Aston Villa fans like myself hoping for an ambitious attempt to bring former AC Milan and Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti to take up the vacated manager’s post left by Gerard Houllier last week have been hit with a blow. The Italian has claimed that he had not been in contact with any club and that he intended to take a year out of management following his recent sacking from Stamford Bridge.After the Mark Hughes ordeal which saw the Welshman quit his post at Fulham just a day after Houllier’s departure, it had seemed that the former Man City boss would take the reigns at Villa Park. However, Villa revealed that they had not approached him and Hughes responded in kind, fuelling speculation that the club were holding out for an ambitious attempt to lure Ancelotti to the post.
The Italian had his odds slashed over the weekend and emerged as favourite for the post ahead of Hughes and a long list of candidates, but in an interview with Italian paper La Stampa he rubbished the reports, stating;
“I am in no hurry to coach and I don’t need to. “I have not been contacted by any club in England and I have not spoken to Roma. It is all fantasy.
“I have enjoyed this experience (of coaching in England). I will return to London to organise my life.
“Besides a six-month break, I have been coaching non-stop since 1995. I will take a year off and look around, study how my colleagues work.”
The apparent snub from the hugely successful boss begs the question, who’s the favourite now, and the answer, according to many bookies, will not be well received by most Villa fans I can assure you! Early this morning The Telegraph reported that former Middlesbrough and England manager Steve McLaren would take the helm at Villa Park and the much maligned manager has emerged as the new favourite with odds as short as 2/1.
Hughes remains second favourite despite refuting the links to the club and vice versa, while Wigan boss Roberto Martinez is also thought to be one of the front runners. Ancelotti’s lowest odds of 2/1 from this morning have fallen to 8/1 now and have even dropped to 33/1 with some bookmakers. Benitez, Jol and Moyes are all still believed to be in with an outside chance of the job but it is the odds on favourite of McLaren that will catch Villa fans eyes, and not in a good way on the most part! Thoughts?
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