The curse of winning the Manager of the Month Award struck again this afternoon - with Wanderers boss Gary Megson the latest victim.

Megson was named Barclay's manager of the month for November yesterday - and promptly saw his team lose 4-2 at Villa Park against Martin O'Neill's resurgent team who moved into fourth place.

Ironically Nicolas Anelka, the player Megson sold to Chelsea for £15m and is now top Premiership scorer, picked up the player pf the month award.

Megson guided Wanderers into the top half of the Premier League with four wins in five matches during the month.

Victories over Manchester City and Hull were followed by defeat to Liverpool, before they responded with back-to-back wins over Sunderland and Middlesbrough.

Anelka was named player of the month after scoring seven league goals.

The 29-year-old has flourished in the absence of Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge and started the month in explosive fashion as he scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 win over Sunderland.

He then netted both Chelsea goals as they beat Blackburn 2-0 and followed that with another brace in the 3-0 victory at West Brom.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for Megson's Wanderers side, who were in the relegation zone at the start of month with some fans calling for the manager's head.

However, he appeared to have turned around the club's fortunes and has been rewarded for guiding Wanderers to 10th in the league, before today's defeat at Aston Villa.