Ronald Koeman wants the Villa job
Ronald Koeman today reiterated his desire to manage Villa and claimed his agent has already been contacted by the club with a view to succeeding Martin O'Neill.
Ronald Koeman today reiterated his desire to manage Villa and claimed his agent has already been contacted by the club with a view to succeeding Martin O'Neill.
Koeman, without a job after leaving AZ Alkmaar, has a wealth of experience having also managed PSV Eindhoven, Valencia and Benfica.
The Holland great was also assistant at Barcelona and the Dutch national team.
He said: "Of course I am interested to listen to everybody. There was a contact with my agent but nothing more than that, about one week ago. Until now I didn't know anything about that.
"If they are interested they can call me."
It remains unclear whether the 47-year-old has made the final five-man shortlist, with caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald the only confirmed candidate after he finally put his name forward yesterday.
The Scotsman will seek assurances over Villa's direction during his interview, which is expected to take place this week, and insists the club can challenge for honours post-O'Neill.
An uneventful transfer deadline day yesterday meant Villa ended the summer window £18million in the black, with Stephen Ireland their only new recruit as part of the £26million deal which took James Milner to Manchester City.
MacDonald said: "I would like to think the club won't sell our top players. If it was down to me I wouldn't. Would it be something I discuss in my interview? Yes, very much so.
"How we see the future of the club going would be a big thing. If the club says it's a sell-to-buy policy then we have to develop better young players - and more quickly.
"But you also must keep the club progressing to keep your senior players keen and interested in trying to win things.
"It's not a case of dropping standards, we want to still be trying to force ourselves into Europe and going on good cup runs because that's the nature of the club.
"If the supporters that come here every week saw we weren't doing that they wouldn't be very happy.
"Maybe it won't be the big rise that Martin took, it might be slower increments. I don't know."
