McLeish Villa favourite on Blues exit

Alex McLeish has moved into pole position to become the new manager of Villa after quitting Birmingham.

McLeish resigned from Blues by e-mail, which was received by acting chairman Peter Pannu who is away on business in Amsterdam.

The former Scotland boss is now the bookmakers favourite for the job at Villa, in what would be a shock move to Blues' Second City rivals.

It comes as Steve McLaren effectively bowed out of the race to become Villa's new boss.

Championship club Nottingham Forest have confirmed they arein talks with the former England boss to become their new manager, after sacking Billy Davies today.