You're only as good as your best players. It's a saying that coaches come back to time and again, no matter the sport. And it's a mantra that will be giving Martin O'Neill much joy as his top men depart for the international break.

The opening third of the Premier League campaign could not have ended on a finer note for the Aston Villa manager. A convincing win over Bolton Wanderers to remain in fifth place; a comprehensive performance with goals spaced 70 minutes apart. And most encouragingly, another fine performance turned in by James Milner, who scored once and set up a pair of goals en route to the 5-1 victory. The display was enough to earn the 23-year-old another call-up to the England squad.

I happen to know a guy whose nephew’s babysitter’s younger brother was hiding under the table at the Dnipropetrovsk restaurant when Emile Heskey caught the ire of England manager Fabio Capello for sending text messages during dinner. Here’s what the little guy saw.

Gareth Barry returned to Villa Park on Monday, but the match between Aston Villa and Manchester City was much more than merely a chance for the locals to spew their vitriol at their former skipper. And not just because he was anonymous for the larger part of 90 minutes.

Gareth Barry returned to Villa Park on Monday, but the match between Aston Villa and Manchester City was much more than merely a chance for the locals to spew their vitriol at their former skipper. And not just because he was anonymous for the larger part of 90 minutes.

I met a friend at a local pub on Sunday afternoon to chat about the previous day's football matches. He's a Fulham supporter and thought his side were worth at least a point against Arsenal. I agreed. He also mentioned that Aston Villa were the most difficult side in the Premier League to get a sense of. I agreed with that as well.

Villa didn't turn in a stinker at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, where they lost 2-1 to a late David Dunn penalty. By and large, the match was watchable, with good attempts being made at either end. And as the visiting team, Villa played a mostly decent away game, and might have deserved a share of the points from their efforts.

It wasn’t pretty. You could even make the case that Aston Villa didn’t deserve to win the Birmingham derby. Still, they managed to escape a hostile ground with three points, and that counts for something.

Martin O’Neill is on to something. Sort of. It’s actually a replication of the template that vaulted Aston Villa to second-place in the Premier League for a brief spell last season. It’s the 4-5-1 formation (or 4-3-2-1, depending on how you see it).

Aston Villa’s season-opening loss to Wigan at Villa Park undid a lot of the good feeling that had built up around the club in pre-season. It was also agonizingly familiar. The 2-0 defeat would have fit right in with Villa’s woeful stretch drive last season.

Peace Cup, transfers and rumors of transfers. August promises to be a much more productive month than July at Villa Park.

Martin O’Neill didn’t need very long to convince Stewart Downing to commit his future to Aston Villa. But he may have his work cut out for him if he hopes to reposition the left-winger to the centre of the park.

After David O’Leary left Villa Park in 2006, Martin O’Neill rode into town like a knight on a stallion, ready to lead the beleaguered Premier League side out of the darkness and into the light. Three years on, it’s O’Neill that’s beleaguered, and the club’s frustrated supporters aren’t doing much better. With Aston Villa’s first preseason game barely a week away, the manager has done nothing to convince supporters that the side which finished in sixth place last season will finish in the top half this time around, nevermind improve on the 62 points.