Villa supporters must be struggling to know whether to smile or scowl after this most confusing of campaign openings.

On the one hand, there’s been plenty to cheer.

A week which started with a stunning success at Anfield ended with this surprisingly straightforward flattening of a feeble Fulham side after a John Paintsil own goal and Gabby Agbonlahor thunderbolt made it three wins and seven goals in six days.

Just like last season, 4-5-1 looks a winning formula and, with six Premier League points now on the board, they already find themselves two clear of last term’s return after three games.

Furthermore, what is always a tasty trip across the city to St Andrew’s in a fortnight, followed by games with Portsmouth and Blackburn certainly offer Villa as good a chance as they could have wished for to get themselves in amongst the front-runners.

So far, so good? If only that was the whole story.

Already, the passports have been packed away for another year after crashing out to Rapid Vienna at the Europa League’s first hurdle.

A so far anti-climactic three months in the transfer market will finally come to a conclusion when the window shuts at 5pm tomorrow.

By then, O’Neill will hope to have Richard Dunne and at least one other new face on board, but even that is unlikely to leave the ‘Championship Manager generation’ of armchair supporters the Villa chief recently alluded to fully content with his summer’s dealings.

But while there have been no superstar signings to replace Gareth Barry and Martin Laursen, there was at least evidence yesterday the Villa manager has the materials at his disposal to join the likes of Manchester City and Tottenham in attempting to break the big four’s monopoly.

It was fitting that Laursen, back at Villa Park as a Sky pundit, was on hand to witness a near perfect debut in his position from academy star Ciaran Clark, who was drafted in to replace the injured Curtis Davies.

True, the Premier League will provide bigger tests than the flimsy Fulham forward-line on show, but the consummate ease with which the 19-year-old dealt with everything thrown at him was one of the biggest positives of the day.

The emergence of Clark – and Shane Lowry for that matter – are one possible explanation for the fact O’Neill is still to sign a replacement for Laursen or Zat Knight.

With Davies facing the possibility of shoulder surgery, O’Neill clearly needs to strengthen in the central defensive department.

But, even if Dunne or others arrive, it would be harsh to deprive the England-Under-19 skipper a place to face Blues – his display was that good.

The same goes for the midfield trio of Stiliyan Petrov, Nigel Reo-Coker and Steve Sidwell.

Love it or loathe it, the 4-5-1 works for Villa, just as it did through the winter, complimenting the attributes of all three.

None of them are afraid to snap and snarl, providing the extra cover the back four currently cries out for.

Petrov can orchestrate proceedings, Reo-Coker has the muscle and motor, Sidwell attacks the box at every opportunity. Who needs Gareth, eh?

Up front, too, the formation seems to favour Agbonlahor.

If yesterday represented the birth of Clark’s career, then this was the rebirth of the Villa striker’s.

The jet-propelled heels were back, as he ran the Cottagers’ back four ragged with his best display since dismantling Arsenal’s defence at the Emirates late last year.

It might not have been enough to earn him an England call-up this time around, but it won’t be long on that form. Within three minutes he was celebrating – although the goal will be logged in the record books as a Paintsil own goal.

A horribly wayward backpass from former Villa defender Aaron Hughes gifted O’Neill’s men a corner, Ashley Young whipped in an inviting inswinger and Paintsil, under pressure from Agbonlahor, headed past his own goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

It was just the start Villa were after, given their long-standing league struggles at home.

With Agbonlahor naturally veering out wide, Sidwell at times became Villa’s foremost forward figure in the box and twice the former Chelsea man spurned decent opportunities.

Another went begging in the 17th minute, when Fulham’s faltering rearguard left three Villa players entirely unmarked to meet Young’s floated free-kick, only this time Sidwell got underneath his header.

While Villa exited the Europa League on Thursday, the Cottagers progressed into the group stages but on this evidence Roy Hodgson’s men will struggle to balance the demands of Europe and Premier League.

The fact Villa’s schedule has shrunk dramatically as a result may be viewed as one of the few crumbs of comfort by O’Neill, as they attempt to hang on to the coat-tails of fellow Champions League seekers Manchester City and Tottenham, who without the added diversion of European football have both made perfect starts domestically.

Clark’s day could have become even more memorable in the 24th minute, when he wriggled free from Hughes only to head over.

Another positive has been the steady improvement of Habib Beye at right-back since his Vienna nightmare and he made a vital back-post header to keep out ex-Albion forward Diomansy Kamara on the half-hour mark.

Having suffered so much heartache at Villa Park of late, claret and blue fans could have been forgiven for feeling anxious at their side’s failure to make their dominance fully count while the score stayed at 1-0.

But that all changed a minute before the hour-mark, when the reinvigorated Agbonlahor came up with a moment of magic.

A brilliant first touch from Milner’s flick-on took him away from another former Baggie, Jonathan Greening, and he hammered a low shot inside the right post.

After just two goals since December, it was a timely reminder of just what he is capable of.

With Fulham already floundering, the contest was over and after 30 forgettable minutes Steve Bennett’s final whistle came as a relief for more than one reason.

Now for St Andrew’s.

By Brendan McLoughlin