Have you won the reserve league south?

Chant of the season for me has to be: "Have you won the Reserve League South...the Reserve League South.." (sung to the tune of: "Have you won the European Cup?")

It was sung in Moscow where the fringe team (Stiliyan Petrov has said in an interview after the Stoke game that you can't call them 'reserves' because it is disrespectful, as they are all good players - I think he is missing the meaning of the word 'reserves' there though).

It goes to show you that despite all the hullabaloo of the 'weakened' side (Petrov will probably be pulling his hair out if he gets wind of me calling them that), some fans were determined to enjoy themselves.

Martin O'Neill took an awful lot of flak by a sizeable section of the travelling 300 near the front of the away section. He had walked across the pitch and offered a wave and was met with some filthy language.

Yet many more supporters were just as appalled by that fans' reaction, and went out of their way to applaud the team and the manager.

Never before has a team selection divided opinion.

Did Villa really throw away a golden chance of silverware? Or was it necessary in view of the run-in back home and the chance to finish ahead of Arsenal?

We won't know until the near the end of May by which time the frustrations supporters are feeling now will have eased.

I, like 99 per cent of supporters, would have preferred to see a full strength side in Moscow and then a battling performance against Stoke City.

After 25 minutes of yesterday's match I could not see there being anything other than a Villa victory. Even more so after 45 minutes and of course even more so when big John Carew finally found some form and a finish to match his pedigree after three months of virtually nothing.

O'Neill will only win arguments, like any other manager, when his team is winning games.

It's the same with Arsene Wenger, or closer to home Tony Mowbray and down a division Mick McCarthy and Alex McLeish.

It doesn't matter a jot how well Arsenal's kids are playing when they can't score for toffee.

Same for Mowbray whose defence gift two goals a game. And are Wolves and Blues fans signing and dancing in the top two of the Championship. Nope, they're as miserable as sin.

The match reports for yesterday's game at Villa Park were already written at 80 minutes.

Mine read something along the lines of: "O'Neill justified his decision to leave his big guns at home and to field his pop guns in Moscow."

Ten minutes later the argument resurfaced. My report then centred on the biggest giveaway since Woolworths went bust at Christmas.

Still, it's still six points clear of Arsenal.

That'll still take some catching, although a defeat at Manchester City on Wednesday (a result at this moment I just can't see, despite the possible absence of Craig Bellamy and Robinho through injury) could see that gap cut to three points with Arsenal ever so likely to beat Albion tomorrow.

You may hopefully start to see the benefits of the Moscow no-show around the time of the Liverpool and Manchester United away trips when hopefully the opposition will have their eyes focused on Europe.

One or two thoughts on yesterday's game before I sign off: Ashley Young needs a kick up the backside. Head-shaking, hands on hips.... Young was a picture of 12-year-old whose sweets have been confiscated by the head teacher.

And what of his pathetic remonstrations against Howard Webb over a throw-in after the ball clipped his heel on the way out?

Young, unlike his namesake Luke, played like a spoilt child all afternoon. He needs to start putting in some performances like a world beater, and yes he is extremely capable of doing so, before he can acts like a superstar.

Gabby Agbonlahor certainly didn't benefit from a week's rest. What a woeful finish from six yards from Carew's cross. Stiliyan Petrov was excellent in that first half.

At the back Carlos Cuellar continues to baffle. Zat Knight is having a decent time of it and Curtis Davies isn't.

It's amazing how quickly things can turn around. A few weeks back Villa could fall over their own feet and still pick up three points. Now you wonder where the next win is coming from.

Not to worry. City are having a hopeless run of results themselves (one win in five in the league) and eight straight away wins would undoubtedly justify not just the Moscow team but re-invigorate tired limbs ahead of their sunshine break in Dubai.