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Chief Sports Writer Martin Swain looks at the key questions confronting our clubs and now asks – Why can’t Villa striker John Carew shine as he did against Bolton all of the time?

John Carew’s performance against Bolton gave Villa fans a glimpse of the player they know could make a difference.

But was it a display that saluted one of the most imposing figures in the Premier League’s gallery of international strikers? Or was it one which condemned him?

Should Villa fans be excited to see arguably their most popular player – a man with the charisma and ability to make him an authentic Holte hero – finally deliver the kind of rampaging display befitting his athletic power and abilities? Or should they be angry that Carew simply doesn’t do it often enough?

The questions are reverberating through the Villa faithful this week, as they view yet another season carrying the potential for both high achievement and deep anti-climax.

No figure sums up this double-sided prospectus more than Carew, the 30-year-old forward built like a light heavyweight with the power to destroy even the best defenders if only the fire within could match his physical presence.

His manager Martin O’Neill knows only too well the enigma that the giant Norwegian presents.

Carew is yet another one of Mother Nature’s creations blessed with so many qualities and yet also handicapped by one, damaging weakness. Carew is a naturally gentle soul, which makes him an absolute charmer – especially with the girls – but deprives him of the devil and drive that could have made him a world beater.

O’Neill confesses: “When John is fully fit and wound-up he is a handful. He proved that here and in Europe with Valencia. I’ve often said he possesses more ability than he himself thinks.

“He is pivotal to us. He’s a hero with the crowd and that’s great. Scoring helps him greatly, as it helps every striker. More importantly, it gives him an insight into what he’s still capable of.”

Villa fans know all about flawed strikers who the Holte so desperately wanted to embrace.

The Premier League age began with Dalian Atkinson, another monstrously gifted athlete, driving them crazy with frustration as an easy-going nature cursed the power, pace and touch which destroyed Manchester United in the 1994 League Cup win and was responsible for what must still be regarded as one of the club’s best ever goals of the modern age against Wimbledon.

Atkinson’s career fizzled to nothing just when it seemed he could bring the title back to Villa Park.

Then, of course, there was Collymore – Stanley Victor –  one of their own, brought back to his old stamping ground to the sound of fanfares.

How the Holte desperately wanted Collymore to utilise qualities which could have made him England’s Ronaldo – the original Brazilian version that is – in the claret and blue cause.

But haunted by his own demons which left his finger constantly twitching over the self-destruct button, Collymore’s career at Villa came to nothing.

Carew is a very different character to those two predecessors but still he has yet to deliver the football he threatens – although we saw destroy old team-mates Zat Knight and Gary Cahill against Bolton on Saturday – on a consistent basis.

The man himself is convinced that it is all down to his physical well-being.

He explained after that super show against Bolton: “I like to use all parts of my body. With my size, I normally have an edge on defenders. If I go 100 per cent then I normally win the challenges. It’s up to me not to let anybody else win the challenges.

“But every season it takes a while to get going.”

Injuries, some which seem to occur far too frequently when the going gets tough, are Carew’s constant companions and the reason why he frustrates as much as he delights his Villa public.

What is clear is that if Carew could even play seven games out of 10 at the level he displayed against Bolton, Villa’s Champions League prospects would be so much more substantial.

O’Neill may have declared this to be his strongest squad so far but the truth is that it hinges, just like last season, on key figures staying fit – Ashley Young, Gabby Agbonlahor, James Milner and Carew are the players who are usually winning games for Villa and the loss of any one of them is major blow.

But it is Carew, though, who scares defenders and intimidates opponents, it is he who has the capacity to lift Villa above the level that has imprisoned the club for so long, hovering just outside the elite, capable of occasional great moments but never truly threatening the established order.

If only Big John could stay fit, stay hungry and stay fired up. The worry must be that the reason why he doesn’t play as he did against Bolton more often is that it simply isn’t in his make-up.

But let us hope otherwise. Because it is Carew more than any other player who can push Villa through the ceiling of the Premier League’s top four.

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