BEWARE the manager-of-the-month curse, Gerard...

Having overcome Villa’s familiar foes in Blackburn on Saturday, maybe, just maybe, the unlikeliest of enemies is lurking around the corner for Gerard Houllier.

Of all the fears, real or imagined, for the Frenchman to face, January’s greatest gaffer gong and its associated jinx is one that nobody would have expected 26 days ago.

A dressing-room revolt, yes. A P45, yes. A Villa Park protest rally, yes. Those were the supposed threats on a bleak landscape when Houllier trudged from the pitch after the home defeat to Sunderland on January 5.

Back then, with Villa in the bottom three, he was about as likely to win the best boss accolade as Andy Gray is to be inducted into the Suffragettes Hall of Fame.

But that Houllier’s name should even be in the frame on the last day of a remarkable month is a tribute to the staggering turnaround in B6 in recent weeks.

Draws with Chelsea and Blues, victories over Manchester City and Wigan and FA Cup wins against Sheffield United and now Blackburn might not quite match the achievements of unbeaten Sir Alex – another danger lying in wait for Houllier tomorrow.

Arsene Wenger also boasts a very strong claim for the award.

But, when it comes to working managerial miracles since the turn of the year, they can’t claim to have brought Robert Pires’ career back from the dead can they?

The French midfielder’s renaissance is the latest example of Houllier’s Midas touch at the moment – everything he touches turns to goals. But, the calm way Houllier shrugged off the Holte End replacing ‘Sacked in the morning’ with ‘Gerard, Gerard, give us a wave’ shows he won’t be getting carried away any time soon.

And nor should he be. Despite a month which has been as encouraging off the pitch as on it – if not more so – with the signings of Darren Bent, Jean Makoun, Kyle Walker and Michael Bradley.

The Villa fans too are keeping their feet on the ground with less of them managing to get their feet in the stadium at the weekend. Saturday’s Villa Park attendance of 26,067 was the second lowest of the season. The worst was Houllier’s debut in the Carling Cup win over – you guessed it – Blackburn.

The claret and blues could be forgiven for losing enthusiasm about facing their Ewood Park rivals. It was the eighth occasion in two years; five cup victories for Villa, three league wins for Rovers.