Aston Villa are ready to end manager Roberto Di Matteo's reign with the Italian on the brink after just five months in charge ... and they want STEVE McCLAREN as their new boss!
Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Preston left Villa 19th in the Sky Bet Championship with just one win from their opening 11 games and only two points clear of the relegation zone.
The club spent around £50million in the summer, including £12million on Ross McCormack and £15million on Jonathan Kodjia, to ensure an instant return to the Premier League.
But owner Tony Xia, who bought the club and appointed Di Matteo in the summer, is now losing patience with Villa 15 points behind leaders Huddersfield.
Villa were hopeful Di Matteo would lead them back to the top flight after they were relegated last season, winning just three games, but they have continued to fall this term.
They have dropped 11 points from goals conceded in the last five minutes with Di Matteo's only win a 3-0 victory over Rotherham in August and he has drawn seven of his 12 games. Villa also suffered a shock 3-1 defeat in the EFL Cup to League Two side Luton.
Should the former West Brom and Chelsea manager depart as expected Villa will be looking for their fifth permanent boss in just over two years with Paul Lambert, Tim Sherwood and Remi Garde all leaving since February 2014.
1 Huddsf'ld 25
2 Norwich 23
3 Newcastle 22
4 Brighton 21
5 Bristol C 20
6 Birm'ham 20
7 Brentford 18
8 Reading 18
9 Sheff Wed 17
10 Barnsley 16
11 Leeds 16
12 Wolves 15
13 QPR 15
14 Fulham 14
15 Burton Alb 13
16 Ipswich 13
17 Preston 13
18 N Forest 12
19 A Villa 10
20 Derby 10
21 Wigan 9
22 Blackburn 8
23 Cardiff 8
24 Rotherham 6
Newcastle United Fixtures
Sat 15th October
BRENTFORD (H)
Tue 18th October
BARNSLEY (A)
Sat 22nd October
IPSWICH TOWN (H)
Tue 25th October
EFLC PRESTON NORTH END (H)
Sat 29th October
PRESTON NORTH END (A)