Villa favourite Ian Taylor gives his take on the ‘grapple-gate’ storm and the Sol Campbell merry go-round as focus shifts towards the weekend.

There are only losers from the ‘grapple-gate’ storm that has gripped Villa this last week.

Nigel Reo-Coker finds himself back on the sidelines – exactly where he didn’t want to be having only recently forced his way back into the team.

Villa will lose the services of a very good footballer, who was just starting to show signs he was coming back to his best.

For Martin O’Neill, the incident has brought unwanted attention, detracting from a fine run of six straight wins. It’s hard not to fear for Nigel’s future at Villa, after he was left out of last night’s Carling Cup game with Cardiff.

Martin has declared the matter closed, but clearly all isn’t forgiven and forgotten yet.

There’s always the possibility Martin decided he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to play the game, but you now start to wonder whether Nigel will ever wear the claret and blue shirt again.

I can’t see him going to the Championship on loan as that only undermines his status as a Premier League player. It’s quite possible he’ll be kicking his heels on the sidelines until January. No one would benefit from that.

On the subject of midfielders, I was very impressed by Fabian Delph’s display in the win over the Bluebirds.

Villa have got a real talent on their hands and it’s only a matter of time before he becomes one of the Premier League’s big talents.

And hats off to Gabby Agbonlahor. The way he took his goal last night was the sign of a player bang in form. That’s four in four now for Gabby and he couldn’t be doing any more to get himself an England recall.

Just a shame for him that Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, Wayne Rooney and Darren Bent are all firing on all cylinders for their clubs. That leaves Emile Heskey.

One thing that didn’t surprise me one bit was Sol Campbell’s departure from Notts County. The only shock was that it has happened so soon.

It was an odd move in the first place. Why on earth would you swap the Premier League for League Two? Well, I think we all know the answer to that question.

I never could see Sol fancying away trips to places like Morecambe and in the end all it took was just one game. He’s sure to be feeling a bit red-faced about the whole thing. He certainly doesn’t come out too well of it.

Apparently his reason for leaving was promises that were made to him about investing in the squad and training ground weren’t kept. Give them a chance! He hadn’t even been there a month! So where does he go from here?

The rules won’t allow him to play for anyone else before January but, now he’s a League Two player, he’ll do well to get a Premier League club.

One player who’s had difficulty finding a new top-flight team is Marlon Harewood. No-one needs a fresh start more than Marlon right now and the loan move to Newcastle seemingly on the cards would be ideal for him.

First of all, he’ll be getting regular football and playing in the Championship – giving him a chance to rediscover his confidence and form.

If the move works out well for him he could end up with a promotion on his CV and find himself being wanted by one of the country’s biggest clubs.

It’s a win-win situation for Villa and the Magpies too.

Villa will save a few quid on wages and get him sharpened up, while Newcastle have a player with the potential to take the Championship by storm.

To think only a couple of years ago he was a £4million player and this summer he couldn’t find a taker in the Premier League. It just shows you how quickly your stock can fall in this game.

And, no disrespect to anyone at Molineux, but there’s only one reason why Wolves’ clash at Sunderland on Sunday is being televised – Mick McCarthy.

The Wolves boss is one of the great characters of the game and, being the way he is, will be pumped up for this game like never before.

No-one would have been hurting at Sunderland’s demise under his reign more than him – and he will be determined to prove a point not just to the north east, but to the nation, that he belongs in the Premier League.

He’s already set about doing that by guiding his team to a more than solid opening to the season and they’re capable of getting something against the Black Cats, who have made an indifferent start to the campaign.

Wolves gave Manchester United a run for their money in the Carling Cup last night and even though they lost, a performance like that at the Theatre of Dreams won’t have done their confidence any harm.

Now remind me who tipped them to beat Fulham last weekend?

It’s still early days, but I’m half tempted to put a few quid on the region’s ‘big four’ taking their places in the top flight next season.

Villa are nailed on, Wolves and Blues both look like they have a fighting chance of staying up this year and Albion are cruising in the Championship. It would make for a fantastic spectacle and I’m sure the fans would love it.

From what I’ve seen of them so far, Wolves look like they’ve got goals in them with the likes of Kevin Doyle, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Michael Kightly and Stefan Maierhofer and Blues’ defence looks solid. They’ll be hard to beat.

The race to avoid relegation is wide open this year – at least half a dozen teams could go down – and I’m optimistic none of them will come from these parts.