Moving forwards despite the gloom

THE best game ever? Well the game on the telly the other night at Stamford Bridge was as good as anything I have seen since Sunday.

Villa - Everton had the lot.

Villa played well. How Marouane Fellaini gets away with his elbows is anyone's guess. How Tim Cahill is not pulled up for assault at corners is another. Still at 5'8" it is the centre-halves job to stop him and at 6'2" Curtis Davies came up short.

It's been two months and one week from hell.

February 7, 2009, and Villa sat third in the table eight points clear of Arsenal, who had a game in hand. They'd taken 51 points from 25 games - title winning form. They were three points off the top (Liverpool), two points behind Manchester United and two points clear of Chelsea who still had to come to Villa Park where they'd an atrocious record.

And no, I will not even mention cup competitions. The manager clearly doesn't want to. Despite the fact he appears to be quoted on it frequently.

The form table is also not easy reading. Played 6, points 2. That's 14 less than Arsenal. Ahead of only Sunderland. That's including Newcastle and West Brom, in case you thought I'd left them out through sympathy.

The chances of catching Arsenal? Slim. Particularly when you think Villa have taken two points from 21 and Arsenal are unbeaten in 18 league games. Villa's 13 game run earlier this season was their best in the top flight for 90-odd years. Manchester United and Liverpool have done more this season alone, that's the company Villa are against.

Even if Arsenal lose all three matches to the top three then Villa will have to pick up five wins out of six. Even then they have to hope the Gunners pick up no more than seven points from their other three matches. So it's a tall order indeed.

In reality the manager still talks of hope but I think his preparations for a second season in the UEFA Cup will now be firmly under way.

It looks like he'll go into the Europa League perhaps without two of his best players and possibly a third.

The news that Martin Laursen will miss the rest of the season surprised few.

If that's all he misses then their will be a huge sigh of relief inside the walls of Villa Park.

Gareth Barry will leave in the summer. Of that their can be little doubt.

And Stiliyan Petrov's contract? Well, no news on that one. No entering his final 14 months there will undoubtedly have been initial discussions.

Villa cannot allow him to leave. Steve Sidwell and Nigel Reo-Coker are simply not good enough to fill the void.

There have already been the end of season clear-out stories in some papers. I'm sure some players will move on. Reo-Coker will need to have talks over a new deal. Does he want to stay? Or does he want to move back to London?

John Carew signed a one year extension last summer which always meant he would see how this season went. He has two years left so once again talks will be fairly imminent.

Other clubs will no doubt be interested, probably Tottenham and Manchester City. A couple of months ago I'd not have given much hope of him wanting to stay, but now I'm not at all sure.

Zat Knight too will be due some talks. Curtis Davies too.

Then there's the likes of Sidwell and Nicky Shorey, who both might want to move on whilst Marlon Harewood has little hope of seeing out his final year.

It's going to be a busy summer.

Martin O'Neill, despite this wretched run which has brought so much gloom, has done a terrific job. 12 months ago to the day Villa actually had two more points in the bag.

But they'd played two games more and sat only in seventh place in the division, behind Portsmouth and Everton and eleven points off the big four.

Okay, so if that statistic is no good then try the fact that after 32 games of last season Villa had 49 points- four fewer than this season - and sat eighth in the table behind Blackburn Rovers.

12 months earlier, in April 2007, Villa had only 38 points from 32 games in O'Neill's first season and were 13th. Behind such heavyweights as Bolton, Reading and Middlesbrough.

If you have to delve back into David O'Leary's reign then Villa sat 16th with 35 points after 32 games of his final season in April 2006, one place above West Brom and eight points behind mid-table Charlton.

So there can be no question the team are moving forwards.

Are the team moving quickly enough? Not for everybody. But direct qualification for Europe for the first time since John Gregory took over from Brian Little is not a bad start, although I'd agree that a few wins before the end of the season are still desperately needed for the new term to begin without the shadow of Moscow hanging over it.

On another matter it was good to see Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor in the running for the young player of the year award. Clearly, as in the main vote, the nominations were compiled when Villa were winning game after game as Manchester United were.

Clearly the votes are also taken by players who watch the highlights week-after-week and nothing more. Will many Villa supporters even have voted for Agbonlahor as young player at club level? Not many.

Young, as I have said time and time again, is a world beater at times but desperately needs consistency.

These two and the likes of James Milner, Petrov, Carew, Luke Young, Ashley Young and Davies when he refinds some confidence, can be at the fulcrum of a successful club.

But it will take investment this summer, sizeable at that. Because expectations are as high as ever and Tottenham and Manchester City (there, I've mentioned them again) are wanting to knock Villa down a peg or three.