A tough draw

A REPORTER - also a Villa fan - whose name I will keep to myself, but let's just call him Kat Mendrick for now, got it spot on.

He argued that Villa had got the UEFA Cup draw that they effectively deserved.

It's hard to argue against his viewpoint.

CSKA (Central Sports Club of Army) Moscow were about as tough as you could get.

When the alternatives were reduced to three clubs: St Etienne, Udinese or Moscow there would have been only the most romantic of Villa followers plumping for the icey depths of Russia as their choice of destination.

As Martin Jol pointed out, there was always the danger that could happen to Villa once they failed to win the group.

And in fielding a weakened team thoughout the group phases- and inparticular the home game against Zilina- Villa prioritised the domestic league and gave Europe a thumbs down.

Had they beaten the Slovaks then most probably Villa would have been facing Nijmegen in the last 32.

Now they face a trip to the 2005 winners, who admitedly will be midway through their break at the 78,000 Luzhniki Stadium.

Their triple helping of Brazilians: Vagner Love, Ricardo Jesus and Ramon will be tasty.

It means an end to Villa's 'midweek' team. You'll probably see them at Gillingham but not again in Europe.

Too many fringe players failed to cut the mustard yet again. Marlon Harewood is clearly hopeless. Moustapha Salifou - not yet good enough. Zat Knight - it's all been said already to many times. Nicky Shorey - wondering when his first team place will ever come along again. Brad Guzan- lucky to get away with one absolute howler. Nigel Reo-Coker- wondering where it all went wrong.

Craig Gardner didn't let anyone down. He should have put Villa ahead in Germany though, which might have silenced the masses.

And the plus points were Nathan Delfouneso's second half and the introduction of Barry Bannan.

Three points at West Ham today and you still have to side with the manager that prioritising was the right thing to do.

The 2,500 or so Villa fans who forked out their hard-earned Christmas money will not have seen it that way when the team-sheet was read out. Many were furious by the performance that followed.

But since when does a manager make his selections based on supporter hopes? The day he does he'll be in trouble.

The comment that stood out for me most in Hamburg post-match from Martin O'Neill was the one where he said: "February is a long way off. A long way off. I do not know what players I might have available to me by then," and then he made a quirky remark about perhaps not being in a job by then.

I took it to mean that by February a host of new names will have flooded into the club, including the two strikers they are so desperate for.

The competition will just be starting then. After Moscow... bring on Tottenham.