Next Aston Villa Manager: MacDonald confirms interest; Southgate gets our vote

Speculation surrounding the next permanent Aston Villa manager, following the departure of Martin O’Neill in August, has been rife but a huge spanner has been thrown into the works for potential suitors as Villa’s current caretaker manager, Kevin MacDonald, has publicly announced that he has told Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner that he wants to be considered for the post.

Kevin MacDonald has always been fairly prominent in the betting but had never confirmed whether he would actually like to be in contention for the Villa Park post. He has now made his intention perfectly clear and bookmakers around the country have reacted accordingly.

Just 24 hours ago MacDonald was available at around 3/1 to take over at the Villa helm on a more permanent basis, and the shrewd few which had their fivers on the caretaker will be laughing now as Coral‘s quote of 2.87 is the best you’re going to get today.

MacDonald’s record at the Villa helm so far doesn’t read too bad: W2 D1 L2, although his cause wasn’t helped with the team’s exit from the UEFA Europa League following a 4-3 aggregate defeat to Austrian side Rapid Vienna.

The nearest competition seems to be with Sven Goran Eriksson and David Moyes, with both fitting Lerner’s specifications of the next manager boasting a great deal of Premiership calibre and knowledge of the English game – Although David Moyes is unlikely to swap Merseyside for Villa when his Everton side boast a greater array of talent than what is currently on offer at Villa Park. Which leaves Sven Goran Eriksson. The Swede somehow managers to be in the reckoning for almost every job, but Eriksson’s reputation had dithered in recent years and he no longer demands the respect of clubs like he used to.

You can currently get 6.00 on Sven Goran Eriksson being the next Aston Villa manager with VCbet, with Coral going the shortest at 3.50. David Moyes is a best price 15.00 with VCbet but it would seem every bookmaker has a different opinion on the Toffees manager, with Ladbrokes‘ price of 5.5 the shortest by some way, but the general consensus is roughly an 8.00 shout.

Outside of these two it really is slim pickings, but at the same time I don’t see either of the aforementioned being selected; Sven Goran Eriksson would take up the post but surely wouldn’t interest Villa, while I can’t see Moyes packing his bags at Everton to move to Villa Park. We’ve mentioned Alan Curbishley on several occasions before regarding other managerial posts, the Fulham one in particular, but no-one has taken a keen interest in the former Charlton and West Ham manager but yet he has a tonne of Premiership know-how and ticks just about every one of Randy Lerner’s boxes. SO at odds of 17.00 with Bet365 we feel Curbs is worth a shout, as is Gareth Southgate – A former Aston Villa player, former Premiership manager with Middlesbrough and a person the fans should take to is appointed. Southgate has been out of the job for what seems an eternity now, since being relived of his duties at The Riverside nearly a year ago now, and it’s about time he stopped boring us with his appearances on ITV1 and got his feet under the managerial table once again.

Gareth Southgate looks a sensational punt considering and, at odds of 23.00 at PaddyPower, is certainly worth a nibble. The fact he is so large is a concern as it probably means someone has heard a whisper that either he or the club isn’t interested, but worth a few pennies nevertheless.

Matt’s Tip: Gareth Southgate – 23.00 PaddyPower

Next Permanent Aston Villa Manager betting:

Kevin MacDonald – 2.87 Coral
Sven Goran Eriksson – 6.00 VCbet
David Moyes – 15.00 Bet365
Alan Curbishley – 17.00 Bet365
Gareth Southgate – 23.00 PaddyPower