WHO WANTS GARY CAHILL NOW?

THERE is only ever one mistake that Martin O'Neill is reminded of again and again.

The Aston Villa boss has transformed the club from Premier League also-rans to top four contenders in his three and a half years since taking over from David O'Leary.

Even when he has the occasional disagreement with the Villa fans, like when they booed the team after the opening-day home defeat by Wigan, they still chant his name.

There is just the one error of judgement that gets rammed down his throat.

No, it's not that he wasn't able to sustain his team's charge into the Champions League last season.

It's not even that he upset the balance of the side when he bought Emile Heskey.

It's that he sold Gary Cahill to Bolton.

The Villa youth team graduate has been performing excellently in a struggling Bolton side for the past two years and is even an outside bet for England in South Africa next summer.

His loss was never more apparent than when Villa's top four assault crumbled last spring and they were shipping goals left, right and centre.

But O'Neill feels like the cat that got the cream right now.

His side capitalised on Manchester City dropping points and enhanced their claim to challenge the country's elite sides.

And just as tellingly, former Villa defenders Cahill and Zat Knight were mercilessly blown apart.

The pair were pulled out of position by Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor, beaten time and again in the air and even nutmegged on one occasion by the outstanding John Carew, and left chasing shadows by the breathtaking speed of nearly every attack.

Cahill didn't exactly look like an England prospect in this game. And both managers knew it.

The Bolton defence, which has now conceded 19 goals in six games, began to crumble in the fifth minute.

Carew beat Knight in the air and his header was pushed away by Jussi Jaaskelainen. But the Finn could only divert the ball into the path of Ashley Young and the former Watford winger found the roof of the net.

Two minutes before the break Carew beat Knight again and cut the ball back from the byline for Agbonlahor to beat first Cahill, then Jaaskelainen from close range.

Moments later Paul Robinson's free-kick from the half-way line was flicked on to Cahill, who hit the post off Brad Friedel's save, leaving Johan Elmander the easy job of tapping into the empty net.

But the expected Bolton fightback never gained any momentum in the second half. And that owed much to the constant flurry of Villa attacks.

In the 53rd minute Milner, impressive again on the right, slipped the ball in to the feet of Carew, who had his back to goal and the close attentions of Knight to contend with. But the defender was quickly left on his backside as the Norwegian showed amazing strength in turning, before brushing aside the flagging Cahill and drilling in.

Kevin Davies was then penalised for a 72nd-minute push on Carew in the box. Milner's poor spot-kick was saved by Jaaskelainen and the first rebound woefully struck against the post by Steve Sidwell - but Milner finally put the ball away.

The game was already comfortably won by the time Carlos Cuellar back-headed his first Villa goal after another teasing cross from Milner.

Comical

Bolton boss Gary Megson was brutally honest in his assessment of his team's performance in defence.

He fingered Cahill and Knight as being to blame for some of Villa's goals. But that's not to say the rest of his team were blameless.

The front pairing of Davies and Elmander, who came on in the first half for the injured Tamir Cohen, showed next to nothing up front. Villa barely missed the injured James Collins.

Megson said before the game everything was "going brilliantly" despite his side winning once in six games and conceding an alarming number of goals.

That comical comment may return to haunt him. More, perhaps, than Gary Cahill spooked Villa.

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