Consortia bidding for Villa favour O’Neill as manager

MARTIN O’NEILL remains the favourite to succeed David O’Leary as Aston Villa manager and could be appointed before any takeover is completed.

At least three of the four consortia in the running to buy out chairman Doug Ellis are thought to favour the former Celtic manager.

And Ellis himself, plus many Villa supporters, apparently see 54-year-old O’Neill as the perfect manager to guide the club into a new chapter.