For a moment it sounded as if the name being sung to the rafters in the corner of the ground colonised by Aston Villa's fans belonged to Graham Taylor. The final whistle had just gone confirming Villa's first away goal had given them a first, and most unexpected, away point. A second glance to the Villa corner, however, revealed the name being praised was not that of Graham Taylor but Ian Taylor.
The durable Villa midfielder had a good afternoon on his return from injury, though not as impressive as either Mark Kinsella or the revitalised Gareth Barry.
Yet surely even the most disaffected Villa fans would have found some room in their heart to laud their beleaguered manager.
Taylor arrived at Old Trafford to the backdrop of football's bongo drums beating out a message that this was the first of a three-game sequence which would dictate his fate. Villa had not scored here in seven of their last eight appearances and travel to Blackburn on Saturday before visiting Oxford United in the Worthington Cup. Given their away form, the hypothesis was that Villa would lose the first two and be vulnerable to Oxford.
Part one of that theory has fallen yet, paradoxically, a deserved draw against a sluggish United takes the ball into the court of the Villa chairman Doug Ellis with more vigour than a comprehensive defeat would have achieved.
A run of poor results leaves it easy for a chairman to go with the flow even though the manager was his appointment. It was in February that Ellis gave Taylor a contract of only two years and after 24 Premiership matches - won six, drawn six, lost 12 - Taylor has not convinced many he is the answer.
Taylor may even share a view he is not the man for the job. In the warmth of a draw he referred to as a win Taylor reiterated he returned to Premiership management because of what-might-have-beens. Taylor is a long way behind Ellis in terms of narcissism but there was, he recognised, an element of vanity in his decision.
"It does matter how it goes," he said, "but let's just say that if I hadn't come back I would never have known these feelings."
Had United possessed Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs or Ruud van Nistelrooy the outcome would likely have been different. Tomorrow Nicky Butt becomes the seventh United player to undergo surgery this season while David Beckham misses the Maine Road derby on November 9th through the one-match ban secured by his fifth yellow card of term.
At least the injuries left space for Diego Forlan to score his first United goal from free play, a purposeful header which equalised Olof Mellberg's surprise opener. Forlan had other chances but then so had Villa, notably 19-year-old Stefan Moore on his full debut.
"Shoddy," said Sir Alex Ferguson. "A bit of a mess," said Forlan. And neither was talking about Aston Villa. Which was different.
Guardian Service
MANCHESTER UTD: Barthez, Gary Neville, Blanc, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Beckham, Veron, Scholes, Phil Neville (Fortune 60), Forlan, Solskjaer. Subs Not Used: Ricardo, O'Shea, Richardson, Roche. Booked: Beckham. Goals: Forlan 77.
ASTON VILLA: Enckelman, Barry, Staunton, Mellberg, Samuel, Leonhardsen (Hitzlsperger 84), Kinsella, Taylor, Delaney, Dublin (Crouch 66), Moore (Angel 66). Subs Not Used: Postma, Allback. Goals: Mellberg 35.
Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).
