Villa ready to sack Roberto
ROBERTO Di MATTEO is set to be sacked by Aston Villa after just four months in charge.
Chinese owner Dr Tony Xia has been left reeling by the former Chelsea chief’s failure to make any impact at the club despite being handed a £50m transfer kitty.
Now Di Matteo is set to pay the price, with an announcement expected in the next few days.
Slump
Xia’s patience finally snapped after Saturday’s defeat at Preston which saw Villa slump to 19th.
Villa have managed just one win from 11 in the league since Di Matteo took over in the summer.
The Champions League-winning boss was personally chosen by Xia shortly before his £65m takeover of Villa.
He was impressed by Di Matteo’s name and big club pedigree, but is now believed to be ready to accept he got it wrong.
Fed-up Villa fans vented their anger at Deepdale.
Xia and chief executive Keith Wyness will try to move quickly to get a new boss in place during the international break.
After Saturday’s game Di Matteo said: “I’m the first one to take responsibility. I take all the blame. That’s how it is when you’re the manager.”
Di Matteo’s side were 2-0 down to goals from Ben Pearson and Jordan Hugill before half-time and the last straw for the travelling fans was when Villa’s Ross McCormack had an injury-time penalty saved.
Pearson said: “We could have been three, four or five-nil up at half-time. The quality of players they’ve got is probably up there with the best in the league.”