Jeff Vetere is poised to leave Villa

Villa boss Gerard Houllier's off-the-pitch problems continued today after it emerged that chief scout Jeff Vetere is set to leave after only three months at the club.

The claret and blues have officially declined to comment on the matter, but it's understood from sources in London that he is close to finalising the terms of his departure to take up a role as Charlton's director of football.

Vetere, who is fluent in Spanish, Italian and French, had a previous spell at the Valley as an overseas development co-ordinator and later worked for West Ham, Real Madrid and Newcastle.

The 45-year-old also has a close relationship with former Newcastle director Tony Jimenez, who is now co-owner of Charlton following his takeover of the League One club at the beginning of the year.

Houllier had a major say in Vetere's appointment and, at the time of his unveiling, told of the how the scout "knows football inside out" and was tasked with setting up a global scouting network for Villa.

His impending departure is another blow for Houllier who is still picking the bones out of an unsavoury incident involving Richard Dunne, James Collins and a number of the club's staff.

The pair are the subject of an ongoing internal club investigation into the matter which took place at an exclusive Leicestershire spa last week.

Dunne and Collins are set to meet club officials over the next 48 hours and, while the club are not likely to publically reveal the terms of their punishment, both are expected to be handed hefty fines.

It appears Dunne's behaviour has not damaged his international chances, after he was called up for Ireland's Euro 2012 qualifier with Macedonia and friendly with Uruguay.

The 31-year-old defender is out injured with a shoulder problem but has been named in Giovanni Trapattoni's squad along with fellow Villa defender Ciaran Clark.

There have also been call-ups for Marc Albrighton, Nathan Delfouneso, Nathan Baker and Kyle Walker who were named in England's under-21 squad for friendlies against Denmark and Iceland.