• Caretaker coach may be in charge for extended period
• Chief executive to meet Ashley Young’s representatives

Aston Villa are considering giving Kevin MacDonald an extended spell in charge to buy themselves some time to find a successor to Martin O’Neill.

Villa have been inundated with applications since O’Neill quit as manager on Monday but the club are determined not to be rushed into a decision and are now prepared to let MacDonald remain in post for a couple of weeks, possibly even longer.

MacDonald, the reserve-team manager, was given the job on a caretaker basis on Monday, when O’Neill handed in his resignation and caught everyone at Villa by surprise. Randy Lerner, the Villa chairman, flew into England the following morning to meet Paul Faulkner, the club’s chief executive, to begin drawing up a shortlist and assessing the merits of those interested. However they have since come to the conclusion that the process could take some time.

That decision is also a reflection of the absence of any outstanding candidates to choose from. Sven-Goran Eriksson has been installed as the new favourite but there has been no contact from Villa and sources close to the Swede have played down his chances. Mark Hughes and Martin Jol would both have been strong contenders but they look to be out of reach, leaving Villa with limited options.

Lerner and Faulkner have faith in MacDonald to do the job in the meantime, with the former Republic of Ireland assistant certain to be in charge for Saturday’s game against West Ham United and possibly both legs of the Europa League tie against Rapid Vienna and the Premier League match away at Newcastle in between. MacDonald is regarded as an excellent coach and is well respected by the players.

As well as recruiting a new manager, Lerner has a number of other issues to address, including preventing Ashley Young from following O’Neill and James Milner out of the door. Faulkner is due to meet Young’s representative tomorrow to discuss Villa’s plans to keep the England international amid growing interest from Tottenham Hotspur.

With Lerner today releasing a statement that suggested the days of heavy spending and huge wages are over, Villa find themselves in a difficult position with Young. The winger is the top-paid player at the club but tying him down to a longer contract – he has under two years remaining on his deal – would require them to increase his £65,000-a-week salary and commit to paying the money over a longer period.

That prospect will hardly appeal to an owner who has been keen to redress the balance between the salaries Villa are paying out and the money coming in. Yet, at the same time, Villa can ill-afford to lose one of their most influential players at a time when O’Neill has departed and Milner is about to join Manchester City. Villa would also want to avoid a situation where Young has just 12 months left on his contract next summer.

Tottenham are monitoring events closely and hope to capitalise on the turmoil at Villa Park. Spurs would be in a position to entice Young with the prospect of playing in the Champions League but they would be reluctant to offer an increase on his salary at Villa because of the strict wage structure at White Hart Lane. The London club would also need to come up with a fee close to £20m to persuade Villa to think about selling.

Before committing his future to Villa, Young is likely to seek assurances about the club’s ambitions, especially after Lerner’s comments. The American talked about Villa being “as competitive as possible given our size and resources”, which represented a change from his tone at the end of last season, when he said: “The ambition and appetite to compete for the top-four spot and qualify for the Champions League is as alive as it’s ever been.”

In his statement, Lerner admitted O’Neill and he “no longer shared a common view as to how to move forward” but refused to go into the reasons behind his sudden exit. “To deal in greater detail would do little but cause additional distraction for the club as it faces imminent games and the clear priority of hiring a permanent manager,” Lerner said.

Aston VillaMartin O’NeillStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk

The bookmakers’ favourites to succeed Martin O’Neill have their flaws – there is a paucity of outstanding contenders

Martin O’Neill’s resignation as Aston Villa’s manager spread around football insiders before the news broke publicly and would have instantly perked up the list of usual suspects in the shake-up to replace the Northern Irishman.

Except five days before the start of a fresh Premier League campaign is hardly the best time for a club to find a manager and whatever the reason for O’Neill’s exit the Villa hierarchy and supporters will not thank the 48-year-old for his timing.

Added to this is the deeper problem of trying to find a candidate of the calibre to replace a man who took Aston Villa to last season’s Carling Cup final and FA

The manager’s standing with Aston Villa fans suffered after he sacrificed European glory to go for a top-four finish in the Premier League

For the best part of two and a half years, Martin O’Neill could do no wrong at Aston Villa. His appointment as manager, allied to Randy Lerner’s arrival as chairman, rejuvenated Villa after the dark days of the David O’Leary and Doug Ellis era. But then came an away trip to CSKA Moscow in the Uefa Cup in February last year, when O’Neill sacrificed the competition in favour of pursuing a place in the Premier League’s top four.

It was a decision that never sat comfortably with a number of Villa supporters and also seemed to trouble O’Neill. The Villa manager was careful not to apologise for leaving eight first-team players behind but it was a measure of his unease that on the flight home he moved to the back of the plane to explain his team selection to the fans on board. He was applauded, but two days later his decision backfired when Villa drew at home with Stoke.

Villa failed to recover that season and from that moment on it felt as though O’Neill’s relationship with the supporters was never quite the same. They still chanted his name but not with the same gusto and there was also the occasional sound of booing at Villa Park, leaving O’Neill furious.

“I suppose Carling Cup final, semi-final of the FA Cup and still battling here with nine games left in the league, maybe that should happen here every year,” said O’Neill after the 2-2 draw at home with Wolves in March.

Much of the supporters’ frustration is likely to have emanated from the realisation that Villa were so close to success. After stabilising the club in his first season in charge, O’Neill led Villa to three successive sixth-placed finishes. Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal are the only other clubs that have finished in the top six during each of those years, yet Villa could not quite get close enough to any of them to secure the reward of Champions League football that would have justified Lerner’s investment.

Before this summer, O’Neill was backed heavily in the transfer market, although his record when buying players was mixed. Many suspected he paid over the odds for Ashley Young and James Milner but both have doubled their value at Villa and flourished under his tutelage. Richard Dunne also looks to be a shrewd piece of business and Stilian Petrov eventually proved his worth, yet for every success story there were a couple of mistakes.

The true cost of those mistakes is evident on the wage bill, which climbed alarmingly during the 2008–9 season to £71m, far higher than at Tottenham and Everton. Six players – Steve Sidwell, Luke Young, Nigel Reo-Coker, Habib Beye, Nicky Shorey and Curtis Davies – rarely featured last season but cost Villa not far off £250,000 a week in salaries. Lerner could not allow that situation to go on.

O’Neill’s style of play occasionally drew criticism, although few managers have dared to make the kind of comments Arsène Wenger did last season. “A very efficient English game with long balls,” said the Arsenal manager of Villa. O’Neill reacted furiously. Villa were no Barcelona under O’Neill but, at times, in particular when they were counter-attacking through the pace of Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor, they could be exhilarating to watch as they switched from defence to attack in the blink of an eye.

Breaking teams down at home proved to be much more of a problem and had O’Neill managed to address that shortcoming, perhaps with the recruitment of a creative player in the centre of midfield and a prolific goalscorer, Villa might well have finished in the top four during his reign. Instead they were a nearly side, promising so much but just coming up short when it really mattered.

Perhaps that will be how O’Neill’s reign at Villa is remembered in years to come. Unlike his spells as a manager at Wycombe Wanderers, Leicester City and Celtic, there is no trophy in the cabinet at Villa Park to serve as a permanent reminder of his contribution to the club. And for a man as driven and as ambitious as O’Neill, that will be even more frustrating for him than it is for the Villa supporters.

Aston VillaMartin O’NeillStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk