Aston Villa make Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish their top managerial target – report

Alex Mcleish (Pete Mariner)

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Aston Villa are believed to have made Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish their top managerial target this summer.

The Birmingham-based club were previously thought to be chasing Everton’s David Moyes and Bolton Wanderers boss Owen Coyle as potential successors to Gerard Houllier, but it has been reported that neither of those two may be realistic targets.

Leeds United manager Simon Grayson is believed to have been considered as well, but The News of the World reports that the Villa Park hierarchy believe they have a good chance of capturing McLeish.

The Blues’ boss has endured somewhat mixed fortunes at St Andrew’s, winning the League Cup but sliding out of the Premier League three months later on the last day of the season.

And if he does make the switch across the city, he could be in for a difficult time if the Villa fans do not take to someone with such strong and recent links to their arch-rivals.

However, it is thought that Villa owner Randy Lerner might not only see McLeish as a manager with good potential to revive the Villans, but also view the situation as an opportunity to get one up on his club’s main adversaries.