• Caretaker has players’ support as club begins interviews
• Timing of Fulham appointment counts against Mark Hughes
Aston Villa have compiled a five-man shortlist as they strive to identify Martin O’Neill’s successor. It includes Kevin MacDonald, currently serving as caretaker manager, who today confirmed he wanted a chance to fill the post created by O’Neill’s shock resignation. Indeed, Villa’s owner, Randy Lerner, is considering MacDonald’s candidature so seriously that he can probably be regarded as the current favourite.
The other contenders all possess greater Premier League experience but, after 15 years working in various coaching capacities at Villa Park, MacDonald boasts some significant supporters inside the club, including key players.
His cause is helped by a dearth of high-calibre managers available to take over a club that challenged for Champions League qualification last season.
Despite the recruitment difficulties, one candidate was interviewed yesterday by a panel headed by Lerner and Villa’s chief executive, Paul Faulkner. The club hopes the process will be concluded swiftly, with O’Neill’s successor installed by the end of the international break.
Although Villa’s board discussed the possibility of hiring Mark Hughes when there were fears O’Neill might quit at the end of last season, the Welshman joined Fulham just before the Northern Irishman left Villa Park.
Much as Hughes and Villa might privately wish their timing had been different, extricating the former Blackburn and Manchester City manager from Craven Cottage now would prove extremely tricky – not to mention expensive.
Removing Alex McLeish from Birmingham might be cheaper – it is thought Villa’s closest rivals would demand around £1m in compensation – but would be politically sensitive.
While David Moyes fits the profile of the sort of manager Villa are seeking, Everton have received no approach for his services and it is understood he is committed to remaining at Goodison Park. For Moyes, Villa would represent something of a sideways move, particularly as transfer funds seem almost as tight at the Midlands club as on Merseyside.
Elsewhere, Martin Jol is thought likely to remain at Ajax, where the former Tottenham manager can look forward to Champions League football, while Gareth Southgate’s career as an ITV pundit is proving so enjoyable the former Middlesbrough manager and Villa defender may harbour mixed feelings about returning to the dugout.
Sam Allardyce, currently impressing in charge of Blackburn Rovers, could be another potential candidate, but his reputation was damaged by a previous disappointing stint at Newcastle United, and his football philosophy remains an acquired taste.
It seems MacDonald’s mixed results – he has presided over two Premier League wins either side of a 6-0 defeat at Newcastle while also proving powerless to prevent Villa losing a vital Europa League qualifier against Rapid Vienna – will not count against him.
Even so, Villa’s landscape would look very different were Hughes a free agent.
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