Save one man, Alex McLeishs sacking did not surprise anybody when the axe finally fell on his tenure as Aston Villa boss today. While the ex-Rangers boss will claim injuries and tightening budgets were to blame, the fact is Aston Villa performed woefully short of expectations. Even with the sales of Ashley Young and Stewart Downing, Villa should never have flirted with relegation for so long. McLeish just about managed to avoid taking down a second Birmingham club in succession, but its not all doom and gloom in the Holte End. Darren Bent, Richard Dunne and Shay Given are proven at Premiership level, and the one bright side of McLeishs reign has been the promotion of some of Villas prodigious academy prospects. But who should Randy Lerner look to take over in the dugout?
Advertisement
1. Roberto Martinez
Lerner approached the likeable Spaniard last summer but could not prise him away from Wigan, despite the blessing of his fellow chairman, Wigan owner Dave Whelan. Having secured yet another great escape at the DW stadium with a remarkable late surge, Martinez may now feel its time to move on. Resources are tight and his best players will also move on, and despite the managers efforts Wigan will surely lose to the fight for survival one day. Martinez likes his sides to play football, he is tactically very astute, and with young technical midfielders like Barry Bannan and Gary Gardner, Wigan old boy Charles NZogbia, Steven Ireland and Mark Albrighton, Martinez would have plenty of creative players he could mould into a successful outfit. Villa have better defenders than Wigan, and in Darren Bent they have the goalscorer Martinez never had in either Franco Di Santo or Hugo Rodallega. Martinez knows the league, he knows Villas players, and with a little spending money from Lerner he can add the one or two players that can get Villa moving forward once again. His management style would also appease the fans who understandably never took to McLeishs direct and battling style.