Oh Ashley!

ASHLEY Young has been centre stage now for seven weeks.

Ever since he won the penalty at Arsenal and got up and missed it people have been talking about him.

Martin O'Neill has helped fuel the media's love affair.

First there was the Lionel Messi simile. Then at the weekend there was the £75 million link- all proposterous stuff and meant to be taken tongue in cheek I'm sure.

Some of the plaudits have been deserved.

Anyone who saw the game at Everton which Villa should have lost but ended up winning because of Young's supreme finishing will agree that on his day he is an absolute world beater.

He also played brilliantly in the following game against Bolton at Villa Park, and previous to that had been brilliant at home to Fulham.

But for every scintilating piece of brilliance there has been too much of the mediocre for me, and certainly too much of what boxers would call 'showboating'.

Perhaps all those headlines got to him in the build-up to the Cup tie at Gillingham? Something certainly did.

Why else was he attempting to thread passes through the eye of a needle from early on? Why else was he attempting over-head bicycle kick clearances from inside the Villa box in the late stages of the game?

Sure he had been rattled by a really poor challenge - one that would have probably led to a red card in the Premier League.

It was in the second half when Mark Bentley attempted a tackle. It was so late it connected with Young's leg almost in the build-up to Gillingham's home game with Aldershot this coming Saturday.

Young had a strange afternoon. 21-year-old full-back Stuart Lewis, a product of Tottenham's academy, had really quite a game. Some thunderous early challenges seemed to unsettle the Villa winger whose distribution wilted.

Then the penalty.

At Hull a few days previously Young whistled in the penalty area and delivered a match-winning cross.

At Gillingham he flew into the area and seemed to just want to look for contact.

"Soft"- as Adam Miller saw it. Even though he still disappeared with Young's shirt.

It was a poor decision from referee Keith Stroud who had earlier done particularly well to reprieve Zat Knight when all hell broke loose following a well-timed tackle, and had also called right when Nigel Reo-Coker fould Dennis Oli marginally outside the box.

Young's apparent willingness to go to ground was something he was criticised for at the beginning of last season. This latest incident, seen on terrestrial TV, may do little for the player's reputation.

That's a pity because there is no doubt Villa are a different side altogether with Young in full flow.

Young's game went to pieces after the penalty. He missed a cracking chance when he sent a back-pass of a shot straight at Simon Royce. Then he felt the need to react to two mouthy home fans who were barracking him at close range. There was no need.

I am still baffled as to exactly what a five-foot-seven inch player was doing in raising his hand up to the crossbar at Hull. Young and Villa were incredibly lucky not to gift the home side a penalty and a draw that on the balance of play they absolutely deserved.

That still did not excuse Hull boss Phil Brown's post-match twaddle.

Brown was made to look an absolute fool by one midlands- based national reporter who simply made the point that whatever the rights and wrongs of Steve Bennett's decision to change his mind over the penalty, it was the correct outcome.

Brown refused to agree and tried to antagonise the writer.

Brown likes the sound of his own voice as he is frequently on Sky or the BBC waxing lyrical about his hopes of managing England one day.

When Hull are next the victims of a goal that never was, or an incorrect sending off, Brown will be first to call for video replays.

Anyway, back to Villa and it was nice to see Martin O'Neill field eight/elevenths of a first team at Gillingham.

There was much anger out in Germany when he sent out the 'midweek' team in Hamburg that I feared for the poor souls in the open away section if the same had happened at a freezing Priestfield Stadium.

Gabby Agbonlahor seemed fine as he walked around the coach after the game. And I'm sure Gareth Barry and Luke Young will be fit and available for the weekend derby with Albion.

Perhaps this Saturday Villa will actually get what they deserve from a game?

Yes, I know you get what you deserve and that goals and nothing else count... but Gillingham deserved a replay on the balance of play, Hull perhaps deserved to sneak it, Arsenal should have been dead and buried by half-time, West Ham should have taken a point despite a first-half masterclass from Villa and Everton were extremely unfortunate.

Only Bolton, who were out-classed at times, got what they came for. And that was because they decided that Young could be left to his own devices.

Young has the ability to do the same to Albion. I am just hoping it is by fair and not fraudulent means.