Mark Hughes in line for Aston Villa to replace O'Neill?
-
Mark Hughes in line for Villa
IN THE FRAME - Former Manchester City chief Mark HughesBut Martin O'Neill must go before talks considered
MARK HUGHES will be the man Aston Villa turn to if Martin O'Neill walks out in the summer.
Despite O'Neill pledging his immediate future to the club, sources at Villa Park are far from convinced he will be in charge next season.
He will certainly not tolerate plans to bring in a director of football, something which chairman Randy Lerner is considering.
And if O'Neill walks away, former Manchester City boss Hughes will be Lerner's top target. However, Hughes has made it quite clear he will not hold talks with any club while they still have a manager in place because he is still angry at the way his sacking by City was handled.
Roberto Mancini was appointed just hours after Hughes left in December.
But Hughes is determined to find a high-profile club and doubts over O'Neill's future have alerted the former Manchester United striker's advisers.
While O'Neill has dismissed reports of a rift with Lerner, he is still waiting to see whether Villa make a leap forward in the summer transfer market, especially having spent just £80million in four years.
He fears Lerner's priority is expanding the stadium in order to maximise revenue, rather than spending big on players after the club posted record losses of £43m for last year.
O'Neill has a clause in his contract which gives him a 'window of opportunity' at the end of the season to talk to any clubs interested in luring him away.
Liverpool would certainly be keen as they look for a successor to Rafa Benitez.
Those closest to Villa feel O'Neill is losing the confidence of many of his players who are upset at his reluctance to make changes to his starting line-up.
Fringe players like Steve Sidwell, Luke Young, Habib Beye and Fabian Delph have grown frustrated at their lack of opportunities despite the team dropping points against Wolves, Stoke and Sunderland.
They are also fed-up with the lack of communication with O'Neill.
"Martin doesn't speak to the players for three days after a bad result. It's almost impossible to get any sense out of him," said a source.
-
moving backward?
-
no lah...........Villa will move fast forward under Hughes........................over the cliff.............
-
Villa will probably plunge to Cocacola