John Gregory is continuing his tour of football’s European outposts – but he’s unable to prevent thoughts from drifting back to a club still in his blood.

The former Villa manager emains an unashamed claret and blue fan who has watched with as much interest as the rest of that fraternity the amazing events of the last few days.

The 57-year-old will have to put Villa on the back-burner after signing a two-year contract to manage FC Kairat in Kazakhstan, a posting to follow his equally obscure assignments in Israel with Maccabi Ahi Nazareth and Ashdod.

Gregory, never one for conformity, relishes these opportunities to ‘see the world before I’m too old’ but he left the country saddened by the plight of his old club, as it continued to suffer a public relations battering in its efforts to replace Gerard Houllier.

Alex McLeish’s role in the drama was one twist that not even Gregory expected, although he was careful with his words as he surveyed the prospect of a ‘Bluenose’ taking charge at the club he managed to a backdrop of highs, lows, despair and drama between 1998 and 2002.

But the man who led Villa to the old Wembley’s last FA Cup final, after narrowly missing out to Martin O’Neill’s Leicester in the League Cup semi-final, insists it’s not insurmountable odds for McLeish to overcome.

Gregory said: “I don’t want to get embroiled in it all. I just hope, for the sake of the club, it gets sorted out and Villa are able to move on. To get the chance to manage a club like Villa is a privilege and an unforgettable experience.

“There’s a resistance to Alex McLeish, as you’d expect. But others have run into opposition before and got over it.

“I remember Gordon Strachan going to Southampton when nobody wanted him because he had got relegated with Coventry, but he won them over.

“Didn’t Graham Taylor face the same sort of thing at Wolves after the England job but then got the club to the play-offs? These sort of things happen all the time.

“Alex, were he to get the job, will always have against him the fact he managed Birmingham.

“The fans are not always right, but I consider myself a Villa fan and I know how they feel.”

For Gregory, though, it is back to a role he knows only too well – fire fighting.

His new team have a big history in the Kazakh game, the only club from the country to have competed in the top Russian League before the break-up of the Soviet Union, while winning their own Premier League twice and cup five times since. But that was more than five years ago.

They were relegated in 2008, promoted a year later but now sit third from bottom and are fighting relegation.

Previous boss Vladimir Nikitenko resigned on Sunday and Gregory was whisked out to take the post on a lucrative deal.

He said: “That’s me – fire fighting again! It’s what I did at Villa, Derby, Queens Park Rangers – everywhere I’ve been.

“But it is a fascinating challenge and I love it. Almaty, where the club is based, is the old capital with two million people. It is spectacular – I am talking to you and looking at snow-topped mountains.

“You reach a point – and there’s a few of us in this category – where you realise you are not going to be given another chance back home.

“Some people choose to do TV but others like myself, Tony Adams and Ruud Gullit, have taken the opportunity to see the world.

“I can’t stand TV. I did it for a while but you can never say what you think. It’s governed by political correctness and just boring.

“I am going to be too old soon and will have to head home but, in the meantime, jobs like this one provide an amazing opportunity.”

It is a precarious existence in emerging and volatile football nations but Gregory takes all that in his stride.

The Borat jokes will fly thick and fast but he is impressed with the professionalism he encountered on his first tour of official duty.

A driver and interpreter arrive with the deal as Gregory settles into his new mission halfway through the season.

But he said: “One thing I’ve picked up straight away is how passionate everyone here is.

“No matter where you go, or who you work for, it’s the one thing that never changes.”

By Martin Swain