No, I don’t know what Charlie Sheen has to do with Aston Villa taking on Bolton either, but at least he’s providing some much needed light relief at the moment and having some fun. You remember fun, right? He’s also doing a decent job of making Stephen Ireland look sane. Some achievement, and for that I thank you Charlie Sheen.

He’s also seems to be doing a splendid job of claiming victory from what appears to be a stinging defeat, perhaps something Gerard Houllier could learn from. I’d like to think whatever it is that Houllier has said in today’s press conference, which is promised to cause an uproar tomorrow, has come from the Sheen play book. But I doubt it.

Personally, I’d like to see a defiant declaration that he is not running his team selections by committee with keyboard warriors on the internet, but it’s probably something far tamer. The CAPS LOCK CREW will surely engage full outrage mode regardless.

I’ll probably just place my head in my hands and sob “why Gerard, why?”

That’s not exactly an endorsement of the approach employed at Eastlands by the way, but it is an endorsement of the manager’s right to use his squad in the manner he feels will achieve the greater good over the course of the season.

I might not agree 100% with the team selection in Manchester and he could have been a little less misleading in the build up, but if we now go on a run up the table, it will end up sitting a little more comfortably with me. A little.

Not everyone is enthused about position in the league, I get that, but with each position earning about 800k more than the place below in “merit payments”, it’s not inconceivable, given our horrific wage bill, that a couple of places might make the difference between keeping a decent player next season or not.

We have just 10 games left and we have to milk every last point from them, starting tomorrow in Bolton. It’s just that simple. I’ve said before that the term “must win” is redundant at this stage, they’re all “must win”, but after Manchester, the stakes just got bigger.

When it comes to tips Houllier could pick up from others, he might do well to talk to Owen Coyle about how he implemented a transition from one style of football to another in a more gradual manner. Their form is a tad on the patchy side of late, although they’ve managed to grind out back-to-back 1-0 away wins in the FA Cup in the last couple of weeks, but this is not Big Sam’s Bolton any longer.

He might also want to look at how American midfielder Stuart Holden was eased into football life at this level to become a key player at Bolton and one of the league’s top tacklers. I’m not alone in thinking that compatriot Michael Bradley looked something of a passenger at times against City, but Opta say that he completed 35 of 40 attempted passes, so it probably wasn’t too bad for a debut.

An updated preferred lineup: I originally had Collins in, Baker at LB and Delph alongside Petrov.

Unfortunately, it’s not such a rosy picture at the other end of the pitch, Richard Dunne apparently picked up a shoulder injury against City – some sources are saying dislocated – and will be out for three or four weeks. James Collins is expected to available after his calf injury, but Carlos Cuellar is still recovering. Update: It’s been confirmed that James Collins will not be available.

We’ll wait to find out whether Nathan Baker is over his concussion or whether Fabian Delph will have to cover at left back once more. Amazing how we can be struggling to get games for the likes of Cuellar one moment to having to play midfielders at full back the next.

But that is, as they say, football, and this is, as they also say, a must win game despite my reluctance to rely on such a cliché. I don’t think there’s much point looking at the tactical intricacies, this one has got to be about pure determination and patience from the same mold as the Blackburn game.

To that end, it’s probably fortunate that this one is away from Villa Park, I’m not sure the home fans would have the tolerance for not being ahead by the break, if that’s the case tomorrow. Nevertheless, we do have the quality to beat Bolton, but they’ll be no pushovers and it might take another confident, patient approach to the game.

I don’t know where Charlie Sheen’s tigerblood falls on WADA’s list of banned substances – perhaps we could ask Kolo Touré – but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try some if it helps us win just like Charlie.

#winning

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