Villa make Gary McAllister approach

Villa are keen to bring in Gary McAllister as Gerard Houllier's assistant manager - as confirmed by Middlesbrough boss Gordon Strachan.

But it's unknown whether Boro will simply let their first-team coach join Houllier, who was his boss when he was a player at Liverpool.

The Villa manager has turned to McAllister because the other man thought to be in contention, Dietmar Hamann, has decided he wants to continue his playing career for as long as possible with Milton Keynes Dons.

With Patrice Bergues, Kevin MacDonald and Phil Thompson having already ruled themselves out of the running, Houllier could do with making a swift appointment.

And McAllister had a base in the Midlands until recently, in Leicestershire, but has since relocated his family to Yorkshire to cut down on the commute to Middlesbrough's training base at Hurworth.

Strachan offered his former captain at Coventry a route back into the game in May, after he was sacked as manager of Leeds at the end of 2008.

He said: "There is interest, I'll speak to Gary over the next couple of days."