Is Villa’s beleaguered boss mad or blind or both? Soccer 365’s Howard Johnson tries to work it out…

While most eyes were on a handshake (or the lack of it) at Old Trafford on Saturday, City finally got a fair shake of the dice at Villa Park a day later with a relatively straightforward win against the Villa. Without ever getting out of third gear the Blues disposed of a turgid home side by a 1-0 margin that will no doubt appeal to Roberto Mancini’s Italian footballing instincts, but which will have done little to warm the cockles of the hardy souls who braved both Birmingham and the elements to cheer City on. It was a pretty poor game, to be honest, but one which Villa’s long-suffering supporters will look back on with far less affection than City’s.

We also need to take a look at Villa boss Alex McLeish here. Now already he’s not the most popular chappie with Villa fans since arriving at the club, having been previously tainted by a managerial association with Villa’s fiercest rivals Birmingham City. But I can’t imagine he’ll have endeared himself to anyone with love for the claret and blues after his frankly pathetic post match comments following the City game. Having the temerity to suggest that his side had been unlucky and that he was delighted with his players for the effort they put into the game is a real slap in the face to all Villa fans. Let’s get things straight here. Aston Villa were crap. Absolute crap. City didn’t play particularly well, but never really looked in danger until the final two minutes of the game, when Joe Hart made an exceptional one-handed save to stop a Villa equaliser that would in no way have been deserved. That means for 88 minutes Aston Villa posed no threat whatsoever, looked utterly disinterested and made it patently obvious to everyone watching (except McLeish, that is) that a relegation battle is a real possibility if they don’t pull their fingers out. There’s nothing that infuriates fans more than managers praising their teams for effort. If you can’t expect 100% effort from players who are as handsomely rewarded as those who perform in the Premiership, then we might as well all pack up and go home. The very best sides are always fully committed and City have proved as much this season. Look at how David Silva works off the ball to make himself constantly available. The miles Gareth Barry and James Milner cover to offer protection to the defence. The times that Sergio Aguero closes down and defends from the front. Everton knocked City out of their stride the last time the Blues were away from home by ‘fighting like beavers’ (as daft pundit Chris Kamara once so memorably said) from first minute to last and they deservedly took the three points. Villa in comparison were a disgrace.

So City are back on top of the table and the ding-dong do with United for the Premiership title continues. This one looks as if it’s going to go right to the wire, which sounds like 1968 all over again from what I understand. That was the last time City won the title and we were battling it out right until the final day – with United. It’s taken over 40 years for that level of Mancunian rivalry to return and it’s been great for the city to have two clubs of equal standing once more.

Can we do it? There are still 13 games to go, which is almost exactly one third of the season, so you’d be mad to start making any rash predictions. A lot can happen between now and the end of the campaign. But I think it is fair to say that City have now gone through the toughest part of their season. The Carlos Tevez incident, long suspensions for two key players in Vincent Kompany and Mario Balotelli, and the enforced absence of the Touré brothers for the entire African Cup Of Nations would stretch any squad, even one bursting with talent like City’s. Having those five players back (or four, if the issues resolving Tevez can’t be resolved) will be, to use a footballing cliché, a massive boost for Mancini. There’s the distraction of the Europa League to deal with, of course. And that’s something that I suspect most City fans would happily forego. But United are in the same boat, so that kind of evens things out. City’s Premiership fixture list in February and March looks kind too, with four home fixtures and just two away trips. And with the exception of Chelsea, none of these matches are against what you might call top quality opposition. It’s true that United don’t have a particularly demanding schedule during this period either, though. So it really does look like things will only be resolved right at the death. That’s good for football, if not for my heart. But winning the English Premiership isn’t supposed to be easy. Not for players, managers or fans. But who wouldn’t want it this way? And things could be way worse. After all, I could be an Aston Villa supporter having to listen to Alex McLeish, couldn’t I?