So who was Martin O'Neill anyway? Aston Villa's response to the sudden departure of their manager of the past four years was to brush West Ham aside as if nothing had happened. In West Ham's case, nothing much did. Villa could easily have doubled their score.

While Kevin MacDonald, Villa's caretaker, will have been pleased by the spirit and alacrity of the win, he will not have been fooled by it. Compared to O'Neill, whose touchline telephonics will always recall Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic, MacDonald's presence was unobtrusive, his celebration unostentatious.

Even so, he did admit that he found the experience: "quite nerve-racking at times."

MacDonald knows Villa will be fortunate to encounter such supine opposition again this season. Avram Grant, now in charge at Upton Park following his valiant attempt to keep Portsmouth afloat last season, may already be feeling that he has left the deck of the Mary Rose only to find himself on the bridge of the Hesperus.

So Villa's performance has to be set against the inadequacies of their opponents. Nevertheless, they could have been out of sight by half-time given the chances they created and the frailties of a West Ham defence that was opened as easily as a revolving door.

In the first 10 minutes, John Carew put a free header over the bar then intercepted a back-pass by James Tomkins only to see the ball bounce back off Tomkins after Robert Green had blocked his shot and hit a post.

Villa took the lead on the quarter-hour when Green met Ashley Young's cross from the left with a punch that allowed Marc Albrighton, a 20-year-old whose confidence grew throughout, to drive the ball back into the goalmouth. Green could only push it into the path of Stewart Downing, who scored with a tap-in.

Five minutes before the break, Stilyan Petrov's well-timed late run surprised a defence surprised by everything and the Villa captain met Ashley Young's chip with a firmly directed header past Green.

With substitutes Pablo Barrera and Frédéric Piquionne giving Carlton Cole better support after half-time, West Ham achieved a modicum of attacking pressure but their defence remained there for the taking. After 66 minutes, Albrighton slipped rather too easily past Tomkins on the left and cut the ball back for James Milner to remind Villa fans of what they are about to lose with a resounding left-foot drive into the right-hand corner of the net. Carew then completed a hat-trick of misses with another header over and a shot against the post.

Milner left the field to cheers five minutes from the end and the team were applauded off at the finish. On the opening day of last season, O'Neill's Villa were booed off after losing 2-0 at home to Wigan. Managers come and go but, in the end, everything is down to the players – their form and their moods. In this game, West Ham's mood was as black as the thunderous sky.

THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT

JONATHAN FEAR, AstonVilla.VitalFootball.co.uk The thought of another season under O'Neill had left me bored and I thought we might struggle. Now he's gone, it's like a breath of fresh air. The display illustrated what happy players can do when they are free to get the ball down and pass it. We were too long-ball and too hit-and-hope under Martin. Against West Ham, we looked more cultured and more relaxed. All the players seemed to be enjoying it. The fans were waiting to see Albrighton step up from the reserves and he was outstanding. He could save the club a fortune. I also thought Milner did well. He got a mixed reception but it will be a shame if he does go.

The fan's player ratings Friedel 8; L Young 8, Clark 8, Dunne 8, Warnock 8; Downing 7, Albrighton 9 (Bannan 89 n/a), Petrov 8, Milner 9 (Reo-Coker 85 n/a); A Young 8 (Weimann 86 n/a); Carew 6

HAMISH MACKAY, Over Land and Sea If Avram Grant didn't know how difficult his job was this season, he does now. We were completely outplayed. Villa could have scored six or seven and we were lucky to get nil. We were that bad. Our players looked like they had never met each other – just like we played for most of last season in fact – while Villa always had an out-ball. They came at us from the start and used the width really well, whereas we didn't get wide at all. None of the new boys shone but we were collectively so poor that it was difficult for them. Our best player was probably Green. He got a lot of stick from the Villa fans, as you would expect, but he did not do much wrong.

The fan's player ratings Green 7; Reid 6, Tomkins 4 (Diamanti 72 4), Upson 6, Ilunga 4; Parker 6, Kovac 4 (Piquionne ht 6); Noble 5; Faubert 5, Boa Morte 4 (Barrera ht 5), Cole 5

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