Aston Villa closing in on naming new manager

Villa will have their new manager in place before the start of Euro 2012 with Wigan boss Roberto Martinez still at the forefront of the club's thinking.

The Express & Star understands that club chiefs have today whittled down their shortlist to a small number of candidates and may even be in a position to announce their new man by the end of this week.

It will come as a relief to supporters who had started to grow frustrated with developments, although club officials maintained that they were simply undertaking a full and proper assessment of potential replacements for Alex McLeish.

It means outsiders – such as ex-Braga coach Domingos Paciencia – can be discounted with the club unlikely to make a left-field appointment. Similarly, Villa remain committed to a young, dynamic and hungry manager, so former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez can be ruled out despite speculation he was in the frame.

Martinez appears to be the frontrunner with American owner Randy Lerner ready to lure him to Villa Park at the second attempt having failed to land him last summer.

Also believed to be under consideration in the final reckoning are Chelsea caretaker and former Albion head coach Roberto Di Matteo and Norwich manager Paul Lambert.

Meanwhile, McLeish, sacked after narrowly avoiding relegation, gave an indication of the task facing his successor at Villa Park after he described the squad he left behind as "weak".

"At the end of the day, I felt that the squad was quite weak, quite thin experience-wise, and that could always be a problem," said McLeish. what I was taking on and at the end of the day it was quite a tough one, but staying in the Premier League was absolutely vital to Villa.

"We lost the same number of games as Liverpool, but the statistic that went against us was too many draws, in terms of climbing up the table.

"Right now I need to take a break, so I'm going to get a holiday, get some vitamin D through my body and regenerate, and come back hopefully stronger and look to take up the reins somewhere else at a future date."