Former Chelsea and Tottenham manager emerges favourite to land Aston Villa coaching job

Former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas  could be set for a sensational return to the Premier League having been strongly tipped to get the job at Villa Park. The Portuguese manager was touted to be the next Jose Mourinho but despite a strong start to his coaching career, he’s just never been as influential as Mourinho.

The 45-year-old has had spells at Zenit Saint Petersburg and even in China with Shanghai SIPG, he has banks of experience to manage a multicultural dressing room like that of Villa. When he first arrived at Chelsea as a manager with a growing reputation, the early signs were that he was a tactical genius but was sacked after only eight months in charge due to poor results.

His time at Tottenham lasted longer where he finished fifth in his first season and missed the Champions League spot by the skin of his teeth. He was however sacked half way through the second season and even though he went on to coach in places like Russia, his reputation as one of the promising coaches never really recovered in England.

The Villa job will serve as a fresh start to a manager who was made for the big games- but there are managers including Mauricio Pochettino and even recently sacked Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel linked to the job too. Aston Villa are looking for a manager who will come in and hit the ground running after just two wins in the first 11 games of the campaign under sacked manager Steven Gerrard.

Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery has also been touted in other sections of the media so it will be interesting to see which candidate they eventually land on. In the meantime, caretaker manager Aaron Danks will look to get the team back to winning ways when they take on Brentford in the Premier League this weekend.