Time is running out for you know Hou

GERARD HOULLIER’S week began fighting the fires ignited by Richard Dunne’s unsavoury quarrel with backroom staff, it ended with the realisation his Aston Villa team are fighting a very real relegation battle.

Just three weeks ago Villa thrashed Blackburn 4-1 and were being tipped for a late surge up the Premier League, however nothing has gone to plan for Houllier since he fielded an under-strength side in the FA Cup against Manchester City days later.

A defeat to Bolton was followed by Ireland international Dunne and James Collins’ alcohol-fuelled row with Houllier’s coaches during what was supposed to be a team-building trip, earning the defensive duo combined fines totalling £200,000.

Yet Villa supporters who arrived expecting to see the spirited response Houllier had promised were sadly disappointed as Mick McCarthy’s Wolves boosted their own survival hopes and, at the same time, dealt a huge blow to those of Villa, who are now just a point clear of the bottom three.

The Frenchman was even subjected to a painful dose of déjà vu as sections of the claret and blue support chanted ‘we want Houllier out’ in the latter stages, just as they did at the turn of the year when they were in the midst of a similar slump.

A senior source in the Villa boardroom said: “It’s been a bitterly disappointing day. But nothing’s changed. We remain committed to the same long-term strategy. It’s important we show unity from the boardroom to the management, from the terraces to the players.

“I can’t see how changing things with four games to go would have any positive impact on how the team plays anyway.”

Despite being named in the Irish squad for the Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia and friendly against Uruguay, Dunne was deemed not fit enough to feature in this game with a shoulder problem.

With Ireland team mate Ciaran Clark (suspended) and Collins out too, Villa were always going to be vulnerable.

And striker Darren Bent is eager to see bad boys Dunne and Collins return to the Villa side as quickly as possible.

“I’ve always said that they’re two centre-halves, as a pair, that I used to hate playing against because they are that good,” he added.

Having spent the early stages on the back foot, the goal eventually arrived seven minutes before half-time when Nenad Milijas’ inviting cross was flicked on by Christophe Berra and Matt Jarvis — called up by England last night — exquisitely volleyed home in off the right post.

As mediocre as they were, Villa should have been awarded a penalty in the 53rd minute when Richard Stearman upended Bent inside the penalty area only for referee Phil Dowd to give a free-kick.

There were chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ from home fans just after the hour mark when Houllier brought on Robert Pires and Gabriel Agbonlahor for crowd favourite Marc Albrighton and Nigel Reo-Coker.

And Villa and Houllier’s day was summed up with 10 minutes remaining when Jean Makoun slotted in Ashley Young only for his fiercely-stuck effort to ricochet off the underside of the crossbar before being cleared to safety.

Already without the injured Stephen Hunt, news Kevin Foley and Kevin Doyle both came through a fiercely-fought West Midlands derby clash unscathed will have come as a relief to Giovanni Trapattoni. Both players have played prominent roles in Wolves’ recent revival, which stands at three wins and two draws from their last six matches, belying their position in the bottom three.

Two other key figures have been Richard Stearman and Jamie O’Hara and Trapattoni remains hopeful of persuading both to commit to the Boys in Green despite playing for England at Under-21 level.

And O’Hara, on loan from Tottenham, says Stearman, who qualifies through an Irish grandmother on his mother’s side, is international class.

“I think Stearman is going to be a centre-half internationally in the future,” he said. “Every game he is pushing on.”

Unfortunately O’Hara indicated he still won’t be turning green just yet.

“To be honest I haven’t given up on England.”