Talking Tayls with Ian Taylor

Villa favourite Ian Taylor campaigns for the return of outcast Nigel Reo-Coker as the man who can help unlock Gareth Barry's Manchester City in the Premier League showdown.

If Villa boss Martin O'Neill wants to stop Gareth Barry and Manchester City on Monday night his best chance is with a three-man midfield – and that should include Nigel Reo-Coker.

There was a great balance to the team with Nigel, Steve Sidwell and Stiliyan Petrov in it – they all bring different qualities.

Their best result of the season so far, the 3-1 win at Liverpool, proved it and their league record playing the 4-5-1 is incredible – played 13, won 10, drawn three. You just can't argue with it.

People may say you should be more positive at home, but for me it's as much a 4-3-3 as a 4-5-1 anyway.

City have so much attacking talent and the extra man in the middle should help stifle them – something Villa never quite managed to do against Blackburn with the 4-4-2 at the weekend.

After being named on the bench at Rovers, hopefully Nigel is back in contention again because Villa are a stronger team with him in the side.

Obviously he was going to be disciplined for the bust-up but he has served that now and, judging his displays so far this season in isolation, he deserves to be in there.

As for Gareth, I'm expecting him to receive a 50/50 reception on Monday night. Half of supporters will think of the loyal service he gave for over 11 years, while the other half will be thinking about him claiming he would only leave for Champions League football - and then joining a team not even in the Europa League.

Should they boo? Well, as far as I'm concerned, fans can do what they like once a player leaves the club.

I don't believe supporters should ever boo their own team before the final whistle. I've known players to be booed during games and by the end of it be cheered. That's just ridiculous.

Having played alongside Gareth I know he's not the sort to be affected by it anyway. In fact, he will revel in it.

Fans don't realise sometimes, but the jeers can actually spur players on. Certainly, I don't think we have anything to fear against City. For all their millions they're not going to run away with the league this year. It's a game Villa can win, although if I had to stick my neck on the line I'd say a 1-1 draw.

I was also interested to read Craig Gardner's comments in Tuesday's Express & Star wanting to stay at Villa because he "isn't a quitter" – but maybe he should reconsider.

As admirable as Craig's loyalty to the club is, I don't see a healthy future for him at B6. He's a good player. A Premier League player. The lad captained England's under-21's in one of their games at the European Championships in the summer. But he's not 18 or 19, next month he will be 23.

At that age he should be playing football week in, week out, not sitting on the bench. Few players will suffer more from Villa's early European exit than Craig.

Those were the sorts of games he could have expected to play in. Instead, he's looking at one start a month in the Carling Cup until Christmas.

He's got Stiliyan Petrov, Steve Sidwell, Fabian Delph and Nigel Reo-Coker to displace in the team , with these early months of the campaign doing nothing to suggest he's getting any closer to being a regular starter.

And there will be more than a few claret and blues watching on with envy tonight when Celtic host Rapid Vienna at Parkhead. I wouldn't mind a bet Martin O'Neill is one of them. It looked for a while like Martin might get a chance to take on his old club in the Peace Cup, only for the Scots to pull out due to other commitments.0

I'm sure he'll be thinking what might have been this evening, when Villa's conquerors travel to Parkhead.

What a game that would have been. The Europa League might not be the Champions League but when you see Fulham grouped with Roma and Everton in the same pool as Benfica, you can't help but feel a tad jealous.

Elsewhere in the Premier League, it's only October but already there's a six-pointer at Molineux on Saturday. On the face of it there's no better chance for Wolves to get three points in the bag than against Portsmouth.

But I could understand why Mick McCarthy might be a little anxious about this one, as his team are in the unusual position of being favourites.

Paul Hart's side were desperately unlucky to lose to Everton last week and the fact is they're not going to lose every game this season. Wolves will also have to get past the best goalkeeper I ever played with in David James.

Not even Peter Schmeichel, albeit as his career was winding down to a halt, compared with 'Jamo' for me.

He was certainly the one who missed the boat this summer after all the high-profile departures, and now he has been left stranded with a side who looked nailed on for the drop.

As a goalkeeper you want to be keeping clean sheets – he's not doing that – and, as some of the lads at Villa will testify, England coach Fabio Capello picks his squad on form. If I were him, I'd be worried about missing the World Cup.

Down the road at the Hawthorns, things have suddenly taken a turn for the worse and I can't help but feel a bit of complacency may have crept into the Albion camp. After smashing in five at Middlesbrough, one of their main rivals, they probably thought they were going to romp the Championship.

But as soon as you start thinking like that, it won't be long before you come crashing down to earth – that's exactly what the Baggies have discovered against Crystal Palace and Barnsley.

It's the first real test of Roberto Di Matteo's reign, so it will be interesting to see how he handles it. This is when he really earns his money. The challenge for the Baggies is getting that momentum back but, with confidence having suddenly taken a knock, that can often be easier said than done.