Alex McLeish has been sacked as manager of Aston Villa Football Club.
“The club has been disappointed with this season’s results, performances and the general message these have sent to our fans,” said a club statement. “The board wishes to assure supporters that we are conscious in every sense that Villa expects and deserves more and we will strive to deliver this. The most immediate action that we can take is to look carefully at our options in terms of bringing in a new manager who sees the club’s potential and embraces our collective expectations.”
The decision by Aston Villa comes just one day after Aston Villa finished just two points above relegation. By Aston Villa’s standards, this was a woeful season where the club failed to display the attacking football and positive results that Villa supporters are accustomed to seeing.
What makes matters worse is that the 2011-12 Premier League season was a wasted one for Villa. Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner made the controversial decision to pick McLeish after Martin O’Neill quit the Villa job last summer. It was a move by Lerner that very few people approved of, given the dour brand of football that McLeish’s teams are known to play. Plus, McLeish’s Birmingham City had just been relegated from the Premier League.
Overall, it was an abysmal decision by Lerner.
Hopefully Randy Lerner will have learned from his mistakes and will find a manager who prefers to play a more positive brand of football. Two names that jump to mind are Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers and Wigan boss Roberto Martinez. Last summer, Lerner tried to convince Martinez to join Villa from Wigan, but Martinez decided to stay at the Latics. If Lerner is willing to try to convince Martinez to join the club and is willing to increase the amount of compensation that Wigan and Martinez would expect, it may be an offer too good to pass up for Roberto Martinez who is one of the rising managers in British football.
What do you think? Who would you like to see as the next Aston Villa manager? Give us your suggestions and reasons why below.
