It is a strange time with Villa at the moment and one I struggle to understand.

Burnley away is a tough game I do not think in any way we under estimated them but the team selection of Petrov over NRC left far too many people questioning MON’s tactics and his decisions. Overall in the game we once again failed to perform on the road and is it down formation o the players.

I have a simple answer for this and his name is Carew. I may sound like a stuck broken record but away from home his style is far too lazy to be effective in a 4-4-2 and often leaves us with just 10 effective players on the pitch and struggling to control games. MON is a stubborn person and I just wished that away from home he would go to a 4-3-3 with NRC in the middle with Petrov and Sidwell or in the future Downing.

However at home 4-4-2 seems to be working and Carew is far more effective as he will tend to get more space to do the things he is very good at.

One very good piece of news yesterday was the surprise and sudden return of Downing. We knew he had played 90 minutes in a behind closed doors friendly but to come on as sub, play well and have a positive effect is excellent for him and the team.

The next few weeks MON will have some tough choices on who to pick and I think those choices with a tough December could decide his future at Villa.