surprised, however, to see Shaun Maloney out of the equation altogether.

Apart from one glaring miss at Old Trafford when he was clean through, I didn't think he did too badly.

But one man's loss was another man's gain... and the plaudits were massively stacked up by Stiliyan Petrov come Saturday night.

To say Petrov has been disappointing for two seasons would be an under-statement.

But maybe, just maybe, a performance against a poor Bolton side heading for the trapdoor can give him the confidence to end the season on a flurry.

Fifth place is out of bounds. Derby's defeat at Everton put the finishing touches to Villa's hopes of clawing eight points back over the last five games.

If Villa win three and draw another of their last five fixtures that will mean that David Moyes' men simply have to draw a couple of games and lose the rest- by a narrow margin - to finish ahead of Villa on goal-difference.

But sixth is back on the agenda. Portsmouth have other things on their mind. They weren't any great shakes at Wembley and save from a blatant spot of handball by a cheating Milan Baros would likely have been beaten.

Sixth would represent a fine season. Seventh, likewise. But the point is that Villa had so much more to play for when January arrived. And it's all gone a bit flat since.

Despite that, Villa re in good hands.

So it made me chuckle to read all that nonsesense about David O'Leary being a better manager than Martin O'Neill?

Apparently some statistician or other has attempted to point out that over his first 77 games or whatever, O'Leary accrued four more points.

In that first season of O'Leary's, with the team facing relegation in November, the Villa players enjoyed a night out in Dublin, Ireland, on a free weekend. It was not long after they had been away in Dubai- a trip I was lucky to be on- but one which the players felt was a total waste of space in terms of bonding.

O'Leary wasn't invited to Dublin. And it was Dion Dublin more than anyone they had to thank for saving the club that season by giving them the belief that they had to fight and scrap every game- such was the way Dion grabbed the dressing room by the short and curlies from that Ireland vacation.

You will not find one single Villa supporter, or player, past or present, who might agree that O'Neill is less of a manager than O'Leary. Apart from Thomas Sorensen... or Eric Djemba-Djemba...or Eirik Bakke...or Baros.