Villa take on Blues for Alex McLeish

Villa were today on a collision course with city rivals Birmingham after allegations by Blues that they tapped up Alex McLeish for their vacant manager's position.

McLeish controversially tendered his resignation at St Andrew's and subsequently emerged as their leading candidate to replace Gerard Houllier in the hot-seat.

The claret and blues said in a statement that they believe that the 52-year-old Scot is a "free agent" and that they "intend to interview him imminently in order to make a decision regarding his candidacy."

But Villa's plans to speak to the former Rangers and Scotland boss sparked an angry response from Blues in which they stated they viewed it as "a contempt of Premier League and FA rules."

The statement from Blues added: "The club feel this will taint football and give the game and the footballing authorities a bad name if this is allowed to materialise.

"The club will do what is within its powers to prevent this and will lodge a formal complaint to the authorities tomorrow as there is now not the slightest doubt remaining about this tap-up attempt."

Tensions are still running high among Villa fans and around 15,000 fans have now joined a Facebook group called 'Aston Villa Supporters – We don't want Alex McLeish.'

A planned protest at Villa Park will still go ahead later today even though the appointment now looks to be a formality with McLeish set to be offered a three-year contract.

For their part, Villa have gone some way to answering demands from their own fans to clarify the motivations behind the pursuit of the former Scotland boss.

The club said in a statement: "From the beginning of our search, we have set out criteria based on proven Premier League experience, compelling leadership, an ethic for hard work and, most importantly, sharing our vision for Villa."

"We would like to emphasise that in deciding to interview Alex McLeish, the board has taken his tenure at our local rivals and the strong emotions associated with this very seriously.

"We are determined, still, not to allow that three-and-a-half year post to disqualify him should he be the best candidate for the role of Villa manager."

The League Managers Association also weighed in to the controversy and claimed that McLeish quit Blues because the board made his position untenable, highlighting the sacking of chief scout Paul Montgomery and lack of consultation over transfers.

But Birmingham again hit back and said: "The LMA's announcement is refuted as the club has a very rigid approval system where only players formally identified and, with approval forms signed and sanctioned by the manager personally, are brought in.

"The allegations against the club, president Carson Yeung and the board are frivolous excuses and without foundation."