10 Current Candidates for the Aston Villa Manager’s Job

That’s the big problem with the Villa’s managerial search, there is no one out there to really believe in or get excited by.

Aston Villa Manager’s Job Candidates

So, the search for the man to hopefully help return Aston Villa back to their rightful place as a top-half team is very much underway, but are there any decent candidates out there? Is Villa even still an attractive proposition for an ambitious manager or is it now viewed simply as a poison chalice with the current board set-up?

With the TV money evening out the resources of the teams outside the current top six or so, Villa is perhaps not a step-up on most of the other teams it used to be.

Currently, there are a few managerial candidates for the Villa job that aren’t currently employed and you’ll have to think the Villa board will look at them first. After shelling out £2 million in a pay-off to Tim Sherwood, it’s unlikely that Aston Villa will be too keen to cough-up any more money to poach a manager off a current club, unless they come with proven credentials.

Just before a Villa manager gets sacked, there’s always fans that will come out with the old complaint of there being no one able to take the job (although after Paul Lambert got sacked, MOMS produced a list of 30 candidates), but this time there seems to be a few more candidates even though most are uninspiring. That’s the big problem with the Villa’s managerial search, there is no one out there to really believe in or get excited by.

So let’s have a look at who may become the latest boss of the Villa merry-go-round…

Nigel Pearson

Pearson’s escape act with Leicester City last season was one of the best in top-tier history. He even overcame a press witch hunt and an ostrich as he blew away his critics.

Aston Villa could certainly do with some of Pearson’s no BS approach to shake things up at Villa Park, but the former Foxes boss will perhaps be seen as too much of a bag egg by Randy Lerner to even entertain.

Brendan Rodgers

The ex-Liverpool manager has said he wouldn’t be looking to undertake any new job this current season. It’s likely that his Liverpool payout would suffer if he did undergo new employment during the 2015/16 season, so he will be in no rush.

Would he take the job anyway? Well, realistically in the Premier League, after Liverpool, who is he likely to manage in the Premier League again? A top four club would be out of reach, but his runners-up finish with Liverpool would certainly give him cache for any other Premier League club.

Aston Villa with a mid-table starting point, would no doubt be of interest to Rodgers, but the resurrection from bottom spot is perhaps a hassle too far.

Rémi Garde

Current favourite, if you believe the French press, despite issues of getting his backroom staff in. Garde was previously linked to take over Newcastle’s French legion, but either Newcastle didn’t fancy him or he passed them over.

Obviously, ‘the ‘French connection’ of Villa’s current squad could be attributed to lazy journalism, but the Arsenal links of Garde, and Villa’s Tom Fox and Hendrick Almadst make him a realistic go-to guy.

Is he any good though? He did ok with Lyon, at a time Lyon slipped into the shadows of Paris St Germain’s new-found wealth, but his Premier League experience is limited to playing 30-odd league games for Arsenal. ‘Good with young players’…but what does that actually mean? It was a label that Sherwood also arrived with.

There are no guarantees with Garde, but he may be one of the better options out there.

David Moyes

Moyes had always considered Aston Villa too similar to Everton in statue, when he was at Everton when the Villa job has come up in the past, but now they’ve probably slipped below even that status. But Moyes cache has also shrunk after disappointing spells at both Manchester United and Real Sociedad.

There’s been mixed newspaper reports about his interest, from looking to stay in Spain until at least the end of the season to seeing Villa as an escape from his Spanish struggles.

If he thinks managing Real Sociedad is difficult though, it’s got nothing on the task in from of him at Aston Villa.

I would be surprised if Moyes would come to Villa at this present moment in time.

Christophe Galtier

The St Etienne boss was linked to Aston Villa and Newcastle last season. Early this year though, Gaitier told French TV that it was another English club that really tickled his fancy.

“If I had to choose my destination, I would go to Liverpool. It’s my dream,” he said.

With Jurgen Klopp now firmly in place at Anfield, Gaitier could do with some Premier League experience in the meantime to match his ambitions. Up until now his only experience of the league was working briefly as Alain Perrin’s assistant at Portsmouth in 2005.

Would Aston Villa’s current league position be too much to risk his reputation on? And is his name only being mentioned in the press by Villa to speed up Rémi Garde’s decision? The French plot thickens.

Gary Rowett

Nope, it’s not going to happen, but some Villa fans on social media seem to think that if you win a handful of Championship games it equips you to be able to manage a team in the Premier League. The Blues boss has a long way to go, but if he can get the Blues into the play-offs this season, it will be seen as a serious feather in his managerial cap.

There are more suitable managers in the Championship, two of which we included on the ’30 Managers’ list earlier in the year. Derby’s Paul Clement, who was Ancelotti’s right-hand man at Paris St Germain and Real Madrid, certainly has better credentials, while Burnley’s Sean Dyche knows all about being in the Premier League on 4 points after 10 games.

I can’t see Villa board looking to the Championship and risking the wrath of their supporters.

Gareth Southgate

If you were looking for one of our own beyond Dwight Yorke to take over, perhaps the best ex-Villan around would be Mr Southgate. We highlighted the former-Villa captain last time around when the Villa job was up for grabs.

Despite being only in his mid-30’s Southgate led Middlesbrough to a mid-table finish in his first season with Wenger going on record as an admirer. The following season, despite winning a manager of the month award, he relegated the club. The next season, he promised to get them promoted, but was perhaps unfairly sacked after winning a game that left them one point off top spot in the Championship.

Since Southgate has been quietly working away as the boss of the England under-21’s and has successfully led them to the finals of the U-21 European Championship in 2015.

Certainly he worth putting on a shortlist, but doesn’t strike you as having the fight to save this season.

Michael Laudrup

The ex-Swansea City League Cup-winning manager is currently a free man after he limited his time in Qatar to just one season with Lekhwiya, with whom he won League & Cup double with.

Whether Laudrup would have the heart for such a relegation battle with Villa is unlikely and he doesn’t seem to the kind of character that would be needed to really get stuck in at Villa to shake things up.

In short, despite being a wonderful player in his day, he has the air of being a managerial journeyman about him.

Gus Poyet

Poyet had been progressing well in management after a decent spell at Brighton and then rescuing Sunderland from the drop in great style when he came in. Then it all seemed to fall apart for him behind the scenes. Sunderland to be fair though, seems as difficult a wicket to play as Villa at the moment for a manager.

In terms of the Villa job, it seems that the bookies just threw Poyet into the mix to make the market interesting, as the Uruguayan is in Greece looking to complete a deal to take over at AEK Athens.

Murat Yakin

Yakin is available now after parting ways with Spartak Moscow, but he doesn’t seem to be a stable influence that Villa need right now, plus he has little major European league managerial experience with his managerial stints being limited to Switzerland and Russia.

Yes, he beat Chelsea home and away with Basel in the Champions league 2013 group stages, but it’s hard to make a serious case for him at this point in time for Villa.

UTV

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