Could this man be the next to lead Aston Villa forward?

• Poignant

  9 May 10, 19:00

  Slaven Bilic shock favourite to replace Martin O'Neill as Aston Villa boss - Exclusive

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  Slaven Bilic has emerged as the shock favourite to succeed Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa.

  The Croatia coach was expected to be in the frame to follow ­Gianfranco Zola at West Ham this summer.

  But in an unexpected twist, Bilic has ­dramatically pulled out the race to become the Hammers’ next boss amid claims he’s in pole ­position to become manager at a bigger Premier League club.

  O’Neill’s position at Villa Park hangs in the balance amid rumours of his uneasy relationship with owner Randy Lerner/

  His failure to alleviate fears of his departure to supporters at an awards dinner last week has merely fuelled speculation that Villa’s game today against Blackburn will be his last.

  Bilic’s emergence as favourite to succeed O’Neill is a bolt out of the blue.

  Mark Hughes, the former Manchester City boss, has been widely tipped to replace O’Neill while David Moyes at Everton and even former England coach Steve McClaren have been touted as possible targets.

  Bilic has made no secret of the fact that he expects to move into club management after a successful spell as Croatia’s national coach.

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